Eberhard I (–4 July 1308) was a German nobleman. He was Count of the Mark from 1277 until his death. He was the son of Engelbert I, Count of the Mark and Kunigunde of Blieskastel (died 1265), daughter of Count Henry I of Blieskastel. In 1277, Count Herman of Lohn abducted Eberhard's father Engelbert I, Count of the Mark near Tecklenburg and imprisoned him in the

Castle of Bredevoort The Bredevoort Castle () was a castle in the city of Bredevoort, Guelders in the Netherlands. History The earliest known mention of the castle dates from 1188 as "castrum Breidervort". On the forecourt of the castle developed a small city durin ...

, where he later died. In 1278 Eberhard took revenge and conquered the castle. From 1281, Eberhard formed an alliance with the Counts of Berg, Cleve and Jülich against the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift—the temporal posses ...

and gained the independence of the County of Mark from the Archbishop of Cologne after the victory in the

Battle of Worringen The Battle of Worringen was fought on 5 June 1288 near the town of Worringen (also spelled Woeringen), which is now part of Chorweiler, the northernmost borough (Stadtbezirk) of Cologne. It was the decisive battle of the War of the Limburg Succe ...

in 1288. He also obtained Brakel, Westhofen and

Waltrop Waltrop ( is a town in the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal, approximately 15 km east of Recklinghausen and 15 km north-west of Dortmund. ...

. Eberhard died 4 July 1308 and was buried in

Fröndenberg Fröndenberg (; Westphalian: ''Frönnenbiärg'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Fröndenberg is situated in the Ruhr valley, approx. 10 km south-east of the district capital Unna, near th ...

Monastery. Wilhelm Crecelius: Eberhard II., Graf von der Mark. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, S. 549–551.

Marriage and children

Eberhard married first about 29 January 1273 to Irmgard of Berg (c.1256–24 March 1294), daughter of

Adolf VII of Berg Adolf VII of Berg (also referred to as Adolf IV, especially in the Netherlands and in Germany) (c. 1220 – 22 April 1259) was the eldest son of Henry IV, Duke of Limburg and Irmgard of Berg. In 1247, Adolf succeeded his father as Count of Berg w ...

. They had seven children: * Engelbert II (c.1275–1328) * Adolph II of La Marck,

Prince-bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

(1278–1344) * Margaret (c.1280–after 14 August 1327), married in 1299 Gerhard of Katzenelnbogen (c.1270–1311/12) * Kunigunde († after 25 February 1343), married in 1320 Dietrich II of Heinsberg-Blankenburg († 1361) * Irmgard * Konrad (1291/94–1353), married Elisabeth of Cleves * Catharine, abbess of Froendenberg (born c.1293) Eberhard married second Maria of Looz and had: * Richarda, married John III of Reifferscheidt-Bedburg * Johanna, married Philip IV of Reifferscheidt-Wildenberg * Engelbert I, Lord of Loverval

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eberhard 01, Count of the Mark Counts of the Mark 1250s births 1308 deaths Year of birth uncertain