The House of Jülich, German: ''Haus von Jülich'', was a noble House in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, operating from the 12th to the 16th century. Its members were initially ''

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s'' of

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

, then promoted to ''

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

s'' of Jülich. By marriage they acquired the duchy of Gelders, which eventually passed to 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 ...

. They again acquired the counties of

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

& Ravensberg by marriage, and as ''counts'' of Berg were elevated to the ''dukes'' of Berg; the House became extinct when in 1511 the last male member died and in 1543 the last female died.

History

The members of the House were counts of Jülich, until Wiliam V supported

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, who in turn rewarded William V by elevating him as duke of Jülich. William V had two sons, William II and Gerhard VI. William II duke of Jülich married to Maria, daughter and successor of duke of Guelders (nederlands: Gerle, deutsch: Gueldern), thus he became ''jure auxoris'' duke of Guelders. He had three children, William, Reinald IV and Johanna. Both his sons died childless, so the duchy of Guelders passed to Johanna's grandson Arnold of the

. Gerhard VI married to Margaret of Ravensberg and Berg, who had inherited the county of Ravensberg from her father and the county of Berg from her mother. Thus Gerhard VI became ''jure auxoris'' count of Berg and Ravensberg. His son William VII count of Berg elevated from Emperor Wenceslaus to duke of Berg. The grandson of William VII, Gerhard VII, inherit the duchy of Jülich from Reinhard IV and the duchy of Berg from his uncle Adolf. His son William IV was duke of Jülich-Berg, but had no sons, thus succeeded by his daughter Maria with her husband John III duke of Cleves, of the House of La Mark.

Family tree of the House of Jülich

{{Family tree/end

Sources

* Walther Möller, Stammtafeln westdeutscher Adelsgeschlechter im Mittelalter (Darmstadt, 1922, reprint Verlag Degener & Co., 1995), Vol. 1, page 14. * Severin Corsten: Der Überfall Heinsberger Kriegsknechte auf das Münster in Aachen (1428), in: Heimatkalender des Kreises Heinsberg 2011. Published by the county of Heinsberg, Heinsberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-925620-32-4, p. 27 ff.