Edward, Duke of Guelders

Who was Edward, Duke of Guelders?

Edward, Duke of Guelders, Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen was the youngest son of Rainald II of Guelders and his second wife, Eleanor of Woodstock, daughter of Edward II of England.

In 1350, with encouragement from his mother, Edward began a devastating civil war against his brother Rainald III for control of the Duchy of Guelders. Edward led the Bronkhorster faction which in 1361 in a battle at Tiel defeated the Heekeren faction, led by Edward's incapable brother who was captured and imprisoned. Edward governed well and powerfully, despite the conditions against him. He allied himself with the Bishops of Lüttich and with Jülich and Kleve. In 1371, his brother-in-law and supporter, William II, Duke of Jülich, got into a dispute with Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg. The dispute culminated in the Battle of Baesweiler in which William defeated Wenceslaus, but Edward was mortally wounded in the battle and died on 24 August 1371. He is buried in the Kloster Graefenthal. Upon Edward's death, his brother Rainald regained the Duchy of Guelders but Rainald died shortly afterwards, on 4 December 1371. As neither Edward nor Rainald had children, another war of succession for Guelders began, with the Bronkhorster faction supporting Edward and Rainald's half-sister Maria, wife of William II of Jülich and the Heerkeren faction supporting their half-sister Mathilde, wife of John II, Count of Blois. In 1377, Emperor Charles IV awarded the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to Maria's son William of Jülich. After her total defeat in the Battle of Hönnepel on 24 March 1379, Mathilde renounced her claim to Guelders and Zutphen.