Adolf, Duke of Guelders

Adolf, Duke of Guelders
Adolf's coat of arms
Born	(1438-02-12)12 February 1438 Grave
Died	27 June 1477(1477-06-27) (aged 39) Tournai
Noble family	House of Egmond
Spouse(s)	Catherine of Bourbon
Father	Arnold, Duke of Guelders
Mother	Catherine of Cleves

Coat of arms of Adolf

Adolf of Egmond (Grave, February 12, 1438 – Tournai, June 27, 1477) was a Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen from 1465 to 1471 and in 1477.

Life

Adolf was the son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves. In the battle of succession for Guelders, he imprisoned in 1465 his own father and became Duke with the support of Philip the Good, who also made him Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. In 1468 he won the Battle of Straelen against Cleves, but Charles the Bold reinstated his father Arnold, and Adolf was imprisoned in Hesdin.

After the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, Adolf was liberated by the Flemish. He died the same year at the head of a Flemish army besieging Tournai, after the States of Guelders had recognized him as Duke. His body was buried in Tournai Cathedral.

Family and issue

Adolf married Catherine of Bourbon (1440–1469), daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon, in 1463. They had twin children :

• Philippa (1467–1547), married in 1485 René II, Duke of Lorraine (1451–1508)
• Charles (1467–1538), later Duke of Guelders, married in 1518 with Elisabeth of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1494–1572), daughter of Henry I of Lüneburg.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Adolf, Duke of Guelders

16. John I, Lord of Egmond 8. Arnold I, Lord of Egmond 17. Guida of IJsselstein 4. John II, Count of Egmond 18. Frederick VII of Leningen 9. Jolanthe of Leiningen 19. Jolanthe of Jülich 2. Arnold, Duke of Guelders 20. Otto, Lord of Arkel 10. John V, Lord of Arkel 21. Elisabeth of Bar-Pierrepont 5. Maria van Arkel 22. William II, Duke of Jülich 11. Joanna of Jülich 23. Maria of Guelders 1. Adolf, Duke of Guelders 24. Adolph II of the Marck 12. Adolf III of the Marck 25. Margaret of Cleves 6. Adolph I, Duke of Cleves 26. Gerhard VI of Jülich 13. Margaret of Jülich 27. Margaret of Ravensberg 3. Catherine of Cleves 28. Philip the Bold 14. John the Fearless 29. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders 7. Marie of Burgundy 30. Albert I, Duke of Bavaria 15. Margaret of Bavaria 31. Margaret of Brieg

Sources

• Nijsten, Gerard (2004). In the Shadow of Burgundy: The Court of Guelders in the Late Middle Ages. Translated by Guest, Tanis. Cambridge University Press.
• Vaughan, Richard (2004). Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy. Vol. 3. The Boydell Press.