Catherine of Cleves (25 May 1417 – 10 February 1479) was Duchess of
Guelders by marriage to
Arnold, Duke of Guelders
Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen.
Life
Arnold was born in Egmond-Binnen, North Holland, the son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel.
On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, su ...
. She acted as regent of Guelders during the absence of her spouse in 1450. The
Hours of Catherine of Cleves was commissioned for her.
Life
Catherine was the daughter of
Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and
Marie of Burgundy. She was a niece of
Philip the Good.
Duchess and regent
Catherine lived with her parents until 1431, despite already having been married the year before. She had close ties with Philip of Burgundy, who was mistrusted by her husband. Catherine had her daughter
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 ...
raised at the Burgundian court. When her husband punished
Driel
Driel is a village in the municipality of Overbetuwe, approximately four kilometers southwest of Arnhem on the south bank of the Rhine, in the Netherlands.
History
On 21 September 1944, Driel was the drop zone of the Polish 1st Independent Para ...
, he lost support in his duchy. Catherine acted as intermediate between her husband and the
Estates of the realm
The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed an ...
. In 1450, Duke Arnold went on a pilgrimage to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and
Palestine. During his absence, Catherine acted as regent.
She supported her son
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 ...
when he took over power from his father.
Charles, Duke of Burgundy
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.
...
had Adolf taken capture in 1470, when he proved an unreliable ally to Burgundy. Catherine spent her last years in
Lobith, where she died in 1476.
Book of Hours
The
Hours of Catherine of Cleves was commissioned for her when she married
Arnold, Duke of Guelders
Arnold of Egmond (14 July 1410 – 23 February 1473) was Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen.
Life
Arnold was born in Egmond-Binnen, North Holland, the son of John II of Egmond and Maria van Arkel.
On 11 July 1423, Arnold, still a boy, su ...
, on 26 January 1430. It shows her
lineage, as well as herself in prayer. The hours had been lost for four hundred years before resurfacing in 1856. It is one of the most richly decorated books of its kind that is preserved.
Issue
Catherine and Arnold had:
*
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), who became Queen of Scotland by marriage to
James II
* 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 Guelders in 1477–1481.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine of Cleves
1417 births
1479 deaths
Medieval Dutch women
House of La Marck
House of Egmond
Dukes of Guelders
15th-century women rulers
15th-century women of the Holy Roman Empire