Treaty of Kleve
The Treaty of Kleve , also the partition contract of Kleve or hereditary settlement to Kleve , was concluded on September 9, 1666 in Kleve between the Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and the Elector of Brandenburg . With this contract, both sides tried to end the Jülich-Klevian succession dispute.
With this comparison, the Duchy of Kleve and the Counties of Mark and Ravensberg fell to the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm ; to Count Palatine Philipp Wilhelm, the duchies of Jülich and Berg and the small Flemish lordships of Wijnendale west of Ghent and Breskesand on the outermost southwestern Scheldt island. The ownership of the Ravenstein lordship , to which both sides continued to raise claims, was later to be determined by mutual agreement.
With the Grafschaft Mark, Kurbrandenburg also received the city of Soest with the Börde and half of Lippstadt . In addition, with the county of Ravensberg, the city of Herford , but without the Herford Abbey , finally came to the Elector of Brandenburg. Even in 1631 Herford were from Reichskammergericht the rights of a free imperial city awarded. The elector contradicted this decision and took possession of the city by force of arms in 1647.
Overall, however, because of all the countries and claims from the Jülich-Kleve-Berg inheritance, a kind of continued community of heirs was formed and the two contracting parties recognized their mutual inheritance claims; It was further agreed that both parties would be entitled to use all titles and coats of arms of the Jülich-Klevian house.
An agreement over Ravenstein was made in 1671. After receiving a payment of 50,000 thalers, Brandenburg ceded the rulership in full to Pfalz-Neuburg, but retained the right of succession after the male Neuburg line had expired.
It was not until 1678 that Emperor Leopold confirmed the treaties; Protest was raised only by the Electorate of Saxony because of overriding the Electoral Saxon claims to the Jülich-Klevian legacy and the Elector of Cologne .
The treaty made no provision with regard to the Jülich-Klevian vote in the Imperial Council of Dukes, so that this continued - and remained dormant until 1803.
The rule of Ravenstein fell to the new Sulzbach spa line in 1742 after the Neuburg spa line had died out. The rule was not an imperial fief , but was under the sovereignty of the States General .
literature
- Wilhelm Fix: The Territorial History of the Prussian State. Simon Schroppsche Hof-Landkartenhandlung, Berlin 1884. (Reprint: Melchior Verlag, Wolfenbüttel, ISBN 3-939102-09-1 ).
- Irmgard Hantsche: Prussia on the Rhine. Verlag Pomp, Bottrop / Essen 2002, ISBN 3-89355-243-X .