William of Werle (before 1393 or 1394 – 8 September 1436), was co-regent of

Werle {{Infobox country , native_name = ''Herrschaft Werle'' ( de) , conventional_long_name = Lordship of Werle , common_name = Werle , era = Middle Ages , status = Vassal , empire = ...

from 1418 to 1425, then the sole ruler from 1425 until his death. After 1426, he called himself "Prince of the Wends". He was a son of

Lorenz of Werle Lorenz, Lord of Werle-Güstrow (between 1338 and 1340 – between 24 February 1393 and 6 May 1394) was Lord of Werle-Güstrow from 1360 to 1393 (or 1394). He was the eldest son of Nicholas III, Lord of Werle-Güstrow and Agnes of Mecklenbu ...

-Güstrow and his wife Matilda of Werle-Goldberg.

Life

After the death of his father

Lorenz Lorenz is an originally German name derived from the Roman surname Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum". Given name People with the given name Lorenz include: * Prince Lorenz of Belgium (born 1955), member of the Belgian royal family by h ...

in 1393 or 1394, William's older brother Balthasar ruled Werle-Güstrow alone until William became co-regent in 1418. When Balthasar died on 5 April 1421, William became the sole ruler of Werle-Güstrow. When

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

of Werle-Waren died in 1425, he became ruler of all of Werle. After 1426, he styled himself "Prince of the Wends, Lord of Güstrow, Waren and Werle".

Marriage and issue

William first married in 1422 to Anna of Anhalt (daughter of Albert IV, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen), who died in 1426.Martin Wehrmann: ''Genealogie des pommerschen Herzogshauses'', Verlag Leon Sauniers Buchhandlung, Stettin, 1937, pp. 101–102 He then married Sophie of Pomerania, the sister of Duke Barnim VIII of Pomerania. With her he had one child, Catherine of Werle, who married Duke Ulrich II of Mecklenburg-Stargard. With the consent of his cousins, Catherine's uncle Barnim VII mortgaged the territories of Barth,

Zingst Zingst ( Polabian ''Sgoni'') is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. Th ...

and

Damgarten Ribnitz-Damgarten () is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated on Lake Ribnitz (''Ribnitzer See''). Ribnitz-Damgarten is in the west of the district Vorpommern-Rügen. The border between the historical regions of Mecklenburg and P ...

for 20,000 guilders for Catherine's dowry. With the death of William, the Werle line died out in the male line, and the principality of Werle was returned to the

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

. The rulers of Mecklenburg kept using the title of "Prince of the Wends" until the German monarchy was abolished in 1918.

Footnotes

External links

Biographical data of Wilhelm

{{DEFAULTSORT:William of Werle House of Mecklenburg Lords of Werle 15th-century German people 1436 deaths Year of birth uncertain