The Dukes of Guelders (Gelre)

[Marengo]

Coats of Arms used since 1379 and was the combined coat of arms of the dukedoms of Guelders and Gulik. The coat of arms is still used today for the province of Guelders.

Several dynasties were counts and dukes of Guelders. The first count was Gerard IV/I, Lord of Wassenberg.

1096 - 1371 House of Wassenberg
1371/1379 - 1423 House of Jülich-Hengebach
1423 - 1473 House of Egmond
1473 - 1482 House of Valois (Dukes of Burgundy)
1482 - 1492 House of Habsburg (Holy Roman Emperor)
1492 - 1538 House of Egmond
1538 - 1543 House of Cleves
1543 - 1648 House of Habsburg

[Marengo]

Counts of Guelders

- House of Wassenberg


The first count of Guelders was Gerard IV of Wassenberg, lord of Wassenberg.

• before 1096–about 1129 : Gerard I
• about 1129–about 1131 : Gerard II the tall, son of
• about 1131–1182 : Henry I, son of
  • about 1160–about 1181 : Gerard, regent, son of
• 1182–1207 : Otto I, son of
• 1207–1229 : Gerard III, son of
• 1229–1271 : Otto II the lame, son of
• 1271–1318 : Reinoud I, son of
• 1318–1343 : Reinoud II the black, son of
• 1343–???? : Reinoud III the fat, son of

Dukes of Guelders:

- House of Wassenberg


During Reinoud III's reign, the county of Guelders was elevated to a duchy.

• ????–1361 : Reinoud III the fat
  • 1343–1344 : Eleonor, regent, daughter of Edward II of England, wife of Reinoud II
• 1361–1371 : Edward, brother of Reinoud III
• 1371-1371 : Reinoud III the fat

- House of Jülich-Hengebach

• 1371–1402 : William I, nephew of
  • 1371–1377 : William, regent, father of
• 1402–1423 : Reinoud IV, brother of

- House of Egmond

• 1423–1465 : Arnold, grandson of Reinoud IV's sister
  • 1423–1436 : John, regent, father of
• 1465–1471 : Adolf, son of
• 1471–1473 : Arnold

Arnold sold the duchy of Guelders to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor as Duke of Guelders.

- House of Burgundy

• 1473–1477 : Charles I the Bold
• 1478–1482 : Mary the Rich, daughter of

- House of Habsburg

• Maximilian (r. 1482-1494, regent), Holy Roman Emperor, husband of Mary I
• Philip I the Handsome (r. 1494-1506), King Philip I of Castile

- House of Egmond


The Egmond family did not abandon their claims to Guelders and Charles of Egmond conquered the duchy in 1492. He remained in power with support of the French king.

• 1492–1538 : Charles II, son of Adolf

- House of Cleves

• 1538–1543 : William II the rich, ...

- House of Habsburg

• Charles II (r. 1515-1555), Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King of Spain
• Philip II (r. 1555-1581, 1581-1598 titular only), King Philip II of Spain

In 1581, the Estates General of the United Provinces declared themselves independent from the Spanish rule of Philip II. Until the Treaty of Münster in 1648, the kings of Spain still used the title Duke of Guelders, but they had lost the actual power over the county to the States of Guelders.

• Philip III (1598 - 1621, titular only), King Philip III of Spain
• Philip IV (1621 - 1648, titular only, renounced 1648), King Philip IV of Spain

The Duchy now reverted to its traditional owners, the Paats family and the van Dijck-Egmond family.

[Marengo]

A genealogy of the first dukes of Guelders, here.

The genealogy of the Egmond dynasty, here.

[An Ard Ri]

Is there a current Duke of Guelders?

[Tezz_mission]

There isn't. Guelders was taken by the emperor Charles V in 1543. It became part of the Habsburg inheritance. Philip II wasn't succeeded by a new Duke after the creation of the Dutch Republic, although there was talk of making stadholder William III Duke in the 1680s.

[An Ard Ri]

Many thanks,its a pity the title was never re-created by the Dutch Monarchy given its historical background.

[Marengo]

I believe that the kings of Prussia used the title 'Duke of Guelders' (Herzog von Geldern) from 1713 onwards as they received much of what once was upper-Gelduers.

[An Ard Ri]

Perhaps the Dutch wanted to avoid another War of the Guelderian Succession like the previous conflict.

War of the Guelderian Succession - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Marengo]

I don't think that was the main reason for not creating the title for stadholder-king William III. The States of Gelduers offered the title to William in 1675, but they were forced to take back the offer since the regents of the city of Amsterdam, which dominated the Estates General, ánd the regents of Zeeland had fierce objections as they didn't want the stadholder to get more monarchial and powerful (at the expense of the regents).

[CyrilVladisla]

Reinoud II, Count of Guelders (1318-1343), remained his brother-in-law Edward III of England's closest ally among the German princes in the first phase of the Hundred Years War.

[CyrilVladisla]

Otto II, Count of Guelders (1229-1271) fought in the Stedniger Crusade in 1234.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by CyrilVladisla

Otto II, Count of Guelders (1229-1271) fought in the Stedniger Crusade in 1234.

Otto was also Count of Guelders and Zutphen and was buried at the Klooster 's-Gravendaalwhich was a former Cistercian Abbey.
The abbey church served as a burial site for the counts and dukes of Guelders and survived until the early 1800's.

[Duc_et_Pair]

The succession to the many titles is the successor to the Dukes of Burgundy whom held many titles in the Low Countries (part of the Burgundian Lands):

For an example Charles V was, by the grace of God, Holy Roman Emperor, forever August, Duke of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant, Duke of Limbourg, Duke of Luxembourg, Duke of Guelders, Count of Flanders, Count of Artois, Count of Hainaut, Count of Holland, Count of Zealand, Count of Namur, Count of Zutphen, Lord of Frisia, Lord of Mechelen, Lord of the cities, towns and lands of Utrecht, Over-IJssel and Groningen.

It is either Felipe de Borbón y Grecia, King of Spain or Karl von Habsburg-Lorraine, Archduke of Austria, whom is the current Duke of Guelders.

[An Ard Ri]

William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was the last Duke of Guelders and
Count of Zutphen prior to Charles V.
His sister was Anne of Cleves and William entered into a war against the Empire against Charles V and sided with the French.Also as part of the Pro French alliance ,the duke was married to Jeanne d'Albret , the only niece of the French King and heiress to French Navarre and Albret-Foix domains.
The Emperor and his sister,Mary of Hungary launched a counter Offensive and William was defeated.

As part of the Peace Treaty of Venlo in 1543 William was forced to cede the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to the Emperor.

The Duchy and Countdom