Wilhelm Ludwig (Nassau-Saarbrücken)

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The coat of arms of Wilhelm Ludwig shows the coat of arms of the counties Nassau , Moers , Saarwerden , Saarbrücken and in the heart shield Lahr - Mahlberg

Wilhelm Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken (born December 18, 1590 in Ottweiler , † August 22, 1640 in Metz ) was Count of Saarbrücken .

Life

His parents were Ludwig II of Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrücken († November 8, 1627 in Saarbrücken) and Countess Anna Maria von Hessen-Kassel (1567-1626) ( ancestors ). In 1605, his father had united the entire Walram property .

After his training in Metz, he made a study trip through France, the Netherlands and England from 1609 to 1614.

In 1616 he became co-regent of his father and, after his death in 1627, guardian of his two youngest brothers. After the division of the estate, he received the County of Saarbrücken , the Ottweiler office , the Herbitzheim bailiwick , and the Wellingen community on January 29, 1629 in Ottweiler .

His brother Johann received the rule of Idstein , Wiesbaden and Sonnenberg . The land of his two younger brothers, Wehener Grund and Amt Burgschwalbach , initially remained under Wilhelm Ludwig's administration.

Shortly afterwards, the property of the brothers was endangered by the edict of restitution of March 2, 1629, since the electors of Mainz and Trier raised claims on the church property confiscated since the Passau Treaty (1552). On July 7, 1629 decided Reichskammergericht in the dispute between the Duchy of Lorraine and Nassau that town and castle Saarwerden , Bockenheim (Bouquenom) and Wiebersweiler as Metzer fief issued to the Duchy of Lorraine, the rest of the county should remain in Nassau. The Duke of Lorraine immediately took possession of the entire county of Saar Werden and the bailiwick of Herbitzheim. Wilhelm Ludwig went to Regensburg on the Prince's Day and on July 23, 1631, obtained imperial fief (although he had refused to join the Catholic League or to provide troops for it). When the Swedish king Gustav Adolf came to the Rhine at the end of the year , Wilhelm Ludwig and his brothers made themselves available to him and thus declared war on their emperor. He joined the cavalry regiment of the Rhine Count Otto Ludwig as a lieutenant colonel and fought with him on the Upper Rhine.

On July 27, 1630, the Strasbourg superintendent Abraham Staymle had confirmed his appointment.

After King Gustav Adolf fell on November 16, 1632, the three counts united with the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna at the meeting of the Protestant estates in Heilbronn .

Saarbrücken Castle in the 17th century

On November 24, 1632, his youngest brother, Count Otto, died and on December 11, Count Ernst Casimir came of age , and so it was re-divided: Ernst Casimir elected the offices of Weilburg , Gleiberg , Merenberg and Otto's former countries Kirchheim and Stauf . The brothers shared the office of Usingen and the Stockheim court .

In August 1633 he penetrated from Alsace into the county of Saar Werden, which was still occupied by Lorraine and was conquered by the Swedes, but not surrendered to him. On September 5, 1633, their envoy, Count Johann von Nassau-Idstein, signed the alliance with France against the emperor.

In March 1634 he was at the meeting in Frankfurt am Main , where Oxenstierna tried to win the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg to join the Heilbronn League . On June 7th, he sealed the alliance with France. In Frankfurt, the Nassau brothers compared with the gentlemen von Geroldseck about their property rights on Lahr . King Ferdinand's victory in the Battle of Nördlingen on September 6, 1634, brought these Frankfurt negotiations to an abrupt end. As the imperial army was approaching the Middle Rhine, the counts first brought their archives to safety in Frankfurt and then went to Kirchheim. They gave up the right bank of the Rhine.

After the death of the Rhine Count Wilhelm Ludwig entered the service of Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar . With this he undertook a campaign against the Wetterau and on December 24, 1634 attacked a department of the imperial general Count Philipp von Mansfeld in Michelstadt .

In 1635 he attended the Federal Assembly of Protestant Estates and their allies in Frankfurt. Here he enforced the return of Saarwerden by the Swedish allies.

On April 23, 1635 the family fled to Bockenheim (Bouquenom), where the county of Saar Werden, which had long been illegally occupied by Lorraine troops, was to be returned to Nassau-Saarbrücken. However, on May 30, 1635, a number of imperial estates, including Kurbrandenburg and Kursachsen, concluded the Peace of Prague and the Nassau counts were expressly excluded from this.

They first went to Saarbrücken, which was protected by Bernhard von Weimar . When the latter was defeated in an attack against Frankfurt in August 1635 and had to retreat to Metz, Wilhelm Ludwig and Ernst Casimir followed. Johannes chose Strasbourg as an exile.

The approach of imperial troops under Matthias Gallas triggered panic and a wave of refugees in Saarbrücken. The count's family noticed that Strasbourg could not be reached due to the distance. So the whole court traveled at the suggestion of the French King Louis XIII. on June 16, 1635 in the free imperial city of Metz .

In November 1635 the imperial commissioner Bertram von Sturm appeared in the Nassau region and declared the three brothers to have lost their counties and their and all property. The Duke of Lorraine received the counties of Saarbrücken and Saar Werden, the Bailiwick of Herbitzheim and the fortress Homburg an der Blies for his services to the emperor .

An attempt to obtain the imperial forgiveness through a petition mediated by the Elector of Saxony failed in 1636. In the following year the counts were informed of the reasons for the imperial disfavor. It was not until 1639 that Wilhelm Ludwig and Ernst Casimir received letters of introduction so that they could represent their cause in Vienna personally.

Wilhelm Ludwig died in Metz on August 22, 1640 and was buried in a poor grave. His widow moved back to Saarbrücken with the children in 1643. His three sons made a new division of the Nassau area on March 31, 1659.

The registrar Andreae completed his genealogy books, the work of his father, on the basis of the archives in Metz. The painter Henrich Dors from Altweilnau worked on his behalf.

Marriage and offspring

On November 25, 1615 he married Margravine Anna Amalie von Baden-Durlach (1595-1651), daughter of Margrave Georg Friedrich von Baden-Durlach .

Tomb of the first son, Moritz (* / † 1618), in St. Arnual , Saarbrücken
  • Moritz (* / † 1618)
  • Charlotte (1619–1687), ⚭ 1650 Count Ludwig Eberhard zu Leiningen-Westerburg
  • Kraft (* April 7, 1621 in Saarbrücken; † July 25, 1642 at a battle in Straelen )
  • Anna Amalie (1623–1695), canoness at Herford Abbey
  • Johann Ludwig (1625-1690); received Ottweiler
  • Elisabeth Sibylle (1626–1627)
  • Marie Sibylle (1628–1699), ⚭ 1651 Duke August Philipp of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
  • Georg Friedrich (* / † 1630)
  • Gustav Adolf (1632–1677); received Saarbrücken
  • Georg Friedrich (1633–1635)
  • Walrad (1635-1702); received Usingen and became the founder of a new branch

See also

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Ludwig II. Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken
1627–1640 		Gustav Adolf
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nassau-Saarbrücken, Wilhelm Ludwig von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Saarbrücken
DATE OF BIRTH December 18, 1590
PLACE OF BIRTH Ottweiler
DATE OF DEATH 22nd August 1640
Place of death Metz