Van Wassenaer is the name of an old Dutch noble family. It was first mentioned in the

county of Holland The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a par ...

on November 3, 1200. They are one of the few original noble families from

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

that has survived to this day. Members of the family carry the title of

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

or baron.

Origin of the name

The family was already noble from earliest times ("

Uradel (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to '' Briefadel'', ...

"). According to family legend, the name may be taken from the crescent (''wassende'') moon on the family

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, borrowed from an Arabian banner that a member of the van Wassenaer family obtained while on a crusade. According to some family archives, Wassenaar means Wasser Herren, Sea Lords/Kings, which had been a traditional title that the invading Romans (under Caligula) had recognized while destituting the kings of

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

History of the family

Zegel met wapen Dirk I van Wassenaer 1226

The founding father of the Wassenaer family was Philip, who lived in the early 13th century, and owned lands in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The ...

. He was a vassal of

William I, Count of Holland William I (c. 1167 – 4 February 1222) was count of Holland from 1203 to 1222. He was the younger son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon. Early life William was born in The Hague, but raised in Scotland. He participated in the Third Crus ...

who took part in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

and the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...

Wassenaer branch

Philip's son Dirk I founded the branches ''van Wassenaer'', ''van Cranenburch'' and ''van Groenevelt''. A seal of Dirk I of 1226 shows a different coat-of-arms than his later coat of arms, but the crescent may have served as

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

at the time. The ''van Wassenaer'' branch was made

Burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from german: Burggraf, la, burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also praefectus), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especia ...

s of

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

by the

Counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

in 1340. In 1544 this branch extinguished.

Duvenvoorde branch

Dirk's younger brother Filips received the

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 ...

in 1226 and founded the branch ''van Duvenvoirde''. His son Arend I van Duvenvoorde (†1268) continued the main Van Duvenvoorde branch. (which in the 17th century resumed the name ''van Wassenaer'').

Polanen Branch

The Polanen branch descended from a younger brother of the Van Duvenvoorde branch. Arend I van Duvenvoorde had a younger brother Jan van Duvenvoirde (noted 1226-1248). He is the founding father of the Van Polanen branch. His son Philips III van Duivenvoorde (c. 1248 – after 1301) received the fief of Polanen (near Monster, South Holland) in 1295. His son Jan I van Polanen (ca. 1285 – 1342) then named himself ''van Polanen''. In the early phases of the

Hook and Cod wars The Hook and Cod wars ( nl, Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the un ...

, the Van Polanen family, and their bastard Willem van Duvenvoorde led the Hook faction. See:

House of Polanen 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 in 1403 became a landowner in the Netherlands for the f ...

The Van Polanen branch played an important role later on. It was through the marriage of

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 ...

with

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, Ge ...

, that 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 ...

first gained territories in the Netherlands, namely Breda. Much later this fact, among others, led to the House of Orange-Nassau's rise to the ruling dynasty of the country.

Other branches

The Duvenvoirde branch ended with Jacoba Maria van Wassenaar, baroness of Torck (1709–1771) whose descendants in the female line, the barons Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, still today own Kasteel Duivenvoorde. De burcht leiden 2003.jpg,

Castle Kasteel Duivenvoorde 015.jpg,

File:2010-04-25-breda-by-RalfR-12.jpg, Breda Castle File:Kasteel Twickel.JPG, Twickel Castle Jacob II van Wassenaer Obdam (1645–1714) married Adriana Sophia von

Raesfeld Raesfeld () is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Borken and 30 km east of the Dutch border. Raesfeld's landmark is the moated castle ...

in 1676, who inherited Twickel Castle near

Delden Delden is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel and, since 2001, in the municipality of Hof van Twente. It received city rights in 1333. Twickel Castle is a famous landmark near Delden. Before it became a part of Hof van Twente in 2001, D ...

. The branch ''van Wassenaer Opdam'' was elevated to the rank of (non-ruling)

imperial count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

s in 1711. This branch extinguished in 1850 with Marie Cornélie van Wassenaer Obdam (1799–1850) who left the castle to her children, barons ''van Heeckeren van Kell'', who took on the name ''van Heeckeren van Wassenaer''. Baroness Marie Amélie van Heeckeren van Wassenaer, née countess van Aldenburg Bentinck (1879–1975), gave the castle to her family foundation in 1953. It is now administrated by the heirs of her grand nephew, count Christian zu

Castell-Rüdenhausen Castell-Rüdenhausen was a County in the region of Franconia in northern Bavaria of the Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and ...

(1952–2010). Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord of Voorschoten, Duivenvoorde and Veur (1649–1707), married Jacoba van Lyere, heiress of

Katwijk Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...

, thus founding the branch ''van Wassenaer tot Catwijck'' which is still existing. Furthermore, the castles of Hoekelum and Nederhemert were owned by Wassenaer family members until the late 20th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, all family members were granted the title of baron in the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

Famous scions of the House of Wassenaer

* , the 15th century

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

-favouring mayor of

and viscount of Leiden. * (1483-1523), in the service of the Habsburgs, Order of the Golden Fleece and last viscount of Leiden. *

Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam Jacob, Banner Lord of Wassenaer, Lord Obdam, Hensbroek, Spanbroek, Opmeer, Zuidwijk and Kernhem (1610 – 13 June 1665) was a Dutch nobleman who became lieutenant admiral, and supreme commander of the navy of the Dutch Republic. The name ''Obd ...

, the 17th century admiral. * Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, the 18th century diplomat and composer.

Gallery

File:Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer-Obdam door George de Marees 1697-1776.jpg, Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer-Obdam as painted by George de Marees File:Coat of Arms Van Duvenvoorde & Van Wassenaer Obdam (enriched).png, Wassenaer coat of arms File:Blason famille van Duvoorde.svg, Coat of arms of the van Duvenvoorde family (or van Duvoorde) File:Blason Guillaume van Duvoorde.svg, Coat of arms of Willem van Duvenvoorde (or van Duvoorde)

Literature

* J.C. Kort and R.C. Hol: ''Wassenaer, de oudste: Het archief van de familie Van Wassenaer van Duvenvoorde in Hollands archiefperspectief. Inventaris van het archief van de familie Van Wassenaer van Duvenvoorde, 1266–1996'', Verloren b.v., Hilversum, 2002. *Nederland's Adelsboek 97 (2012), p. 131-188.

External links

Website of the van Wassenaer family
{{Authority control Wassenaer Barons of the Netherlands Wassenaar