Reginald III (french: Rainaud or ''Renaud'', known as "The Fat") (13 May 1333 – 4 December 1371) was

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 Gera ...

and

Count of Zutphen The title of Count of Zutphen historically belonged to the ruler of the Dutch province of Gelderland ( Zutphen being one of the major cities in the province during the medieval period). The lordship was a vassal title before it eventually become ...

from 1343 to 1361, and again in 1371. He was the son of Reginald II of Guelders and of

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

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

. With the death of his father in 1343, his mother held the regency until 1344. From 1350, his brother Edward asserted his rights and a quarrel of succession broke out between the two brothers until 1361. Reginald was overcome in

Tiel Tiel () is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands. The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river to the South and the North, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to the East. Tiel comprises the population centres Kapel- ...

and was imprisoned in the castle of Nijenbeek. There he became so large that he could not have left, even if the door had remained open—hence his appellation "The Fat". Edward died on 24 August 1371, having been mortally wounded 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 ...

, and Reginald was released (according to the legend, the walls had to be cut away so he could leave); he held the ducal throne for only a short period, dying a few months later. He was buried at Graefenthal Abbey. As he did not have a legitimate child, the succession passed to his sisters: Mathilde (also, Machteld), who was married to

John II, Count 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 ...

, and

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, wife of William II of Jülich and mother to William I of Guelders and Jülich, on whose behalf she claimed the throne of Guelders. The sisters and their respective followers (the ''Heeckerens'', from the party led by families of Van Heeckeren and their relatives, the

Van Rechteren The House of Rechteren (also van Rechteren-Limpurg) is the name of an old noble family belonging to the Dutch and German nobility. The German branch of Countsvon Rechteren-Limpurg-Speckfeld has been mediatised. History The family was already no ...

s, supported Mathilde, while the faction known as the ''Bronkhorsters'' followed Maria) fought for the duchy of Guelders in the War of the Succession of Guelders.

Marriage and children

He married, in

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

on 1 July 1347, Marie of Brabant (1325–1399), lady of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgian municipality and city located in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. In 2021, Turnhout had a total population of 45,874. The total area is . The agglomeration, ho ...

, daughter of John III, Duke of Brabant and Marie d'Evreux. They did not have children, but Reginald had an illegitimate son, Johan (Jan) of Hattem, and an illegitimate daughter, Ponte of Guelders, who married Johan van Groesbeek (d. 1428), lord of

Heumen Heumen () is a municipality and a village in the eastern Netherlands. Population centres *Heumen * Malden (administrative centre) *Molenhoek (partly) *Nederasselt *Overasselt Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Heumen, J ...

and Malden.

References

Sources

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reginald 03 Of Guelders Dukes of Guelders 1333 births 1371 deaths House of Wassenberg 14th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire