Adolf of Egmond (

Grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...

, 12 February 1438 –

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

, 27 June 1477) was a Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen from 1465 to 1471 and in 1477.

Life

Adolf was the son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves. In the battle of succession for

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) 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 present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

, he imprisoned in 1465 his own father and became Duke with the support of

Philip the Good Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...

, who also made him Knight in the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

. In 1468 he won the Battle of Straelen against Cleves, but

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

reinstated his father Arnold, and Adolf was imprisoned in

Hesdin Hesdin (; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in northern France. On 1 January 2025, it was merged into the new commune of Hesdin-la-Forêt. Geography The N39, from Arras to Montreuil ...

. After the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, Adolf was liberated by the Flemish. He died the same year at the head of a Flemish army besieging Tournai, after the States of Guelders had recognized him as Duke. His body was buried in

Tournai Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady (; ), or Tournai Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai, Belgium. It has been classified both as a Wallonia major heritage site since 1936 and as a World Heritage Site since ...

Family and issue

Adolf married Catherine of Bourbon (1440–1469), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, in 1463. They had twin children : *

Philippa Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend", from the Greek Philippos, which is derived from ''philein'', meaning to love and ''hippos'', meaning ''horse''. The English masculine form is Philip, which was form ...

(1467–1547), married in 1485

René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria ...

(1451–1508) *

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

(1467–1538), later Duke of Guelders, married in 1518 with Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1494–1572), daughter of

Henry I of Lüneburg Henry the Middle (15 September 1468 – 9 February 1532) , also known as “Heinrich der Mittlere” in German, was a member of the House of Welf and ruled as the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His official title was Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbütte ...

Ancestors

References

Sources

* * 1438 births 1477 deaths People from Grave, North Brabant House of Egmond Dukes of Guelders Knights of the Golden Fleece 15th-century nobility from the Holy Roman Empire 15th-century dukes in Europe Rebel princes {{Germany-duke-stub