Berg (state)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Berg was a medieval territory in today's North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was roughly located between the rivers Rhine, Ruhr and Sieg. Today this territory is still named after the medieval state and is called Bergisches Land.
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[edit] History
[edit] Ascent
The Counts of Berg, emerged in 1101 as a junior line to the dynasty of the Ezzonen which traced its prominence back to the Kingdom of Lotharingia, and in time, became the most powerful dynasty in the region. In 1160 the territory was divided into two portions, one of them later becoming the County of the Mark, which returned to the line in the 16th century. In 1280 the counts moved their court from Schloss Burg on the Wupper river to the town of Düsseldorf. The most powerful exponent of the early rulers of Berg was Engelbert II of Berg who was assassinated on November 7, 1225. The count of Berg was on the winning side in the Battle of Worringen in 1288.
The power of Berg was further enlarged in the 14th century. The County of Jülich was united with the County of Berg in 1348. In 1380 the counts of Berg were elevated to dukes creating the Duchy of Jülich-Berg.
[edit] Problems in succession
In 1509, John III, Duke of Cleves made a strategic marriage to Maria von Geldern, daughter of William VIII of Jülich-Berg, who became heiress to her father's estates: Jülich, Berg and County of Ravensberg, which under the salic laws of the Holy Roman Empire caused the properties to pass to the husband of the female heir (Woman could not hold property without a husband or guardian). With the death of her father in 1521 the Dukes of Jülich-Berg became extinct, and the estate thus came to be ruled by John III, Duke of Cleves along with his birth territories, the County of the Mark and the Duchy of Cleves (Kleve) in a personal union. As a result of this union, much of present North Rhine-Westphalia (except for the clerical states of the Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Münster) was ruled by the dukes of Jülich-Berg-Kleve-Mark.
However, the newest ducal dynasty also became extinct in 1609, when the last duke died, insane leading to a disputed succession of the various territories. A long dispute about the succession followed, before the territories were partitioned in 1614: Jülich and Berg were annexed by the Count Palatine of Neuburg, who had converted to Catholicism, while Cleves and Mark fell to the Elector of Brandenburg. Upon the extinction of the senior dynasty ruling the Palatinate in 1685, the Neuburg line inherited the Electorate, and generally made Düsseldorf their capital until the Elector Palatine inherited Bavaria as well in 1777.
[edit] French revolution, Grand Duchy of Berg
The French annexation of Jülich during the French revolutionary wars separated the two duchies, and in 1803 Berg was separated from the other Bavarian territories and given to a junior branch of the Wittelsbachs. In 1806, in the reorganization of Germany occasioned by the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Berg became a Grand Duchy under the rule of Napoleon's brother-in-law, Joachim Murat. The arms combined the red lion of Berg with the arms of the duchy of Cleves. The anchor and the batons were added because Murat was Grand Admiral and Marshal of the Empire. Being married to Napoleon's sister Murat was also entitled to the imperial eagle.
In 1809, one year after Murat has been promoted to the Kingdom of Naples, Napoleon's infant nephew, Prince Napoleon Louis Bonaparte (1804–1831, elder son of Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland) became Grand Duke, and the territory was administered by French bureaucrats. The Grand Duchy's short existence came to an end with Napoleon's defeat in 1813, and in the peace settlement that followed.
[edit] Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg
In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Berg was incorporated into a province of the Kingdom of Prussia: Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. In 1822 it was united with the Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine to form the Rhine Province.
[edit] Rulers of Berg
[edit] House of Ezzonen
- Hermann I "Pusillus" count palatine of Lotharingia
- Adolf I of Lotharingia, Vogt of Deutz
- Adolf II of Lotharingia, Vogt of Deutz
[edit] House of Berg
- 1077-1082 Adolf I of Berg, 1st count of Berg
- 1082-1093 Adolf II of Berg-Hövel (Huvili), count of Berg
- 1093-1132 Adolf III, count of Berg
- 1132-1160 Adolf IV, count of Berg
- 1160-1189 Engelbert I, count of Berg
- 1189-1218 Adolf VI, count of Berg
- 1218-1225 Engelbert II of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne, Regent of Berg
- 1218-1248 Irmgard, heiress of Berg
[edit] House of Limburg
- 1218-1247 Henry IV Duke of Limburg, count of Berg
- 1247-1259 Adolf VII count of Limburg, count of Berg
- 1259–1296 Adolf V.
- 1296–1308 William I.
- 1308–1348 Adolf VI.
[edit] House of Jülich(-Heimbach), Counts
– in union with Ravensberg –
- 1348–1360 Gerhard
- 1360–1380 Wilhelm II.; becomes duke in 1380:
[edit] House of Jülich(-Heimbach), Dukes
– in union with Ravensberg (except 1389–1437) and since 1423 in union with the duchy of Jülich –
- 1380–1408 William I.;
- 1408–1437 Adolf
- 1437–1475 Gerhard
- 1475–1511 Wilhelm II.
[edit] House Mark, Dukes
– since 1521 a part of the duchy of Jülich-Cleves-Berg–
- 1511–1539 Johann
- 1539–1592 William III.
- 1592–1609 Johann Wilhelm I.
[edit] House of Wittelsbach, Dukes
– in union with Jülich und Palatinate-Neuburg, since 1690 also with the Electoral Palatinate, since 1777 also with Bavaria–
- 1614–1653 Wolfgang Wilhelm
- 1653–1679 Phillip Wilhelm
- 1679–1716 Johann Wilhelm II.
- 1716–1742 Karl Phillip
- 1742–1799 Karl Theodor
- 1799–1806 Maximilian Josef
[edit] French Grand Dukes
- 1806–1808 Joachim Murat
- 1808–1809 Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1809–1813 Napoleon Louis Bonaparte (under regency of Napoléon Bonaparte)
[edit] External links
- Edicts of Jülich, Cleves, Berg, Grand Duchy Berg, 1475-1815 (Coll. Scotti) online
- Historical Map of Northrhine-Westphalia 1789
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