Johann III. (Nassau-Beilstein)

Johann III. von Nassau-Beilstein (born November 17, 1495 - † December 13, 1561 ) was the last Count of Nassau-Beilstein from 1513 until the end of his life .

Life

Johann was born as the eldest son of Johann II von Nassau-Beilstein and his wife Maria von Solms. In 1523 he married Anna von Nassau-Weilburg, a daughter of Ludwig I of Nassau-Weilburg .

After the early death of his father in 1513, he inherited the county of Nassau-Beilstein. His brother Heinrich († February 25, 1525 Battle of Pavia ) had entered the Order of St. John . However, his uncle Bernhard von Nassau-Beilstein also made claims on the inheritance. As a result of the dispute, Bernhard received the Lahr rule from the Kurkölner pledges and some inclines from the Altenwied office as compensation.

Johann belonged to the retinue of Cologne Archbishop Hermann V von Wied . He stayed with him in 1520 for Charles V's coronation as emperor in Aachen and the following year at the Cologne state parliament in Bonn . Due to its proximity to Kurköln, Nassau-Beilstein remained Catholic , while Nassau-Dillenburg joined the Reformation .

In 1533, Kurköln redeemed the Altenwied, Lahr and Linz pledges near Nassau-Beilstein. As a result, a new sharing agreement with his uncle was necessary. Bernhard now received the Liebenscheid Castle and the slope in the rulership of the Westerwald as property. In 1534 Johann used the money received from Kurköln to purchase the pledge for Löhnberg and Driedorf . In the following year, however, Philipp the Magnanimous Driedorf managed to buy back for the Landgraviate of Hesse .

In 1541, Johann issued a new court order for his county and, with imperial approval, set up a year and cattle market in Emmerichenhain . With the death of his uncle Bernhard in 1556 he inherited his property. With that he reunited all Beilstein areas in his possession.

Johann died in 1561 without any legitimate children. He only had his illegitimate daughter Elisabeth. With this the line of the Counts of Nassau-Beilstein became extinct. With his will he had appointed Wilhelm the Rich of Nassau-Dillenburg as the sole heir. His son Johann the Elder managed to completely move in the county of Nassau-Beilstein, despite opposition from the houses of Sayn and Solms . Johann the Elder took on the title of Herr zu Beilstein .

family

Johann III. von Nassau-Beilstein was married to Anna von Nassau-Weilburg († November 28, 1564), daughter of Count Ludwig I of Nassau-Weilburg , since 1523 . He had no children with her.

literature

• 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. 181-186 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann II of Nassau-Beilstein	Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Beilstein 1513–1561	Johann of Nassau-Dillenburg
Bernhard of Nassau-Beilstein	Count of Nassau-Beilstein zu Liebenscheid 1556–1561	(extinguished)