Johann IV. (Nassau)

Johann IV (born August 1, 1410 in Dillenburg ; † February 3, 1475 there ) was Count of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1442 to 1475 .

Coat of arms of Johann IV from the grave slab of his daughter Adriana in the Marienkirche in Hanau

Life

Johann was the son of Count Engelbert I of Nassau-Dillenburg and Johanna von Polanen von der Lek . When his father died in 1442, Johann inherited his property in the Netherlands and called himself Graf von Nassau-Dillenburg, Vianden and Dietz. The German possessions fell to Johann's younger brother Heinrich II.

Johann served as general under the Burgundy dukes Philip the Good and Charles the Bold . In 1445 he accompanied the former on his attack on the county of Holland , in gratitude he was appointed Seneschal of Burgundy. The Count added the towers to Breda Castle and founded a large library. Johann and his wife Maria are buried in the crypt belonging to his father's grave monument in the Grote Kerk in Breda and are also depicted on the grave monument.

progeny

Johann married Maria von Loon-Heinsberg on February 7, 1440 . He had the following children with her:

• Anna (1441–1515), ∞ Duke Otto of Braunschweig-Lüneburg
• Johanna (1444–1488), ∞ Count Philipp von Waldeck
• Adriana (1449–1477), ∞ Count Philipp I of Hanau-Münzenberg
• Engelbert II. (1451–1504), heir in Breda and Vianden
• Johann V (1455–1516), heir in Dillenburg

Since Maria was the heiress of Millen , Gangelt , Waldfeucht (Vucht), Lummen and Stein an der Maas, important property on the Lower Rhine again came into the hands of the Nassau people through the marriage (as was the case with the father's marriage).

literature

• Karl Theodor Wenzelburger:  Johann IV. (Count of Nassau-Dillenburg) . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1881, p. 251 f.
• Pierre Even: Luxembourg-Nassau dynasty. From the Counts of Nassau to the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg. A nine hundred year history of rulers in one hundred biographies . Luxembourg 2000. pp. 88f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Engelbert I.	Count of Nassau-Dillenburg 1442–1475	Johann V.
Engelbert I.	Lord of Breda Count of Vianden 1442–1475	Engelbert II.
Heinrich von Moers	Marshal of Westphalia 1450–1454	Konrad von Wrede