The Van Polanen family are a noble family that played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages. By inheriting the vast properties of the Polanen family, the

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count o ...

in 1403 became a landowner in the Netherlands for the first time.

History

The van Polanen family were a side branch of the

van Wassenaer Van Wassenaer is the name of an old Dutch noble family. It was first mentioned in the county of Holland on November 3, 1200. They are one of the few original noble families from Holland that has survived to this day. Members of the family carry ...

family which owned

Kasteel Duivenvoorde Duivenvoorde Castle ( nl, Kasteel Duivenvoorde) is a castle in the town of Voorschoten, South Holland, in the Netherlands. It was first mentioned in 1226, making it one of the oldest castles in South Holland. The castle is remarkable in that it ...

since 1226. The branch took its name from ''Kasteel Polanen'', a castle situated in

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

which was destroyed in 1351 and finally demolished in 1394. Philips III van Duivenvoorde received the fief of Polanen in 1295.

Willem van Duvenvoorde Willem van Duvenvoorde or van Duvoorde (1290–1353), also known as Willem Snikkerieme, was a 14th-century nobleman and financier who served as a financial and political adviser to four successive counts and countesses of Hainaut and Holland. Lif ...

(1290-1353) purchased

Oosterhout Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . Population centers The municipality of Oosterhout includes the following pla ...

in 1324, together with vast properties around Breda and

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil p ...

, among them

De Lek De Lek was a '' heerlijkheid'' ( manor) and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province South Holland. It is named after the Lek River. Heerlijkheid According to the 19th-century historian Van der Aa, the old ''Heerlijkheid van de ...

and Schoonenburg Castle (abandoned around 1450). The ruins of ''Kasteel Strijen'', his possible residence, are still preserved in Oosterhout. Philips' son Jan I van Polanen, received the fief of

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

in 1339, together with his son John II who built a new castle there. All of these properties were inherited by

Johanna van Polanen Johanna van Polanen (also spelled as ''Jehenne''; 10 January 1392 – 15 May 1445) was a Dutch noblewoman. She was the daughter of John III of Polanen, Lord of Breda, and his wife, Odilia of Salm. The House of Polanen was a side branch of the ...

who married

Engelbert I of Nassau Engelbert I of Nassau (, in Dillenburg3 May 1442, in Breda) was a son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess Margaret of the Mark, daughter of Count Adolph II of the Marck. Early years Engelbert of Nassau was a student in Cologne, ...

. Through this marriage the

first gained territories in the Netherlands. Much later this fact, among others, led to the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

's rise to the ruling dynasty of the country. Kasteel Duivenvoorde 015.jpg,

File:2010-04-25-breda-by-RalfR-12.jpg,

Castle File:Ruineoosterhout.jpg, ''Kasteel Strijen'',

File:Schoonenburg tussen Nieuw-Lekkerland en Streefkerk.jpg, Schoonenburg near

Family Tree

* Philips III van Duivenvoorde (c. 1248 - after 1301) ** Jan I van Polanen (-1342) m. Katherina van Brederode (-1372) *** Dirk van Polanen m. Elburg van Asperen **** Otto van Polanen m. Johanna van

Voorst Voorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Population centres * Appen (near a wood where nice walks can be taken) * Bussloo (with a recreation centre with a small lake and beach) * De Kar (near a motorway junction (A1, ...

***** Elburg van Polanen m. Johan van Langerak ***** Cunegonda van Polanen m. Frederik van Hekeren genaamd van Rechteren ***** Jan van Polanenm.1 Elburg van Langerak m.2 Katharina von

Gemen Gemen was an immediate, sovereign lordship of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Lower Rhine region. Since Gemen had a vote in the Imperial Diet it was also an Imperial Estate. It was centered on Gemen, a small town and castle in the present municipal ...

(-1493) *** Philips van Polanen (-1375) m. Elisabeth van der Maele **** Elisabeth van Polanen(-1404) m. Hugo van Heenvliet (-1409) *** Grafmonument van J

Johan II van Polanen (-1378)m.1 Oda van Hoorne (-1353) m.2 Machteld bastard of

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

(-1366) m.3 Margareta zur

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

**** Johan III van Polanen (-1394)m. Odilia von

Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan * House of Salm, a European ...

(-1428) *****

(1392-1445) m.

(-1442) **** Oda van Polanen (-1417)m. Hendrik III van Montfoort (1402) **** Hendrik van Polanen(-1427)m. 1 Johanna de Ghistelles m.2 Adelaide van Stalle **** Dirk van Polanenm. Gillisje van Cralingen **** Beatrix van Polanen m. Hendrik VIII van Boutershem **** Maria van Polanen m. Willem van Cronenburch **** Otto van der Leck (-1428) m. Sophia

van den Bergh Van den Bergh, Van Den Bergh is a Dutch surname, a variant of Van den Berg. Notable people with the surname include: *Arnold van den Bergh (notary) (1886‒1950), Amsterdam civil law notary *Dave van den Bergh (born 1976), Dutch footballer *Dimitr ...

(-1412) ***** Willem II van Polanen (1404-1465) m. Lutgardis von Bentheim (-1445)

Literature

* Detlev Schwennicke,

Europäische Stammtafeln ''Europäische Stammtafeln'' - German for ''European Family Trees'' - is a series of twenty-nine books which contain sets of genealogical tables of the most influential families of Medieval European history. It is a standard reference work for thos ...

Band XXVIII (2012) Tafel 152. {{DEFAULTSORT:Polanen