William Otto of Nassau-Siegen
Count William Otto of Nassau-Siegen (23 June 1607 – 14 August 1641), German: Wilhelm Otto 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 Swedish Army.
William Otto of Nassau-Siegen | |
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 Count William Otto 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
William Otto Count of Nassau-Siegen | |
| Native name | Wilhelm Otto Graf von Nassau-Siegen |
| Born | Wilhelm Otto Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein 23 June 1607 Dillenburg Castle |
| Died | 14 August 1641 (aged 34) near Wolfenbüttel |
| Buried | 16 September 1641 Kassel |
| Noble family | House of Nassau-Siegen |
| Spouse(s) | – |
| Issue | – |
| Father | John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen |
| Mother | Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg |
| Occupation | Officer in the Swedish Army |
Biography
William Otto was born at Dillenburg Castle[1][note 1] on 23 June 1607[1][2][3][4] as the third son of Count John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen and his second wife, Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.[5] William Otto studied in Kassel in 1622 together with his elder brother George Frederick.[2]
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.[7][8] 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[9] 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,[10][11] William Otto and his younger brothers accepted only modest appanages. His older brothers John Maurice and George Frederick did not.[12][13]
During the Thirty Years’ War William Otto served in the Swedish Army[2][3][14][note 3] under Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. When the latter died in 1639, he bequeathed to William Otto a riding horse and 10,000 Rhineland Thalers.[3] William Otto occupied Kreuznach and Bingen in 1639 and Braunfels in 1640.[2] He was killed in a cavalry battle[2][3][14] near Wolfenbüttel on 14 August 1641,[1][note 4][2][3][4] and was buried in Kassel on 16 September 1641.[2]
William Otto was the only one of the many sons of Count John VII ‘the Middle’ who never served the Dutch Republic.[3]
Ancestors
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Notes
- The other sources that mention a place of birth, state Dillenburg 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.”[6]
- Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 119 is the only to mention that he held the rank of general.
- “See Dek (1962); State Archives Wiesbaden (170III): notification addressed to Count Christian from the army camp at Wolfenbüttel 15‑8‑1641: «gestrigen Tages uff einer partey einen tödlichen Schuss bekommen, und hernach alsobalden diese Welt gesegnet».”[15]
References
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 235.
- Dek (1970), p. 89.
- Dek (1968), p. 249.
- Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 119.
- 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.
- Lück (1981), p. 100.
- Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 253.
Sources
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.