William II ( – 25 June 1408) was born in

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 ...

, as the son of

Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg ( – 18 May 1360) was the son of William V, Duke of Jülich and Joanna of Hainaut.Walther Möller, ''Stammtafeln westdeutscher Adelsgeschlechter im Mittelalter'' (Darmstadt, 1922, reprint Verlag ...

, and

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

, daughter and heiress of Otto IV, Count of Ravensberg, and Margaret of Berg.Walther Möller, ''Stammtafeln westdeutscher Adelsgeschlechter im Mittelalter'' (Darmstadt, 1922, reprint Verlag Degener & Co., 1995), Vol. 1, page 14. Upon his father's death in 1360, William became Count of Berg and Ravensberg, a title that his father had gained by marrying the heiress of Berg and Ravensberg. In 1380, King

Wenzel Wenzel is a male given name (long version Wenzeslaus) as the German and Old English form of the Czech given name Václav or Venceslav, meaning "praised with glory". Variations are Вячеслав (Ukrainian and Russian), Vencel (Hungarian), Wac� ...

elevated him to the rank of Duke, thus becoming the first

Duke of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, me ...

. William fought the counties of Mark and Cleves to prevent them from combining but in 1397 he was taken prisoner in the battle of Kleverhamm. He lost Remagen, Kaiserwerth and Sinzig to his nephew Adolf IV, Count of Kleve-Mark and due to these losses, his sons turned against him and imprisoned him in 1403/04. He ultimately forced them to submit and later supported his brother-in-law

Rupert, King of Germany Rupert of the Palatinate (; 5 May 1352 – 18 May 1410), sometimes known as Robert of the Palatinate, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany from 1400 until his death. Early l ...

against Guelders-Jülich and won the county of Blankenburg. William died on 25 June 1408 and is buried in the Abteikirche in Altenberg.

Family and children

On 28 September 1363, William married Anna of the Palatinate (1346 – 30 November 1415), daughter of

Rupert II, Elector Palatine Rupert II, Count Palatine of the Rhine () (12 May 1325, Amberg – 6 January 1398, Amberg). He was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach in 1390–1398. Life Rupert was the elder son of Adolf, Count Palatine of the ...

and Beatrice of Sicily. They had the following children: # Beatrice (c. 1364 – 16 May 1395), married in 1385 Rupert I, Elector Palatine, his second wife, no issue # Margarete (c. 1364 – 18 July 1442), married in 1379 Otto I (the Evil), Duke of Brunswick-Göttingen (died 13 December 1394) # Rupert (died 29 July 1394), Bishop of Passau and

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

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 ...

(died 14 July 1437), married Yolande de Bar and Elisabeth of Bavaria, ruled Ravensburg (1395-1403) and Berg (1408-1437) # Gerhard (died 22 October 1435), Archdeacon of Cologne #

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(c. 1382–1428), married Adelheid of Tecklenburg, ruled Ravensberg (1403-1428)

References

External links

genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:William 02 of Berg People from Jülich Counts of Berg Counts of Ravensberg Lords of Ravenstein Dukes of Berg Year of birth uncertain 1340s births 1408 deaths House of Jülich