Renatus (Orange-Nassau)

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Renatus of Orange-Nassau
Coat of arms of Renatus of Orange-Nassau

Renatus (French René ) of Châlon (born February 5, 1519 in Breda , † July 18, 1544 in Saint-Dizier ) was the first Prince of Orange from the House of Nassau .

Life

Renatus was the son of Count Heinrich III. von Nassau-Breda , who ruled the rich Nassau possessions in the Netherlands and was co-educator of Emperor Charles V , who was born in the Habsburg Netherlands , which explains his good relationship with the Nassau family. Heinrich was raised by the Habsburgs to governor of Holland , Zeeland and Friesland , so he already achieved a position comparable to that of Wilhelm the Silent , the son of Heinrich's brother Wilhelm the Rich .

He was a son from Heinrich's second marriage to Claude from the French noble house of Chalon . Through this marriage, the House of Nassau acquired the right to the Principality of Orange in southern France, where Philibert von Chalon , Claude's brother, ruled at that time . The childless prince appointed Renatus as his heir in 1520, so that after Philibert's death in 1530 he became the first Nassau prince of Orange. Since this title was higher than the dignity of the Nassau count, it became customary to refer to the house as Orange or Orange-Nassau. The coat of arms and the motto of the Princes of Orange were also adopted.

In 1531 Renatus, like Heinrich III. and William the Rich, accepted by Charles V in the order of knights of the Golden Fleece . After the death of Henry III. (1538) Renatus finally inherited the Dutch property and became governor of Holland, Friesland and Zealand. Renatus appointed his uncle Wilhelm as sole heir, subject to the approval of the Kaiser. He decided that Wilhelm's son Wilhelm the Silent, if he converted to Catholicism, should become Renatus' heir (Wilhelm the Rich was a Protestant).

family

Renatus married Anna of Lorraine in 1540 (1522–1568), the daughter of Duke Anton II of Lorraine (1489–1544). With her he had a daughter, Maria, who was born in 1544 but died three weeks after the birth.

He had an illegitimate son, Palamedes von Chalon († around 1600), who married Polyxena von Mansfeld, daughter of Prince Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld .

death

Sculpture by Ligier Richier in the Saint-Étienne church in Bar-le-Duc

Renatus died during the siege of the city of Saint-Dizier by the troops of Emperor Charles V, which she was able to withstand for six months, one day after a gunshot wound in the shoulder or arm. His widow was so saddened by the loss of her young husband that, according to tradition, she mourned for three years. Finally, she commissioned the sculptor Ligier Richier to create a skeletonized statue, holding the heart raised in her left hand, as a stylized example that love and loyalty have an effect beyond death. Renatus heart remained, in accordance with the customs of the time, at the place of his death, while the other remains were transferred to his place of birth Breda and buried there. The heart held high by the statue has long been considered the repository of his own mummified heart.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Samuel Publication : Allgemeine Encyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , Volume 1, 1822, p. 61.
predecessor Office successor
Philibert de Chalon Prince of Orange
1530–1544
Wilhelm I.
Henry III. Lord of Breda
Count of Vianden
1538–1544
Wilhelm I.