William II Berthout of Mechelen (died near
De Meern, 4 February 1301) was
bishop of Utrecht from 1296 to 1301, succeeding
Jan II van Sierck. He was a leader of the
Berthout family, which ruled over the
Heerlijkheid of Mechelen
The Lordship of Mechelen was until 1795 a small authonomous Lordship in the Low Countries, consisting of the city of Mechelen and some surrounding villages.
In the early Middle Ages, it was part of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, which was con ...
.
William was appointed without intervention from the
chapters by
pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...
because of his anti-French and pro-English attitude. He tried in vain to get back his lost lordships of
Amstelland and
Woerden
Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, and the fact that it has rail and road connections to those cities, it is a popular town for commu ...
until the death of count
Floris V of Holland. When he returned from a trip to Rome he found so much opposition to him in
the Sticht that he sought refuge in
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the secon ...
. In 1300 Boniface VIII suspended him as bishop since he had not paid back debts owed to the papal treasury, but when he paid these debts the suspension was lifted and he remained bishop until his death in battle against a coalition of the Dutch and his own rebellious subjects. His intended successor as bishop,
Adolf II of Waldeck, was passed over in favour of
Guy of Avesnes
Guy van Avennes (also spelt as Guy van Avesnes; Dutch Gwijde van Avesnes) (c. 1253 – 23 May 1317, Utrecht) was Bishop of Utrecht from 1301 to 1317.
Family
He was descended from an important Hainaut family, the House of Avesnes. He was the bro ...
.
Year of birth missing
1301 deaths
Prince-Bishops of Utrecht
13th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire
14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire
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