Background
He was the youngest son of Gerhard VI and his wife Elizabeth of Brunswick.
He was the youngest son of Gerhard VI and his wife Elizabeth of Brunswick.
In 1428, he took part as commander of the city fleet in the attack of Flensburg and the bombardment of Copenhagen by the Hanseatic League. On 2 June 1432, Gerhard VII married Agnes, the daughter of Margrave Bernard I of Baden. On 15 January 1433, she fell from the stairs and went into labour.
She gave birth to healthy twins: Henry and Catherine.
lieutenant was fairly clear that she must have been pregnant on the day of her wedding, giving rise to rumours that the children might not have been Gerhard"son Therefore, the children were his, and Henry would be capable of inheriting his possessions.
Adolf VIII supported this declaration. Gerhard VII suffered from a lung disease.
In February of 1433, his condition got worse, and his doctors could not help him.
Gerhard and Agnes then decided to travel to the spa in Baden-Baden. While they were travelling, his condition got even worse and in Cologne, they decided to turn back. Gerhard VII died on 24 July 1433, during the return journey and was buried in Emmerich am Rhein.
Adolf VIII refused to hand over Agnes"s Wittum to her, and refused her access to his territory.
She had no choice, and returned to Baden. The twins, Henry and Catherine, died young under suspicious circumstances.