Johann VI. (Nassau-Dillenburg)

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Count Johann VI. from Nassau-Dillenburg

Johann VI. Count of Nassau-Dillenburg , called the Elder , (born November 22, 1536 in Dillenburg ; † October 18, 1606 ibid) was governor of Gelderland from 1578 to 1581. He was the son of Count Wilhelm the Rich of Nassau-Dillenburg and Juliana Countess of Stolberg . From 1559 he ruled the native lands of Nassau-Dillenburg and was described as the "best regent Nassau ever possessed" .

Life

Johann VI. studied in Strasbourg . His older brother Wilhelm had become heir to the Principality of Orange and so Johann followed his father in the German possessions when he died in 1559. This made him Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Katzenelnbogen, Dietz, Siegen and Hadamar. When in 1561 with Count Johann III. the Nassau-Beilstein line died out, Johann also inherited Beilstein.

He gave his brother Wilhelm considerable support not only politically but also financially. He gave refuge to his family when they had to flee the Netherlands before the outbreak of the Eighty Years War . On behalf of his brother, he was involved in the detention and extradition of Wilhelm's second wife Anna von Sachsen and the imprisonment of her lawyer Jan Rubens , who was accused of having a love affair with Anna, and was later responsible for the upbringing of her daughter Christine von Diez , who brought him regarded as a surrogate father. After the stabilization of the situation in the Netherlands, Johann demanded back the loans granted for the war against Spain. This repayment was agreed in 1594, but could only be completed after 30 years.

Three of his sons and four brothers fell for the liberation of the Netherlands. He was the only one of his brothers who died of natural causes at the age of 69.

plant

Johann's monument in Utrecht

Johann tried to set up a comprehensive administrative organization. In 1562 he regulated the Haubergwirtschaft of the Siegen Land through the timber and forest regulations. From 1572 and finally in 1577 the country changed from the Lutheran to the Calvinist creed.

In 1582, at the insistence of his subjects, he issued a witch's mandate, which was comparatively cautious, required a detailed investigation, including exonerating facts, and did not allow independent local litigation. The count himself was not a proponent of the persecution of witches , but thought magic was possible. During his nearly 50-year reign, 70 witch trials were carried out, resulting in 40 executions including three suicides; this total is well below the surrounding rulers.

In 1584 Johann VI. the Herborn High School as the spiritual center of Calvinism . He revitalized the Wetterau Empire Counts College , of which he became leader. He initiated a “Landrettungswerk” (militia), which was to be extended to the surrounding countries, just as he tried to achieve a political union of all Protestant classes. He decisively supported his brother Wilhelm the Silent in the Netherlands, where he was governor of the province of Gelderland from 1577 to 1580 and brought about the Union of Utrecht in 1579 .

Marriages and offspring

Wilhelm Ludwig of Nassau-Dillenburg
Johann VII of Nassau-Siegen
Ernst Casimir von Nassau-Dietz
Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar

Johann VI. married Elisabeth (1537–1579), daughter of Landgrave Georg von Leuchtenberg, first in Dillenburg in 1559 . Eleven children were born in this marriage:

  • Wilhelm Ludwig (1560–1620), governor of Friesland (Groningen), Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
    ⚭ 1587 Princess Anna of Orange-Nassau
  • Johann (1561–1623), the Middle , Count of Nassau-Siegen
    ⚭ 1. 1581 Countess Magdalene von Waldeck (1558–1599)
    ⚭ 2. 1603 Princess Margarethe of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (1583–1658)
  • Georg (1562–1623), Count of Nassau-Beilstein, from 1620 Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
    ⚭ 1. 1584 Countess Anna Amalie von Nassau-Saarbrücken (1565–1605)
    ⚭ 2. 1605 Countess Amalie von Sayn-Wittgenstein (1585–1633 )
  • Elisabeth (1564–1611)
    ⚭ 1. 1583 Count Philipp von Nassau-Saarbrücken (1542–1602)
    ⚭ 2. 1603 Count Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen (1560–1633)
  • Juliana (1565–1630)
    ⚭ 1. 1588 Wild and Rhine
    Count Adolf Heinrich von Salm-Dhaun (1557–1606) ⚭ 2. 1619 Count Johann Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels (1563–1623)
  • Philip (1566–1595, fallen)
  • Maria (1568–1625)
    ⚭ 1588 Count Johann Ludwig I of Nassau-Wiesbaden (1567–1596)
  • Anna Sibylla (1569–1576, died of the plague in Dillenburg)
  • Mathilde (1570–1625)
    ⚭ 1592 Count Wilhelm V von Mansfeld-Arnstein (1555–1615)
  • Ernst Casimir (1573–1632, fallen), governor of Friesland and Groningen, Count of Nassau-Dietz
    ⚭ 1607 Duchess Sophie Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel (1592–1642)
  • Ludwig Günther (1575–1604, fallen before Sluis )
    ⚭ 1601 Countess Anna Margarethe von Manderscheid-Gerolstein (1575–1606)

Johann's second wife became Princess Kunigunde Jakobäa von der Pfalz (1556–1586) in Dillenburg in 1580 , with whom he had two daughters:

  • Amalia (1582–1635)
    ⚭ 1600 Count Wilhelm I zu Solms-Greiffenstein (1570–1635, died of the plague in Greifenstein )
  • Kunigunde (1583–1584)

His third marriage was in Berleburg in 1586 with Countess Johannetta von Sayn-Wittgenstein (1561–1622), with whom he had the following seven children:

  • Georg Ludwig (1588–1588)
  • Johann Ludwig (1590–1653), Prince of Nassau-Hadamar
    ⚭ 1617 Countess Ursula zur Lippe (1598–1638)
  • Johannetta Elisabeth (1593–1654)
    ⚭ 1616 Count Konrad Gumprecht von Bentheim-Limburg (1585–1618 or 1619)
  • Anna (1594–1660)
    ⚭ 1619 Count Philipp Ernst von Isenburg-Birstein (1595–1635, died of the plague in Hanau )
  • Magdalena (1595–1633)
    ⚭ 1624 Count Georg Albert I of Erbach (1597–1647)
  • Anna Amalia (1599–1667)
    ⚭ 1648 Count Wilhelm Otto von Isenburg-Birstein (1597–1667)
  • Juliane (1602-1602)

literature

Web links

Commons : John VI. von Nassau-Dillenburg  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John VI. von Nassau-Siegen: died October 6, 1605, according to Europ. Stammtaf. NF I, 116. - Esser 1933 p. 25f .: 08.10.1606
  2. ^ Adolf Müller: Milestones from the Siegerland past. In: Siegerland home calendar. Vol. 41, 1966, ZDB -ID 529717-5 , p. 96.
  3. ^ Count Johanns zu Nassau mandate concerning the persons accused of sorcery and witchcraft. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Cuno: Johann der Aeltere von Nassau-Dillenburg . Georg Schwabe, Halle an der Saale 1869, pp. 121–123, cf. P. 101 ( Google Books ).
  4. ↑ See in detail Johanna Koppenhöfer: Witch persecutions in the county of Nassau. The Reichsgrafschaft Nassau and their regent (2003), In: Gudrun Gersmann, Katrin Moeller, Jürgen-Michael Schmidt (eds.): Lexicon for the history of witch persecution ( online at historicum.net, accessed on October 22, 2014).
personal data
SURNAME Johann VI.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann the Elder; Johann VI. Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1536
PLACE OF BIRTH Dillenburg
DATE OF DEATH October 18, 1606
Place of death Dillenburg