Note 71 — Chapter XI

On March 25, 1609, John William, Duke of Clèves, Juliers and Berg, had died childless. The question of the succession to his dominions was of vital importance, as they connected the bishoprics of Münster, Paderborn, and Hildesheim, with the Spanish Netherlands, and, during the reign of the late duke, who was a Catholic, had interrupted the communications of the Protestants of Central Germany with the Dutch. Their transference to a Protestant prince would be a fatal blow to the North German Catholics and would threaten the security of the Spanish Netherlands. A number of claimants appeared, the most prominent of whom were two Protestant princes, the Elector of Brandenburg and the Count Palatine of Neuberg, who claimed through the two elder sisters of John William. They came to an agreement to occupy part of the country and establish a provisional government; but the Emperor maintained that the duchies were male fiefs which could only descend in the direct male line, pronounced them sequestrated, and called upon the two princes to submit their claims to him as “feudal lord and sovereign judge.” On their refusal to do this, he placed them under the ban of the Empire, and ordered the Archduke Leopold to take possession of the territory as Imperial Commissioner (July, 1609). Henri IV protested vigorously against the Emperor’s action, declaring that he was determined not to permit any such addition to the power of the House of Austria, and that, if it came to war, he would prosecute it with all the resources of his kingdom.