# The counts of Guelders (c. 1096)

URL: https://allhistories.com/netherlands/timeline/1096-the-counts-of-guelders
Themes: main-event

Around the end of the eleventh century Gerard of Wassenberg is recorded as count of Guelders, named after the town of Geldern on the Niers. His successors gained lands along the Rhine, Waal and IJssel, including the county of Zutphen in the twelfth century. Guelders grew into one of the leading principalities of the northern Low Countries, raised to a duchy in 1339 with its capital eventually at Arnhem. The dukes of Guelders were long rivals of Holland, Utrecht and Brabant. Guelders became the great power of the eastern river lands and a key player in Dutch history until 1543.

## Why it matters
Guelders became the great power of the eastern river lands and a key player in Dutch history until 1543.

Who Was in Power: [Counts and Dukes of Guelders](https://allhistories.com/netherlands/rulers/counts-and-dukes-of-guelders)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Duchy of Guelders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Guelders)
- [Wikipedia — Gerard I of Guelders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_I_of_Guelders)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Low Countries: territorial principalities and the rise of the towns (925–c. 1350)](https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-the-Low-Countries-prehistoric-times-to-1579-2157575/The-development-of-the-territorial-principalities-and-the-rise-of-the-towns-925-c-1350)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — The counts of Guelders](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=The+counts+of+Guelders)
- [Wikipedia — County of Holland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_of_Holland)
- [Wikipedia — History of the Netherlands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Netherlands)