John II, Duke of Cleves

John II, Duke of Cleves
John II, Duke of Cleves
Spouse(s)	Mathilde of Hesse
Issue John III, Duke of Cleves
Noble family	House of La Marck
Father	John I, Duke of Cleves
Mother	Elizabeth of Nevers
Born	13 April 1458 Cleves
Died	15 March 1521 (aged 62)

John II, "The Pious" or "The Babymaker", Duke of Cleves, Count of Mark, (German: Johann II. "der Pious" oder "der Kindermacher", Herzog von Kleve, Graf von Mark) (1458–1521) was a son of John I, Duke of Cleves and Elizabeth of Nevers. He ruled Cleves from 1481 to his death in 1521. He was called "The Babymaker" since he fathered sixty-three illegitimate children ^[1] before his marriage with Mathilde of Hesse in 1490. She was the daughter of Henry III, Landgrave of Upper Hesse and his wife Anna of Katzenelnbogen.^[2]

They had three children :

• John III (1490–1539), his successor
• Anna (1495–1567), married in 1518 with count Philip III of Waldeck-Eisenberg
• Adolf (1498–1525), appointed by his father's cousin Philip of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein and Wijnendale, as his successor, but died before Philip (1528)

coat-of-arms of La Mark

coat-of-arms of Cleves

Ancestry

Ancestors of John II, Duke of Cleves

16. Adolph II, Count of Mark (c. 1314–1347)               8. Adolph I of Kleve-Mark (1334–1394)                       17. Margaret of Cleves (c. 1310–aft. 1348)               4. Adolph I, Duke of Cleves (1373–1448)                             18. Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg (c. 1325–1360)               9. Margaret of Jülich (c. 1342–1425/29)[3]                       19. Margaret of Ravensberg (c. 1320–1389)               2. John I, Duke of Cleves (1419–1481)                                   20. Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) (= 24)               10. John II, Duke of Burgundy (1371–1419)                       21. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (1350–1405) (= 25)               5. Marie of Burgundy (c. 1393–1473)                             22. Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (1336–1404)               11. Margaret of Bavaria (1363–1423)                       23. Margaret of Brieg (1342–1386)               1. John II, Duke of Cleves                                         24. Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) (= 20)               12. Philip II, Count of Nevers (1389–1415)                       25. Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (1350–1405) (= 21)               6. John II, Count of Nevers (1415–1491)                             26. Philip of Artois, Count of Eu (1358–1397)               13. Bonne of Artois (1396–1425)                       27. Marie of Berry (c. 1367–1434)               3. Elizabeth of Nevers (1439–1483)                                   28. Baudouin d'Ailly (?–1415)               14. Raoul d'Ailly[4]                       29. Joan of Raineval (?–1413)               7. Jacqueline d'Ailly (c. 1420–1470)                             30. Robert VIII of Bethune (c. 1352–1408)               15. Jacqueline of Bethune[5]                       31. Isabelle of Ghistelles (?–aft. 1438)

References

1. La Societe Numismatique, Revue de la numismatique belge, Brussels, 1863, page 234
2. John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 135.
3. "Genealogics".
4. "Genealogics".
5. "Genealogics".

External links

• Genealogy of Jülich-Cleves Accessed July 28, 2008