The County of Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later part of the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, the male line of which is now extinct, was the House of Nassau.

Origins

Nassau, originally a county, developed on the lower Lahn river in what is known today as Rhineland-Palatinate. The town 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), ...

was founded in 915.

Dudo of Laurenburg Dudo of Laurenburg (german: Dudo von Laurenburg; la, Tuto de Lurinburg; died before 1124)Hesselfelt (1965).Van de Venne & Stols (1937). was probably Count of Laurenburg and is considered the founder of the House of Nassau. The House of Nassau wo ...

held Nassau as a fiefdom as granted by the

Bishopric of Worms The Prince-Bishopric of Worms, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Electorate of the ...

. His son,

Rupert Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada *Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert' ...

, built the Nassau Castle there around 1125, declaring himself "Count of Nassau". This title was not officially acknowledged by the Bishop of Worms until 1159 under the rule of Rupert's son, Walram. By 1159, the County of Nassau effectively claimed rights of taxation, toll collection, and justice, at which point it can be considered to become a state. The Nassauers held the territory between the Taunus and the Westerwald at the lower and middle Lahn. By 1128, they acquired 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. The bailiwick is probably modelled on th ...

of the

, which had numerous rights in the area, and thus created a link between their heritage at the lower Lahn and their possessions near Siegen. In the middle of the 12th century, this relationship was strengthened by the acquisition of parts of the Hesse-Thüringen feudal kingdom, namely the '' Herborner Mark'', the ''Kalenberger Zent'' and the Court of Heimau (

Löhnberg Löhnberg is a municipality north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Löhnberg lies between Wetzlar and the district seat of Limburg an der Lahn. Neighbouring communities Löhnberg borders in the ...

). Closely linked to this was the "Lordship of Westerwald", also in Nassau's possession at the time. At the end of the 12th century, the House acquired the ''Reichshof'' Wiesbaden, an important base in the southwest. In 1255, after the Counts of Nassau acquired the estates of Weilburg, the sons of Count Henry II divided Nassau for the first time. Walram II received the county of Nassau-Weilburg. From 1328 on, his younger brother, Otto I, held the estates north of the Lahn river, namely the County of Nassau-Siegen and Nassau-Dillenburg. The boundary line was essentially the Lahn, with Otto receiving the northern part of the county with the cities of Siegen, Dillenburg, Herborn and Haiger and Walram retaining the section south of the river, including the cities of Weilburg and

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...

County of Nassau-Weilburg

Walram's son Adolf became King of Germany in 1292. His son Count

Gerlach Gerlach is a male forename of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this case, those ...

abdicated in 1344 and the County was divided under his sons in 1355 *County of Nassau-Weilburg, again divided from 1442 to 1574 **County of Nassau-Saarbrücken (Elder) **County of Nassau-Weilburg *County of Nassau-Wiesbaden, again divided from 1480 to 1509 **County of Nassau-Idstein **County of Nassau-Wiesbaden fell back to Nassau-Weilburg in 1605 *County of Nassau-Sonnenberg, partitioned among Nassau-Wiesbaden and Nassau-Weilburg in 1405 In 1605, all parts of Nassau-Weilburg were again unified under Count Louis II; however, after his death in 1627, his sons divided the county again *County of Nassau-Idstein, fell to Nassau-Ottweiler in 1721 *County of Nassau-Saarbrücken (Younger), divided again in 1640 **County of Nassau-Saarbrücken, fell to Nassau-Ottweiler in 1723 **County of Nassau-Ottweiler, fell to

Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. Tha ...

in 1728 **County of Nassau-Usingen, Principality in 1688 *County of Nassau-Weilburg (Younger) After Nassau-Usingen had inherited Nassau-Ottweiler with former Nassau-Idstein and Nassau-Saarbrücken, it was reunified with Nassau-Weilburg and raised to the Duchy of Nassau in 1806.

County of Nassau-Dillenburg

After the death of Count Otto I, his county was divided between his sons in 1303: *County of Nassau-Dillenburg, fell to Nassau-Siegen in 1328 *County of Nassau-Hadamar (Elder), fell to Nassau-Dillenburg in 1394 *County of Nassau-Siegen, called Nassau-Dillenburg from 1328 on, again got divided from 1341 to 1561: **County of Nassau-Beilstein (Elder) **County of Nassau-Dillenburg (Elder)–1606) In 1504, Henry III of Nassau-Dillenburg inherited the County's estates at

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 the Duchy of Brabant, while his younger brother William became Count of Nassau-Dillenburg in 1516. After the son of Henry III,

René of Châlon René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine ...

died in 1544, Count William's eldest son William the Silent became Prince of Orange and Lord of Breda,

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 ...

in the Low Countries from 1559 on. His younger brother, John VI, again reunited all Nassau-Dillenburg possessions in 1561, though the County was again divided after his death in 1606. *County of Nassau-Hadamar (Younger), Principality in 1650, fell to Nassau-Diez in 1743 *County of Nassau-Siegen, (1607–23), again got divided from 1623 to 1734: ** County of Nassau-Siegen (Protestant), Principality in 1664, became extinct in 1734 ** County of Nassau-Siegen (Catholic), Principality, fell to Nassau-Diez in 1743 *County of Nassau-Dillenburg, fell to Nassau-Beilstein in 1620 *County of Nassau-Beilstein (Younger), called Nassau-Dillenburg (Younger) from 1620 on, Principality in 1652, fell to Nassau-Dietz in 1739 *County of Nassau-Dietz, fell to Joachim Murat's

Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (german: Großherzogtum Berg), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories bet ...

after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 The Counts of Nassau-Dietz, descendants of William Frederick were stadtholders of Friesland,

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

and

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

and Princes of Orange from 1702 on. When they lost their Dutch possessions during the Napoleonic Wars, they were compensated with the

Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda Nassau-Orange-Fulda (sometimes also named ''Fulda and Corvey'') was a short-lived principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803 to 1806. It was created for William Frederick, the son and heir of William V, Prince of Orange, the ousted stadthol ...

. Though they lost their German possessions in 1806, 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 ...

, through female succession, was the reigning house of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg until 1890 and is still the royal house of the Netherlands.

Rulers

House of Nassau

Partitions of Nassau under House of Nassau rule

Table of rulers

Nassau's successor states

Kings and Queens of the Netherlands (from the House of Orange-Nassau-Dietz)

*1815–1840: William I, also Duke and Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg *1840–1849: William II, also Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg *1849–1890:

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

, also Grand Duke of Luxemburg and Duke of Limburg *1890–1948: Wilhelmina Following defunct German laws that no longer have relevance due to the end of German nobility, the House of Orange-Nassau(-Dietz) has been extinct since the death of Wilhelmina (1962). Dutch laws and the Dutch nation do not consider it extinct. *1948–1980: Juliana *1980–2013: Beatrix *2013-''present'':

Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatri ...

Grand Dukes of Luxembourg (from the House of Nassau-Weilburg)

*1890–1905: Adolphe *1905–1912: William IV *1912–1919: Marie-Adélaïde, succession through a female onwards *1919–1964: Charlotte *1964–2000: Jean *2000–present:

Henri Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry (given name), Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List_of_rulers_named_Henry#France, List of rulers named Henry ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau (State) States of the Confederation of the Rhine States of the German Confederation Nassau (state) Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate Counties of the Holy Roman Empire