Venlo Treaty

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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

Duke Wilhelm V throws himself humbly at Karl's feet
Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich-Kleve-Berg. Engraving by Heinrich Aldegrever 1540
Emperor Karl V (portrait of Christoph Amberger , around 1532)

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