Prince William Henry of Nassau-Usingen (born 2 May 1684 in
's-Hertogenbosch
s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
; died: 14 February 1718 in
Usingen) was from 1702 to 1718 Prince of
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 ...
.
Parents
William Henry was the son of Prince
Walrad of Nassau-Usingen and his wife, Catherine Françoise, comtesse de
Croÿ-Roeulx
Marriage and issue
William Henry married on 15 April 1706
Charlotte Amalia (1680–1738), a daughter of
Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg. They had nine children; five children died within the first year: Henry (1708–1708), Amélie (1709–1709), William (1710–1710), Louis (1714–1714) and Johanna (1715–1716). Four children reached adulthood:
* Françoise (1707–1750)
*
Charles, Prince of Nassau-Usingen (1712–1775)
* Hedwig (1714–1786)
*
William Henry, prince of
Nassau-Saarbrücken (1718–1768)
After his death in 1718 was succeeded by his underage son Charles as Prince of Nassau-Usingen. Charlotte Amalie, reigned as regent until Charles came of age.
Legacy
In 1707, William Henry founded the village of Wilhemsdorf, which was named after him. It was annexed by neighbouring
Usingen in 1972.
Military career
Like his father, William Henry had a career in the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
army. In 1691, he became a
captain. From 1701 to 1707, he was colonel of the Walloon Regiment. He was wounded in the
Battle of Ekeren
The Battle of Ekeren, which took place on 30 June 1703, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The French surrounded the much smaller Dutch force, which however managed to beat it back, break out and retire to safety. The battle had n ...
on 30 June 1703.
Princes of Nassau
House of Nassau
1684 births
1718 deaths
18th-century German people
Military personnel of the Holy Roman Empire
{{Germany-noble-stub