Charles II (9 November 1467 – 30 June 1538) was a member of the

House of Egmond The House of Egmond or Egmont (French language, French: ''Maison d'Egmond'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis Egmond'') is named after the Netherlands, Dutch town of Egmond aan den Hoef, Egmond, province of North Holland, and played an important role ...

who ruled as

Duke of Guelders Guelders is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Counts House of Wassenberg * before 1096–about 1129: Gerard I * about 1129–about 1131: Gerard II, son of Gerard I * about 1131–11 ...

and

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 became a ...

from 1492 until his death. He had a principal role in the Frisian peasant rebellion and the

Guelders Wars The Guelders Wars (, German: ''Geldrische Erbfolgekriege'') were a series of conflicts in the Low Countries between the Duke of Burgundy, who controlled Holland, Flanders, Brabant, and Hainaut on the one side, and Charles, Duke of Guelders, ...

Life

Charles was the son of Adolf of Egmond and Catherine of Bourbon. He born either at

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

or at

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 ...

, and raised at the Burgundian court of

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, ...

, who had bought the duchy of Guelders from Adolf of Egmond in 1473. Charles fought in several battles against the armies of

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Du ...

, until he was captured in the

Battle of Béthune A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

in 1487. King Maximilian subsequently managed to acquire the Burgundian lands for the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s by marriage. In 1492, the citizens of Guelders, disenchanted with Maximilian's rule,

ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...

ed Charles and recognized him as their Duke. As Duke his regent was his aunt

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

. Charles was supported by the French King, but in 1505, Guelders was regained by King Maximilian's son

Philip the Handsome Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a brief ...

. Charles had to accompany Philip to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to attend Philip's coronation as King of Castile but at

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Charles managed to escape. Shortly afterwards, Philip died in Spain and by July 1513 Charles had regained control over the whole of Guelders. In his conflict with the Habsburgs, Charles also became a major player behind the scenes of the Frisian peasant rebellion and at first financially supported the rebel leader

Pier Gerlofs Donia Pier Gerlofs Donia ( – 28 October 1520) was a Frisian farmer, rebel leader, and pirate. He is best known by his West Frisian nickname ''Grutte Pier'' ('Big Pier'; in the pre-1980 West Frisian spelling written as ''Greate Pier''), or by the D ...

. After the tides turned against the rebels, Charles stopped his support and switched sides together with his military commander

Maarten van Rossum Maarten van Rossum ( 1478 – June 7, 1555) was a military tactician of the duchy of Guelders who became field marshal in the service of Charles, Duke of Guelders. He was greatly feared outside his home country for the ruthless manner in wh ...

. In the

Treaty of Gorinchem The Treaty of Gorinchem was signed in Gorinchem on 20 October 1528 between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Duke Charles of Guelders during the Guelders Wars. Based on the terms of the accord, the Emperor acknowledged Duke Charles' control of Gue ...

(1528),

Emperor Charles Emperor Charles or Emperor Karl may refer to: * Charlemagne (742–814), first Holy Roman Emperor * Charles the Bald (823–877), counted as Emperor Charles II * Charles the Fat (839–888), counted as Emperor Charles III * Charles IV, Holy Roman E ...

, son of Philip the Handsome, proposed to recognize Charles of Egmond as Duke of Guelders under the condition that he would inherit the Duchy should the Duke die without issue. The Duke, who at the time did not have any children, delayed signing the treaty. Another battle ensued, after which the passage was removed from the treaty. In 1536 there was finally peace between Guelders and Burgundy with the

Treaty of Grave The Peace of Grave was signed on December 10, 1536, during the Guelders Wars between Charles II, Duke of Guelders and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. In the treaty, Charles of Guelders handed over the City of Groningen, the Ommelanden and Drenthe ...

. Charles died at Arnhem, and is buried in the St. Eusebius Church there.

Family

In 1519, Charles married young

Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1230 – 27 May 1266) was Queen of the Romans, Countess of Holland, and Countess of Zeeland as the wife of William II of Holland. Biography Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg was born in 1230 to Otto I, Du ...

(1494–1572). The marriage remained childless. Charles however fathered several illegitimate children. His only legitimate (twin) sister,

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), survived him and died during the reign of her great-grandson,

Charles III, Duke of Lorraine Charles III (18 February 1543 – 14 May 1608), known as ''the Great'', was Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Francis I, Duke of Lorraine, and Christina of Denmark. In 1545, his father died, a ...

(1543–1608). Wapen_van_Egmont.svg, Coat of Arms Graf Karel van Gelre vanuit het zuiden - Arnhem - 20024757 - RCE.jpg, Tomb

Ancestors

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 02, Duke of Guelders 1467 births 1538 deaths People from Grave, North Brabant House of Egmond Dukes of Guelders Dutch nobility 15th-century dukes in Europe