Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was

Duke of Guelders This article is about the rulers of the historical county and duchy of Guelders. Counts House of Wassenberg * before 1096–about 1129: Gerard I * about 1129–about 1131: Gerard II, son of Gerard I * about 1131–1182: Henry I, son of Gera ...

Count of Zutphen The title of Count of Zutphen historically belonged to the ruler of the Dutch province of Gelderland ( Zutphen being one of the major cities in the province during the medieval period). The lordship was a vassal title before it eventually become ...

Life

Arnold was born in

Egmond-Binnen Egmond-Binnen () is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about southwest of Alkmaar. History The village was first mentioned in 922 as Ekmunde. The etymology is unknown. The m ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, the son of John II of Egmond and

Maria van Arkel Maria van Arkel (c. 1385 – 19 July 1415) was the only daughter and heiress of Lord John V of Arkel and Joanna of Jülich. She inherited the title to Gelderland from her maternal uncle, Duke Reginald IV, and her son became Arnold, Duke of Geld ...

. On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, succeeded Duke Reinald IV. Arnold was the grandson of Reinald's sister, Johanna. Although the

Emperor Sigismund Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia ('' jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in ...

had invested the Duke of Berg with the duchy of Gelders, Arnold retained the confidence of the Estates by enlarging their privileges, and enjoyed the support of Duke Philip of Burgundy. Arnold was betrothed, and afterwards united in marriage to Catherine of Cleves, a niece of Philip of Burgundy. Subsequently, however, Duke Arnold fell out with his ally as to the succession to the see of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, whereupon Philip joined with the four chief towns of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) 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 pr ...

in the successful attempt of Arnold's son Adolf to substitute his own for his father's authority. Arnold gave up his claim on Jülich only after his defeat in 1444 by

Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg ( – 19 August 1475) was the son of William VIII of Jülich, Count of Ravensberg and Adelheid of Tecklenburg. Gerhard was the second duke of the combined Duchy of Jülich-Berg but the 7th Gerhard in the House ...

. When

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

became

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

in 1467, after rejecting a compromise, Adolph was thrown into prison. Arnold, against the will of the towns and the law of the land, pledged his duchy to Charles for 300,000 Rhenish florins (1471). Upon Arnold's death two years later at

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

, Charles took possession of the duchy, starting a series of

wars War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

that would last more than 70 years.

Family and children

Arnold was married in

Cleves Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

on 26 January 1430 to

Catherine of Cleves (1417–1479) Catherine of Cleves (25 May 1417 – 10 February 1479) was Duchess of Guelders by marriage to Arnold, Duke of Guelders. She acted as regent of Guelders during the absence of her spouse in 1450. The Hours of Catherine of Cleves was commissione ...

, daughter of

Adolph IV, Duke of Cleves 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 ...

and Marie of Burgundy. Their children were: *

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

(c. 1431–1463), married 3 July 1449 to James II,

King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...

* William (born c. 1434), died young * Margaret (c. 1436–1486,

Simmern Simmern (; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of roughly 7,600 inhabitants (2013) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen. In the Rhinelan ...

), married on 16 August 1454 to Frederick I, Count of Palatine-Simmern. *

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 ...

(1438–1477) *

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

(1439–1496), Regent of Geldern in 1477–1481. She was married possibly secretly in 1464 to

Louis de Bourbon Louis de Bourbon may refer to: * Louis I, Duke of Bourbon (1279 – 1342), Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche, and the first Duke of Bourbon * Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, called the Good (1337 – 1410), third Duke of Bourbon * Louis de ...

Bishop of Liège A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Ancestors

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Duke of Guelders 1410 births 1473 deaths House of Egmond Dukes of Guelders People from Egmond 15th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire