Henry IV (Nassau-Beilstein)

. Henry IV of Nassau-Beilstein (* 1448 / 49 in Beilstein ; † 26. May 1499 ibid) was from July or August 1473 to his death Count of Nassau-Beilstein . As an officer, he was involved in numerous skirmishes in the service of various princes.

Life

Heinrich was born the son of Johann I and his wife Johanna von Gemen . His father engaged him at the age of about eight to the two-year-old Eva Countess von Sayn (1455–1525), a daughter of Count Gerhard zu Sayn and Elisabeth von Sirk. They married before Heinrich's twentieth birthday. This marriage brought the House of Nassau-Beilstein the Saynian serfs in the rule of the Westerwald , as well as a share in the Boppard Rhine toll.

Through his grandfather Johann von Gemen, Heinrich came into contact with the Electoral Cologne court of Archbishop Ruprecht of Cologne at an early age . This enfeoffed Heinrich with shares in the Bonn Rhine toll.

Since his older half-brother Philipp fell in the Soest feud before Heinrich was born , Heinrich was the sole heir of the Beilstein line of the county. He ruled the county initially together with his uncle Heinrich III. from the Liebenscheider line. Since this Henry IV determined as heir, he was able to unite the entire county in 1477.

The line of the Herren zu Gemen died out with Heinrich Herr zu Gemen, his mother's brother, in the male line . Heinrich von Gemen therefore transferred considerable parts of his property, mainly pledges from the Electorate of Cologne, to Heinrich von Nassau-Beilstein while he was still alive. In 1459 he received half of the localities and dominions Erpel and Worringen . Then in 1465 Horneburg and Vest Recklinghausen (1465), as well as the lordships of Gemen (1467) and Dorsten (1482).

With the House of Westerburg there were again disputes under Heinrich about the legal relationships in the rule of the Westerwald and the court of Emmerichenhain . These resulted in another comparison in 1480/82.

Under Heinrich's rule there was a considerable improvement in the state constitution in Nassau-Beilstein. So in 1472 he issued a corridor and field code. In the years 1492/93 a court order for the Kalenberger Zent as well as a mayor and a forest ranger followed. This made Nassau-Beilstein the first Nassau county of the Ottonian line to systematically codify the law.

Heinrich was in the service of numerous powerful princes, including Kurköln , Kurtrier , the Duchy of Jülich and the Landgraves of Hesse . This earned him the honorary title of knight with the golden chain . He was a member of the Knight Society of the Crowned Ibex , which was particularly widespread in Nassau . In the 1470s and 1480s he was a captain in the service of Archduke Maximilians of Austria in the Netherlands . Here he achieved special merits in the conquest of Utrecht in 1483. Three years later he stayed in Frankfurt for Maximilian's coronation. In 1488 he took over the command of the electorate troops in a dispute with the House of Winnenberg . The feud ended with the siege of Beilstein Castle on the Moselle.

At the Worms Reichstag of 1495 he belonged to a group of people who were sent to prepare the Turkish wars on the border with Hungary.

Heinrich died in May 1499. Although the House of Nassau-Beilstein had a considerable increase in property under him, he left little fortune. His son and heir Johann has to sell parts of the pledges. Even the rule of Gemen could not defend the house of Nassau-Beilstein against the Counts of Holstein-Schauenburg .

family

Heinrich was married to Eva von Sayn. The couple is said to have had 21 children. The names of ten have been handed down:

• Johann II. , Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Beilstein
• Eva wed Nicholas III in 1508 . from Tecklenburg
• Gerhard
• Bernhard , Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Liebenscheid
• Reinhard (mentioned in 1502)
• Ludwig, canon in Fulda
• Otto
• Margarete, Stiftfrau in the Reichsstift Thorn
• Irmgard, nun in the Engelthal monastery near Bonn
• Elisabeth, prioress at Engelthal Abbey near Bonn

literature

• Ernst Joachim:  Heinrich IV of Nassau-Beilstein . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, p. 550.
• Renkhoff, Otto : Nassau biography . Historical Commission for Nassau , Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-922244-90-4 , p. 546 .
• Hellmuth Gensicke : State history of the Westerwald . 3. Edition. Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-922244-80-7 , p. 283-285 .
• Johann Arnoldi: History of the Orange-Nassau countries and their rulers . Neue Schehrtenbuchhandlung, Wiesbaden 1799, p. 171-178 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann I.	Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Beilstein 1473–1499	Johann II of Nassau-Beilstein
Henry III.	Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Liebenscheid 1477–1499	Johann II of Nassau-Beilstein