Philip of Nassau or Filips of Nassau (1 December 1566,

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen (region), Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German-N ...

– 3 September 1595,

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, B ...

) was a 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), ...

Katzenelnbogen Katzenelnbogen () is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich. History Katzenelnboge ...

Vianden Vianden ( lb, Veianen or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Oesling, north-eastern Luxembourg, with over 1,800 inhabitants. It is the capital of the canton of Vianden, which is part of the district of Diekirch. Vianden lies on t ...

and

Dietz Dietz is a surname, and may refer to: * Albrecht Dietz (1926–2012), German entrepreneur and scientist * August Dietz (1869–1963), a philatelist, editor and publisher * Bernard Dietz (born 1948), German football player and manager * Cyrus E. ...

, fought for the United Provinces during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

. He was the son of John VI and

Countess Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg (born: March 1537- died: 6 July 1579 in Dillenburg) was the daughter of Landgrave George III, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg and Margravine Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1495-1552). After her death, the German theologian Ch ...

. Philip studied with his brother William Louis and his cousin

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and later with his cousin Maurice in

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 wit ...

. He then spent some time in the retinue of his uncle

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

, who called him ''Flipchen'' ("Flippy"). Later, he enlisted in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army ...

and in 1585 he became

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

. From 1586 to 1587, Philip was governor of

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( or ), also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of Oc ...

, then in 1591, after the Siege of Nijmegen, he was governor of

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

. From Nijmegen Philip started a campaign in Luxembourg, where he engaged the Spanish enemy. In 1594, he participated in the

Reduction of Groningen Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox reacti ...

. Then, on 2 September 1595, he commanded more than 500

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

, in the

battle 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 ...

on the

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

, along with his brothers Louis Gunther and

Ernst Casimir Ernest Casimir I (22 December 1573 – 2 June 1632) was a Count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. Biography He was the 11th child of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, and Countess Elisabeth of Le ...

. During the battle, Philip got seriously injured. The next day he died. He was buried on 22 October 1595 in the St Eusebius' Church in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

References and sources

* Reinildis van Ditzhuizen, ''Oranje Nassau, een biografisch woordenboek'', 3rd ed., Becht, 1998, * Dr. A.W.E. Dek, ''Genealogie van het Vorstenhuis Nassau'', Europese Bibliotheek, Zaltbommel, 1970 {{Authority control Dutch people of the Eighty Years' War (United Provinces) 1566 births 1595 deaths House of Nassau Sons of monarchs