Engelbert II of Nassau, ''Engelbrecht'' in Dutch (17 May 1451 – 31 May 1504), was count of

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

and Vianden and lord 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 ...

Lek Lek or LEK may refer to: * Lek mating, mating in a lek, a type of animal territory in which males of a species gather * Albanian lek, the currency of Albania * Lek (magazine), a Norwegian softcore pornographic magazine * Lek (pharmaceutical comp ...

, Diest, Roosendaal, Nispen and

Wouw Wouw is a village in the southern Netherlands. It is located in North Brabant, between the cities Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom, close to the border with Belgium. Until 1997 Wouw was the seat of the municipality of Wouw. The municipality consiste ...

. He was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and courtier, for some time leader of the Privy council of the Duchy of Burgundy and a significant patron of the arts.

Biography

Engelbert was born in

on 17 May 1451, the son of John IV of Nassau-Siegen and his wife Mary of Looz-Heinsberg.George Chastelain and the Shaping of Valois Burgundy: Political and Historical Culture at Court in the Fifteenth Century
by Graeme Small (

Boydell & Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, edition ...

, 1997) On 19 December 1468 in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

he married Cimburga van Baden, daughter of Charles I, Margrave of Baden-Baden. Engelbert was lord of Breda between 1475 and 1504. In 1472 he concluded a treaty with his brother John V of Nassau-Siegen in which he received the possessions West of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

. Charles the Bold made him a knight in the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

, at the age of 22, in 1473. After the death of Charles the Bold, Engelbert entered in the service of

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself El ...

, who had married Charles's daughter Mary of Burgundy. In 1479, he commanded troops during the Battle of Guinegate and during the suppression of a rebellion at

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

.''The Life and Times of William the Third, King of England, and Stadtholder of Holland: In Two Volumes (Volume 1)''
by Arthur Hill Trevor (1835) In 1487, he was captured by the French during the

Battle of Béthune A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, and released for an "enormous" ransom 2 years later. In 1496 he was appointed

stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

of Flanders and by 1498 he had been named President of the

Grand Conseil The term Grand Conseil () or Great Council refers two different institutions during the Ancien Régime in France. It also is the name of parliaments in several Swiss cantons. Ancien Régime France Part of the King's Council Starting in the 13th ...

. In 1501, Maximilian named him Lieutenant-General of the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. From that point forward (until his death in 1504) Engelbert was the principal representative of the Habsburg Empire to the region.

Death

Engelbert died on 31 May 1504 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and is buried in the ''Grote kerk'' in

. He had no legitimate children and appointed his nephew Henry III of Nassau-Breda as his successor. Engelbert had two illegitimate children: Engelbrecht and Barbara.

Engelbert II of Nassau in art

Engelbert's portrait by the ''Master of the Portraits of Princes'', can be found in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. He was one of the last important patrons of Flemish

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

s, and commissioned perhaps the most sumptuous manuscript of the '' Roman de la Rose'',

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

Harley MS 4425, which has 92 large and high quality miniatures, despite a date around 1500; the text was copied by hand from a printed edition. These are by the artist known as the

Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 The Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500 was a Flemish painter of illuminated manuscripts and miniatures active in Bruges from about 1485 until around 1520. His name is derived from a collection of devotional manuscripts from the same artist ...

. The

Book of Hours of Engelbert of Nassau The Book of Hours of Engelbert of Nassau (Bodleian Library, Oxford, MSS. Douce 219–220) is a book of hours in the Dominican Rite, illuminated by the Master of Mary of Burgundy, which was produced in Ghent in the 1470s or 1480s for Engelbert I ...

(

Bodleian Library, Oxford The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

, Ms Douce 219–220), of the 1470s or 1480s is another well-known manuscript. It has been suggested that he commissioned ''

The Garden of Earthly Delights ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. It has bee ...

'' by Hieronymous Bosch.

References

External links

Engelbrecht II (in Dutch)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Engelbert 02 of Nassau 1451 births 1504 deaths Counts of Nassau House of Nassau Knights of the Golden Fleece Dutch art collectors Lords of Breda People from Breda