John III, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg

Count John III ʻthe Youngerʼ of Nassau-SiegenIn many sources he is called John III of Nassau(-Dillenburg). His official title was Count of Nassau, but it is incorrect to refer to him as the only reigning Count of Nassau, because the County of Nassau was divided into Nassau-Beilstein, Nassau-Siegen, Nassau-Weilburg and Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. John co-ruled the County of Nassau-Siegen, which is erroneously called Nassau-Dillenburg in many sources. See note 2. (d. 18 April 1430), german: Johann III. ‘der Jüngere’ Graf von Nassau-Siegen, succeeded, with his brothers, his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-SiegenThe County of Nassau-Siegen is erroneously called Nassau-Dillenburg in many sources. The county was not named after the small, unimportant city of Dillenburg, which did not even have a church at that time, but after the, for that time, large city of Siegen, the economic centre of the county and the counts’ main residence. See Lück (1981), ''passim''. It is also evident from the numbering of the reigning counts with the given name John. One John without regal number who ruled the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in the period 1303–1328, and eight counts by the name of John who ruled the County of Nassau-Siegen in the period 1362–1638. (a part of the County of Nassau). With his brothers, he inherited the County of Vianden in 1417, and also inherited half of the County of Diez in 1420. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.

Biography

John was the fifth son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess .Dek (1970), p. 67.Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 91.

John served as provost of the Münster Cathedral 1410–1414.

With his brothers, Adolf I, John II ʻwith the Helmetʼ and Engelbert I, John succeeded his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen.Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 219.von Stramberg (1865), p. 722.Dek (1970), p. 66 and Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 90 state that the county was co-ruled by the eldest two brothers, Adolf and John II ʻwith the Helmetʼ, only. They had already agreed on a joint continuation of the government on 21 December 1409. Whichever of the brothers would be native or closest to his lands on the fatherʼs death should take possession of them in all brothersʼ name until a division would have taken place. Whoever would take something for himself alone would be disinherited. All parental decrees favouring one brother over the other were declared null and void in advance. Adolf hereby tacitly renounced his right to the part of Nassau-Hadamar and the districts of Herborn, Haiger and Löhnberg, which he could have claimed in advance from the marriage contract with the heiress of the County of Diez. In accordance with this agreement, the brothers took over the government jointly after their fatherʼs death in 1416. However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, the elder John was not married, the younger of the same name was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long. Together, the brothers bought back the other half of the city of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.Lück (1981), p. 23 states that their father exchanged the County of Arnsberg in 1381 for the other half of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.

When Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach, Countess of Vianden, died without issue in 1417, the four brothers, grandsons of Adelaide of Vianden, Elisabethʼs great-aunt, inherited the County of Vianden with the lordships of St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen.Dek (1970), p. 66 and Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 90 state that only Engelbert I, the third of the brothers, inherited the County of Vianden.

After the death of the eldest brother Adolf in 1420, the three remaining brothers succeeded him, but they lost half of the County of Diez, as well as ¼ of Camberg in 1428. The County of Nassau-Siegen was divided by the brothers; John obtained Haiger and Siegen in this division.

John obtained with the toll at Lahnstein from Roman King Sigismund on 4 April 1418. He was appointed by Duke Adolf IV of Cleves as ''Oberst'' and ''Amtmann'' over all his lands on 21 September 1424, for a period of eight years. In 1429 or 1439, the counts of Virneburg paid the brothers 21,000 gold guilders to buy off their claims to the '' heerlijkheid'' of Ravenstein with Herpen and Uden.von Stramberg (1865), p. 728.

John died unmarried on 18 April 1430. He was succeeded by his brothers John II and Engelbert I, who jointly ruled Nassau-Siegen, Vianden and Diez again.

Siegen Schloss - 20.3.2011 - panoramio (1).jpg, Siegen Castle, 2011.
Vianden castle.jpg, Vianden Castle. Photo: Vincent de Groot, 2004.
Burgdiez.jpg, Diez Castle. Photo: Peter Klassen, 2006.
Greifenstein - Burg - gesamt.jpg, Greifenstein Castle. Photo: Oliver Abels, 2007.

Johnʼs swearing letter

John ʻthe Youngerʼ participated alongside Duke John III of Bavaria in the against Duke John IV of Brabant and Countess Jacqueline of Holland in 1418. Because John ʻthe Youngerʼ had the luck on his side, John III of Bavariaʼs army was victorious. For this military service, John III of Bavaria owed John ʻthe Youngerʼ 5,000 guilders, which, in a debenture, he promised to pay in Arnhem on 25 July 1419. However, John III of Bavaria did not pay his debt. After a complaint to a vehmic court in Westphalia was unsuccessful, John ʻthe Youngerʼ resorted to a swearing letter which he sent to several noble courts. This swearing letter disgraced John III of Bavaria as a word-breaker and non-payer of his debts. The letter includes a drawing that closely resembles a present cartoon in which John III of Bavaria is depicted holding up a pig by its curly tail and pressing his seal stamp on the pigʼs buttocks with the other hand. The accompanying text reads:

“''Ich, der Graf von Hennegau und Holland,
stehe hier vor dem Hintern dieser Sau
und drücke hier mein Siegel an,
weil ich es verpfändet und nicht eingelöst habe
von dem Junggrafen Johann von Nassau.
In Briefen ist es doch nicht mehr zu Danke,
so wenig wie mein Eidschwur und meine Ehre.
Ein Thor, der mir noch ferner dient.''”
(English translation: “I, the Count of Hainault and Holland, stand here before the ass of this swine and do here affix my seal, because I have pledged it and not redeemed it, to Count John of Nassau. In letters it is no more to thank, as little as my oath and my honour. A fool who serves me furthermore.”

As proof of the debt, the letter also contained a copy of the original debenture from John III of Bavaria to John ʻthe Youngerʼ. The swearing letter is 80 cm long and 42 cm wide and is kept in the Hessian Central State Archives in Wiesbaden.

Illegitimate child

John had a illegitimate daughter:
# Elisabeth von Nassau, was a nun in Cologne in 1501.

Ancestors

Notes

References

Sources

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* (1882). ''Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden tot heden'' (in Dutch). Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff/Utrecht: J.L. Beijers.

External links

Image and description of John IIIʼs swearing letter



In

by Charles Cawley.


In

by Paul Theroff.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:John 03, Count of Nassau-Siegen
Nassau-Siegen, John 03
Counts of Diez
Counts of Nassau
Counts of Vianden
House of Nassau-Siegen
14th-century German nobility
15th-century German nobility
Year of birth unknown