Edward (12 March 1336 – 24 August 1371) was the

duke of Guelders This article is about the rulers of the historical county and duchy of Guelders. Counts House of Wassenberg * before 1096–about 1129: Gerard I * about 1129–about 1131: Gerard II, son of Gerard I * about 1131–1182: Henry I, son of Gerar ...

and count of Zutphen from 1361 until 1371. He was the youngest son of Duke

Reginald II of Guelders Reginald II of Guelders ( nl, Reinoud), called "the Black" (c. 1295 – 12 October 1343), was Count of Guelders, and from 1339 onwards Duke of Guelders, and Zutphen, in the Low Countries, from 1326 to 1343. He was the son of Reginald I of Guelders ...

and his second wife,

Eleanor of Woodstock Eleanor of Woodstock (18 June 1318 – 22 April 1355) was an English princess and the duchess of Guelders by marriage to Reginald II of Guelders. She was regent as the guardian of their minor son Reginald III from 1343 until 1344. She was ...

, daughter of King Edward II of England. In 1350, with encouragement from his mother, Edward began a devastating civil war against his brother Reginald III for control of the Duchy of Guelders. Edward led the Bronkhorster (civil) faction which in 1361 in a battle at Tiel defeated the Heekeren (aristocratic) faction, led by Edward's incapable brother who was captured and imprisoned. Edward governed well and powerfully, despite the conditions against him. He allied himself with the bishops of Lüttich and with Jülich and Kleve. In 1371, his brother-in-law and supporter, Duke

William II of Jülich William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, got into a dispute with Duke

Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg Wenceslaus I (also ''Wenceslas'', ''Venceslas'', ''Wenzel'', or ''Václav'', often called Wenceslaus of Bohemia in chronicles) (25 February 1337 – 7 December 1383) was the first Duke of Luxembourg from 1354. He was the son of John the Blind, ...

. The dispute culminated in the

Battle of Baesweiler The Battle of Baesweiler (22 August 1371) was a conflict between the duke of Luxembourg-Brabant against the Duke of Jülich. Background Attacks on Brabant's commercial interests in the territory of the Duke of Jülich had almost caused war in 13 ...

in which William defeated Wenceslaus, but Edward was mortally wounded in the battle and died on 24 August 1371. He is buried in the Kloster Graefenthal. Upon Edward's death, his brother Reginald III regained the Duchy of Guelders but died shortly afterwards, on 4 December 1371. As neither Edward nor Reginald had children, another war of succession for Guelders began, with the Bronkhorster faction supporting Edward and Reginald's half-sister Maria, wife of William II of Jülich, and the Heerkeren faction supporting their half-sister Mathilde, wife of Count

John II of Blois John II ( – 19 May 1381) was a Franco-Dutch nobleman who ruled lands in both France and the Holy Roman Empire. He was the count of Blois and Dunois from 1372 until 1381, the lord of Avesnes, Schoonhoven, Gouda, Beaumont, Chimay and Waarde from ...

. In 1377, Emperor Charles IV awarded the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to Maria's son William of Jülich. After her total defeat in the Battle of Hönnepel on 24 March 1379, Mathilde renounced her claim to Guelders and Zutphen. Edward was betrothed in 1368 to

Katherine of Bavaria Katherine of Bavaria (c. 1361–1400 AD, Hattem), was the eldest child of Albert I, Duke of Bavaria and his first wife Margaret of Brieg. She was Duchess of Guelders and Jülich by her marriage to William I of Guelders and Jülich. Family Ka ...

(30 May 1361 – 10 November 1400, buried Kloster Monkhuizen), daughter of

Albert I, Duke of Bavaria Albert I, Duke of Lower Bavaria (german: Albrecht; 25 July 1336 – 13 December 1404), was a feudal ruler of the counties of Holland, Hainaut, and Zeeland in the Low Countries. Additionally, he held a portion of the Bavarian province of Strau ...

and Margaret of Brieg. Edward died when she was only 10 years old and Katherine subsequently married in 1379 to Edward's nephew, William of Jülich.

External links

Genealogie-Mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edward of Guelders Dukes of Guelders Counts of Zutphen 1336 births 1371 deaths House of Wassenberg