John III, Count of Nassau-Siegen
Count John III ʻthe Youngerʼ of Nassau-Siegen[note 1] (d. 18 April 1430), German: Johann III. ‘der Jüngere’ Graf von Nassau-Siegen, succeeded, with his brothers, his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen[note 2] (a part of the County of Nassau). With his brothers, he inherited the County of Vianden in 1417, and also inherited half of the County of Diez in 1420. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.
John III ʻthe Youngerʼ, Count of Nassau-Siegen | |
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John III ʻthe Youngerʼ, Count of Nassau-Siegen | |
| Native name | Johann III. ‘der Jüngere’ Graf von Nassau-Siegen |
| Born | ? |
| Died | 18 April 1430 |
| Noble family | House of Nassau-Siegen |
| Spouse(s) | – |
| Father | John I of Nassau-Siegen |
| Mother | Margaret of the Mark |
Biography
John was the fifth son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess Margaret of the Mark.[1][2]
John served as provost of the Münster Cathedral 1410–1414.[1][2]
With his brothers, Adolf I, John II ʻwith the Helmetʼ and Engelbert I, John succeeded his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen.[3][4][5][note 3] They had already agreed on a joint continuation of the government[4][5] on 21 December 1409. Whichever of the brothers would be native or closest to his lands on the fatherʼs death should take possession of them in all brothersʼ name until a division would have taken place. Whoever would take something for himself alone would be disinherited. All parental decrees favouring one brother over the other were declared null and void in advance. Adolf hereby tacitly renounced his right to the part of Nassau-Hadamar and the districts of Herborn, Haiger and Löhnberg, which he could have claimed in advance from the marriage contract with the heiress of the County of Diez. In accordance with this agreement, the brothers took over the government jointly after their fatherʼs death in 1416. However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, the elder John was not married, the younger of the same name was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long.[5] Together, the brothers bought back the other half of the city of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.[3][note 4]
When Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach, Countess of Vianden, died without issue in 1417, the four brothers, grandsons of Adelaide of Vianden, Elisabethʼs great-aunt, inherited the County of Vianden with the lordships of St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen.[3][note 5]
After the death of the eldest brother Adolf in 1420, the three remaining brothers succeeded him, but they lost half of the County of Diez,[note 6] as well as ¼ of Camberg in 1428.[note 7] The County of Nassau-Siegen was divided by the brothers; John obtained Haiger and Siegen in this division.[3]
John obtained Greifenstein Castle with the toll at Lahnstein from Roman King Sigismund on 4 April 1418.[1][2] He was appointed by Duke Adolf IV of Cleves as Oberst and Amtmann over all his lands on 21 September 1424, for a period of eight years.[1] In 1429 or 1439, the counts of Virneburg paid the brothers 21,000 gold guilders to buy off their claims to the heerlijkheid of Ravenstein with Herpen and Uden.[8]
John died unmarried on 18 April 1430.[9] He was succeeded by his brothers John II and Engelbert I, who jointly ruled Nassau-Siegen, Vianden and Diez again.[3]
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Siegen Castle, 2011.
Vianden Castle. Photo: Vincent de Groot, 2004.
Diez Castle. Photo: Peter Klassen, 2006.
Greifenstein Castle. Photo: Oliver Abels, 2007.
Johnʼs swearing letter
John ʻthe Youngerʼ participated alongside Duke John III of Bavaria in the Siege of Dordrecht against Duke John IV of Brabant and Countess Jacqueline of Holland in 1418. Because John ʻthe Youngerʼ had the luck on his side, John III of Bavariaʼs army was victorious. For this military service, John III of Bavaria owed John ʻthe Youngerʼ 5,000 guilders, which, in a debenture, he promised to pay in Arnhem on 25 July 1419. However, John III of Bavaria did not pay his debt. After a complaint to a vehmic court in Westphalia was unsuccessful, John ʻthe Youngerʼ resorted to a swearing letter which he sent to several noble courts. This swearing letter disgraced John III of Bavaria as a word-breaker and non-payer of his debts. The letter includes a drawing that closely resembles a present cartoon in which John III of Bavaria is depicted holding up a pig by its curly tail and pressing his seal stamp on the pigʼs buttocks with the other hand. The accompanying text reads:
“Ich, der Graf von Hennegau und Holland,
stehe hier vor dem Hintern dieser Sau
und drücke hier mein Siegel an,
weil ich es verpfändet und nicht eingelöst habe
von dem Junggrafen Johann von Nassau.
In Briefen ist es doch nicht mehr zu Danke,
so wenig wie mein Eidschwur und meine Ehre.
Ein Thor, der mir noch ferner dient.”
(English translation: “I, the Count of Hainault and Holland, stand here before the ass of this swine and do here affix my seal, because I have pledged it and not redeemed it, to Count John of Nassau. In letters it is no more to thank, as little as my oath and my honour. A fool who serves me furthermore.”
As proof of the debt, the letter also contained a copy of the original debenture from John III of Bavaria to John ʻthe Youngerʼ. The swearing letter is 80 cm long and 42 cm wide and is kept in the Hessian Central State Archives in Wiesbaden.[10]
Illegitimate child
Ancestors
| Ancestors of Count John III of Nassau-Siegen[3][12][13][14][15][16] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great-great-grandparents | Otto I of Nassau (?–1289/90) ⚭ before 1270 Agnes of Leiningen (?–after 1299) |
Thierry II of Heinsberg and Blankenberg (?–1303) ⚭ 1253 Joanna of Gaesbeek (?–1291) |
Godfrey I of Vianden (?–1307/1310) ⚭ 1278 Adelaide of Oudenaarde (?–1305) |
Louis of Arnsberg (?–1312/13) ⚭ before 1276 Petronilla of Jülich (?–after 1299) |
Engelbert I of the Mark (?–1308) ⚭ 1273 Irmgard of Berg (?–1294) |
John of Arberg (?–1281) ⚭ before 1273 Catherine of Jülich (?–after 1287) |
Thierry VI of Cleves (1256/57–1305) ⚭ 1290 Margaret of Habsburg (?–c. 1333) |
Reginald I of Guelders and Zutphen (c. 1255–1326) ⚭ 1286 Margaret of Flanders (?–after 1327) |
| Great-grandparents | Henry I of Nassau-Siegen (c. 1270–1343) ⚭ before 1302 Adelaide of Heinsberg and Blankenberg (?–after 1343) |
Philip II of Vianden (?–1315/16) ⚭ Adelaide of Arnsberg (?–?) |
Engelbert II of the Mark (?–1328) ⚭ 1299 Matilda of Arberg (?–1367) |
Thierry VII of Cleves (1291–1347) ⚭ 1308 Margaret of Guelders and Zutphen (c. 1290–1331) | ||||
| Grandparents | Otto II of Nassau-Siegen (c. 1305–1350/1351) ⚭ 1331 Adelaide of Vianden (?–1376) |
Adolf II of the Mark (?–1347) ⚭ 1332 Margaret of Cleves (?–after 1348) | ||||||
| Parents | John I of Nassau-Siegen (c. 1339–1416) ⚭ 1357 Margaret of the Mark (?–1409) | |||||||
Notes
- In many sources he is called John III of Nassau(-Dillenburg). His official title was Count of Nassau, but it is incorrect to refer to him as the only reigning Count of Nassau, because the County of Nassau was divided into Nassau-Beilstein, Nassau-Siegen, Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. John co-ruled the County of Nassau-Siegen, which is erroneously called Nassau-Dillenburg in many sources. See note 2.
- The County of Nassau-Siegen is erroneously called Nassau-Dillenburg in many sources. The county was not named after the small, unimportant city of Dillenburg, which did not even have a church at that time, but after the, for that time, large city of Siegen, the economic centre of the county and the counts’ main residence. See Lück (1981), passim. It is also evident from the numbering of the reigning counts with the given name John. One John without regal number who ruled the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in the period 1303–1328, and eight counts by the name of John who ruled the County of Nassau-Siegen in the period 1362–1638.
- Dek (1970), p. 66 and Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 90 state that the county was co-ruled by the eldest two brothers, Adolf and John II ʻwith the Helmetʼ, only.
- Lück (1981), p. 23 states that their father exchanged the County of Arnsberg in 1381 for the other half of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.
- Dek (1970), p. 66 and Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 90 state that only Engelbert I, the third of the brothers, inherited the County of Vianden.
- “The other half came to the Count of Eppstein who had married Adolfʼs only daughter. Half of this half (i.e. ¼) passed to the counts of Katzenelnbogen (1479). Hesse inherited that in 1500.”[6]
- “The lords von Eppstein, already possessors of one half, then held ¾ of the Amt Camberg. One of these quarters passed to Katzenelnbogen, then, in 1479, to Hesse and returned to Nassau in 1557. The other two quarters came to the lords of Königstein, then to the Elector of Trier in 1564, and finally, in 1803, to Nassau, who thus again found itself in sole possession of the Amt.”[7]
References
- Dek (1970), p. 67.
- Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 91.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 219.
- Joachim, Ernst (1881). "Johann I. (Graf von Nassau-Dillenburg)". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. Band 14. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. p. 251.
- von Stramberg (1865), p. 722.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 223.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 224.
- von Stramberg (1865), p. 728.
- Dek (1970), p. 214.
- Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (1994). "Der Herzog und die Sau! Dillenburger Graf wußte sich zu helfen". In Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (ed.). 650 Jahre Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Text- und Bildband zum Stadtrechtsjubiläum der Oranierstadt (in German). Dillenburg: Verlag E. Weidenbach GmbH + Co. KG. pp. 31–32.
- Cawley, Charles. "Medieval Lands – Nassau". Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- Dek (1970).
- Vorsterman van Oyen (1882).
- Europäische Stammtafeln.
- Theroff, Paul. "An Online Gotha". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- Cawley, Charles. "Medieval Lands. A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families". Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
Sources
- Becker, E. (1983) [1950]. Schloss und Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Gang durch ihre Geschichte in Mittelalter und Neuzeit. Zur Gedenkfeier aus Anlaß der Verleihung der Stadtrechte am 20. September 1344 herausgegeben (in German) (Neuauflage ed.). Dillenburg: Der Magistrat der Stadt Dillenburg.
- Dek, A.W.E. (1970). Genealogie van het Vorstenhuis Nassau (in Dutch). Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek.
- Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain & Magdelaine, F. & B. (1981). l’Allemagne Dynastique (in French). Vol. Tome III: Brunswick-Nassau-Schwarzbourg. Le Perreux: Alain Giraud.
- Lück, Alfred (1981) [1967]. Siegerland und Nederland (in German) (2nd ed.). Siegen: Siegerländer Heimatverein e.V.
- von Stramberg, Chr. (1865). Denkwürdiger und nützlicher Rheinischer Antiquarius, welcher die wichtigsten und angenehmsten geographischen historischen und politischen Merkwürdigkeiten des ganzen Rheinstroms, von seinem Ausflusse in das Meer bis zu seinem Ursprunge darstellt. Von einem Nachforscher in historischen Dingen. Mittelrhein. Der II. Abtheilung 18. Band. Der Rheingau. Historisch und topografisch (in German). Vol. Vierter Band. Coblenz: Rud. Friedr. Hergt.
- Vorsterman van Oyen, A.A. (1882). Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden tot heden (in Dutch). Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff/Utrecht: J.L. Beijers.
External links
- Image and description of John IIIʼs swearing letter.
- Nassau. In: Medieval Lands. A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, by Charles Cawley.
- Nassau Part 4. In: An Online Gotha, by Paul Theroff.