Princess Jakobea of Baden (16 January 1558 – 3 September 1597 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, buried in the St. Lambert Church in

) was daughter of the Margrave Philibert of Baden-Baden and

Mechthild of Bavaria Mechthild is a female Germanic given name. It is an old form of the first name Mathilde and means "powerful in combat, powerful fighter". Bearers of this name include: People * Mechthild of Bavaria (1532–1565), German noblewoman * Mechthild o ...

Life

Jakobea of Baden-Baden became an orphan at an early age and was raised at the court of her maternal uncle Duke

Albert V Albert V may refer to: *Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (ca. mid-1330s–1370) *Albert V, Duke of Mecklenburg (1397–1423) *Albert II of Germany (1397–1439), Albert V as Duke of Austria *Albert V, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (died c. 1469) *Albert ...

of Bavaria, where she had several suitors. At the insistence of her cousin

Ernest of Bavaria Ernest of Bavaria (german: Ernst von Bayern) (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-elector-archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1583 to 1612 as successor of the expelled Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. He was also bishop ...

, who was

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palat ...

, Emperor

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...

, King

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

and Pope

Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

, she married, on 16 June 1585, to Duke John William of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, who was considered physically unattractive and mentally unstable and was the son and heir apparent of William "the Rich" of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, in an attempt to keep the confessionally wavering duke William in the Catholic camp. The marriage was celebrated lavishly in Düsseldorf, which at the time was ravaged by the

Cologne War The Cologne War (german: Kölner Krieg, Kölnischer Krieg, Truchsessischer Krieg; 1583–88) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy ...

, and was documented by Dietrich Graminäus in his volume . William the Rich could never overcome the early death of his eldest son Charles Frederick. He despised his second son and successor, John William, and gave him little chance to learn to govern and thus contributed to the disaster that befell his duchies. Fürstlich Jülich‘sche Hochzeit-SMD

When William died in 1592, John William inherited the duchies and Jakobea tried to rule on behalf of her husband, who had been locked up because of his temper tantrums. She had been born a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, but was raised as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and did not choose for either side. She never became pregnant, possibly because her husband was

impotent Erectile dysfunction (ED), also called impotence, is the type of sexual dysfunction in which the penis fails to become or stay erect during sexual activity. It is the most common sexual problem in men.Cunningham GR, Rosen RC. Overview of male ...

. She had a relationship with the much younger Dietrich von Hall zu Ophoven, who was ''

Amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...

'' at

Monheim am Rhein Monheim am Rhein ( li, Monnem) is a town on the right (eastern) bank of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Monheim belongs to the Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann – with the southern suburbs of Düsseldorf to the north, ...

and was eventually arrested and locked up in the tower of

Düsseldorf Castle The Düsseldorf castle at or in the Düsseldorfer Altstadt existed from 1260 to 1872 or 1896. The building was erected in 1260 as a lowland castle of the Counts of Düsseldorf. Berg at the Rhine mouth of the Düssel on a small island. Extension ...

. She tried to plead her case in the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...

and at the imperial court in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, but the case made little progress. The Catholic side, represented primarily by her sister-in-law

Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg Sibylle of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, Margravine of Burgau (26 August 1557 in Cleves – 1628 in Günzburg) was the daughter of Duke William the Rich and his second wife, Archduchess Maria of Austria. Her brother John William inherited the Unite ...

, then took matters into their own hands. She was found dead in her room on the morning of 3 September 1597, after she had received guests and toasted on her husband's health the night before. Eyewitness accounts suggest that she was strangled or suffocated.Murder was never proven. However, in view of the facts and the motives and interests of her enemies, it would seem more appropriate to try to prove a natural death. The most import witness statement i
available online
The motive for the move appears to have been to make room for a more fertile wife, who could save the endangered

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

. She was buried on 10 September 1597 in a closed ceremony in the Kreuzherren Church in Düsseldorf. On 23 March 1820, her body was transferred to the St. Lambert Church in Düsseldorf and solemnly reburied. The City Museum in Düsseldorf has a lock of her hair.

Legacy

Comparing Jakobea to Mary Stuart is not entirely far-fetched; even so, it may be an exaggeration. Jakobea of Baden was overwhelmed by the confusing conditions at the religiously divided court in Düsseldorf and fled in a love affair for some amusement. When she was held in humiliating captivity and lost all hope of help from her powerful relatives in Baden and Bavaria, she showed her true caliber and attitude. The popular misinformation that Jakobea of Baden was beheaded, would make her more similar to Mary Stuart.

Footnotes

References

* Johann Baptist von Zahlhas: ''Jakobe von Baden. Schauspiel.'', Leske, Darmstadt, 1833
Online at the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf
* Mark P. Lindo: ''Jacoba, Hertogin van Gulik, Kleef en Berg, geboren Markgravin van Baden: (Fragment uit de geschledenis van Gulik, Kleef en Berg)'', 1847
Online
* Geisenheimer: ''Jakobe von Baden: Vortr. im Bildungsverein zu Düsseldorf, 13. Nov. 1876'', Essen, 1876
Online
* Marlies Döring: ''Jacobe von Baden. Die weiße Frau im Schlossturm'', Sutton Verlag, Erfurt, 2010, *

Ricarda Huch Ricarda Huch (; 18 July 1864 – 17 November 1947) was a pioneering German intellectual. Trained as an historian, and the author of many works of European history, she also wrote novels, poems, and a play. Asteroid 879 Ricarda is named in her hon ...

: ''Der Dreißigjährige Krieg'', * Rolf-Achim Mostert: ''Wirich von Daun Graf zu Falkenstein (1542–1598) – ein Reichsgraf und bergischer Landstand im Spannungsgefüge von Machtpolitik und Konfession'', Thesis, Heinrich Hein University, Düsseldorf, 1997 * Wilhelm Muschka: ''Opfergang einer Frau. Das Lebensbild der Herzogin Jakobe von Jülich-Kleve-Berg geborene Markgräfin von Baden'', 1987, * Else Rümmler: ''Jacobe von Badens Schicksal'', in: ''Land im Mittelpunkt der Mächte. Die Herzogtümer Jülich, Kleve, Berg'', Exehibition catalogue, Cleves, 1984, , p. 444ff * * Felix Stieve: ''Zur Geschichte der Herzogin Jakobe von Jülich'', in: ZBGV 13, 1877, p. 1–197.

External links

Rita Labonté-Philippe on Jakobea of Baden

"The white woman in the castle tower"

Rhenish legend: "The white woman in Düsseldorf Castle"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobea Of Baden Princesses of Baden Margravines of Baden-Baden Duchesses of Jülich Duchesses of Cleves Duchesses of Berg 1558 births 1597 deaths 16th-century German people Royal reburials