John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (''Jan'' or ''Johan'';

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's 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- Dutch holiday roa ...

, 29 September 1583 –

Ronse Ronse (; ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper. History Early settlements to 14th century The hills around Ronse show clues of human a ...

, 27 July 1638) was a German nobleman and militarist of the 17th century.

Life

John VIII, Count of

Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, found ...

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 Katzenelnbog ...

Vianden Vianden ( or (locally) ) is a commune with town status in the Éislek region, north-eastern Luxembourg, with a population of 2,203 as of 2023. It is part of the canton of the same name. Vianden lies on the Our river, near the border between ...

and Dietz, Marquis of Monte-Caballo, Baron of Ronse and Beilstein, was the second son of John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen and Countess

Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen (1558 – 9 September 1599), , was a countess from the House of Waldeck and through marriage successively Countess of Hanau-Münzenberg and Countess of Nassau-Siegen. Biography Magdalene was born ...

. He was educated in Herborn,

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. In 1610 he participated in the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army () 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 army was brought to such a size ...

in the conquest of

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

. On 25 December 1613, much to the horror of his family, he openly converted to Catholicism and entered in the service of the army of

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy Charles Emmanuel I (; 12 January 1562 – 26 July 1630), known as the Great, was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 30 August 1580 until his death almost 50 years later in 1630, he was the longest-reigning Savoyard monarch ...

. After the death of his elder brother, John Ernest in September 1617, he claimed his rights, but his father chose a Protestant successor. When his father died in 1623, John VIII occupied

at the head of a Habsburg Army and started the Contra-Reformation. In 1624 he became a Knight in the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

In 1625 he participated in the Siege of Breda. Breda was defended by his second cousin Justinus van Nassau and held out for eleven months before surrendering. John VIII of Nassau-Siegen is depicted in the famous painting ''

The Surrender of Breda (English: ''The Surrender of Breda'', also known as – ''The Lances'') is a painting by the Spanish Golden Age painter Diego Velázquez. He painted it during the years 1634 and 1635, inspired by his visit to Italy with Ambrogio Spinola, the G ...

'' by

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

, third from the left in the Spanish camp, looking directly at the spectator. In 1630 he was captured by the Dutch Army, however, he was released later that year for a huge bail. In 1631, he was in charge of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Fleet defeated by the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and Scots and English mercenaries, at the

Battle of the Slaak The naval Battle of the Slaak (12 and 13 September 1631) was a Dutch victory during the Eighty Years' War. The Dutch prevented the Spanish army from dividing the Dutch Dutch Republic, United Provinces in two. Background In reaction to an over ...

, fighting on behalf of the Spanish Governor Francisco de Moncada, 3rd Marquis of Aitona, (1586–1635). In 1632, Nassau-Siegen was conquered by the Swedes, after which his half-brother John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen re-introduced Protestantism. John VIII died in 1638 and was succeeded by his only son Johan Frans Desideratus, who had to cede part of Nassau-Siegen to the Protestant branch of the family. In 1629, he acquired the barony of

, where created the

Castle of Ronse Castle of Ronse ( or ) is a former palace in Ronse, Belgium. It was built in 1630 by John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen to serve as the ‘ancestral castle’ of the catholic branch of the House of Nassau. It was designed in Renaissance architect ...

modelled after the

Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

in Paris. It was considered one of the most beautiful palaces of the Netherlands.

Marriage and children

John was married in Brussels on 13 August 1618 to the Catholic princess Ernestine Yolande de Ligne d'Amblise (1594–1668), daughter of Lamoral de Ligne, Prince d'Espinoy. They had six children together: * Maria (1619–1620) * stillborn daughter (1620) * Clara Maria (1621–1695), married with her cousins Prince Albert Henri de Ligne in 1634, and with

Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, Prince of Epinoy, Marquis of Roubaix and Count of Fauquemberg (8 October 1618 – 21 December 1679), was a nobleman from the Spanish Netherlands, a soldier and diplomat in the service of Philip IV of S ...

in 1642 * Ernestine Charlotte (1623–1668), married in 1650 with Maurice Henry, Prince of Nassau-Hadamar * Lamberta Alberta Gabrielle Ursula (1625–1635) * John Francis Desideratus (Nozeroy, 1627 – Roermond, 1699), Count of Nassau-Siegen

Ancestors

External links

Tercios.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 08, Count of Nassau-Siegen 1583 births 1638 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Counts of Nassau Nassau-Siegen, John VIII of House of Nassau-Siegen People from Dillenburg Generals of the Holy Roman Empire Military personnel from Hesse