- Written by L.C.Geerts
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The history of Holland and the story of its ancient Capital and Residence Dordrecht
Part 5
From the year 1417 to 1436
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| Coat of arms of the County of Holland | Coat of arms of Dordrecht |
Holland and Zeeland ruled by the House of Bavaria 1417-1436
The death of William VI left the government of the County in the hands of his young and widowed daughter, who had barely attained the age of seventeen. Yet, endued with understanding far above her years and a courage uncommon to her sex, joined to the most captivating grace and beauty, the Countess had already secured the respect and affection of her subjects, which, after her accession, she neglected no method to retain, by confirming everywhere their ancient charters and privileges and the Hollanders might have promised themselves long years of tranquility and happiness under her rule, had it not been for the unprincipled ambition of her paternal uncle, John of Bavaria, surnamed the Ungodly, because he constantly refused to receive priest's orders as bishop elect of Liege.
He forgot the debt of gratitude he owed his late brother William, as to endeavor to deprive his only daughter Jacoba of her inheritance. Being resolved to abandon the spiritual condition, and procure himself to be acknowledged as Governor of Holland, he repaired to Dordrecht, where he had many partisans, and was proclaimed there, as well as at Briel, in the lordship of Voorne, this estate having been conferred on him by the late Count.
Jacoba or Jacqueline 1401-1436, Duchess of Bavaria, Count of Hainaut, Halland and Zeeland 1417-1433
Jacoba, or Jacqueline was born on 15 August 1401,she was the only daughter of William VI, Duke of Bavaria and Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut and Margaretha of Burgundy, daughter of Duke Philips "the Bold".
Jacoba was at first a friendly but short tempered woman who became the victim of her time though she became a cruel ruler without scrupulous, prepared to remove her opponents mercilessly.
She was only 13 years of age when she was married, 6 August 1415, to John (1398-1417), Duke of Touraine, second son of Charles VI (1368-1422), king of France (1380-1422), who on the death of his elder brother Louis (1397-1415) became dauphin. John of Touraine died in April 1417 (of an abscess in his neck, though he was rumored to have been poisoned), and two months afterwards Jacoba lost her father (31 May).
Struggles for the succession of power in Holland and Zealand
1417 After her fathers dead she went to Holland, on 22 June Jacoba arrived at The Hague and was after some discussions, acknowledged as Countess of Holland and Zealand by the nobles and the towns of Holland and Zealand who belonged to the Hook party (the small cities and petty nobility), the city of Dordrecht, who was not present at the event, because the city had changed to the Cods party some years before and was obliged to her uncle John III of Bavaria because Dordrecht was of meaning that Jacoba was to young (only 16 years of age) to govern the County.
All the other towns, however, both of Holland and Zealand, and whether espousing the Hook or Cod party, refused to acknowledge John III of Bavaria. Having, therefore, made a league with William van Arkel and John van Egmond and with their assistance possessed himself of Gorinchem. On this commencement of hostilities by her uncle, Jacoba assembled her troops, obtained some auxiliaries from Utrecht and Amersfoort, and placing herself at their head recaptured Gorinchem, where, in a sharp enCounter, the followers of John were defeated, and William of Arkel, with more than a thousand men, were slain.
On the 10th of November 1417 Dordrecht (centre of the Cods party) acknowledged, as only city, John III of Bavaria as Ruwaard (Governor) of Holland and guardian of Jacoba. The schism between Countess Jacoba and Dordrecht became definitively when Jacoba openly declared Dordrecht her enemy on December,12, 1417.
1418 The presence of so formidable an enemy in her states, made it advisable that the young Countess should marry without delay. Her father had in his will named as her future husband, John IV (1403-1427),Duke of Brabant (1415-1427) eldest son of Anthony, late Duke of Brabant, and first cousin to Jacoba. Although she showed no inclination to the person of the young prince, the union was so earnestly pressed by her mother Margaret (1374-1441), sister of John "the Fearless", Duke of Burgundy, her uncle, that, a dispensation having been procured from the Pope, the parties were married at Beervlietss on 18 April.
As a result, the city of Dordrecht, Duke Philip III "the Good" (1396-1467), Duke of Burgundy (1419-1467) and a part of the Cods party acknowledged John of Bavaria as Count of Holland and Zealand and on April, 26, 1418 he was invested at Dordrecht. This would be the introduction to the last episode of the Hooks and Cods wars and finally placed Holland, Zealand and Hainaut into Burgundian hands.
John of Bavaria, to whom this marriage left no pretence for insisting on the regency, saw himself obliged either to resign altogether his claims to the government of Holland, or to adopt decisive measures for obtaining sole possession of it and as motives of ambition swayed him, far more than those of natural affection, he determined to thrust his niece from the seat of her fathers, and found means to induce Pope Martin V (1417-1431), and Emperor Sigismund to lend their aid to his project.
Both the Pope and the Emperor were at this time attending the Council of Constance, opened in 1414 for the purpose of reforming the church in its head and in its members, and of terminating the schism of double Popes, which had now lasted for thirty-six years. Thither, therefore, John sent a trusty ambassador, to resign his bishopric into the hands of the Pope, and to solicit in return a dispensation from holy orders, and liberty to enter the marriage state.
Pope Martin V consented without hesitation to his wishes, and a matrimonial alliance with Elizabeth of Luxemburg (1390-1451), widow of Anthony, Duke of Brabant, and niece to Emperor Sigismund, gained him the favor and support of the Emperor who declared the County of Holland and Zealand a fief reverted in default of heirs male to the empire, with which he invested John of Bavaria, commanding the nobility, towns and inhabitants in general, to acknowledge allegiance to him, and releasing them from the oaths they had taken to Jacoba and John IV of Brabant.
Upon the strength of the imperial mandate, John of Bavaria assumed the title of Count, and was acknowledged at Dordrecht but notwithstanding that he promised the towns an extension of their privileges, and among the most important, bound himself not to coin money without their advice and consent, he found none inclined to forsake their allegiance to the Countess Jacoba; they declared, on the contrary, that "the County of Holland and Zealand was no fief of the empire, nor was the succession in anywise restricted to heirs male".
So far from supporting the pretensions of John, the towns of Haarlem, Delft, and Leyden, had raised a loan for Jacoba of five hundred and thirty English nobles by the sale of annuities in Hainaut and, uniting their forces with those of the other large towns, laid siege to Dordrecht, the expedition being commanded by her husband, the young Duke John IV of Brabant. His troops were not in sufficient number to carry the town by assault, which was so plentifully stored and victualled, that, after a blockade of six weeks, he was obliged to abandon the undertaking from a scarcity of provisions in his own camp.
Commemorative stone originally from the in 1870 demolished Spui gate at the Westside of Dordrecht, since 1974 placed on the wall at the riverside of the Groothoofds gate at Dordrecht. The text reads as follows :
"In 1418 this city was besieged here by lofty powerful Duke Jan van Brabant but by the hand of God driven back roughly. Soli Deo Gloria"
The young Duke John VI and his wife Jocoba resided at Castle "Ter Merwede" (former Caste "Merwe") at Dordrecht (1418-1420), rebuild in 1307 and now owned by Theodore van der Merwede, a member of the Hooks party. After the siege of their city the inhabitants of Dordrecht destroyed the castle out of revenge and the fief became a stone-quarry for the city. The Castle was never rebuild again and the remains can still be seen today. Duke John VI and Jacoba fled to Brabant and Theodore van der Merwede fled to the citadel of Geertruydenberg. (By excavations at the spot were found many black arrows fired at the Castle).
Encouraged by this success, John III of Bavaria advanced to Rotterdam and took the city on October, 10, 1418, the capture of which John IV of Brabant found himself unable to prevent, and the former, in consequence, became master of a considerable portion of South Holland.
John III of Bavaria Count of South-Holland 1419-1426
1419 John and Jacoba being precluded by this means from receiving succors from Brabant, consented to an accommodation under the mediation of Philip III 'the Good" (1397-1467), Count of Charolais and the future Count of Holland, son of Duke John "the Fearless" (Dutch Jan zonder vrees) (1371-1419), Duke of Burgundy 1404-1419, the Duke himself being at this time fully occupied with the affairs of France and England.
By the treaty now made, Rotterdam, Dordrecht, and Gorinchem, with a considerable portion of South Holland, were surrendered to John III of Bavaria, to hold as a fief of the Count and Countess of Holland in case Jacoba died without issue, John III of Bavaria was to be immediately put in possession of the whole, of her states. The treaty of partition was merely a truce, and the contest between uncle and niece soon began again and continued with varying success.
The government, moreover, was to be exercised in common by John III of Bavaria and John IV of Brabant for the next five years. The members of the council of state, and the treasurers of the County, the schouts and sheriffs of the towns, with the bailiffs of the open Country, were to be appointed by them jointly, taking the oath, nevertheless, to John IV of Brabant and Jacoba, who were likewise to enjoy alone the revenues of the Counties of Holland and Hainaut. John of Bavaria agreed on his side to surrender all right to the County founded upon any imperial or papal grant, in consideration of 100,000 English pounds to be paid in two years.
Although this treaty was, it should appear, sufficiently favorable to John III of Bavaria, he did not long adhere to its provisions, John and Jacoba moved to Brabant soon after, he took advantage of their absence to extend his authority in Holland, conferring upon his own adherents, chiefly members of the Cod party, all the public offices, without the intervention of either Duke John IV or Countess Jacoba.
Perceiving the course of conduct pursued by Count John III, Philip van Wassenaar, Burgrave of Leyden, and several others of the Hook nobles, made a league with the citizens of Utrecht and Amersfoort, and declared war against Count John III, and took possession of Rhynsburg and other forts belonging to the Cods. John III of Bavaria, upon these unexpected hostilities, repaired to Gouda to assemble his troops whence he advanced directly to the siege of Leyden, garrisoned by four or five hundred Utrechters in addition to the burgher guards.
1420 After a siege of about two months, provisions became scarce within the town, and the besieged, despairing of relief, since Duke John IV and Countess Jacoba were folly occupied in appeasing some disturbances which had arisen in Brabant, listened to the conditions offered them by Count John III and consented to receive him as Governor. Leyden, which until then had belonged to Burgraves of its own, as a fief of Holland, was henceforward annexed to the County, under the immediate rule of the sovereign.
Count John III, then, with the design of invading Brabant itself, marched to the frontier town of Geertruydenberg, which immediately opened its gates but the citadel, under the command of Theodore van der Merwede, held out for some days, and the delay occasioned by its reduction, though short, lost him the chance of conquering Brabant.
1421 The nobles of Brabant, dissatisfied with the administration of Duke John VI, a prince of slow understanding and addicted to indolent pleasures, summoned his brother Philip (1404-1430), Count of St. Pol from France, and conferred on him the office of Governor of the Duchy in 1421. This gave John III of Bavaria a far different antagonist to contend with. Philip, on his arrival, lost no time in collecting a force sufficient to oppose his purposed invasion and Count John III was able to execute nothing more in Brabant than to surprise and pillage Lillo and Zandvlietss.
The feeble John IV of Brabant, at variance both with his brother and his subjects, was reduced to make a treaty with his rival, whereby he ceded to him Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, for the space of twelve years and this conduct without bettering the condition of his affairs, served but to increase the dislike with which he had for some time been viewed by the Brabanters nor was this feeling manifested by them alone.
Through his incapacity, Jacoba now saw herself stripped of her fairest possessions, nor did there appear any security for her retaining the rest he, moreover, maintained an illicit relation with the daughter of a Brabant nobleman; and, with the petty tyranny which little minds are so fond of exercising, he forced her to dismiss all the Holland ladies from her service, and to fill their places with those of Brabant.
Jacoba, bred up from her infancy in Holland and Hainaut, was devotedly attached to her Country and people and this last act of injustice, on the part of her husband, increased the contempt and aversion with which she had long regarded him, to an uncontrollable degree. She secretly quitted the court and, accompanied by her mother, escaped by way of Calais to England, where she was courteously received by King Henry V of England.
At the end of the same year a disaster occurred which would have great impact on the further history of Holland and Zeeland and as special for Dordrecht, the Capital of Holland and its surroundings. During the night of 18th on 19th November 1421 a heavy storm at the North Sea coast caused the dikes to break in a number of places and the lower lying polder land of parts of Zeeland and the "Hollandsche Waard" at Dordrecht were flooded. A number of villages around Dordrecht were swallowed by the flood and were lost, causing the enormous quantity of about 6,000 casualties.
The result of this disaster was that Dordrecht lost his hinterlands and last but not least his importance as Capital of Holland, due to the fact that the city was fully surrounded by water, for decades, and could only be reached by water. Nevertheless the power of the city was not yet come to an end for the coming centuries. The whole story of the St. Elisabeth flood you can read on the St. Elisabeth flood page.
1422 In the winter of the same year, she held at the baptismal font the infant son of the king, afterwards Henry VI. Jacoba was now determined at all risks to procure the dissolution of the bonds that had become so odious to her and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (1390-1447), brother of the king, tempted by her large inheritance, and captivated by her personal charms, eagerly entered into a negotiation with her for a future matrimonial alliance which had been projected even before her flight from Brabant.
An almost insurmountable difficulty, however, presented itself, in the necessity of procuring a dispensation from the Pope. Martin V. had granted one three years before, against the wishes both of the emperor and John of Bavaria, for her marriage with John of Brabant and it appeared scarcely reasonable to ask him now to revoke it, when by so doing he must offend besides these princes, to whom her alliance with England would naturally be distasteful, the powerful Duke of Burgundy, who, in case Jacoba and John of Bavaria should die without issue, stood next in succession to the County.
Despairing, therefore, of success in this quarter, Humphrey and Jacoba applied to Benedict XIII., who had been deposed by the Council of Pisa in 1409, and was acknowledged only by the King of Arragon. Benedict, flattered with the recognition of his authority, and pleased with the opportunity of acting in opposition to his rival, readily granted a bull of divorce, which they pretended to have obtained from the legitimate Pope, and which Martin V. afterwards publicly declared to be fictitious.
Although such a divorce could not, by any means, be considered as valid, the marriage between the Duke of Gloucester and the Countess Jacoba was, nevertheless, solemnized in the end of the year 1422, having been somewhat delayed by the death of King Henry V. But the advantages accruing from it to either party by no means Counterbalanced the discreditable circumstances under which it was contracted.
Humphrey could not establish himself in the states of his wife, without the assistance of English troops and money but though he had been named, after the death of his brother, Protector of the kingdom, he found the people little inclined to make any sacrifice of either the one or the other to advance his private interests. They had now, during seven years, been engaged, with little cessation, in wars with France, which, although attended with brilliant successes, and the conquest of nearly the whole kingdom, inevitably proved an immense drain of men and treasure while the marriage of Jacoba with the Duke gave cause of offence to an important and useful ally of England (Burgundy).
1423 Philip "the Good" of Burgundy opposed the marriage of Jacoba and Humphrey because of his claims to the County of Holland in the highest degree. She had no children by the Duke of Brabant, nor did it appear probable that she ever would but her union with Humphrey might prove more fruitful, and the birth of a child effectually deprive Philip from the succession. He therefore complained of this step as of an affront offered to himself, to the Duke of Bedford, elder brother of Gloucester, and regent of France, who promised for his brother, that he should submit the question of the legality of his marriage to the decision of the Pope.
1424 He found Humphrey, however, determined to resign, on no consideration, either his wife or his claim to her states but having obtained for her an act of naturalization from the English parliament, together with subsidies of troops and money, he set out to Hainaut, where, Philip of Burgundy and John of Brabant being unprepared for resistance, the towns universally opened their gates to him. But a very short time elapsed before Philip Count of St. Pol assembled an army of Burgundians and Brabanters, who made themselves masters of Braine le Comte, where they put the English garrison to the sword.
Humphrey returned to England under pretext of making the necessary preparations, bat in reality, probably, from a conviction that he should not be able long to withstand the power of Burgundy (he would never return to Jacoba and stayed in England). He left Jacoba in Mons, she was delivered by the citizens of Mons into the hands of the Duke's deputies, and conducted to Ghent, to be detained there until the Pope should decide the question of her marriage.
1425 After remaining some little time in confinement, Jacoba escaped, in male disguise, to Antwerp, and resuming the attire of her sex, proceeded, with a considerable body of Hook nobles, to Dordrecht but she found the city unreachable because it was fully surrounded by water, due to the St. Elisabeth flood of 1421. Thence she proceeded to Woudrichem, which opened its gates to her, as well as Oudewater and Gouda. The citadel of Schoonhoven resisted for about six weeks and the army which the Hook nobles assembled to besiege it, but they were ultimately forced to surrender on conditions. Their lives and estates were granted to all the defenders except one, named Arnold Beiling, who was condemned to be buried alive, but besought a respite of one month to arrange his affairs, and take leave of his friends it was granted upon his word of honor alone, and he was permitted to depart without further security. He returned punctually at the time appointed, and the sentence was executed a short distance without the walls of the town.
1426 The death of Count John III "the Pitiless" of Bavaria, by poison, administered, as some say, at the instigation of the Countess-dowager Elisabeth of Luxembourg, others, by his steward, a knight of the Hook party, some months after the return of Jacoba to Holland, although it delivered her from an inveterate and powerful enemy, did not contribute to retrieve her fortunes.
John III had named Philip of Burgundy his heir in case he should die without issue, that ambitious prince now took advantage of the event to obtain from John IV of Brabant the title of governor and heir to the County of Holland, John himself retaining the name of Count, and being acknowledged as such by all the towns which had held to the party of John III of Bavaria. The Duke of Brabant confirmed the privileges of the nation, engaging that no offices should be given to strangers, and that no money should be coined without the consent of the council and the towns. He declared also, that no exiles of the Hook party should be permitted to return to their Country without permission from himself and his council. From this time he does not appear to have concerned himself in any way with the government of the County. He returned immediately after to Brabant, when Philip came into Holland, where he was acknowledged governor by the greater portion of the towns.
Countess Jacoba remained meanwhile at Gouda, where hearing that some towns of the Cod party, principally Haarlem, Leyden, and Amsterdam (Dordrecht was not present because the city was busy fighting the effects of the St. Elisabeth flood of 1421) had united their forces to besiege her, she obtained assistance from the Utrechters, who had always remained faithful to her cause, and advanced at the head of her troops to meet her enemies near Alpen, where she gained a considerable victory over them. This success was followed by the welcome news, that an English fleet had been equipped for her service by the Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, bringing five hundred choice land troops.
1427 It arrived, in effect, early in the next year at Schouwen, under the command of the Earl Fitzwalter, whom Humphrey had appointed his Stadtholder over Holland and Zealand. Philip "the Good", being then at Leyden, assembled an army of 4000 men, and sailed from Rotterdam to Brouwershaven, where the English, joined with the Zealanders of the Hook party, were encamped. Immediately on the landing of the Cods the troops came to a severe engagement, which lasted the whole day, and terminated to the disadvantage of the English and Hooks 1400 of the former, and some of the principal nobles of Zealand were slain Fitzwalter himself being forced to seek safety by flight.
This unfortunate encounter, Jacoba lost the whole of Zealand: nevertheless, she did not yield to despair, but taking advantage of the absence of Duke Philip from Holland, she engaged the men of Alkmaar, with the Kemmerlanders and West Frieslanders, to lay siege to Haarlem; this undertaking also was unsuccessful; but the Kemmerlanders made themselves masters of Enkhuyzen, Monnikendam, and several forts belonging to the Cod party, they attempted likewise to gain possession of Hoorn, but found this city determined to defend itself with the utmost vigor.
The animosity entertained by the burghers against Jacoba arose from a circumstance which affords but too strong evidence of the disregard into which, during this turbulent period, the numerous laws made to provide for the security of the subject had fallen. A young man, named John Lambertson, the son of Lambert Kuyf, burgomaster of Hoorn, happening to see the Countess at Gouda, incautiously observed, that it was a shame that so noble and lovely lady should be dragged hither and thither like a common woman.
This remark being repeated to Jacoba, the youth was seized, tried, and condemned to death by the supreme court of Holland. The unhappy father pleaded, in the most moving terms and with the offer of a large sum, for the life of his only son. He failed in obtaining a remission of the sentence but hopes were given him, that at the last hour, on the scaffold, a mandate would arrive from the Lady Jacoba to stay the execution. They proved delusive, and the sufferer was beheaded on the day appointed. The deep resentment which an act of such lawless cruelty excited in the breast of the father was shared by all the members of the government, who came to an unanimous resolution never, in any case, to acknowledge Jacoba as Countess.
The burghers, therefore, fortified their town, which as yet lay open, with astonishing rapidity, Lambert Kuyf applying to this purpose the whole of the money which he had offered for his son's ransom, and sent to demand assistance from Duke Philip against the Kemmerlanders. On the arrival of three hundred Picardins, under the command of Villiers de Lisle Adam, they attacked the besiegers in the suburbs of Hoorn, defeated, and put them to flight.
The loss of this battle and the advance of Philip in person did not permit Jacoba to continue any longer in North Holland. She therefore retreated once more to Gouda, when all the towns in that quarter opened their gates to Philip. The Hooks, exasperated at their defeat before Hoorn, vented their rage upon the town of Enkhuyzen having collected a few vessels, they surprised it as the burghers were engaged in their midday meal, seized more than a hundred of the principal persons and beheaded them. Under pretext of securing them from similar assaults in future, Philip placed foreign garrisons in the greater number of the towns, and erected a citadel at Hoorn.
The Dutch against foreign troops
The filling of the town with foreign soldiers, an act unprecedented in the history of the Country, was the first of those violent and unpopular measures pursued by Philip of Burgundy and his successors, which, in the next century, lost them so rich and fair a portion of their dominions.
It was followed by others no less inimical to the ancient customs and privileges of the people, the Kemmerlanders were punished for the support they had given to their lawful sovereign, by the forfeiture of their charters and immunities they were forbidden to assemble together for any cause, and to use any other arms than common knives without points the towns and villages which had adhered to Jacoba were condemned to pay a fine of 123,300 crowns within six months, and to be subject to a perpetual tax of four groots (halfpence) for every hearth. Alkmaar was to furnish 8000 crowns as its portion of the fine, to be deprived of its municipal government, and the citadel and walls to be razed to the ground.
The suspension of their privileges had before been inflicted on the Kemmerlanders by Count William III in 1324, and it appears that the Counts claimed the power of imposing this penalty on any sufficient cause of offence but that of fixing a permanent impost upon the inhabitants in general, or destroying the walls of the towns, had, on no occasion, been exercised by any of their sovereigns, and formed a precedent equally new and dangerous, disarming them too, was a mode of vengeance peculiarly offensive to a brave and spirited people, who were, moreover, bound by their laws to hold themselves in readiness for the defense of the Country. Even those towns which had been friendly to Philip, were obliged to contribute heavy "petitions" for the payment of his troops.
After the reduction of North Holland the Duke of Burgundy advanced to the siege of Zevenbergen, the frontier town of South Holland, on the side of Brabant. It was defended, during a considerable time, by the valor of Gerard von Stryen, its commander, but was at length forced to surrender and the Countess Jacoba found herself reduced to the possession only of Gouda, Schoonhoven, Oudewater, and Montfort. Her affairs were now in a desperate condition. The Pope had not only declared her marriage with the Duke of Brabant valid, but prohibited the contraction of any future marriage between her and the Duke of Gloucester, even after the death of John of Brabant, whose health and strength were rapidly decaying.
This event, which occurred within a short time from the issuing of the papal bull, and the intelligence that the English parliament had granted 20,000 marks expressly for her relief, inspired Jacoba with hopes, nevertheless, the Duke of Gloucester would lend effective aid towards reinstating her in possession of her inheritance and emboldened her to appeal to a general council of the Church against the decree of the Pope. But the Duke of Bedford having concluded a truce for his brother with the Duke of Burgundy, forbade him to go to Holland, and Humphrey himself showed no inclination to second the efforts of the Countess. In spite of her remonstrance, and of the reproaches of his own Countrywomen, he forsook his noble and highborn bride for the charms of Eleanor Cobharn, whom he now married, after her having lived with him some years as his mistress. Jacoba, conscious of possessing, besides her princely birth and rich estates, all the alluring attractions of her sex, was struck to the heart by this cruel and unlooked for desertion.
She remained shut up and inactive at Gouda, where she spent many long dreary months in constant expectation of a siege. It was delayed in consequence of the absence of the Duke of Burgundy in Flanders. At length, on his arrival before the walls, Jacoba and the Hook nobles, seeing no chance of defending themselves against a force so superior to their own, offered terms of compromise to the Duke, to which he readily listened, being indeed so favorable, that he could hardly desire more, even after the possession of Gouda.
By this treaty, Jacoba was to desist from her appeal to a council of the Church against the decree of the Pope to surrender her states to the administration of Philip as heir and governor, but retain the title of Countess, with an engagement not to contract another marriage without the consent of the Duke, of her mother, and of the three estates in which case, she was to resign, in favor of Philip, her claim to the allegiance of her subjects. The government of Holland, in the Duke's absence, was to be entrusted to nine councilors, of whom the Countess should name three, and the Duke the six others, three natives, and three from other parts of his dominions.
1428 The Duke was to have the sole nomination of all the higher offices, both in the towns and open Country. The future revenues of the County, after the subtraction of salaries to public officers, and other necessary expenses, were to be paid to the Countess. (We shall see, hereafter, that under one or other of these pretences, Philip reduced the income thus provided for her, to a very insufficient sum). The exiles on both sides were to be permitted to return to their Country, and no one, under a penalty, should reproach another with the party names of Hook and Cod.
The Duke of Guelderland, and the Bishop of Utrecht, should be at liberty, if they so desired, to accede to the treaty, from which, all such as were concerned on the death of John III of Bavaria were excluded. Jacoba was obliged to go through the towns of Holland with the Duke, and cause the oaths to be taken to him as heir and governor and thus deprived of all authority in the government, she retired to Goes in South Beveland.
The new council of nine was forthwith appointed, with power to nominate and remove bailiffs, Schouts, Treasurers, and other officers in the Duke's name, and to audit the public accounts. As six of the members of this council were named by the Duke, and the whole held their offices only during his pleasure, it is evident that the interests of the Lady Jacoba could have been very little cared for. The council had, however, no authority over her revenues, or the granting and withholding of privileges. Having effected this compromise, Philip appointed Francis van Borselen, a Zealand nobleman, his Stadtholder over Holland and Zealand, and returned to Flanders.
1429 After the loss of her states, the Countess Jacoba lived in comparative retirement at Goes and the Hague but she soon found that, having neither offices, wealth, nor titles to bestow, her most devoted adherents began to desert her. Her revenues, after payment of the salaries of the public officers, barely sufficed for her support, and on the occasion of any extraordinary expense, she was obliged to have recourse for assistance to her friends of the Hook party but as they had neither advantages, nor even payment to expect in return, they soon became weary of such unprofitable generosity.
One friend, and one alone, was left to her in this time of need, Francis van Borselen, although a conspicuous member of the Cod party, and appointed by Philip as Stadtholder of Holland, was ever ready to assist her with his purse and counsel, though at the risk of alienating his friends, and even of losing his valuable offices.
1432 The gratitude and esteem which such conduct naturally excited in the breast of the forsaken princess, soon deepened into feelings of the tenderness attachment and under their impulse, she consented to a secret marriage with Borselen, though she well knew the penalty which must attach to a discovery.
This event was soon known to Philip, who had too many of his partisans around her, to admit of its remaining long concealed nor did he delay to make use of it as a means of depriving Jacoba of her title of Countess, all that now remained of her birthright. His first measure was to cause Francis van Borselen to be arrested at the Hague, and conducted prisoner to Ruppelmonde after which, he allowed a report to go abroad, that the unfortunate nobleman was to be released only by death, judging with good reason, that the desire to save a husband so beloved, would reduce the Countess to such terms of submission as he should dictate. The issue justified his expectations.
1433 By the terms of the treaty of 1428, it had been provided, that if Jacoba should marry without consent of the Duke, her mother, and the states, she should forfeit the allegiance of her subjects. To this article she now consented without hesitation and upon condition 1433 that the Duke should release Francis van Borselen and confirm their marriage, she renounced all right and title to the Counties of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Hainaut, reserving only a life interest in the baronies of Voorne, South Beveland, and Thoolen, with the tolls of Holland and Zealand in the event of the Duke dying before her, the County was to revert to herself and her heirs. Philip afterwards created Borselen Count of Oostervant, and appointed him forester of Holland, but deprived him of the office of Stadtholder.
1434 Such was the end of the troubled and disastrous reign of the Countess Jacoba. Everyone from whom she might have expected help betrayed her in turn, her second husband John IV of Brabant, her third husband Humphrey of Gloucester, her cousin Philip "the Good" of Burgundy, all behaved shamefully to her. Her romantic and sad life has rendered the courageous and accomplished Jacqueline the most picturesque figure in the whole history of Holland.
1436 She struggled long against her powerful kinsfolk, nor did she know happiness till near the end of her life, when she abandoned the unequal strife, and found repose with Francis of Borselen, Her marriage with Frank van Borselen was happy but, in the summer of 1436, it became obvious that she was gravely ill. Jacqueline died of "consumption" (presumably tuberculosis) in Teylingen Castle on 8 October 1436, and since she had no children, Philip of Burgundy inherited Hainaut and Holland. Her husband Frank survived her thirty-four years.
Table of the House of Bavaria
| Count / Countess | Rule time | Born-Died | House |
| William V of Bavaria | 1349 - 1389 | 1329 - 1389 | Bavaria |
| Albert I of Bavaria | 1389 - 1404 | 1336 - 1404 | Bavaria |
| William VI of Bavaria | 1404 - 1417 | 1345 - 1417 | Bavaria |
| Jacoba of Bavaria | 1417 - 1433 | 1401 - 1436 | Bavaria |