John II, Duke of Cleves
{{short description|Duke of Cleves, a state of the Holy Roman Empire}}
{{infobox nobility
| name = John II, Duke of Cleves
| image = Johann II von Kleve (Ausschnitt).jpg
| caption = John II, Duke of Cleves
| image_size = 150px
| noble family= La Marck
| father = John I, Duke of Cleves
| mother = Elizabeth of Nevers
| spouse = Mathilde of Hesse
| issue = John III, Duke of Cleves
illegitimate
63 others
| birth_date = {{birth_date|1458|4|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Cleves
| death_date = {{death date and age|1521|3|15|1458|4|13|df=yes}}
| death_place =Cleves
}}
John II, "The Babymaker", Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark, (German: Johann II. "der Kindermacher", Herzog von Kleve, Graf von Mark) (13 April 1458 – 15 March 1521) was a son of John I, Duke of Cleves and Elizabeth of Nevers.{{sfn|Boltanski|2006|p=501}} He ruled Cleves from 1481 to his death in 1521. He was called "The Babymaker" as he had fathered sixty-three illegitimate childrenLa Societe Numismatique, Revue de la numismatique belge, Brussels, 1863, page 234 prior to his marriage with Mathilde of Hesse in 1489.
Pope Innocent VIII awarded John the Golden Rose of Virtue on 15 April 1489. This is remarkable in light of the fact that John, with his alleged 63 illegitimate children, had the dubious reputation of being a "child maker". From then on, John called himself "Johann von Kleve, Count of La Marck and Katzenelnbogen".
Marriage and issue
John married Matilda of Hesse,{{sfn|Guenther|1985|p=315}} daughter of Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse and Anna of Katzenelnbogen,{{sfn|Morby|1989|p=135}} on 3 November 1489 in Soest. They had:
- John (1490–1539), succeeded as Duke of Cleves and Count of the Marck{{sfn|Ward|Prothero|Leathes|1934|p=table 38}}
- Anna (1495–1567), married in 1518 with count Philip III of Waldeck-Eisenberg{{sfn|Ward|Prothero|Leathes|1934|p=table 38}}
- Adolf (1498–1525), appointed by his father's cousin Philip of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein and Wijnendale, as his successor, but died before Philip did in 1528
With Catherine de Chaumont:
- Hermann of Cleves seigneur d'Afnois, d'Amazy and Saligny (1458-1532), married Leonarde Perreau,{{Cite book |last=Castelnau |first=Michel de |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Les_M%C3%A9moires_de_messire_Michel_de_Caste/G0_o1b7iJQoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=leonarde+perreau+cleves&pg=PA201&printsec=frontcover |title=Les Mémoires de messire Michel de Castelnau, seigneur de Mauvissière, illustrez et augmentez de plusieurs commentaires & manuscrits... servans à donner la vérité de l'histoire des regnes de François II. Charles IX. & Henri III. & de la regence... de Catherine de Médicis, avec les éloges des rois, reines, princes & autres personnes illustres de l'une & de l'autre réligion sous ces trois regnes, l'histoire genealogique de la maison de Castelnau, par J. Le Laboureur,... Nouvelle édition... |date=1731 |publisher=chez J. Leonard |language=fr}} legitimized in 1506.
With unknown mothers:
- Helena (or Hedwig) of Cleves (1480-?), married Otto van Büren
- Joos (Judocus) of Cleves (1485-1541)
- Wilhelm of Cleves (c. 1495 -?)
- Marten of Cleves
- Hendrik of Cleves
- Katharina of Cleves,{{Cite web |title=Versorgung der unehelichen Kinder Herzog Johanns II. von Kleve-Mark |trans-title=Provisions for the illegitimate children of Duke John II of Kleve-Mark |url=https://www.archive.nrw.de/en/archivsuche?link=VERZEICHUNGSEINHEIT-Vz_9d65bb96-aae3-4f10-85ac-ad5374e969f2 |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=www.archive.nrw.de}} married Johann von Asschebroick and secondly Johann von Loe
- Elisabeth of Cleves, married Gobert van Bemmel
- Dietrich of Cleves (?-1493)
- Johann of Cleves
- Adolf of Cleves, married Agnes von Hessen zu Hulhausen
File:Armoiries de la Marck 1.svg|Coat-of-arms of
La Mark
File:Kleef graafschap wapen.svg|Coat-of-arms of
Cleves
Ancestry
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. John II, Duke of Cleves
|2= 2. John I, Duke of Cleves (1419–1481)
|3= 3. Elizabeth of Nevers (1439–1483)
|4= 4. Adolph I, Duke of Cleves (1373–1448)
|5= 5. Marie of Burgundy (c. 1393–1473)
|6= 6. John II, Count of Nevers (1415–1491)
|7= 7. Jacqueline d'Ailly (c. 1420–1470)
|8= 8. Adolph I of Kleve-Mark (1334–1394)
|9= 9. Margaret of Jülich (c. 1342–1425/29)
|10= 10. John II, Duke of Burgundy (1371–1419)
|11= 11. Margaret of Bavaria (1363–1423)
|12= 12. Philip II, Count of Nevers (1389–1415)
|13= 13. Bonne of Artois (1396–1425)
|14= 14. Raoul III d'Ailly
|15= 15. Jacqueline of Bethune
}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |title=Les ducs de Nevers et l'État royal: genèse d'un compromis (ca 1550 - ca 1600) |first=Ariane |last=Boltanski |publisher=Librairie Droz S.A. |language=French |year=2006 }}
- {{cite encyclopedia |title=John II, Duke of Cleves and Mark |first=Ilse |last=Guenther |encyclopedia=Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the | volume=1-3: A-Z |editor-first1=Peter G. |editor-last1=Bietenholz |editor-first2=Thomas Brian |editor-last2=Deutscher |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1985 }}
- {{cite book |first=John |last=Morby |title=Dynasties of the World: A chronological and genealogical handbook |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1989 }}
- {{cite book |title=The Cambridge Modern History |volume=XIII |editor-first1=A.W. |editor-last1=Ward |editor-first2=G.W. |editor-last2=Prothero |editor-first3=Stanley |editor-last3=Leathes |publisher=Cambridge at the University Press |year=1934 }}
External links
- [https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Julich-Cleves.html Genealogy of Jülich-Cleves] Accessed July 28, 2008
{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|House of La Marck|13 April|1458|15 March|1521}}
{{Succession box
|before=John I, Duke of Cleves
|title=Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark
|years=1481–1521
|after=John III, Duke of Cleves}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}