William Otto, Lord of Arkel ( – 1 December 1417 in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

) was the male member of the House of Arkel. He styled himself ''Lord of Arkel'', although his father had lost control of

Arkel Arkel is a town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. A part of the municipality of Molenlanden, it lies about 3 km north of Gorinchem. Arkel is a former municipality; in 1986 it became part of Giessenlanden. In 2017, the village o ...

in 1412, and William's attempt to regain it, failed. He positioned himself as a potential successor of the childless Duke Reinald IV of Guelders and Jülich; however, this attempt was also unsuccessful. He was the only legitimate son of

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 * J ...

and his wife

Joanna of Jülich Joanna of Jülich (died 1394) was the youngest daughter of Duke William II and his wife, Marie of Guelders. Marriage In 1376, she married John V, Lord of Arkel (1362-1428). They had two children: * William (d. 1 December 1417 in Gorinchem) * M ...

. His sister,

Maria van Arkel Maria van Arkel (c. 1385 – 19 July 1415) was the only daughter and heiress of Lord John V of Arkel and Joanna of Jülich. She inherited the title to Gelderland from her maternal uncle, Duke Reginald IV, and her son became Arnold, Duke of Gelder ...

married

John II, Count of Egmond John II, Lord of Egmond ( – 4 January 1451) was the son of Arnold I of Egmond (d. 9 April 1409, the son of John I and Guida D'Armstall) and Jolanthe of Leiningen (d. 24 April 1434, the daughter of Frederick VIII of Leningen and Jolanthe of ...

. In 1406, the city of Gorinchem asked him to lead their revolt against his father. He does so, but after manipulations by both sides, he leaves Gorinchem and sides with his father again. At the end of the Arkel War, Count William VI of Holland captured Gorinchem and William of Arkel fled to Brabant. In 1417, William made an attempt to recapture Gorinchem. He laid siege to the city. William and his

Cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

allies managed to enter the city. However, in the narrow streets around ''Revetsteeg'', he was mortally wounded. He died on the spot. William had no legitimate children.

Legend

According to legend, Countess Jaqueline rushed from her castle toward William after he was wounded. Legend doesn't explain whether she wanted to comfort him as he died, protect his corpse, or create an alliance with him. In 1662, a play was published by J. van Paffenrode, based on research by Abraham Kemp, which suggested a romantic relationship had existed between William and Jacqueline. This story was later used in a romantic novel entitled ("Jaqueline and Berta") by

Jacob van Lennep Jacob van Lennep (24 March 1802 – 25 August 1868) was a Dutch poet and novelist. Early years He was born in Amsterdam, where his father, David Jacob van Lennep (1774–1853), a scholar and poet, was professor of eloquence and the classical la ...

. In 1837, miss Antoinet van Buren-Schele write a novel ("Rise and Fall of the Lords of Arkel"), which used these earlier stories. In 2004, Ines van Bokhoven published ("Betrayal! The count's revenge"), about William's life and the Arkel War.

References

* Abraham Kemp: ''Leven der Doorluchtige Heeren van Arkel'', 1656 * J. Huf van Buren: ''De Laatste der Arkels'', 1885

External links

*
History of Gorinchem
14th-century births Year of birth unknown 1417 deaths

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

People from Gorinchem 14th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire 15th-century people of the Holy Roman Empire {{Netherlands-bio-stub