The Treaty of Xanten (German: Vertrag von Xanten) was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on 12 November 1614 between Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators. The accord officially ended the War of the Jülich Succession and divided the Cleves–Jülich territory between Wilhelm and Sigismund. [1]
The treaty ended the War of the Jülich Succession and all hostilities between Wolfgang Wilhelm and John Sigismund. [1] Based on the terms of the treaty, the territories of Jülich-Berg and Ravenstein went to Wolfgang Wilhelm and the territories of Cleves-Mark and Ravensberg went to John Sigismund. [1] These last territories were the first provinces at the Rhine and in Westphalia to be governed by the House of Hohenzollern, and were the oldest constituents of the future Prussian Rhineland and the future Province of Westphalia.
John Sigismund was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from the House of Hohenzollern. He became the Duke of Prussia through his marriage to Duchess Anna, the eldest daughter of Duke Albert Frederick of Prussia who died without sons. Their marriage resulted in the potential creation of Brandenburg-Prussia, which became a reality after Poland's leader appointed John Sigismund in charge of Prussia in regency and, shortly thereafter, Albert Frederick died without an able, direct male heir.
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.
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. Another consequence of intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenish principalities of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg after the Treaty of Xanten in 1614.
The Duchy of Jülich comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by the Electorate of Cologne to the east and the Duchy of Limburg to the west. It had territories on both sides of the river Rur, around its capital Jülich – the former Roman Iuliacum – in the lower Rhineland. The duchy amalgamated with the County of Berg beyond the Rhine in 1423, and from then on also became known as Jülich-Berg. Later it became part of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.
The so-called United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire between 1521 and 1666, formed from the personal union of the duchies of Jülich, Cleves and Berg.
Johann Wilhelm of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was the last Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.
The County of Ravensberg was a historical county of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory was in present-day eastern Westphalia, Germany, at the foot of the Osning or Teutoburg Forest.
The Grand Duchy of Berg, also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories between the French Empire at the Rhine river and the German Kingdom of Westphalia.
The German state of Brandenburg has a coat of arms depicting a red eagle.
Philipp Ludwig of Neuburg was Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1569 until 1614.
Sparrenberg Castle, also known as the Sparrenburg, is a restored fortress in the Bielefeld-Mitte district of Bielefeld, Germany. It is situated on the Sparrenberg hill in the Teutoburg Forest and towers 60 metres (200 ft) above the city centre. Its current appearance mainly originated in the 16th and 19th century. The Sparrenburg is considered to be Bielefeld's landmark.
The War of the Jülich Succession was a war of succession in the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. It lasted between 10 June 1609 and 24 October 1610, resumed in May 1614 and finally ended on 13 October 1614. The first round of the conflict pitted Catholic Archduke Leopold V against the combined forces of the Protestant Margraviate of Brandenburg and Palatinate-Neuburg, ending in the former's military defeat. The representatives of the Brandenburg and Neuburg later entered into a direct conflict after their religious conversion to Calvinism and Catholicism respectively. The conflict was further complicated by the involvement of Spain and the Netherlands making it part of the Eighty Years' War, as well as the European wars of religion. It was finally settled by the Treaty of Xanten, whose provisions favoured Spain.
The Royal Order of Saint Hubert, or sometimes is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood founded in 1444 or 1445 by Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg. He sought to commemorate his victory over the House of Egmond at the Battle of Linnich on 3 November, which is Saint Hubert's day.
Upper Guelders or Spanish Guelders was one of the four quarters in the Imperial Duchy of Guelders. In the Dutch Revolt, it was the only quarter that did not secede from the Habsburg monarchy to become part of the Seven United Netherlands, but remained under Spanish rule during the Eighty Years' War.
Duchess Magdalene of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was the fifth child of Duke William "the Rich" of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Maria of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Ferdinand I.
The siege of Aachen took place in 24 August 1614, when the Spanish Army of Flanders, led by Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases, marched from Maastricht to Germany to support Wolfgang Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg, during the War of the Jülich Succession. Despite its status as a free imperial city, Aachen was under the protection of John Sigismund of Brandenburg, Neunburg's ally, and then rival, in the battle for the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. In 1611, the Protestant population of Aachen had revolted against the Catholic city council and had seized power. When the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, observing the Peace of Augsburg, had ordered the previous state to be restored, the Protestants had allied themselves with the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The unexpected arrival of a Spanish army at the gates of the city, however, caused the Protestants to lose courage and surrender Aachen to Spinola. A Catholic garrison was installed and a process of re-Catholicization began.
The Düsseldorf Cow War was a military conflict over the status of church property in the duchies Jülich and Berg. It lasted between June and December 1651, pitting the Catholic Palatinate-Neuburg against the Protestant Margraviate of Brandenburg. It ended in peaceful settlement, confirming the distribution of church property on the basis of the year 1651.
The German Emperors after 1873 had a variety of titles and coats of arms, which in various compositions became the officially used titles and coats of arms. The title and coat of arms were last fixed in 1873, but the titles did not necessarily mean that the area was really dominated, and sometimes even several princes bore the same title.