Lous of Nassau, Lord of den Lek and Beverweerd

Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd (1602 –

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, 28 February 1665) was a Dutch soldier. He was the illegitimate son of Margaretha van Mechelen and Maurice, Prince of Orange, and so a collateral member of the House of Orange-Nassau. He was a Lord of the heerlijkheid van

De Lek De Lek was a '' heerlijkheid'' ( manor) and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province South Holland. It is named after the Lek River. Heerlijkheid According to the 19th-century historian Van der Aa, the old ''Heerlijkheid van de ...

(which he inherited on the death of his older brother, William of Nassau on his death in 1627), as well as the Beverweerd Castle and its heerlijkheid from his father.

Career

He joined the army which had claimed his brother William's life and served with distinction in 1629 in the battle near Den Bosch. In 1632 he was advanced to Colonel and after 1635 was in charge of a regiment. In 1640 during the battle for Hulst he prevented the cannons from falling into enemy hands. In the same year he was sent to Paris to advise the French king of the forthcoming marriage of the 14-year-old

William II of Orange William II (27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650) was sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen in the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three ...

to the 9-year-old English Princess Mary Stuart. Also, when the young Prince proceeded to England to fetch his bride, he was accompanied by Louis of Nassau. In 1643 he became General-Major and Governor of the city of Bergen-op-Zoom. Despite his mother's objections he married Isabella van Hornes in the spring of 1630 and from this marriage ten children were born. Lodewijk was highly regarded by his uncle, Prince Frederick Henry, and took part in the Prince's family life. Louis was originally a supporter of his next of kin, the Princes of Orange. After the death of William II he made his peace with the anti-Orangist regents of the cities of the Dutch Republic and worked with the administration of

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the ...

, becoming First Noble of Holland. In 1658 Louis of Nassau became Governor of Den Bosch and in 1660 was sent as a special ambassador to England. In addition to his representing the Dutch republic, two of his daughters married British noblemen. Elisabeth married

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, KG, PC (1618 – 28 July 1685) was an English statesman. Background and early life He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, by Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Crofts of Little Saxham, Suf ...

, one of King Charles II's ministers; and Emilia married

Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, KG, PC, PC (Ire) (1634–1680) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke. ...

, the heir apparent of the

Duke of Ormond The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldom ...

. By 1662 Louis had forged an apparently strong relationship between England and the Dutch Republic and returned to Holland where he died on 28 February 1665.

Marriage and children

He married Countess Isabella of Hornes in the spring of 1630, and had ten children. He and Countess Isabella of Horned had three surviving sons: *Maurits Lodewijk I, Lord of De Lek (or LaLecq) and Beverweerd *Willem Adriaan I, Lord of

Odijk Odijk is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Bunnik, and lies about south of Zeist. Odijk used to be a separate municipality. It merged with Bunnik and Werkhoven in 1964. Overview The village was first ...

, Kortgene,

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 8 ...

and

Driebergen Driebergen is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is first mentioned as Thriberghen in 1159. The former municipality of Driebergen existed until 1931, when it merged with Rijsenburg, to create the new municipali ...

* Hendrik, Lord of

Ouwerkerk Ouwerkerk is a village in the southwest Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland about 60 km south of Rotterdam. History Ouwerkerk is the oldest village of the former island of Duiveland, possibly founde ...

and

Woudenberg Woudenberg () is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. There are forests in the western part of the municipality. The Pyramid of Austerlitz is located in the municipality. Etymology The name Woudenbe ...

He also had seven daughters of whom the three eldest were: * Elisabeth van Nassau-Beverweert (28 December 1633 – 18 January 1718), a notable Dutch beauty, who married March 1665

and had an only daughter ** Lady Isabella Bennet (c. 1668–7 February 1723) who married 1 August 1672 as a four-year-old child Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690 d. at the storming of Cork), the illegitimate son of

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

and his mistress the Duchess of Cleveland. They have many descendants. *

Emilia Butler, Countess of Ossory Emilia Butler, Countess of Ossory (4 March 1635 (baptised) – 12 December 1688 (buried)), born Æmilia van Nassau-Beverweerd, was an Anglo-Dutch courtier. Emilia was born in The Hague, the daughter of Lodewijk van Nassau, Lord of Beverweer ...

, a notable beauty like her sister. She was wife of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, and mother of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde and other children. * Wilhelmina Anna, married the Dutch noble Albert Willemsz van Ruytenburgh (1630-1688), son of

Willem van Ruytenburch Willem van Ruytenburch, ''lord of Vlaardingen and Vlaardinger-Ambacht, Vlaardingen-Ambacht'' (1600–1652) was a member of the Dutch gentry and Amsterdam Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patriciate of the Dutch Golden Age. He became an alderman of ...

, and ha
a daughter Anna Elisabeth van Ruytenbergh
who married

George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley, PC, FRS (1666 – 7 May 1733), styled The Honourable from birth until 1715 and then known as Lord Newborough to 1725, was an English soldier. Cholmondeley was the second son of Robert Cholmondele ...

in 1701. Louis of Nassau died in

and was buried there, 6 March 1665, in de Great, or St. James Church.Molhuysen, Dr. P.C. and Blok, Prof. Dr. P.J.,

Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek The ''Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek'' (''NNBW'') is a biographical reference work in the Dutch language. It has been succeeded by the '' Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland''. It was published in ten parts between 1911 and 1937 b ...

, volume 1, pages 1365-1366
Lodewijk (Louys) van Nassau
A.W. Sijthoff's Publishers Company, Leiden, 1911 His descendants are buried in the family crypt at

Ouderkerk aan den IJssel Ouderkerk aan den IJssel (; en, Ouderkerk upon IJssel) is a village in the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. It is situated along the river Hollandse IJssel and has over 4000 inhabitants. Ouder ...

References

External links

* Leo van der Pas
Lodewijk van Nassau Heer van Beverweerd
Retrieved 7 October 2009. References: See: Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, Oranje-Nassau: Een biografisch woordenboek, Haarlem 2004, 171-173 (with a portrait, ca. 1650) {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 1602 births 1665 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel People from Utrecht (province)