Count John of Nassau-Idstein (born 24 November 1603 in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

; died: 23 May 1677 in

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

) was Count of Nassau and Protestant Regent of Idstein.

Life

His parents were

Louis II, Count of Nassau-Weilburg Louis II of Nassau-Weilburg (9 August 1565, Weilburg – 8 November 1627, Saarbrücken) was a count of Nassau-Weilburg. Life Louis was the eldest son of Count Albert, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, Albert of Nassau-Weilburg-Ottweiler and Counte ...

(1565–1627) and his wife, Landgräfin Anna Maria of Hesse-Kassel (1567–1626). His father had in 1605 reunited all the possessions of the Walram line of the

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is the name of a European aristocratic dynasty. The name originated with a lordship associated with Nassau Castle, which is located in what is now Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With t ...

: Saarbrücken, Weilburg and Idstein. His brother was William Louis. When the brothers divided their father's inheritance on 29 January 1629 in Ottweiler, William Louis received the County of Saarbrücken, the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Ottweiler, the Bailiwick of Herbitzheim, and the community of Saarwellingen. John received the Lordship of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

and Sonnenberg. The two younger brothers, Ernest Casimir and Otto received Wehener Grund and the district of Burgschwalbach. However, since they were still minors, William Louis administered those territories as regent. Shortly thereafter, their territories were put at risk by the Imperial Edict of Restitution of 2 March 1629, when the Prince-Archbishops of Mainz and Trier claimed restitution of church properties that had been confiscated after the Peace of Passau of 1552. On 7 July 1629, the

Reichskammergericht The ; ; ) was one of the two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms. All legal proceedings in the Holy Roman Empire could be ...

ruled that the House of Nassau had to return city and castle of Sarrewerden, Bouquenom and Wieberstweiler to the Bishopric of Metz as

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s of

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. They were allowed to keep their other disputed possessions. In 1629 he married Sibylla Magdalena of Baden-Durlach (born: 21 July 1605; died: 26 July 1644 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

), daughter of George Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach and Wild- and Rhinegravine Juliane Ursula of Salm-Neufville.Genealogy of the Walram line
When, at the end of that year, King

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

appeared the Rhine, presented William Louis, John and Ernest Casimir joined him in his war against the Emperor. After King Gustavus Adolphus had fallen on 16 November 1632, the three counts committed themselves on a meeting of Protestant princes in Heilbronn to continue fighting the Emperor, now under the Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. John signed the alliance with France against the Emperor on 5 September 1633, as the representative of the Nassau brothers. The youngest brother, Otto, died on 24 November 1632. On 11 December, Ernest Casimir came of age and the brothers decided to revise the division of the inheritance. In this new division, Ernest Casimir received the districts of Weilburg and Mehrenberg, the County of Gleiberg and the districts of Kirchheim and Stauf, which had been Otto's. The brothers decided to share the district of Usingen and Stockheim. In 1634 in Frankfurt, the brothers reached a compromise with the Lords of hohengeroldseck over the ownership of

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Ka ...

. After Sweden and its allies were defeated, Emperor Ferdinand II terminated the

of the Nassau territories. On 30 May 1635, a number of

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

s, including the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony, had closed the Peace of Prague, which granted

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

to most of the princes who had fought against the emperor. The Counts of Nassau, however, had been explicitly excluded from this amnesty. John chose to go into exile to Strasbourg. In November 1635, imperial commissioner Bertram von Sturm arrived in Nassau and announced an

imperial ban The imperial ban () was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by the Imperial Diet, or by courts like the League of the Holy Court (''Vehmgericht'') or the '' Reichskammerg ...

on the three brothers. All their territories and possessions were declared forfeited. Until 1646, the citizens of Idstein would suffer from hunger, disease and military despotism. Countess Magdalena Sibylla died in 1644 at the age of 39. On 6 December 1646, John remarried in Strasbourg, with Countess Anna of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (born: 25 May 1625 in Dagsburg; died: 24 December 1688 in

), daughter of Count Philip George of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg und Countess Anna of Erbach. After the marriage ceremony, John returned to Idstein with his new wife. In 1653, his eldest son became a Catholic. John disowned him. In 1665, his son George August Samuel was born. He would become John's successor. In 1666, the construction of a new church in Idstein began. In 1668, the plague broke out in Idstein. Countess Anna died at the age of 43. In 1672, John made an unsuccessful bid to be raised to the rank of

Witch hunts

In 1630,

witch trial A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...

s began in his territory and John ordered pastors to preach against the havoc brought about by witchcraft. In 1658, ''

Amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff A bailiff is a ...

'' Plebanus began prosecuting witches. In 1676, more witch trials were conducted in Idstein and, between 3 February 1676 and 31 March 1677, 31 women and 8 men were executed for witchcraft.Discover Idstein Past and Present
, idstein.de, retrieved 28 October 2014 Persecutions ended following John's death on 23 May 1677, at the age of 74.

Successor

Johann was succeeded by his son George August Samuel, who was only 12 years old when he died, so his uncle Count Johann Kasimir of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (1619-1688) acted as regent during his minority. Count Johann Kasimir described the office of a regent in his "political testament" as a task for with the regent must later give account before God.

Issue

Johann married twice: Firstly, he married Sibylle Magdalene, daughter of George Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, in 1629. They had six children: # Ottile Anna (1630–1632) # Gustav Adolph (1632–1664) # Louis Frederick (1633–1656) # Bernhardine Sofie (1634–1642) # John (1638–1658) # Juliane Sabine (1639-1639) Secondly, he married Countess Anna zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg in 1646. They had ten children: # Charles (1649–1651) # Christine Elizabeth (1651–1676) # Eleanor Louise (1653–1677) # Ernestine (1654–1655) # George William (1656–1657) # Johanette (1657–1733), married Count Christian Louis, Count of Waldeck (d. 1706) # Sibylle Charlotte (1658–1660) # Dorothea Amalie (1661–1740), married Count Louis Frederick of Wied (d. 1709) without Issue :de:Ludwig Friedrich zu Wied # Philip Louis (1662–1664) # George August Samuel (1665–1721), married Princess Henriette Dorothea of Oettingen-Oettingen (1672–1728), daughter of Prince Albert Ernest I of Oettingen-Oettingen

References

* * Gilla Flothmann, Hilke Müller, Ilse Schollmeyer, Maria Stoltefaut: ''Den Hexen auf der Spur … Über Hexenprozesse am Beispiel Idstein 1676'', Hexenbuchladen, Obergasse 10, 65510 Idstein, 1986,

External links

History of the witch hunts in Nassau
* (side entry)

with a list of the victims of the witch hunts in Idstein 1676-1677

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Nassau-Idstein Counts of Nassau 17th-century German people House of Nassau 1603 births 1677 deaths