Arnold, Duke of Guelders
Encyclopedia
Arnold of Egmond is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
– 23 February 1473, Grave) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen
Count of Zutphen
The title of Count of Zutphen historically belonged to the ruler of the Dutch province of Gelderland ....
. He was son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel
Maria van Arkel
Maria van Arkel was the only daughter and heiress of Count John XII of Arkel and Joanna of Jülich. She inherited the title to Gelderland from her maternal uncle, Duke Reginald IV, and her son became Arnold, Duke of Gelderland...
.
Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich
Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich aka Reginald IV was the son of William II, Duke of Jülich and Maria of Guelders, daughter of Reinald II, Duke of Guelders....
. Arnold was the grandson of Reinald's sister, Johanna. Although the Emperor Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
had invested the Duke of Berg with the duchy of Gelders, Arnold retained the confidence of the Estates by enlarging their privileges, and enjoyed the support of Duke Philip of Burgundy
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy
Philip the Good KG , also Philip III, Duke of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty . During his reign Burgundy reached the height of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading center of the arts...
. Arnold was betrothed, and afterwards united in marriage to Catherine of Cleves
Catherine of Cleves (1417-1479)
Catherine was Duchess of Guelders. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves was commissioned for her.-Family:Catherine was the daughter of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and Marie of Burgundy. She was a niece of Philip the Good.-Book of Hours:...
née Valois, a niece of Philip of Burgundy. Subsequently, however, Duke Arnold fell out with his ally as to the succession to the see of Utrecht
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht
The Archdiocese of Utrecht is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The archdiocese is the metropolitan for 6 suffragans, the dioceses of Breda, Groningen-Leeuwarden, Haarlem-Amsterdam, Roermond, Rotterdam, and 's-Hertogenbosch....
; whereupon Philip joined with the four chief towns of Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
in the successful attempt of Arnold's son Adolf to substitute his own for his father's authority. When Charles the Bold became Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
in 1467, after rejecting a compromise, Adolph was thrown into prison. Arnold, against the will of the towns and the law of the land, pledged his duchy to Charles for 300,000 Rhenish florins (1471). Upon Arnold's death two years later, Charles took possession of the duchy.
Family and children
He was married in Cleves on 26 January 1430 to Catherine of Cleves (1417-1479)Catherine of Cleves (1417-1479)
Catherine was Duchess of Guelders. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves was commissioned for her.-Family:Catherine was the daughter of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and Marie of Burgundy. She was a niece of Philip the Good.-Book of Hours:...
, daughter of Adolph IV, Duke of Cleves and Marie of Burgundy
Marie of Burgundy, Duchess of Cleves
Marie of Burgundy, Duchess of Cleves was the second child of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria, and an elder sister of Philip the Good. Born in Dijon, she became the second wife of Adolph, Count of Mark in May 1415. He was made the 1st Duke of Cleves in 1417...
and great-aunt of Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
. Their children were:
- MaryMary of GueldersMary of Guelders was the Queen Consort of Scotland as the wife of King James II of Scotland. She served as Regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463.-Background:...
(c. 1431–1463), married 3 July 1449 to James IIJames II of ScotlandJames II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
, King of Scots - William (born c. 1434), died young
- Margaret (c. 1436–1486, SimmernSimmernSimmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
), married on 16 August 1454 to Frederick I, Count of Palatine-SimmernFrederick I of Pfalz-SimmernFrederick I, the Hunsrücker was the Count Palatine of Simmern from 1459 until 1480....
. - AdolfAdolf, Duke of GueldersAdolf of Egmond was a Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen from 1465–1471 and in 1477.He was the son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves....
(1438–1477) - Catherine (1439 – 1496), Regent of Geldern in 1477–1481. She was married secretly in 1464 to Louis de BourbonLouis de Bourbon, Bishop of LiègeLouis de Bourbon was Prince-Bishop of Liège from 1456. He was brought up and educated by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, who supported him for ten years at the University of Louvain.-Conflict over the bishopric:...
, Bishop of Liège.