Cleves
Cleves was a county on the Lower Rhine, centred on Kleve castle. In 1337 it was ruled by Count Dietrich the Pious.
In 1368 Dietrich's son John died without heirs, and Cleves passed to his nephew Adolf of the Mark. The union with Mark became permanent in 1394, and Cleves became a duchy in 1417. It joined Jülich and Berg in 1521; after the dynasty died out, the 1614 Treaty of Xanten assigned Cleves and Mark to Brandenburg. The Congress of Vienna returned Cleves to Prussia in 1815.
Characters
- Dietrich VII, Count of Cleves
- Dietrich VIII, Count of Cleves
- Elisabeth of Cleves
- Irmgard of Cleves
- John, Count of Cleves
- Margareta von Neu-Kyburg
- Margaret of Guelders
- Otto, Count of Cleves