Elizabeth of Nevers

Elizabeth of Nevers
Drawing of the grave of Elizabeth of Nevers and her husband John I of Cleves
Spouse(s)	John I, Duke of Cleves
Noble family	Valois-Burgundy-Nevers
Father	John II, Count of Nevers
Mother	Jacqueline d'Ailly
Born	after 24 August 1439 Nevers
Died	21 June 1483(1483-06-21)

Elizabeth of Nevers (born: after 24 August 1439 in Nevers; died: 21 June 1483) was Duchess of Cleves from 1455 until her death, due to her marriage with John I of Cleves-Mark. She was the matriarch of the house of Cleves-Nevers, and thus the Cleves line of the Counts and dukes of Nevers. Because the territory was part of her inheritance, it fell to her son Engelbert after her death.

Elizabeth was the oldest child of John II, Count of Étampes, Nevers, Rethel and Eu, and his first wife Jacqueline d'Ailly. Since Elizabeth's younger brother died at the age of five years and her father thus had no sons, he appointed his eldest daughter to the heir of the counties of Nevers and Eu.

On 22 April 1456, she married in Bruges with her third cousin, Duke John I of Cleves. After the marriage of Mary of Burgundy with Adolph I of Cleves, this was the second marriage between the House of Burgundy and the House of La Marck. These marriages made the Duchy of Cleves into a kind of Burgundian annexe for the next 100 years, which was reflected mainly in the cultural life. The courtly life, but also the administrative practice in the territory of the Duke of Cleves increasingly followed the Burgundian example.

After the death of Adolf of Egmond, Duke of Guelders, both Adolf's sister, Catherine, and Emperor Maximilian I claimed the Duchy of Guelders. The Emperor's claim was based on his marriage with Mary of Burgundy. When her husband went to Guelders to support the Emperor's claim, Elizabeth led the government in Cleves during his absence.