The Siege of Jülich

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 1217. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $7750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Jülich-Berg. AR Taler Klippe (29.27 g). Siege issue. Dated (15)43. Lion rampant left with ornate tail; 4 3 across field; all within ornate frame / Blank. Brause-Mansfeld pl. XII, 2; Noss 285; Maillet 1. Near EF, toned. Very rare.

After the death in 1538 of Karl von Egmond, Duke of Guelders, his lands passed to his closest family member, the Protestant Wilhelm V, duke of nearby Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who controlled the neighboring duchy of Brabant in the Austrian Netherlands, opposed Wilhelm V’s inheritance of Guelders. Therefore, Charles V’s troops seized the fortresses of Düren, Jülich, and Roermond. When Wilhelm V didn’t receive the help he expected from France and the Schmalkaldic League (a confederation of protestant princes), he was forced to make peace with Charles V. In the Treaty of Venlo of 1543, Wilhelm was stripped of his claim to Guelders and forced to abandon his attempt to bring the Reformation to the duchy. This klippe was issued shortly after Charles V besieged Wilhelm’s fortresses.