Reginald II of Guelders

Reinoud II of Gueldres (Reginald), called "the Black" (c.1295 - Arnhem 12 October 1343), was Duke of Gueldres and Count of Zutphen, in the Low Countries, from 1326 to 1343. He was the son of Reinoud I of Gueldres and Marguerite of Flanders.

From 1316, he acted as regent in the duchy, imprisoned his father in 1318, and governed as "son of the Duke". When in 1326 his father died, he styled himself Duke of Gueldres and Count of Zutphen. He was a law giver, in 1321 on customary law, and in 1335 on dykes and canals.

He allied against the French with Edward III of England, his brother-in-law, warning the English in 1338 of a French fleet gathering in the mouth of the Zwin [Michael Packe, "Edward III" (1985 edition), p. 92.] . He remained Edward's closest ally among the German princes, in the first phase of the Hundred Years War [Jonathan Sumption, "Trial by Battle: The Hundred Years War I" (1990), p. 459.] .

Family

His first marriage (Roermond, 11 January 1311) was to Sophia Berthout (died 1329), Lady of Mechelen. Their children
* Marguerite (1320-1344), Lady of Mechelen
* Mathilde (1325-1384), Lady of Mechelen, then Duchess of Gueldres (1371-1379), who married :
*# in 1336, Godfried van Loon-Heinsberg (d. 1347)
*# before 1348, John of Cleves (d. 1368), Count of Cleves
*# Jean II de Blois-Châtillon (d. 1381)
* Elisabeth (d. 1376), Abbess of Gravendaal
* Marie († 1405), Duchess of Gueldres (1371-1405), married William II of Jülich

Widowed, he married (Nijmegen, May 1332) Eleanor of Woodstock (1318 -1355), daughter of Edward II of England. Their children were:

* Reginald III of Guelders (1333-1371), Duke of Guelders (1343-1361)
* Edward of Gueldres (1336-1371), Duke of Gueldres (1361-1371)

He excluded her from court in 1338, claiming she had leprosy. She refuted him by returning and undressing, perhaps completely according to some chroniclers, in public view. [Alison Weir, "Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England" (2005), pp. 356-7.]

ource

* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/holland/geldern.html Genealogy of the Counts of Gueldres]

Notes