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House of Nassau

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This article is about the European aristocratic dynasty. For the former state ruled by this family, the Countship and later Duchy of Nassau, see Nassau (state). For other uses, see Nassau (disambiguation)
Coat of arms of the House of Nassau (since the 13th century)

The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the princely class as princely counts. At the end of the Holy Roman Empire, they proclaimed themselves Duke of Nassau.

All Dutch kings since 1890 and the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg since 1912 have been descended in the female line from the House of Nassau. According to German tradition, the family name is passed only in the male line of succession. The house is therefore, from this perspective, extinct. However Dutch aristocratic customs (and Luxembourg's, which are based on the aforementioned) differ, and do not consider the House extinct.

Contents

[edit] Origins

Count Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg (ca. 1060 - ca. 1123) is considered the founder of the House of Nassau. He is first mentioned in the purported founding-charter of Maria Laach Abbey in 1093 (although many historians consider the document to be fabricated). The Castle Laurenburg, located a few miles upriver from Nassau on the Lahn, was the seat of his lordship. His family probably descended from the Lords of Lipporn. In 1159, Nassau Castle became the ruling seat, and the house is now named after this castle.

The Counts of Laurenburg and Nassau expanded their authority under the brothers Robert (Ruprecht) I (1123-1154) and Arnold I of Laurenburg (1123-1148). Robert was the first person to call himself Count of Nassau, but the title was not confirmed until 1159, five years after Robert's death. Robert's son Walram I (1154-1198) was the first person to be legally titled Count of Nassau.

The chronology of the Counts of Laurenburg is not certain and the link between Robert I and Walram I is especially controversial. Also, some sources consider Gerhard, listed as co-Count of Laurenburg in 1148, to be the son of Robert I's brother, Arnold I.[1] However, Erich Brandenburg in his Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen states that it is most likely that Gerhard was Robert I's son, because Gerard was the name of Beatrix of Limburg's maternal grandfather.[2]

[edit] Counts of Laurenburg (ca. 1093-1159)

  • ca. 1060 - ca. 1123: Dudo-Henry
  • 1123-1154: Robert (Ruprecht) I - son of Dudo-Henry
  • 1123-1148: Arnold I - son of Dudo-Henry
  • 1148: Gerhard - son (probably) of Robert I
  • 1151-1154: Arnold II - son of Robert I
  • 1154-1159: Robert II - son of Robert I

[edit] Counts of Nassau (1159-1255)

In 1255, Henry II's sons, Walram II and Otto I, split the Nassau possessions. The descendants of Walram became known as the Walram Line, which became important in the Countship of Nassau and Luxembourg. The descendants of Otto became known as the Ottonian Line, which would inherit parts of Nassau, France and the Netherlands. Both lines would often themselves be divided over the next few centuries. In 1783, the heads of various branches of the House of Nassau sealed the Nassau Family Pact (Erbverein) to regulate future succession in their states.

[edit] The Walram Line (1255-1912)

[edit] Counts of Nassau in Wiesbaden, Idstein, and Weilburg (1255-1344)

  • 1255-1276: Walram II
  • 1276-1298: Adolf of Nassau, crowned King of Germany in 1292
  • 1298–1304: Robert VI of Nassau
  • 1298-1324: Walram III, Count of Nassau in Wiesbaden, Idstein, and Weilnau
  • 1298-1344: Gerlach I, Count of Nassau in Wiesbaden, Idstein, Weilburg, and Weilnau

[edit] Nassau-Weilburg (1344-1816)

Main article: House of Nassau-Weilburg
Flag of Nassau-Weilburg

Count Walram II began the Countship of Nassau-Weilburg, which existed to 1816. The sovereigns of this house afterwards governed the Duchy of Nassau until 1866 and from 1890 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The branch of Nassau-Weilburg ultimately became rulers of Luxembourg. The Walram line received the lordship of Merenberg in 1328 and Saarbrücken (by marriage) in 1353.

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Weilburg (1344-1688)

[edit] Princely counts of Nassau-Weilburg (1688-1816)

[edit] Dukes of Nassau (1816-1866)

In 1866, Prussia annexed the Duchy of Nassau as the duke had been an ally of Austria in the Second Austro-Prussian War. In 1890, Duke Adolf would become Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg.

[edit] Grand Dukes of Luxembourg (from the House of Nassau-Weilburg) - 1890-Present

Main article: Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg

From a morganatic marriage, contracted in 1868, descends a family, see Count of Merenberg, which in 1907 was declared non-dynastic. Had they not been excluded from the succession, they would have inherited the headship of the house in 1912.

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (1344-1775)

  • 1344-1370: Adolf I of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein
  • 1370-after 1386: Gerlach
  • 1370-1393: Walram II
  • 1393-1426: Adolf II
  • 1426-1480: Johann
  • 1480-1511: Adolf III
  • 1511-1558: Philipp I
  • 1558-1566: Philipp II, Count of Nassau-Idstein
  • 1566-1568: Balthasar, Count of Nassau-Idstein
  • 1568-1596: Johann Ludwig I
  • 1596-1599: Johann Philipp
  • 1596-1605: Johann Ludwig II
  • 1605-1625: Ludwig II
  • 1629-1677: Johann, Count of Nassau-Idstein, and (from 1651) in Wiesbaden, Sonnenberg, Wehen, Burg-Schwalbach and Lahr
  • 1677-1721: Georg August Samuel, Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken-Idstein (1688-1721)
  • 1721-1728: Friedrich Ludwig, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler (1680-1728), and in Rixingen (1703-28), and in Wiesbaden, Idstein, etc (1721-28)
  • 1721-1723: Karl Ludwig
  • 1735-1775: Karl

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1429-1799)

  • 1429-1472: John II
  • 1472-1545: John Louis I
  • 1545-1554: Philipp II
  • 1559-1602: Philipp IV
  • 1602-1625: Louis II, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken and Ottweiler
  • 1629-1640: Wilhelm Ludwig, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken and Ottweiler
  • 1640-1642: Kraft
  • 1640-1690: Johann Ludwig, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken and (1659-80) in Ottweiler, Jungenheim, and Wцllstein
  • 1659-1677: Gustav Adolf
  • 1677-1713: Ludwig Kraft
  • 1713-1723: Karl Ludwig
  • 1735-1768: Wilhelm Heinrich, Prince
  • 1768-1794: Ludwig
  • 1794-1799: Heinrich Ludwig

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Usingen (1659-1816)

  • 1659-1702: Walrad, Prince
  • 1702-1718: Wilhelm Heinrich
  • 1718-1775: Karl
  • 1797-1803: Karl Wilhelm
  • 1803-1816: Friedrich August

[edit] The Ottonian Line

  • 1255-1290: Otto I, Count of Nassau in Siegen, Dillenburg, Beilstein, and Ginsberg
  • 1303-1343: Henry, Count of Nassau in Siegen, Ginsberg, Haiger, and the Westerwald, and (1328-1343) in Dillenburg, Herborn, and Beilstein

Emicho I,

  • 1303-1328: Johann

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Dillenburg

  • 1303-1328: Johann, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg in Beilstein and Herborn, and (from 1320) in Katzenelnbogen
  • 1328-1343: Heinrich
  • 1343-1350: Otto II
  • 1350-1416: Johann I
  • 1416-1420: Adolf
  • 1420-1448: Johann II
  • 1420-1442: Engelbert I
  • 1442-1451: Hendrik II
  • 1448-1475: Johann IV
  • 1475-1504: Engelbert II
  • 1504-1516: Johann V
  • 1516-1538: Hendrik III
  • 1538-1559: William I
  • 1559-1606: John VI
  • 1606-1620: William Louis
  • 1620-1623: George
  • 1623-1662: Louis Henry, Prince from 1652
  • 1662-1701: Heinrich
  • 1701-1724: Wilhelm
  • 1724-1739: Christian

[edit] Counts of Nassau-Hadamar

  • 1303-1334: Emicho I, Count of Nassau in Driedrof, Estenau, and Hadamar
  • 1334-1364: Johann
  • 1334-1359: Emicho II
  • 1364-1369: Heinrich
  • 1620-1653: Johann Ludwig, Prince 1650
  • 1653-1679: Moritz Heinrich
  • 1679-1711: Franz Alexander

[edit] Nassau-Siegen

Main article: House of Nassau-Siegen

The branch of Nassau-Siegen was a collateral line of the House of Nassau, and ruled in Siegen. The first Count of Nassau in Siegen was Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1343), the elder son of Count Otto I of Nassau. His son Count Otto II of Nassau ruled also in Dillenburg.

In 1606 the House was separated from the House of Nassau-Dillenburg. After the main line of the House became extinct in 1734, Emperor Charles VI transferred the county to the House of Orange-Nassau.

[edit] Counts and Princes of Nassau-Siegen

Gozdzki - de Nassau Palace in Warsaw that belonged to wealthy Karolina Gozdzka (1747-1807) and her husband Charles Henry de Nassau-Siegen (1745-1808).[3]

[edit] Counts and Princes of Nassau-Dietz

[edit] Orange-Nassau

Main article: House of Orange-Nassau

The House of Orange-Nassau stems from the Ottonian Line. The second person was Engelbert I, who offered his services to the Duke of Burgundy, married a Dutch noblewoman and inherited lands in the Netherlands, with the barony of Breda as the core of the Dutch possessions.

The importance of the Nassaus grew throughout the 15th and 16th century. Hendrik III of Nassau-Breda was appointed stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in the beginning of the 16th century. Henry was succeeded by René of Châlon-Orange in 1538, who was, as his full name stated, Prince of Orange. When René died prematurely on the battlefield in 1544 his possessions passed to his nephew, William I of Orange. From then on the family members called themselves "Orange-Nassau." After the post-Napoleonic reorganization of Europe, the head of House of Orange-Nassau gained the title "King/Queen of the Netherlands".

[edit] Princes of Orange

[edit] House of Orange-Nassau

  • 1544-1584: William I, also Count of Katzenelnbogen, Vianden, Dietz, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1584-1618: Philip William, also Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1618-1625: Maurice, also Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1625-1647: Frederick Henry, also Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1647–1650: William II, also Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1650–1702: William III, also Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam, Lord of IJsselstein and (from 1689) King of England, Ireland, and Scotland

[edit] House of Orange-Nassau-Dietz

  • 1702-1711: John William Friso, also Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1711–1751: William IV, also Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1751–1806: William V, also Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Count of Vianden, Buren and Leerdam and Lord of IJsselstein
  • 1806-1815: William VI, also Prince of Fulda and Count of Corvey, Weingarten and Dortmund; in 1815 became King William I of the Netherlands

[edit] Kings and Queens of the Netherlands (from the House of Orange-Nassau-Dietz)

  • 1815-1840: William I, also Duke and Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg
  • 1840-1849: William II, also Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg
  • 1849-1890: William III, also Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg
  • 1890-1948: Wilhelmina

Following German laws, the House of Orange-Nassau(-Dietz) is extinct since the death of Wilhelmina (1962), contradicting to Dutch laws.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Family tree of the early House of Nassau], retrieved on 2009-01-22.
  2. ^ Table 11, Page 23 and note on page 151, quoted at Geneaology of the Middle Ages, retrieved on 2009-01-23
  3. ^ (Polish) "Pałac Gozdzkich - de Nassau". www.warszawa1939.pl. http://www.warszawa1939.pl/index.php?r1=kopernika_nassau&r3=0. Retrieved on 2009-03-23. 

[edit] Sources

[edit] See also


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Nassau"
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