Otto II (Geldern)

Otto II von Geldern (* around 1215 ; † January 10, 1271 ; called the Lame ) was Count von Geldern from October 22, 1229 until his death.

Life

Pen drawing of the grave monument of Otto II von Geldern, before 1802

Grave monument of Otto II von Geldern on the Graefenthal Monastery

Otto II. Was born as the son of Count Gerhard IV . He was the German imperial prince in the Lower Rhine region who was most dependent on the empire. He often mediated in the many feuds of his surroundings and was drawn into many feuds himself through his property nesting in Westphalia, among others with the Counts of Ravensberg and Tecklenburg and with the bishops of Munster , Osnabrück and Paderborn . For influence in the Lower Rhine region, Otto II led many feuds with the Counts of Cleves and the bishops of Utrecht . He had to give up his claims to Salland .

Otto acquired the inherited rights and possessions of Count Adolf I von der Mark and Krieckenbeck in the County of Krieckenbeck on March 3, 1243 and integrated them into his land of Geldern.

Otto II achieved a prominent position in Lower Lorraine as guardian of the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Holland (from 1261/62). He gained sovereignty over many dominions such as Groenlo, Bredevoort and Lichtenvoorde. At times he was guardian of Cologne. He was an important city founder ("Zutphener Stadtrecht"). He founded Geldern (1229), Goch (around 1230), Roermond (1231), Harderwijk (1231), Grave (1232), Emmerich (1233), Arnheim (1233), Doetinchem (1236), Doesburg (1237) and Wageningen (1263). The region of Geldern thus became a land of cities. In this context, effective bodies for supra-local economic and transport functions were also formed there. The river tariffs as an important source of income for the sovereign were expanded as planned, the Rhine being particularly important here .

Marriages and offspring

In his first marriage he was married to Margarete von Kleve († September 10, 1251), daughter of Count Dietrich IV and Mechtild von Dinslaken (* 1195; † 1262 (?)). From this marriage came his two daughters Elisabeth and Margaretha († around 1286 ∞ Enguerrand IV. De Coucy ).

In his second marriage he was married to Philippa de Dammartin († 1277/81 (?)), Daughter of Count Simon von Ponthieu from the Mello family. From this connection his son Rainald I and two other daughters were born.

Otto II is buried in the Graefenthal monastery in Asperden .

literature

• Pieter Lodewijk Muller :  Otto II . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 690 f.
• Ralf G. Jahn : The genealogy, the bailiffs, counts and dukes of money. In: Johannes Stinner, Karl-Heinz Tekath (ed.): Gelre - Geldern - Gelderland. History and culture of the Duchy of Geldern (= Duchy of Geldern. Vol. 1 = Publications of the State Archives of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Series D: Exhibition catalogs of the State Archives. Vol. 30). Verlag des Historisches Verein für Geldern and the surrounding area, Geldern 2001, ISBN 3-9805419-4-0 , pp. 29–50.

Web links

Commons : Otto II. (Geldern)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Gerhard IV.	Count of Geldern Count of Zutphen 1229–1271	Rainald I.