Prince William Henry of Nassau-Usingen (born 2 May 1684 in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

; died: 14 February 1718 in

Usingen Usingen () is a small town in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hessen, Germany. Until 1972, this residential and school town was the seat of the former district of Usingen. Coat of arms The earliest seal whose appearance is known – there had been earlier ...

) was 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 ...

from 1702 to 1718.

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 Charlotte Amalia (1680–1738), daughter of

Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg (born 28 August 1641 in Dillenburg; died: 18 April 1701 at Ludwigsbrunn Castle) was ruler (i.e. Fürst) of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1662 until his death. Life Henry was the son of George Louis, Prince of Nassau- ...

, on 15 April 1706. They had nine children, five of which 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 Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, Prince of Nassau-Usingen (1712–1775) * Hedwig (1714–1786) * William Henry, Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1718–1768) After he died in 1718, he 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

in 1972.

Military career

Like his father, William Henry had a career in 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 ...

army. In 1691, he became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and then the colonel of the Walloon Regiment from 1701 to 1707. 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. A Bourbon army of around 24,000 men, consisting of troops from France, Spain and Cologne, surrounded a smaller Dutch force of 12,000 men, ...

on 30 June 1703.

References

Princes of Nassau House of Nassau 1684 births 1718 deaths 18th-century German people 18th-century Dutch military personnel {{Germany-noble-stub