John William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg

Johann Wilhelm of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (28 May 1562 – 25 March 1609) was the last Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg.

Biography

His parents were William the Rich, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1516–1592) and Maria of Austria (1531–1581), a daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He grew up and was educated in Xanten. Johann Wilhelm was meant to be Bishop of Münster. However, after the unexpected death of his elder brother Karl Friedrich, Wilhelm was needed to succeed his father as Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, a secular fief. He was also Count of Altena. The United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a combination of reichsfrei states within the Holy Roman Empire.

Johann Wilhelm was first married in 1585 to Jakobea of Baden (d. 1597), daughter of Philibert, Margrave of Baden. He was secondly married to Antonia of Lorraine (d. 1610), daughter of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. Some believe that Johann Wilhelm also had a morganatic marriage prior to 1585 with Anna op den Graeff, with whom he had a son, Herman op den Graeff. However, no substantial evidence of a relation between Anna and Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg has ever been presented. Johann Wilhelm was subject to a serious mental illness, for which he was treated by the physician Francesco Maria Guazzo. He died on 25 March 1609, leaving no heirs to succeed him.

Ancestry