Jump to content

William, Count of Celje

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chris the speller (talk | contribs) at 02:46, 16 September 2019 (sp, punct, date fmt). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

William of Celje
William's coat of arms
Count of Celje
Reign1385 – 1392
PredecessorHermann I of Celje
SuccessorHermann II of Celje
Noble familyHouse of Celje
Spouse(s)Anna of Poland
IssueAnna of Celje
FatherUlrich I
MotherAldelaide of Ortenburg

William of Celje (Template:Lang-de, Template:Lang-sl; c. 1361 – 19th August 1392), Count of Celje, was a Styrian nobleman who was married to Anna of Poland, daughter of the Polish king Casimir the Great. He was the co-ruler of the House of Celje together with his cousin Hermann II from around 1385 until his death. William's only daughter, Anna of Celje, married the Polish King Vladislav II Jagello in order to strengthen his claim to the Polish throne.

Life

William was the only child of Ulrich I, Count of Celje and Adelaide of Ortenburg.[1] The date of his birth is unknown, but was probably in the early 1360s. After his father's death in 1368, William was raised by his uncle Hermann I of Celje who ruled in his name and later jointly with him. From the mid 1480s onwards, he continued to rule with his cousin Hermann II, in accordance with the family tradition which avoided splitting the estates by having male members of the family rule jointly. Like his father and grandfather before him, William served as Stadthalter (governor) of the Duchy of Carniola, between 1389 and 1390. In 1387, he was enfiefed with the castle and estate of Dravograd by the Habsburg duke Albert III, further expanding the Celje's possessions along the Drava River in southern Carinthia.[2]

In 1373, he was betrothed to Elizabeth of Gorizia, daughter of the imperial prince Meinhard, count of Gorizia and palatine count in Carinthia.[3] However, Elizabeth died young, and William eventually married the daughter of the late Polish king Casimir the Great. William's father Ulrich had been a mercenary military commander in the service of the Hungarian king Louis I. When Louis inherited the Polish crown, he took over the custody of his daughters from Casimir's last marriage: the oldest one, Anna was betrothed to a loyal ally from a far-away county on the southern borders of his vast realm.[4]. The marriage took place on April 6, 1480; a daughter, Anna, was born in the marriage. She would eventually marry king Vladislav II of Poland.

William died in 1392 without sons, and was succeeded by his cousin Hermann II, who became the sole ruler of the House of Celje.

References

  1. ^ Fugger Germadnik, Romanda et al. (2001): Razstava Grofje Celjski (Celje: Pokrajinski muzej Celje, 2001), p. 28.
  2. ^ Orožen, Janko: Zgodovina Celja in okolice, Vol I. In: Celjski zbornik (Celje, 1971), p. 212.
  3. ^ Orožen, Janko: Zgodovina Celja in okolice, Vol I. In: Celjski zbornik (Celje, 1971), p. 139.
  4. ^ Igor Grdina. Celjski knezi v Evropi (Celje, 1994), p. xii
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William,_Count_of_Celje&oldid=915935674"