Otto, Lord of Arkel ( – 26 March or 1 April 1396Marinus Jacobus Waale (1990), ''De Arkelse oorlog,1401-1412: een politieke, krijgskundige en economische analyse'', Uitgeverij Verloren, Hilversum, 1990, p. 46-47
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Arkel Arkel is a town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. A part of the municipality of Molenlanden, it lies about 3 km north of Gorinchem. Arkel is a former municipality; in 1986 it became part of Giessenlanden. In 2017, the village o ...

from 6 May 1360 until his death.

Life

He was a son of John IV and his wife, Irmengard of Cleves. Otto was born as his parents' second son, after his elder brother John, who died during a tournament in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

in 1352. During his reign, he further extended the family possessions: he acquired the Lordship of

Haastrecht Haastrecht is a town on the Hollandse IJssel river in the Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a commun ...

again, and in 1379, he acquired Liesveld. Otto became an advisor to Count

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 ...

of Holland. Albert claimed the

County of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves (german: Herzogtum Kleve; nl, Hertogdom Kleef) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the medieval . It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and ...

, after

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, the last count, died. However, the Emperor gave Cleves to Adolph II of the Marck. This caused a lasting animosity between the Houses of Arkel and La Marck. In 1382, Otto granted

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The municipality of Gorinchem al ...

Hagestein Hagestein is a village and former city in the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden, Utrecht, Netherlands, on the Lek River, about 2 km east of Vianen. It received city rights in 1382. Hagestein was destroyed in 1405 by the Count of Holland and t ...

and

Leerdam Leerdam () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The municipality was merged with the municipalities of Vianen and Zederik on 1 January 2019. The name of the new municipality is Vijfheerenlan ...

. In the following years, Otto tried to combine Hagestein Castle and the village of Gasperde and create a new town out of this combination. This was triggered by the Lords of Vianen, who were expanding their territory to the south-west, by annexing Noordeloos and Meerkerk. This isolated some manors Arkel owned in this area. Also, the Lords of Vianen sided with the Hooks.

Marriage and issue

Otto married in 1360 in Deventer to Elisabeth de Bar (d. 1410), daughter and heiress of Theobald of Bar-Pierrepont. They had one son: * John V (1362-1428), succeeded Otto as Lord of Arkel. Otto's illegitimate sons: * Hendrick of Nyenstein * John, the bastard of Arkel (d. 1405) * John of Ravestein

Footnotes

14th-century births Year of birth unknown 1396 deaths Lords of Arkel People from South Holland 14th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire {{Netherlands-bio-stub