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William the Rich
Portrait c. 1554
Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
Reign	6 February 1539 – 5 January 1592
Predecessor	John III
Successor	Johann Wilhelm
Born	28 July 1516 Düsseldorf, Duchy of Berg
Died	5 January 1592(1592-01-05) (aged 75) Düsseldorf, Duchy of Berg
Burial	Collegiate Church of St. Lambertus, Düsseldorf
Spouses	Joan III of Navarre ​ ​(m. 1541; ann. 1545)​ Archduchess Maria of Austria ​ ​(m. 1546; died 1581)​
Issue	Marie Eleonore, Duchess of Prussia Anna, Countess Palatine of Neuburg Magdalene, Countess Palatine of Zweibrücken Karl Friedrich of Jülich-Cleves-Berg Sibylle, Margravine of Burgau Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
House	La Marck
Father	John III, Duke of Cleves
Mother	Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg

William of Jülich-Cleves-Berge (William I of Cleves, William V of Jülich-Berg) (German: Wilhelm der Reiche; 28 July 1516 – 5 January 1592) was a Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1539–1592). William was born in and died in Düsseldorf. He was the only son of John III, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, and Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Berg. William took over rule of his father's estates (the Duchy of Cleves and the County of Mark) upon his death in 1539. Despite his mother having lived until 1543, William also became the Duke of Berg and Jülich and the Count of Ravensberg.

Life

Early life

William's humanistic education was headed by Konrad Heresbach. in which he was taught Latin and French. William in turn built a humanistic gymnasium in Dusseldorf in 1545.

Marriage plans and the Duchy of Guelders

Around 1530-32 a marriage between the young prince and the English princess Mary Tudor was tentatively suggested and then revived in 1538 with Mary's father Henry VIIIs interest in Williams sister Anne, but the marriage came to nothing even though the marriage between Anne and Henry went ahead.

Yet another match was discussed in 1535, when Anna of Lorraine was put forth as a possible candidate. Both William and Anna were descendants of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves.As Annas grandmother Philippa of Guelders was the only sibling of the childless Charles II ,Duke of Guelders,this marriage would have seen Wilhelm inheriting the Duchy of Guelders when the duke passed away. The match between William and Anna never came to fruition, and his claim on Guelders was dubious since the ancient rights to the duchy which the House of Cleves formerly claimed had been already sold to the Dukes of Burgundy; of which Charles V was the heir. But after the dukes death in 1538 William travelee to Njimegen and was accepted by the Dukes councillors who preferred the young duke over the dukes own chosen sucessor Francis I of France.

From 1538 to 1543, William held the Duchy of Guelders, as successor of his distant relatives, the Egmond dukes. Emperor Charles V claimed this duchy for himself as the dukes had sold their right of heritage, and William tried to hold on to it. William thought make a match with Christina of Denmark,niece of Charles V. Though the match was initially supported by Christinas aunt ,the poweful Mary of Hungary she withdrew her support as it was neither her or the emperors wish that William should retain Guelders. Still holding out for the marriage with Christina, William waa told he could marry Christina if he only gave up Guelders. He was even offered Denmark wich once ruled by Christinas father Christian II, before he had been overthrown by his brother,but William refused. William soon understood it was not meant to be and instead angrily left the Habsburg court and told Charles V. that he would take a French wife.

First marriage

He made a treaty with the King of France and married Jeanne d'Albret against her will, and with this backup dared to challenge the Emperor. All too soon he learned that the French did not lift a finger to help him, and he was overwhelmed and had to surrender. In accordance with the Treaty of Venlo (1543) that was the result of this war, Guelders and the County of Zutphen were transferred to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, combining them with the Habsburg Netherlands.

William then tried to strengthen his inherited territories and launched an impressive development project for the most important cities. The three duchies all got new main fortresses as major strongpoints, for the older medieval fortifications had proved to be no match against the Imperial artillery. The cities of Jülich, Düsseldorf and Orsoy became fortresses for the duchies of Jülich, Berg and Cleves respectively, and Jülich and Düsseldorf were turned into impressive residences. For this task, the renowned Italian architect Alessandro Pasqualini from Bologna was hired, who had already made some impressive display of his craft in the Netherlands. He made the plans for the fortifications and palaces, of which some traces still remain, especially at Jülich where the citadel (built 1548–1580) is a major landmark, with parts of the Renaissance palace still standing.

William's sister Anne of Cleves was, for six months, the fourth wife of King Henry VIII of England. In 1553 William hearing from a relative that had visited Anne that there was trouble in his sisters household caused by three servants of Cleve origin; Jasper Brockehouse, his wife and another named Otho Wyllik he told her to dismiss them which Anne refused to do. William then in 1556 wrote to Annes step-daughter Mary I of England accusing Gertrude Brockehouse of having had "by her marvelous impostures and incantations" driven Anne mad and asked for Mary's help to oust them from Annes household. Finding little help from the queen William instead contacted her husband Philip II of Spain who was more forthcoming and had the servants interrogated by the Privy Council who subsequently exiled the servants from England.

Suffering from a recurring fever Williams health began to deteriorate even further around 1561 when he had a convulsive attack (possibly a stroke) and he was treated by the court physician Johann Weyer. The influence of Weyer who was sceptical of the supernatural and witch persecutions has been thought to explain the rather low number of witchcraft trials in the region.

While William himself was a Catholic he was like his father rather indifferent about enforcing religious matters on his subjects He attempted to uphold the Erasmian church, but did little to stop Lutheranism from spreading through the populace. After 1554, William appointed a Lutheran preacher to educate his sons.

Furthermore his unmarried sister Amalia who lived at court and helped to raise his daughters was a fervent Lutheran. Hoping to quell this by he married off the eldest Maria Eleonora to keep her from influencing her younger sisters, to the protestant duke ,Albert Frederick,Duke of Prussia.

All of Williams daughters would profess to be lutherans, this worried the papal ambassador who wanted to prevent Protestant rule over the region. He suggested that they be sent to their very Catholic devout maternal aunt Anna in Munich or that they be given over in the custody of a monastery. William however refused to do so.

He did however try to marry them off to other Catholic princes but his daughters held their ground and refused to contemplate such marriages and therefore the five eldest daughters were all married to Protestant princes. The only one who reverted to Catholicism was the youngest; Sibylla.

In 1581,his wife the Archduchess Maria passed away at Hambach castle after eight days of illness ;with William and daughter Sibylla attending her.

Death

William died on 5 January 1592 and his body was laid to rest in St. Lambertus in Düsseldorf.

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Marriages and descendants

William married Jeanne d'Albret (1528–1572), heiress of Navarre as the daughter of King Henry II of Navarre and his wife Margaret of Valois-Angoulême, on 14 June 1541 when she was just 12 years old, but this political marriage was later annulled by papal dispensation on 12 October 1545.

William married Maria of Austria (1531–1581), daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, on 18 July 1546 and they had the following children:

1. Marie Eleonore (25 June 1550 – 1608), married Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia.
2. Anna (1 March 1552 – 1632), married Philipp Ludwig, Count Palatine of Neuburg.
3. Magdalene (1553–1633), married John I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (brother of Philip Louis)
4. Karl Friedrich (1555–1575), Hereditary Prince; he died 20 years old.
5. Elizabeth (1556–1561)
6. Sibylle (1557–1627), married Charles, Margrave of Burgau, a morganatic son of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and Philippine Welser
7. Johann Wilhelm (28 May 1562 – 25 March 1609), Bishop of Münster, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Count de la Marck, Count of Ravensberg, Lord of Ravenstein. He was first married in 1585 to Jakobea of Baden (died 1597), daughter of Philibert, Margrave of Baden-Baden. He was secondly married to Antonia of Lorraine (died 1610) daughter of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine.

Ancestry

References

1. Ward, Prothero & Leathes 1934, p. table 38.
2. ^ Bietenholz & Deutscher 2003, p. 316.
3. ^ Ward 1905, p. 716.

Sources

• Bietenholz, Peter G.; Deutscher, Thomas Brian, eds. (2003). Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation. Vol. 1–3. University of Toronto Press.
• Ward, A.W. (1905). "The Empire under Rudolf II". In Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley (eds.). The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. III. Cambridge at the University Press.
• Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley, eds. (1934). The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. XIII. Cambridge at the University Press.

Further reading

• Darsie, Heather R. (2023). Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445699424.

• House of Berg
• Dukes of Guelders
• Dukes of Jülich
• House of La Marck
• Dukes of Cleves
• Dukes of Berg
• Counts of the Mark
• Nobility from Düsseldorf
• 1516 births
• 1592 deaths