William I,
Duke of Bavaria
The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and Monarch, kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic States of Germany, state in th ...
-
Straubing
Straubing () is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held.
The city is located on the Danube form ...
(
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, 1330–1389,
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy (; pcd, L' Kénoé) is a commune and small town in the east of the Nord department of northern France. It was part of the historical province of French Hainaut. It had a keynote industry in shoemaking before the late 1940s, followed ...
), was the second son of
Emperor Louis IV
Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.
Louis' election as king of Germany in ...
and
Margaret II of Hainaut
Margaret II of Avesnes (1311 – 23 June 1356) was Countess of Hainaut and Countess of Holland (as Margaret I) from 1345 to 1356. She was Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Germany by marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian.
...
. He was also known as William V,
Count of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
, as William III,
Count of Hainaut
The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...
and as William IV,
Count of Zeeland
The County of Zeeland ( nl, Graafschap Zeeland) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries. It covered an area in the Scheldt and Meuse delta roughly corresponding to the modern Dutch province of Zeeland. The County of Zeeland d ...
.
Biography
In 1345 William's father was conferring Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland and Friesland upon his wife Margaret, and shortly later also upon their son William. After his father's death in 1347, William ruled
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, Holland and Hainaut together with his five brothers until 1349. With the first division of the
Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate o ...
possessions in 1349 he received Hainaut, Holland and
Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state.
Geography
Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau-W ...
together with his brothers
Stephen II and
Albert I. After the next division of Bavaria in 1353, he ruled together with his younger brother Albert I in
Bavaria-Straubing
Bavaria-Straubing denotes the widely scattered territorial inheritance in the Wittelsbach house of Bavaria that were governed by independent dukes of Bavaria-Straubing between 1353 and 1432; a map (''illustration'') of these marches and outliers ...
, Holland and Hainaut.
William had engaged in a long struggle with his mother Margaret, obtaining
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
and
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
from her in 1354, and
Hainaut on her death in 1356.
In 1350, the nobles of Holland asked Margaret to return to Holland again. She then
battled for the power in Holland and Hainaut for some years with her son William who refused to pay her alimony. The Cod league was formed on 23 May 1350 by a number of supporters of William. On 5 September the same year, the Hook league was formed. Soon afterwards, these factions clashed, and a civil war began.
Edward III of England
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...
, Margaret's brother-in-law through her sister
Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Strickla ...
, came to her aid. In May 1351 William lost the naval
Battle of Veere
The Battle of Veere was a small naval battle that took place in late May 1351 during the Hook and Cod wars.
Context
Just like the County of Holland, the County of Zeeland had been very restive after the death of the last male Avesnes count Wil ...
. A few weeks later, the Hooks and their English allies were defeated by William and the Cods in the
Battle of Zwartewaal
The Battle of Zwartewaal (or Battle near Vlaardingen) was a decisive naval battle during the Hook and Cod wars.
Context
The first phase of the Hook and Cod wars was fought between William I, Duke of Bavaria and his mother Margaret, Countess ...
, which ruined Margaret's cause. Edward III shortly afterwards changed sides, and the empress saw herself compelled (1354) to come to an understanding with her son, he being recognized as count of Holland and Zeeland, she of Hainaut. Margaret died two years later, leaving William in possession of the entire Holland-Hainaut inheritance (July 1356). William was married to Matilda ("Maud" in the English style) of Lancaster, sister to
Blanche of Lancaster
Blanche of Lancaster (25 March 1342 – 12 September 1368) was a member of the English royal House of Plantagenet and the daughter of the kingdom's wealthiest and most powerful peer, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster. She was the first w ...
.
In 1357, William began to show signs of
insanity
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
, going so far as to attack and kill one of his knights (Gerard van Wateringe) for no apparent reason, before he could be restrained. His brother Albert assumed the regency in Holland and Hainaut in 1358. William was confined to Castle Le Quesnoy for the remainder of his life.
Family and children
He married
Matilda of Lancaster
Maud of Lancaster (4 April 1340 – 10 April 1362), also known as Matilda, Countess of Hainault, was a 14th-century English noblewoman who married into the Bavarian ducal family.
The eldest daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster ...
, daughter of
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster (– 23 March 1361) was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling o ...
and
Isabel de Beaumont
Isabel de Beaumont, Duchess of Lancaster, of the House of Brienne ( – 1361) was an English noblewoman, being the youngest daughter and child of Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan and Alice Comyn.
Family
Isabel was born in about 1320. She ...
in London in 1352.
They had only one daughter, who died in 1356.
Also, he had illegitimate children:
# Wilhelm, married 1398 Lisbeth Hughe.
# Elisabeth, married Brustijn van Herwijnen, lord of
Stavenisse
Stavenisse is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Tholen, and lies about west of Bergen op Zoom.
History
The village was first mentioned in 1206 as Stauenesse, and is a combination of headland and wo ...
.
He was succeeded by his brother
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Alber ...
in 1389.
See also
*
Counts of Hainaut family tree
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:William I, Duke of Bavaria
1330 births
1389 deaths
People of the Hook and Cod wars
14th-century dukes of Bavaria
People from Frankfurt
House of Wittelsbach
Counts of Hainaut
Counts of Holland
5th Earl of Leicester
14th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire
Sons of emperors
Children of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Sons of kings