Wilhelm Friedrich (Nassau-Dietz)

Wilhelm Friedrich of Nassau-Dietz

Wilhelm Friedrich of Nassau-Dietz

Wilhelm Friedrich (born August 7, 1613 in Arnhem ; † October 31, 1664 in Leeuwarden ) was a count, from 1654 Prince of Nassau-Dietz and governor of Friesland , Groningen and Drenthe .

Life

Wilhelm Friedrich was the second son of Count Ernst Casimir von Nassau-Dietz (1573-1632) and Duchess Sophie Hedwig von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1592-1642). When his brother Heinrich Casimir I fell in 1640, he succeeded in obtaining governorship in Friesland, but in town and country (Groningen and the surrounding area) and in Drenthe, Prince Friedrich Heinrich knew how to acquire the same for himself what from Wilhelm Friedrich and was very resentful to his mother. The prince, however, had such power at the time that they were not only forced to look good at the bad game, but also had to win back the indispensable favor by promising survivance for him and his sons. Otherwise Wilhelm Friedrich would not even have been able to receive the right to appoint a magistrate in the Frisian cities, as his brother had possessed.

As long as Friedrich Heinrich lived, Wilhelm Friedrich, whose power in Friesland was rather limited, remained in the background. After his death, however, he joined his son and successor Wilhelm II very closely and in 1650 openly took his side against the Dutch states. He took over the management of the well-known company against Amsterdam , but his failure was not a burden to him. But no sooner had Wilhelm II died suddenly than Wilhelm Friedrich turned to the now victorious province of Holland and offered his service to the States General . He hoped to represent the newly born Prince Wilhelm III. to become, if he was to receive the title of captain and admiral general, which he succeeded just as little as Field Marshal Brederode . Only the governorship of town and country and Drenthe was he able to save for himself, much to the chagrin of the Dutch rulers. Otherwise he remained Feldzeugmeister.

Princess Albertine Agnes of Orange-Nassau

From now on he played a somewhat ambiguous part in the ongoing quarrels of the Orange Party. He received the hand of Friedrich Heinrich's second daughter, Princess Albertine Agnes of Orange-Nassau , which increased his reputation and reunited him closely with the older branch of the Nassau family and tried to appear as an uncle among the young prince's guardians. But at the same time he always showed himself to be compliant with the states of Holland and sought de Witt's friendship , through which he hoped to at least maintain the field marshal dignity that Brederode had finished off, but which he succeeded just as little as that of the Orange Party Overijssel to keep the post of lieutenant governor of the province. His influence only remained decisive in the two northern provinces, where he succeeded in strengthening the governorship there, albeit with somewhat reduced authority, that in 1659 his young son Heinrich Casimir II was assured of the succession, which also happened in Drenthe. Five years later, during the first battles between the states and Christoph Bernhard von Galen , Bishop of Munster , he was entrusted with the command of the small state army that took the Dieler Schanze occupied by the Munster , an undertaking which, of course, did not particularly fame him enough, only that it showed he was considered the most distinguished general in the civil service.

He did not survive this isolated act of war for long, because as early as 1664 he was fatally wounded when a pistol he had examined burst open. He passed away on October 31 of that year, leaving a somewhat ambiguous reputation. Ten years earlier, like his cousins ​​from Nassau-Hadamar and Nassau-Siegen Line, he was raised to the rank of imperial prince, which of course benefited his position in the Netherlands less than he might have hoped.

progeny

From his marriage to Albertine Agnes von Oranien-Nassau on May 2, 1652 in Kleve :

• Heinrich Casimir II (1657–1696), Prince of Nassau-Dietz
• Amalia (1655–1695), married Duke Johann Wilhelm von Sachsen-Eisenach
• Wilhelmina Sophia Hedwig (1664–1667)

literature

• Geert H. Janssen: Creaturen van de macht. Patronage with Willem Frederick van Nassau (1613–1664). Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2005, ISBN 90-5356-787-9 .
  • in English: Princely Power in the Dutch Republic. Patronage and William Frederick of Nassau (1613–64). Manchester University Press, Manchester / New York NY 2008, ISBN 978-0-7190-7758-6 .
• Pieter Lodewijk Muller :  Wilhelm Friedrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, p. 133 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Heinrich Casimir I.	Count of Nassau-Dietz from 1654 Prince 1640–1664	Heinrich Casimir II.