Emicho I, Count of Nassau-Hadamar (also known as ''Emich'', first mentioned in 1289, died on 7 June 1334), was the second son of Count

Otto I of Nassau Otto I of Nassau (; born in 1224 and died between 3 May 1289 and 19 March 1290)Dek (1970).Vorsterman van Oyen (1882). was Count of Nassau and is the ancestor of the Ottonian branch of the House of Nassau. Biography Otto was the third son o ...

and his wife Agnes (d. 1303), the daughter of Count Emich IV of Leiningen-Landeck. Emicho was the founder of the elder line of

Nassau-Hadamar Nassau-Hadamar is the name of two side lines of the Ottonian main line of the House of Nassau. The older line of the counts of Nassau-Hadamar existed from 1303 to 1394; the younger line existed from 1607 to 1711 and received the hereditary title o ...

. He was a cousin of King

Adolf of Germany Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperi ...

. He and his brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

fought on Adolf's side in the

Battle of Göllheim The Battle of Göllheim was fought on 2 July 1298 between the forces of duke Albert I of Habsburg (German: Albrecht) and king Adolf of Nassau following the unilateral decision of the prince electors, without any formal election, to dethrone Ad ...

on 2 July 1298.

Count of Nassau-Hadamar

Emicho I was a son of Otto, the founder of the Ottonian line of the House of Nassau. After Otto died in 1290, his sons fought a length dispute over the inheritance. In 1303, the three remaining sons divided the Ottonian lands.

(d. 1343), the eldest brother, received

Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, found ...

, with Ginsburg and the Lordship of

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

received

Nassau-Dillenburg The County of Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire from the period of the formal recognition of the countly title in 1159 (though "de facto" sovereignty began in 1125) until the declaration of the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 with ...

, with Herborn,

Haiger Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger. Geography Location Haiger lies about 5 km west of Dillenburg, and 20 km southeast of Siegen on the eastern ...

and Beilstein. Emicho received

, including

Hadamar Hadamar () is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensics, Forensic Psychiatry/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found th ...

itself, the Esterau, the Nassau share of the Lordship of

Driedorf Driedorf is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Driedorf lies from 416 to 642 m above sea level on a Table (landform), tableland in the high Westerwald. Mademühlen Mademühlen has about 1,000 inhabitants ...

and the justice over Ellar, the Ottonian share of Dausenau and

Ems Ems or EMS may refer to: Places and rivers * Domat/Ems, a Swiss municipality in the canton of Grisons * Ems (river) (Eems), a river in northwestern Germany and northeastern Netherlands that discharges in the Dollart Bay * Ems (Eder), a river o ...

and some dispersed possessions. As recently as 1290, the Lords of

Greifenstein Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km2 on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the Greifenstein Castle (Hesse), ...

, who were co-owners of Driedorf, had forced Henry and Emicho to demolish two of their castles in Driedorf. On the other hand, a treaty closed in Wetzlar promised an end to the Greinfenstein's resistance to the Nassau expansion in the eastern part of the Westerwald. In 1316, Emicho finally managed to purchase the Greifenstein share of Driedorf for 250

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

Properties in Franconia

In 1299, Emicho acquire considerable properties in the

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

area, when King Albert I of Saxony mortgaged Kammerstein Castle,

Schwabach Schwabach () is a German city of about 40,000 inhabitants near Nuremberg in the centre of the region of Franconia in the north of Bavaria. Together with the neighboring cities of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen, Schwabach forms one of the three me ...

, Altdorf, Kornburg Castle and the town of Kornburg to Emicho and his wife Anna, who was the daughter of

Burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from , ), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a ''Burgraviate'' or ''Burgr ...

Frederick III of Nuremberg.

Hadamar

On 18 December 1320 Emicho purchased a model farm from the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

Eberbach Abbey Eberbach Abbey (German: Kloster Eberbach) is a former Cistercian monastery in Eltville in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its Romanesque architecture, Romanesque and Gothic (architecture), early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the m ...

. This farm was located on the left bank of the

Elbbach Elbbach is a river in Germany, about long. It is a right tributary of the Lahn which in turn is a right tributary of the Rhine. The Elbbach starts near Westerburg in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and flows into the Lahn near Limburg an der ...

, opposite

. The transaction includes the St. Giles church in Hadamar; the abbey retained various other properties in Niederhadamar, Faulbach and Niederzeuzheim. Emich expanded the farm to a

water castle A water castle, sometimes water-castle, is a castle which incorporates a natural or artificial body of water into its defences.Forde-Johnston (1979), p. 163. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbo ...

named Hadamar Castle, and built a new farm to the south of the castle. He moved his residence to Hadamar Castle. In 1324, Emperor Louis IV granted

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

, modeled on Frankfurt, to Hadamar and

. This allowed Emicho to fortify Hadamar with a city wall and a moat surrounding both the town and his castle. The move to Hadamar was probably intended to make it easier to secure his interests in the County of Dietz and to continue purchasing property and rights from the House of Dietz, which was continually in financial difficulties. From 1317, Emicho acted as guardian of Count Gottfried V of Dietz (1303–1348), whose bad financial management had caused the decline of his county. In 1324, Emicho negotiated with Count Gottfried V of Dietz about the intended marriage of Emicho's daughter Jutta with Gottfried's son Gerhard VI (1317–1343). Emicho demanded extended guardianship rights over the County of Dietz, which was already owed him a considerable amount of money. When Gottfried reached adulthood in 1332 and Emicho's guardianship ended, Gottfried transferred his rights over Hadamar and the village of Dehrn to Emicho. On 28 March 1337, Gottfried of Dietz mortgaged the district of Ellar, which he had acquired this district only four years earlier from the Lords of Merenberg, for 1450 Limburgish marks to Emicho's son

. On 4 April 1334, only two months before his death, Emicho transferred the Court and Castle of Hadamar to Archbishop

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

, who gave it back to him as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

Mining rights

On 26 February 1298, King Adolph of Germany mortgaged the rights to the Ratzenscheid mine near

Wilnsdorf Wilnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The southern municipal limits, with the Kalteiche peak, part of the Rothaargebirge, form not only the community's highest point, at ...

in the

Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...

area and the other silver mines in the Nassau territory to his cousins Henry and Emicho for 1000 marks' worth of pennies from Cologne.

John's inheritance

Emicho's younger brother

was captain in the army from Nassau and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

that fought in the decisive Battle of Wetzlar that ended the

Dernbacher Feud The Dernbach Feud (German: ''Dernbacher Fehde'') was an over 100-year-long (c. 1230 – 1333) ongoing dispute in present-day Germany between the House of Nassau, several knightly families, and the Landgrave of Hesse. The conflict erupted mainly ove ...

on 10 August 1328. John fell in that battle. Emicho refrained from his share in the inheritance, in favour of his elder brother Henry.

Marriage and issue

Before 1297, Emich married Anna (d. ), the daughter of Burgrave Frederick III of

and his second wife Helen, the daughter of Duke Albert I of Saxony. They had at least eight children: * Anna (died probably before 1329), married before 1332 to Count Kuno I of Falkenstein * Jutta (d. after 1359), married before 1324 to Count Gerhard VI of Diez (1317–1343) *

(d. before 20 January 1365), Count of Nassau-Hadamar from 1334 to 1365 * Emicho II (d. 1359), from 1328 to 1336

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

in Mainz, from 1337 to 1359 co-ruler of Nassau-Hadamar * Agnes, a nun in Altenberg Abbey in Wetzlar * Helen, also a nun in Altenberg Abbey * Margaret, married before 1349 to a

Count of Hohenberg The Counts of Hohenberg (or Margraves of Hohenberg) were an ancient Swabian dynasty in the southwest of the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. During the 13th century, the Hohenberg dynasty was one of the most prominent lineages i ...

* Margaretha (d. 1343), a nun in the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

nunnery in Nuremberg Emicho died on 7 June 1334. His widow reached a compromise with her son John in 1336, in which she received the imperial Kammerstein Castle as her

jointure Jointure was a legal concept used largely in late mediaeval and early modern Britain, denoting the estate given to a married couple by the husband's family. One of its most important functions was providing a livelihood for the wife if she became ...

, plus several manor in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. She would also receive

income in kind Income in kind, or in-kind income, is income other than money income. It includes many employee benefits and government-provided goods and services, such as toll-free roads, food stamps, public schooling, or socialized medicine. Types of Inc ...

from John, from his possessions in

Laurenburg Laurenburg is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn district of Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. The town, a health resort situated in the lower Lahn River valley, belongs to the Diez Municipal Association. History Laurenburg Castle is fir ...

, Dausenau,

, Nentershausen and the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

of Weidenhahn and from farms and land in Hadamar (the manors Schnepfenhaus and Rödchen), Zeuzheim and Heftrich. She resided at Hadamar castle until 1349, then moved to Kammerstein Castle, where she died between 1355 and 1357.Wagner, pp. 44–45

References

* * Johannes von Arnoldi: ''Geschichte der Oranien-Nassauischen Länder und ihrer Regenten'', vol. 3, Neue Gelehrtenbuchhandlung, Hadamar, 1799, pp. 90–9
Online
* Friedrich D. von Schütz: ''Geschichte des Herzogthums Nassau'', Wilhelm Roth, Wiesbaden, 1853, pp. 62–6
Online
* Karl Josef Stahl: ''Hadamar Stadt und Schloss. Eine Heimatgeschichte'', Magistrat der Stadt Hadamar, 1974 * Jacob Wagner: ''Die Regentenfamilie von Nassau-Hadamar: Geschichte des Fürstenthums Hadamar'', vol. 1, 2nd ed., Mechitharisten-Congregations-Buchhandlung, Vienna, 1863, pp. 37–4
Online

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emicho I, Count of Nassau-Hadamar Counts of Nassau 13th-century births 1334 deaths Year of birth unknown 14th-century German nobility