John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (''Jan'' or ''Johan'';

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday road ...

, 29 September 1583 –

Ronse Ronse (; french: Renaix, ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clu ...

, 27 July 1638) was a German nobleman and militarist of the 17th century.

Life

John VIII, Count of

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 ...

, Katzenelnbogen,

Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...

and Dietz, Marquis of Monte-Caballo, Baron of Ronse and Beilstein, was the second son of

John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen Count John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen (7 June 1561 – 27 September 1623), german: Johann VII. ‘der Mittlere’ Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: ''Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu ...

and Countess

Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen (1558 – 9 September 1599), german: Magdalena Gräfin zu Waldeck-Wildungen, was a countess from the House of Waldeck and through marriage successively Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess ...

. He was educated in Herborn, Kassel and

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. In 1610 he participated in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary arm ...

in the conquest of Jülich. On 25 December 1613, much to the horror of his family, he openly converted to Catholicism and entered in the service of the army of

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I ( it, Carlo Emanuele di Savoia; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. He was nicknamed (, in context "the Hot-Headed") for his rashness and military aggression. Being ...

. After the death of his elder brother, John Ernest in September 1617, he claimed his rights, but his father chose a Protestant successor. When his father died in 1623, John VIII occupied

at the head of a Habsburg Army and started the

Contra-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. In 1624 he became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece. Velazquez-The Surrender of Breda

In 1625 he participated in the Siege of Breda. Breda was defended by his second cousin

Justinus van Nassau Justinus van Nassau (1559–1631) was the only extramarital child of William the Silent. He was a Dutch army commander known for his role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, his leadership of the forces in Breda during the siege of 1624, ...

and held out for eleven months before surrendering. John VIII of Nassau-Siegen is depicted in the famous painting ''

The Surrender of Breda ''La rendición de Breda'' (English: ''The Surrender of Breda'', also known as ''Las lanzas'' – ''The Lances'') is a painting by the Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez. It was completed during the years 1634–35, inspired by Velázque ...

'' by Diego Velázquez, third from the left in the Spanish camp, looking directly at the spectator. In 1630 he was captured by the Dutch Army, however, he was released later that year for a huge bail. In 1631, he was in charge of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

Fleet defeated by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Scots and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mercenaries, at the

Battle of the Slaak The naval Battle of the Slaak (12 and 13 September 1631) was a Dutch victory during the Eighty Years' War. The Dutch prevented the Spanish army from dividing the Dutch United Provinces in two. Background In reaction to an overland Dutch att ...

, fighting on behalf of the Spanish Governor

Francisco de Moncada, 3rd Marquis of Aitona Francisco de Moncada (in Catalan: Francesc de Montcada i Montcada), 3rd Marquis of Aytona, (1586–1635) was a Spanish diplomat, soldier and writer of the early 17th century. He was also interim Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Early life Mo ...

, (1586–1635). In 1632, Nassau-Siegen was conquered by the Swedes, after which his half-brother John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen re-introduced Protestantism. John VIII died in 1638 and was succeeded by his only son Johan Frans Desideratus, who had to cede part of Nassau-Siegen to the Protestant branch of the family.

Marriage and children

John was married in Brussels on 13 August 1618 to the Catholic princess Ernestine Yolande de Ligne d'Amblise (1594–1668), daughter of Lamoral de Ligne, Prince d'Espinoy. They had six children together: * Maria (1619–1620) * stillborn daughter (1620) * Clara Maria (1621–1695), married with her cousins Prince Albert Henri de Ligne in 1634, and with

Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, Prince of Epinoy, Marquis of Roubaix and Count of Fauquemberg (8 October 1618 – 21 December 1679), was a nobleman from the Spanish Netherlands, a soldier and diplomat in the service of Philip IV of S ...

in 1642 * Ernestine Charlotte (1623–1668), married in 1650 with

Maurice Henry, Prince of Nassau-Hadamar Maurice Henry, Prince of Nassau-Hadamar (23 April 1626, in Hadamar – 24 January 1679, in Hadamar) was — after his father — the second ruler of the younger Nassau-Hadamar line of the Ottonian branch of the House of Nassau. Background Mauri ...

* Lamberta Alberta Gabrielle Ursula (1625–1635) * John Francis Desideratus (Nozeroy, 1627 – Roermond, 1699), Count of Nassau-Siegen

Ancestors

External links

Tercios.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 08, Count of Nassau-Siegen 1583 births 1638 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Counts of Nassau Nassau-Siegen, John VIII of House of Nassau-Siegen People from Dillenburg Generals of the Holy Roman Empire