Christian of Nassau-Siegen
Count Christian of Nassau-Siegen (16 July 1616 – 1/11 April 1644), German: Christian Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein, was a Count from the House of Nassau-Siegen, a cadet branch of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau. He served as an officer in the Hessian Army and the Imperial Army successively.
Christian of Nassau-Siegen | |
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 Count Christian of Nassau-Siegen. Detail from a painting attributed to Wybrand de Geest, 1635-1640. Stichting Historische Verzamelingen van het Huis Oranje-Nassau, The Hague. | |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Full name
Christian Count of Nassau-Siegen | |
| Native name | Christian Graf von Nassau-Siegen |
| Born | Christian Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein 16 July 1616 Siegen Castle |
| Died | 1/11 April 1644 near Düren |
| Buried | 4/14 June 1644 Fürstengruft, Evangelische Stadtkirche, Dillenburg Reburied: unknown date Fürstengruft, Siegen |
| Noble family | House of Nassau-Siegen |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Barbara von Quadt-Landskron-Rheinbach |
| Issue | – |
| Father | John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen |
| Mother | Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg |
| Occupation | Officer in the Hessian Army 1633, colonel of the cuirassiers in the Imperial Army 1642 |
Biography
Christian was born at Siegen Castle[1][2][note 1] on 16 July 1616[3] as the sixth son of Count John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen and his second wife, Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.[4]
The will and testament of Count John VII ‘the Middle’ of 1621 bequeathed John Maurice and his younger brothers from their father’s second marriage the district of Freudenberg, some villages in the Haingericht[note 2] and a third part of the administration of the city of Siegen.[6][7] After his older half-brother John ‘the Younger’ had accepted the homage of the city of Siegen for the entire county of Nassau-Siegen on 12 January 1624[8] and had voluntarily ceded the sovereignty over the Hilchenbach district with Ginsburg Castle and some villages belonging to the Ferndorf and Netphen districts to his younger brother William on 13/23 January 1624,[9][10] Christian and his brothers, with the exception of the oldest two brothers John Maurice and George Frederick, accepted only modest appanages.[11][12]
Christian studied in Leiden in 1631. He attended the Siege of Maastricht in 1632. In 1633 he entered the Hessian service. He was wounded in the fight for Hanau in 1636.[13][14] In 1642 he entered the imperial service and became colonel of the cuirassiers.[1][13][14] He was killed in action near Düren on 1/11 April 1644[1][15][note 3] and was buried in the Fürstengruft in the Evangelische Stadtkirche in Dillenburg on 4/14 June 1644.[1] At a hitherto unknown time his body was transferred to Siegen to be interred in the Fürstengruft there.[1][17]
Christian married around 1641[1] to Anna Barbara von Quadt-Landskron-Rheinbach.[1][15][note 4] The marriage remained childless.[15]
Ancestors
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Notes
- The other sources that mention a place of birth, state Siegen as place of birth.
- “The Haingericht was certainly located around the castle of Hainchen, which passed with its dependencies to the House of Nassau in 1313. See Historische Stätten Deutschlands III, 245.”[5]
- “Dek (1962) says he was killed in action in the battle at Neuss on 11‑4‑1644. But we find, in the Royal House Archive of the Netherlands (4/1499d), a letter from the mother who from Siegen reported the death of her son. The name of the town of Neuss has been crossed out and replaced with that of Düren: «bei der Stadt Deuren in einem Treffen eine Meile wegs jenseits von Düren». Further on she clarifies «between Cologne and Düren on the Steinstrasse». The date of death is mentioned as 1/11‑4‑1644.”[16]
- The other sources do not mention the marriage. Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 120 mentions that Christian was unmarried.
References
- Menk (2004), p. 192.
- Aβmann & Menk (1996).
- All sources that mention a full date of birth, state this date.
- All sources that mention both parents, name these parents.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 224.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 251.
- Menk (1979), p. 42.
- Lück (1981), p. 126.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 247.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 249–250.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 251–252.
- Spielmann (1909), p. 217.
- Dek (1970), p. 91.
- Dek (1968), p. 251.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 235.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 256.
- Menk (1994), p. 125.
Sources
- Aßmann, Helmut; Menk, Friedhelm (1996). Auf den Spuren von Nassau und Oranien in Siegen (in German). Siegen: Gesellschaft für Stadtmarketing Siegen e.V.
- Dek, A.W.E. (1962). Graf Johann der Mittlere von Nassau-Siegen und seine 25 Kinder (in German). Rijswijk: Krips Repro.
- Dek, A.W.E. (1968). "De afstammelingen van Juliana van Stolberg tot aan het jaar van de Vrede van Münster". Spiegel der Historie. Maandblad voor de geschiedenis der Nederlanden (in Dutch). 1968 (7/8): 228–303.
- 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.
- Lück, Alfred; Wunderlich, Hermann (1956) [1952]. Die Fürstengruft zu Siegen (in German). Siegen: Verkehrsverein Siegen e.V.
- Menk, Friedhelm (1967). "Johann der Mittlere, Graf zu Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623) und seine zweite Gemahlin". Siegerland (in German). Band XLIV (Heft 1): 1–28.
- Menk, Friedhelm (1971). Quellen zur Geschichte des Siegerlandes im niederländischen königlichen Hausarchiv (in German). Siegen: Stadt Siegen/Forschungsstelle Siegerland.
- Menk, Friedhelm (1979). "Johann Moritz Fürst zu Nassau-Siegen". Siegerland (in German). Band LVI (Heft 1–2): 1vv.
- Menk, Friedhelm (1994). "Die nassauischen Begräbnisstätten in der ev. Stadtkirche zu Dillenburg". In: Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (Hg.), 650 Jahre Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Text- und Bildband zum Stadtrechtsjubiläum der Oranierstadt (in German). Dillenburg: Verlag E. Weidenbach GmbH + Co. KG. p. 119–125.
- Menk, Friedhelm (2004). "Die Fürstengruft zu Siegen und die darin von 1669 bis 1781 erfolgten Beisetzungen". In: Burwitz, Ludwig u.a. (Redaktion), Siegener Beiträge. Jahrbuch für regionale Geschichte (in German). Vol. 9. Siegen: Geschichtswerkstatt Siegen – Arbeitskreis für Regionalgeschichte e.V. p. 183–202.
- Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (1994). "Beisetzungen in den 15 Grabstellen der Dillenburger Nassauergruft". In: Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (Hg.), 650 Jahre Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Text- und Bildband zum Stadtrechtsjubiläum der Oranierstadt (in German). Dillenburg: Verlag E. Weidenbach GmbH + Co. KG. p. 115–118.
- Spielmann, Christian (1909). Geschichte von Nassau (Land und Haus) von den ältesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart (in German). Vol. Teil 1. Politische Geschichten. Wiesbaden: P. Plauen.
- 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
- Nassau. In: Medieval Lands. A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, compiled by Charles Cawley.
- Nassau Part 5. In: An Online Gotha, by Paul Theroff.