A compact, aggressive county on the Rur between Aachen and Cologne, ruled from the rock castle of Nideggen above the Rur gorge and from the old Roman town of Jülich.
William II is a crusader of 1188-1189, a companion of Henry VI at his imperial coronation in Rome (14 April 1191), and the leading lay ally of Archbishop Adolf in 1198: he took part in the siege and capture of Aachen (10 July 1198) and was at Otto's coronation two days later. He is Otto's man on 1 January 1200. His lands lie across the road from Aachen to Cologne and next to the king's town of Düren; Philip's army came through Zülpich in late August 1199 and ravaged the plain up to Cologne.
He has no surviving son, and the heir presumptive is his nephew William of Hengebach.
Who rules
- Name
- William II ('the Great' in later tradition)
- Title
- Count of Jülich
- Since
- About 1183 (attested with his father William I from 1168; the father ruled 1142-1176 by the usual reckoning, so the start is not pinned closer than 1176-1183)
- Born
- Not pinned (an adult by 1168)
- Family
- Son of Count William I of Jülich. Wife: Alveradis, heiress of the free lord (Edelherr) Albrecht of Molbach, through whom he gained the county of Molbach round Maubach and the forest county later called the Wehrmeisterei. His only son, William, died young (date not pinned). Sister: Jutta (died 1190), wife of Eberhard of Hengebach (Heimbach), lord of a Jülich cadet line; their sons are William of Hengebach, who will succeed as William III in 1207, and Dietrich of Hengebach, a Cologne churchman (archbishop 1208-1212).
- Confidence
- high
ADB (Wilhelm II., Graf von Jülich) on deutsche-biographie.de; de.wikipedia Herzogtum Jülich.
Overlord
The king for his county court and imperial fiefs (Bergstein is an imperial fief by 1219); the archbishop of Cologne and the count palatine for other fiefs (Molbach and its forest were palatine fiefs in 1209).
Allies and rivals
Allies: Otto IV, Archbishop Adolf, the Hengebach cadet line. Rivals: the Staufen party; Cologne's officers over Zülpich in the longer run; the dukes of Limburg on his western side in later years.
The realm that morning
William II holds Jülich, Nideggen, Molbach and the forest county, and backs Otto IV (welf), with medium to high confidence: he fought for Otto at Aachen in July 1198 and nothing places him with Philip before 1204, when he brokered Adolf's change of side.
Wealth
Grain lands of the Jülich plain (the Börde), the Rur valley mills, the forests of the Eifel edge (the Molbach forest county), the road between Aachen and Cologne. No figures.
Military
Castles of Nideggen (his residence, probably built up by him) and Jülich; Bergstein above the Rur (an imperial fief held by the house by 1219); the Hengebach castle of his brother-in-law at Heimbach. Record: Aachen, July 1198.
Threats
- A repeat of Philip's raid of August 1199 through Zülpich
- The succession: no son, an elderly brother-in-law and a nephew as heir
- Cologne's ambitions round Zülpich and the Erft
Family and heirs
Wife Alveradis of Molbach; no surviving son by the evidence used; heir presumptive his nephew William of Hengebach (later William III, who married Mathilde of Limburg), son of his sister Jutta and Eberhard of Hengebach.
Officers
- Not pinned by name. The count rules through his own ministeriales and the castellans of Nideggen and Jülich; the forest county of Molbach (the later Wehrmeisterei) is run by foresters.
Where the court is this winter
Not pinned; Nideggen is his usual residence.
Treaties and feuds
- Ally of Archbishop Adolf in the election and coronation of Otto (1198)
- Rivalry with Cologne over the Zülpich and Erft lands runs through the thirteenth century; no open feud is attested for winter 1199-1200
Rome and the Church
No dispute with Rome attested for 1199. Caesarius of Heisterbach later paints him as a despoiler of churches.
Coinage
Not pinned for 1200.
The host
His knights and ministeriales, the Hengebach kin and the vassals of Molbach; no figures.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 1200 (season not pinned)Remains in Otto's camp through the year; his attestations run for Otto, Philip and the Cologne archbishops between 1185 and 1207, so his charters must be dated one by one.Depends on: Adolf of Cologne staying with Otto Stopped by: A Staufen offer that wins Adolf, or a new raid that he cannot resist
- April 1200Conrad of Mainz's time-limited truce gives the Jülich plain a respite.Depends on: Both kings accepting the truce Stopped by: A campaign before April
Places of note
- Nideggen castle: The count's residence above the Rur
- Jülich: The old Roman town and the county's name-giving centre
Where the sources disagree
- Later, not 1200: William II negotiated in secret for Adolf with Philip in 1204 and, by Arnold of Lübeck's account, began those talks. Do not anticipate it.
Evidence: The ADB life is detailed on family, crusade and 1198; nothing dated pins him in winter 1199-1200 itself.
On the map: The count's lands are drawn on the lord record Jülich.
Primary sources for this realm
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.