William IV of Egmont (''Dutch'': Willem van Egmond) (26 January 1412 – 19 January 1483) was Lord of Egmond, IJsselstein, Schoonderwoerd and Haastrecht and

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in pr ...

Biography

William was a son of

John II, Lord of Egmond John II, Lord of Egmond ( – 4 January 1451) was the son of Arnold I of Egmond (d. 9 April 1409, the son of John I and Guida D'Armstall) and Jolanthe of Leiningen (d. 24 April 1434, the daughter of Frederick VIII of Leningen and Jolanthe of J ...

and

Maria van Arkel Maria van Arkel (c. 1385 – 19 July 1415) was the only daughter and heiress of Lord John V 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 Gelder ...

, and a younger brother of

Arnold, Duke of Gelderland Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen. Life Arnold was born in Egmond-Binnen, North Holland, the son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel. On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, suc ...

.
He travelled with his brothers to the Holy Land (1458–1464) and was received in Rome by Pope Pius II. William stayed most of the time in Guelders, where he supported his brother against his nephew

Adolf of Egmond Adolf of Egmond (Grave, February 12, 1438 – Tournai, June 27, 1477) was a Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen from 1465–1471 and in 1477. Life Adolf was the son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves. In the battle of succes ...

. After the incarceration of his brother, William led the pro-Burgundy party. When Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy took over power in Guelders in 1473, he made William Stadtholder. In 1477 Mary of Burgundy included William in her Great Council of Mechelen and made him Knight in the order of the Golden Fleece one year later.

Marriage and children

On 22 January 1437 William married Walburga of Meurs, Lady of Baer and Lathum, daughter of Frederick IV, Count of Moers (†1448), and Engelberta of Cleves, by whom he had 4 daughters and 3 sons: *

John III of Egmont John III of Egmont (or Egmond) (Hattem, 3 April 1438 – Egmond, 21 August 1516) was first Count of Egmont, Lord of Baer, Lathum, Hoogwoude, Aarstwoude, Purmerend, Purmerland and Ilpendam, and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland.< ...

, Count of Egmond, stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland; *

Frederik of Egmont Frederik of Egmont (ca. 1440–1521) was count of Buren and Leerdam, Lord of IJsselstein and councilor of Charles the Bold and Maximilian I. Frederik was the second son of William II of Egmont and Walburga of Meurs. Together with his brothers, ...

, Count of Buren and Leerdam, Lord of IJsselstein; *

William of Egmont 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 Eng ...

, stadtholder of Guelders. *Anna, married Bernard van Bentheim *Elisabeth, married Gijsbrecht van Bronckhorst *Walburgia, a nun *Margaretha, married Jan van Merode Besides the children from his marriage Van Egmont had four children by different women: *Nicholas of Egmond, was captured on the Valkhof 1478-1481 together with his half-brothers Frederick and William. *Hendrik van Egmond ( -1511), whose mother was Aleid Kreijnck *Frederik van Egmond *Hendrika van Egmond, she married Willem van Tuyl Bulcke Steijn (-1449). He was a son of Willem Willemsz of Tuyll and Maggie Mate Nesse, daughter of Adriaen van Nesse Mate (1385-1435) He is buried next to his brother, Duke Arnold of Gelderland. {{DEFAULTSORT:William 04, Lord of Egmont 1412 births 1483 deaths William 4 Knights of the Golden Fleece 15th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire