Gerhard, Count Of Mark

Gerhard, Count zur Mark (1378–1461) was the de facto ruler of the

County of Mark The County of Mark (, colloquially known as ) was a county and Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay south of Lippe (river), Lippe river on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme a ...

between 1430 and 1461. Dietrich was the third son of Count

Adolf III of the Marck Adolph III of the Marck (German: ''Adolf III von der Mark''; – 1394) was the Prince-Bishop of Münster (as Adolph) from 1357 to 1363, the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (as Adolph II) in 1363, the Count of Cleves (as Adolph I) from 1368 to 139 ...

and

Margaret of Jülich Margaret of Jülich ( – 10 October 1425) was a daughter of Duke Gerhard VI of Jülich and his wife, Margaret of Ravensberg (1315–1389). In 1369, she married Adolf III of the Marck. She had sixteen children with him, at least five of ...

. His father had acquired the County of Cleves in 1368 and given this title to his eldest son

Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...

. The second son

Dietrich Dietrich () is an ancient German name meaning "ruler of the people", but also "keeper of the keys" or "lockpick" (either the tool or the profession). Given name * Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg (c. 1398–1440) * Thierry of Alsace (; 1099–1168), ...

received the title of

Count of Mark The County of Mark (, colloquially known as ) was a county and Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay south of Lippe (river), Lippe river on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme a ...

. When Dietrich fell in battle in 1398, he was succeeded as Count of Mark by his elder brother Adolf. The ambitious Gerhard claimed a part of his father's territories for himself. In 1423, it came to an armed conflict between Adolf and Gerhard, who had allied himself with the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

. Peace was signed between the two brothers in 1430, and confirmed in 1437. As a result, Gerhard ruled the largest part of Mark, but was to be succeeded by his nephew

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. Gerhard died in 1461 without children and the County of Mark and Duchy of Cleves were reunited again in a personal union under John I. Counts of the Mark 1378 births 1461 deaths {{Germany-noble-stub