ABSTRACT
The Habsburg and Dutch interventions in the Rhineland were accompanied by lofty declarations about succouring co-religionists, defending the just claims of one of the parties or upholding imperial authority. Even Duke William V of Bavaria - who had abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian I in 1597 - came out of his self-imposed retirement to further the rapprochement. No less a collector of old masters than William, he merely responded that paintings by Quentin Matsys were quite hard to find. The paintings were more likely works by contemporary court painters than by old masters, but they nevertheless indicated that the archdukes were taking Wittelsbach ambitions and concerns to heart. George William bore instructions to acquaint himself with the situation and then replace his uncle Margrave Ernst as John Sigismund's representative in the administration of Jülich and Kleve. A servant of George William of Brandenburg was given the castle of Monschau as a token of gratitude.
