[1] She became heiress to her father’s estates of Jülich, Berg and Ravensberg after it had become apparent that her parents’ marriage would not produce any more children.

Duchess Maria was born on 3 August 1491 in Jülich, Germany, as the only child of Duke Wilhelm IV and Duchess Sibylle, the daughter of Albert III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg, and his wife Anna of Saxony, daughter of the Elector Frederick II of Saxony from his marriage to Margaret of Austria.

Maria came from the line of German princesses that stretched back to Sybille of Brandenberg, Sophia of Saxony, and Adelaide of Teck.

Maria was a traditional Catholic who gave her daughters a practical education on how to run a noble household, which was the norm for German noblewomen during the time period.

[5] In The Wives of Henry VIII, Antonia Fraser suggests that, following their marriage, one reason Henry VIII disliked her daughter Anne so much was that, unlike his first two wives and many of the court ladies around him, Anne did not possess educational and musical accomplishments and was ill-equipped to function in the contentious English court.