House of La Marck

Last updated July 02, 2019

La Marck (German : von der Mar(c)k) was a noble family, which from about 1200 appeared as the counts of Mark.

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol in Italy, the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

History

The family history started with Count Adolf I, scion of a cadet branch of the Rhenish Berg dynasty residing at Altena Castle in Westphalia. In the early 13th century Adolf took his residence at his family's estates around Mark, a settlement in present-day Hamm-Uentrop. Adolf had inherited the Mark fortress from his father Count Frederick I of Berg-Altena (d. 1198) together with the older county around Altena and began to call himself count de La Mark.

Adolf I, Count de la Mark, until 1226 also known as Adolf I, Count of Altena-Mark. He was son of Frederick I, Count of Berg-Altena and Alveradis of Krickenbeck, daughter of Reiner of Krieckenbeck-Millendonk.

Altena is a town in the district of Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town's castle is the origin for the later Dukes of Berg. Altena is situated on the Lenne river valley, in the northern stretches of the Sauerland.

Westphalia State part and historic region of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany

Westphalia is a region in northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of 20,208 km² (7,802 sq mi) and 7.9 million inhabitants.

Originally liensmen^{[ clarification needed ]} of the archbishops of Cologne in the Duchy of Westphalia, the family ruled the County of Mark, an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire, and, at the height of their powers, the four duchies of Julich, Cleves, Berg and Guelders as well as the County of Ravensberg. Members of the family became bishops in the Prince-Bishoprics of Liège, Münster and Osnabrück, and Archbishops in Cologne. Later collateral lines became dukes of Bouillon, a title which was later inherited by the House of La Tour d'Auvergne, princes of Sedan, dukes of Nevers, counts of Rethel and so forth.

The Electorate of Cologne, sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift — the temporal possessions — of the Archbishop of Cologne and ruled by him in his capacity as prince-elector. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of Trier. The Archbishop-Elector of Cologne was also Arch-chancellor of Italy and, as such, ranked second among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, after the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, and before that of Trier.

The Duchy of Westphalia was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1180. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the German stem duchy of Saxony and today part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The duchy was held by the Archbishops and Electors of Cologne until its secularization in 1803.

Notable members

Adolph de la Marck (1288–1344) was prince-Bishop of Liège from 1313 until 1344
Adolph II of the Marck the son of Engelbert I of the Marck and Mechtild of Arberg
Engelbert III of the Mark (1333–1391) was a son of Count Adolph II of Mark.
Adolf III de la Marck (1334–1394) was a son of Count Adolph II. He was bishop of Münster and later archbishop of Cologne. In 1364 he left his position as bishop of Cologne to his cousin Engelbert III, to become Count of Cleves. {See Duchy of Cleves.}
Engelbert de la Marck (1304–1368) was prince-bishop of Liège from 1345 until 1364. He was also archbishop of Cologne from 1364 until 1369.
William I de la Marck (1445-1486) was the younger brother of Erard III de la Marck. He was nicknamed Le Sanglier des Ardennes ("The Wild Boar of the Ardennes").
Erard de la Marck (1472–1538), nephew of William I, was prince-bishop from 1506 till 1538.
Robert II de la Marck , nephew of William I, was Duke of Bouillon, seigneur of Sedan and Fleuranges.
Robert III de la Marck (1491–1537), son of Robert II, was Marshal of France in 1526 and historian.
Robert IV de la Marck (1520–1556) was Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan, and Marshal of France in 1547.
William II de la Marck (1542–1578) was admiral of the Gueux de mer, the so-called 'sea beggars' who fought in the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). He was the great-grandson of William I de la Marck.

Adolph II von der Mark was the Prince-Bishop of Liège from 1313 until his death in 1344.

Adolph II of the Marck was Count of the Marck.

Engelbert III of the Mark (1333–1391) was the Count of Mark from 1347 until 1391.

In 1591 the heiress of one of the collateral lines of the family, Charlotte de la Marck, was married to Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Marshal of France. In 1594 Charlotte died without issue, and her claims to Bouillon passed to her husband.

Louis Pierre Engelbert, Comte de la Marck (1674–1750)^[1]
Louis Engelbert, Comte de la Marck (1701–1773)^[1] He was the last male descendant of the Counts de la Marck, so his title Comte de la Marck was passed on to his grandson through his daughter, Louise-Marguerite, who married Charles Marie Raymond of Arenberg.^[2]
Auguste Marie Raymond, Comte de la Marck (1753–1833)

Simplified genealogy

Counts of Mark

La Mark coat of arms, 14th century Mark-St-Wappen.png — La Mark coat of arms, 14th century

Adolf I (d. 1249), first documented as comes de Marca in 1202
1. Engelbert I (d. 1277)
  1. Eberhard (d. 1308)
    1. Engelbert II (d. 1328)
      1. Adolf II (d. 1346), married Margaret of Cleves in 1332
        Engelbert III (d. 1391)
        Adolf III (1334–1394), Count of Cleves from 1368 → see below
      2. Engelbert (1304–1368), Prince-Bishop of Liège 1345–1364, Archbishop of Cologne 1364–68
      3. Eberhard I (d. about 1378), Count of Arenberg → see below
    2. Adolf (1288–1344), Prince-Bishop of Liège 1313–1344

Dukes of Cleves—La Mark

Cleves-La Mark coat of arms, 15th century Cleve-Scheibler3ps.jpg — Cleves-La Mark coat of arms, 15th century

Adolf III (1334–1394), second son of Adolf II with Margaret of Cleves, Prince-bishop of Münster 1357–1363 and Archbishop of Cologne in 1363, inherited the County of Cleves upon the death of his maternal uncle Count Johann in 1368 and became Count of Mark upon the death of his elder brother Engelbert III in 1391
1. Adolph I (1373–1448), Duke of Cleves from 1417
  1. Margaret of Cleves, Duchess of Bavaria-Munich (1416–1444)
  2. Catherine of Cleves, Duchess of Guelders (1417–1479)
  3. John I (1419–1481)
    1. John II (1458–1521)
      1. John III (1490–1539), married Maria of Jülich-Berg in 1509, inherited the duchies of Jülich and Berg and the County of Ravensberg upon the death of his father-in-law Duke William IV of Jülich-Berg, ruled the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg upon the death of his father in 1521
        Sybille (1512–1554), married to Elector John Frederick of Saxony
        Anne (1515–1557), married to King Henry VIII of England
        William the Rich (1516–1592), married Maria of Habsburg, Archduchess of Austria and daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I, claimed the Duchy of Guelders upon the death of Duke Charles in 1538
        Marie Eleonore (1550–1608), married to Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
        John Frederick (1555–1575)
        John William (1562–1609), extinction of the line, followed by the War of the Jülich succession
        Amalia (1517–1586)
    2. Engelbert, Count of Nevers (1462–1506)
  4. Elisabeth (1420–1488), Countess of Schwarzburg
  5. Agnes (1422–1446), Queen of Navarre
  6. Adolph of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein (1425–1492)
  7. Mary (1426–1487), Duchess of Orléans
2. Dietrich II (1374–1398)

Counts of Marck—Arenberg

Eberhard I (d. about 1378) Lord of Arenberg
1. Erard II von der Mark, Lord of Sedan & Arenberg
  1. Johann II von der Mark, Lord of Sedan & Arenberg
    1. Erard III von der Mark (+ 1496), Lord of Arenberg whose issue will die into the house of Ligne, by the marriage of Marguerite de la Marck-Arenberg with Jean de Ligne
    2. Robert I de la Marck (+ 1487), Lord of Sedan, chatellain de Bouillon
      1. Robert II de la Marck (1460–1536), Lord of Sedan, Duke of Bouillon
        Robert III de la Marck (1491–1537), Lord of Sedan, Duke of Bouillon
        Robert IV de la Marck (1520–1556), Duke of Bouillon, Earl of Braine & Maulevrier, Lord of Sedan.
        Henri Robert de la Marck (1539–1574), Duke of Bouillon, sovereign Prince de Sedan,
        Guillaume Robert de la Marck (1563–1588), Pr of Sedan, Duke de Bouillon, Marquess of Cotron
        Charlotte de la Marck (1574–1594), Dss of Bouillon, Pss de Sedan oo Henri de La Tour D'Auvergne
      2. Erard de la Marck (1472–1538), Prince-bishop of Liège 1506–1538
    3. William von der Marck Le Sanglier des Ardennes
      1. Johann I von der Marck, Baron of Lummen
        Johann II von der Marck, Baron of Lummen (1500–1552)
        William II de la Marck, Baron of Lummen, admiral of the Gueux de mer (1542–1578)

Related Research Articles

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Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.

The County of Mark was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme and Lenne rivers.

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The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the mediaeval Hettergau (de). It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the towns of Wesel, Kalkar, Xanten, Emmerich, Rees and Duisburg bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west. Its history is closely related to that of its southern neighbours: the Duchies of Jülich and Berg, as well as Guelders and the Westphalian county of Mark. The Duchy was archaically known as Cleveland in English.

Érard de la Marck was prince-bishop of Liège from 1506 till 1538. He was the third son of Robert I de la Marck, lord of Sedan and Bouillon.

Adolph I of Cleves was the second Count of Cleves and the fourth Count of Mark.

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Adolph III of the Marck was the Bishop of Münster from 1357 until 1363, the Archbishop of Cologne in 1363, the Count of Cleves from 1368 until 1394, and the Count of Mark from 1391 until 1393.

Engelbert II of the Mark was Count of the Mark and through marriage, Count of Arenberg.

The Duchy of Bouillon was a duchy comprising Bouillon and adjacent towns and villages in present-day Belgium. It existed from the 10th century until 1795, when, after centuries as a sovereign state, it was annexed by France. It was ruled by the Dukes of Bouillon.

Engelbert III von der Mark was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1364 until 1368 and the Prince-Bishop of Liège from 1345 until 1364.

Eberhard I was a German nobleman. He was Count of the Mark from 1277 until his death. He was the son of Engelbert I, Count of the Mark en Cunigonde of Blieskastel.

Margaret of Cleves, also spelled Margaretha or Margarethe was the wife of Count Adolf II of the Marck and mother of Adolf III of the Marck. She was a daughter of Count Dietrich VIII of Cleves and Margaret of Guelders, who was a daughter of Reginald I of Guelders.

Thierry de Heinsberg , Count of Looz and Count of Chiny (1336-1361), son of Godefroy II, Lord of Heinsberg, son of Dietrich, Lord of Heinsberg, and Jeanne de Louvaine, and Matilda, daughter of Arnold V, Count of Looz and Chiny, and Marguerite Vianden.

Godfrey de Heinsberg, Lord of Daelenbroeck, Count of Looz and Count of Chiny (1361-1362), son of John of Heinsberg, Lord of Daelenbroeck, son of Arnold V, Count of Looz and Chiny, and Catherine de Vroon.

Notable peple with name Engelbert include:

References

1 2 Neil Jeffares Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, LA MARCK
↑ Honoré-Gabriel de Riquetti Mirabeau (comte de), Auguste Marie Raymond Arenberg (prince d', comte de La Marck), Adolphe Fourier de Bacourt. Correspondance entre le comte de Mirabeau et le comte de La Marck: pendant les années 1789, 1790 et 1791 volume 1, V. Le Normant, 1851 p. 280 (French)

External links

Genealogy de la Marck on genealogy.euweb.cz :

Marek, Miroslav. "dukes of Cleves". Genealogy EU.
Marek, Miroslav. "Arenberg, dukes of Bouillon, William the Wild Boar, Erard de la Mark". Genealogy EU.

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[Jeffares-1] 1 2 Neil Jeffares Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, LA MARCK

[2] Honoré-Gabriel de Riquetti Mirabeau (comte de), Auguste Marie Raymond Arenberg (prince d', comte de La Marck), Adolphe Fourier de Bacourt. Correspondance entre le comte de Mirabeau et le comte de La Marck: pendant les années 1789, 1790 et 1791 volume 1, V. Le Normant, 1851 p. 280 (French)