Maria of Jülich-Berg
Encyclopedia
Maria of Jülich-Berg was born in Jülich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...

, the daughter of Wilhelm IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg
William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg
William IV of Jülich-Berg was the last ruler of the Duchy of Jülich-Berg.- Life :William was the son of Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg and Sophie of Saxe-Lauenburg. When his father died in 1475, William became Duke of Jülich-Berg.He married the rich Countess Elisabeth of Nassau-Saarbrücken in...

 and Sibylle of Brandenburg
Sibylle of Brandenburg
Sibylle of Brandenburg was a Princess of Brandenburg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Jülich and Duchess of Berg.- Life :...

.

Maria came from the line of German princesses that stretched back to Sybille of Brandenberg, Sophia of Saxony, and Adelaide of Teck. Such lineage, if not particularly impressive to the English, did at least recall one popular queen -- Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault, or, Philippe de Hainaut was the Queen consort of King Edward III of England. Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years...

, consort of Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

, who had pleaded mercy for the burghers at Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 in 1347.
Maria was no Isabella of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

; nor were the exciting ideas of the Renaissance in educating women, or at least princesses. Duchess Maria was a strict Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

. She was not subject to the liberal reforming that of which her father and husband were connected with. Maria was strict and believed in a strict upbringing for her daughters. Perhaps one of the many reasons her daughter Anne
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...

's husband Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 disliked her so much was the fact that Anne was not brought up as an educated noblewoman of the time in England. Anne did not possess the accomplishments that Henry VIII so longed for in a consort; music, literature, games, etc. Anne of Cleves was ill-equipped for the contentious, sophisticated world that lay outside her mother's lair.

Duchess Maria was unwilling when it came to the possibility of sending her daughter to England. It is quoted that in a later correspondence she loved her daughter so much that she 'loathe to suffer her to depart her'.

Maria became heiress to her father's estates of Jülich
Duchy of Jülich
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay left of the Rhine river between the Electorate of Cologne in the east and the Duchy of Limburg in the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital...

, Berg
Berg (state)
Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.-Ascent:...

 and Ravensberg after his death in 1511. In her marriage to John III, Duke of Cleves
John III, Duke of Cleves
John III the Peaceful, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark was a son of John II, Duke of Cleves and Matilda of Hesse, daughter of Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse.John III became Regent of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in 1521, and Lord of Ravensberg in 1528.John represented...

 in 1509, Maria's estates and titles were eventually merged with the Duchy of Cleves. John, who inherited the Duchy of Cleves-Mark in 1521, then became the first ruler of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, which would exist until 1666.

Marriage and Issue

She married John III, Duke of Cleves
John III, Duke of Cleves
John III the Peaceful, Duke of Cleves and Count of Mark was a son of John II, Duke of Cleves and Matilda of Hesse, daughter of Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse.John III became Regent of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg in 1521, and Lord of Ravensberg in 1528.John represented...

 in 1509, by whom she had three daughters and a son. Sybille
Sybille of Cleves
Sybille of Cleves was Electress consort of Saxony.She was the eldest daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves, and a sister of Anne of Cleves and Amalia of Cleves. Sybille's mother was Maria of Jülich-Berg .In September, 1526 Sybille married John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony...

 (1512–1554), William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (Wilhelm) (1516–1592), Amalia
Amalia of Cleves
Amalia of Cleves was a princess from the house of Von der Mark...

 (1517–1586), and Anne
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...

 (1515–1557) who was Queen consort of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540 to King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

.

Ancestry

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