Venlo Treaty
The Treaty of Venlo of September 7th 1543 sealed the end of the Duchy of Geldern . According to the agreement had to Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in favor of Emperor Charles V on his claim to the Duchy of funds as well as the Zutphen County without. In addition, the emperor forced the duke to become Catholic again and to fight the Reformation .
prehistory
In 1528, Emperor Charles V drew up the Treaty of Gorinchem . He enfeoffed Duke Karl von Egmond with the Duchy of Geldern, but with the condition that this would revert to the imperial family if the duke died childless. Since the duke was quite old at that time and had no descendants, he initially hesitated to sign the contract. After a further dispute, this passage was deleted from the contract.
In 1537, the influential estates called to a state parliament in Nijmegen urged Duke Karl von Egmond to forego Geldern and Zutphen and to declare the young Prince Wilhelm V of Jülich-Kleve-Berg as his successor; he took over the office on January 27, 1538.
Wilhelm, who turned to reformatory innovations, had assured himself of French support by marrying thirteen-year-old Jeanne d'Albret , a niece of French King Francis I , in 1541 and was initially able to assert himself in Geldern. At the Regensburg Reichstag in 1541, however, the territories were awarded to Emperor Charles V. However, since Duke Wilhelm did not want to do without this, there was a dispute about the Geldrian succession . While the hoped-for French help for Wilhelm did not materialize, between August 17 and 20, 1543, Emperor Karl gathered 40,000 imperial soldiers near the archbishopric of Bonn. On August 23rd, parts of the troops penetrated the fortified Düren in order to loot and burn it. The city of Jülich was handed over to the enemy troops without a fight. Due to the military superiority, other fortresses of Geldern were also conquered and destroyed, so that Duke Wilhelm found himself in a hopeless situation. Thereupon he appeared on September 6th in the Emperor's camp near Venlo and humbly threw himself at Karl's feet. The contract was signed by Venlo on September 7th.
literature
- Wilhelm Crecelius : The Geldrische succession dispute between Emperor Charles V and Duke Wilhelm von Jülich, Berg and Cleve (1538–1543). In: Zeitschrift des Bergisches Geschichtsverein 23 (1887), pp. 50–155, here pp. 153–155 .
- Paul Heidrich: The Geldrische succession dispute 1537–1543. Brunnemann, Kassel 1896, pp. 105-109 (digitized from Google Books, another copy ).
- Franz Petri : Landscape and supra-landscape forces in the Habsburg-Klevian struggle for money and in the Peace of Venlo (1537–1543). In: Max Braubach , Franz Petri (Hrsg.): From history and regional studies. Research and Representation. Dedicated to Franz Steinbach on the occasion of his 65th birthday by his friends and students. Röhrscheid, Bonn 1960, pp. 92-113.
- AMJA Berkvens: “In what way het Tractaet van Venlo onderhalden.” The Tractaat van Venlo as fundamentele wet van Spaans en Oostenrijks Gelre 1580–1794 . In: Frank Keverling Buisman (ed.): Verdrag en Tractaat van Venlo. Herdenkingsbundel, 1543-1993 . Lost Hilversum 1993, ISBN 90-6550-371-4 , pp. 153-170.
- Nicolette Mout: The Netherlands and the Empire in the 16th Century (1512–1609) . In: Volker Press (ed.): Alternatives to the Imperial Constitution in the Early Modern Age? (Writings of the Historisches Kolleg, Colloquia, Volume 23; ISBN 3-486-56035-2 ) Oldenbourg, Munich 1995, pp. 143-168.