William II ( – 25 June 1408) was born in Jülich, as the son of Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg, and Margaret, daughter and heiress of Otto IV, Count of Ravensberg, and Margaret of Berg.Walther Möller, ''Stammtafeln westdeutscher Adelsgeschlechter im Mittelalter'' (Darmstadt, 1922, reprint Verlag Degener & Co., 1995), Vol. 1, page 14. Upon his father's death in 1360, William became Count of Berg and Ravensberg, a title that his father had gained by marrying the heiress of Berg and Ravensberg. In 1380, King

Wenzel Wenzel is a male given name (long version Wenzeslaus) as the German and Old English form of the Czech given name Václav or Venceslav, meaning "praised with glory". Variations are Вячеслав (Ukrainian and Russian), Vencel (Hungarian), Wacła ...

elevated him to the rank of Duke, thus becoming the first Duke of Berg. William fought the counties of Mark and Cleves to prevent them from combining but in 1397 he was taken prisoner in the battle of Kleverhamm. He lost Remagen, Kaiserwerth and Sinzig to his nephew Adolf IV, Count of Kleve-Mark and due to these losses, his sons turned against him and imprisoned him in 1403/04. He ultimately forced them to submit and later supported his brother-in-law

Rupert, King of Germany Rupert of the Palatinate (german: Ruprecht von der Pfalz; 5 May 1352 – 18 May 1410), sometimes known as Robert of the Palatinate, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany from ...

against Guelders-Jülich and won the county of Blankenburg. William died on 25 June 1408 and is buried in the Abteikirche in Altenberg.

Family and children

On 28 September 1363, William married Anna of the Palatinate (1346 – 30 November 1415), daughter of

Rupert II, Elector Palatine Rupert II, Count Palatine of the Rhine () (12 May 1325, Amberg – 6 January 1398, Amberg). He was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach in 1390–1398. Life Rupert was the elder son of Adolf, Count Palatine of the ...

and Beatrice of Sicily. They had the following children: # Beatrice (c. 1364 – 16 May 1395), married in 1385

Rupert I, Elector Palatine Rupert I "the Red", Elector Palatine (; 9 June 1309, Wolfratshausen – 16 February 1390, Neustadt an der Weinstraße) was Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1353 to 1356, and Elector Palatine from 10 January 1356 to 16 February 1390. He was th ...

, his second wife, no issue # Margarete (c. 1364 – 18 July 1442), married in 1379 Otto I (the Evil), Duke of Brunswick-Göttingen (died 13 December 1394) # Rupert (died 29 July 1394), Bishop of Passau and

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

(died 14 July 1437), married Yolande de Bar and Elisabeth of Bavaria, ruled Ravensburg (1395-1403) and Berg (1408-1437) # Gerhard (died 22 October 1435), Archdeacon of Cologne #

William 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 Engl ...

(c. 1382–1428), married Adelheid of Tecklenburg, ruled Ravensberg (1403-1428)

References

External links

genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:William 02 of Berg People from Jülich Counts of Berg Counts of Ravensberg Lords of Ravenstein Dukes of Berg Year of birth uncertain 1340s births 1408 deaths House of Jülich