Nassau-Siegen Explained

Conventional Long Name:	Principality of Nassau-Siegen
Common Name:	Nassau-Siegen
Empire:	Holy Roman Empire
Status:	State of the Holy Roman Empire
Government Type:	Principality
Event Start:	Split off from N-Dillenburg
Year Start:	1303
Event1:	reunited with N-Dillenburg
Date Event1:	1328
Event2:	Split off from N-Dillenburg again
Date Event2:	1606
Event3:	Divided into Catholic and Protestant parts
Date Event3:	1626
Event4:	C and P parts reunited
Date Event4:	1734
Event End:	Fell to Orange-Nassau-Dietz
Year End:	1743
Life Span:	1303–1328 and 1606–1743
Capital:	Siegen
Leader1:	Henry
Year Leader1:	1303–1328
Leader2:	John VII
Year Leader2:	1606–1623
Leader3:	William Hyacinth
Year Leader3:	1699–1743
Title Leader:	Prince-Count
Native Name:	Fürstentum 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, founded in 1224 and initially a condominium jointly owned by the archbishopric of Cologne and Nassau. It was located some 50 km east of Cologne, and it contained the modern localities of Freudenberg, Hilchenbach, Kreuztal, Siegen, and Wilnsdorf.

First Nassau-Siegen (1303–1328)

Nassau-Siegen was first created when the sons of Otto I divided their inheritance:

• Henry received Nassau-Siegen
• Emicho received Nassau-Hadamar
• John received Nassau-Dillenburg

John died childless in 1328 and Henry inherited Nassau-Dillenburg. Henry moved to Dillenburg and his descendants are known as the Nassau-Dillenburg line.

Second Nassau-Siegen (1606–1743)

After John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg died in 1606, Nassau-Dillenburg was divided among his five surviving sons:

• William Louis received a rather reduced Nassau-Dillenburg
• George received Nassau-Beilstein
• John VII received Nassau-Siegen
• Ernest Casimir received Nassau-Dietz
• John Louis received Nassau-Hadamar

This division created a new principality of Nassau-Siegen. It belonged to the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle.

After John VII died in 1623, the country was divided:

• His eldest son, John VIII, who had converted to Catholicism, received the part of the county south of the river Sieg and the original castle in Siegen (which after 1695 was called the "Upper Castle"). John VIII was the founder of the Catholic line of Nassau-Siegen.

• John Maurice, who remained Protestant, received the part of the county north of the Sieg. He was the founder of the Protestant line of Nassau-Siegen and he converted the former Franciscan monastery into a new residence, called the "Lower Castle", which was reconstructed after having burnt down at large parts in 1695. John Maurice spent most of his time away from Siegen, since he was governor of Dutch Brazil and later of the Prussian province of Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg.

In 1652, John Francis Desideratus of the Catholic line was elevated to Imperial Prince. Count Henry of the Protestant line married Marie Elisabeth of Limburg-Styrum, who brought the Lordship of Wisch in the County of Zutphen into the marriage. In 1652, John Maurice of the Protestant line was also elevated to Imperial Prince.

In 1734, the Protestant line died out with the death of Frederick William II. Nassau-Siegen was reunited under William Hyacinth, the last ruler of the Catholic line. When he died in 1743, Nassau-Siegen had died out in the male line, and the territory fell to Prince William IV of the Orange-Nassau-Dietz line, who thereby reunited all the lands of the Ottonian line of the House of Nassau.

After 1743

The Rheinbundakte, the treaty of July 12, 1806, that created the Confederation of the Rhine, mediatised Nassau-Siegen and placed it under the sovereignty of the newly created Grand Duchy of Berg. In 1808, Prince William VI of Orange-Nassau lost his remaining German possessions, as a punishment for his opposition to Napoleon. In 1813, after the Battle of Leipzig, he regained his territories. In a treaty signed on May 31, 1815, he ceded his German possessions to Prussia, in return for Prussia supporting the creation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he ruled as King William I.

Extent of Nassau-Siegen

The principality consisted of the districts of Siegen, Netphen, Hilchenbach, and Freudenberg. From 1628–1734, the Protestant part consisted of the districts of Hilchenbach and Freudenberg and a half the district of Siegen. At the time, the Catholic half of the district of Siegen was called the district of Hayn. The Catholic part of the county consisted of the district of Netphen and the other half of the district of Siegen.

In the north, it bordered the Duchy of Westphalia. In the west, it bordered Wildenburg and Sayn-Altenkirchen. In the south, it bordered Nassau-Dillenburg and in the east Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein.

Rulers of Nassau-Siegen

Undivided

reign	ruler	born	died
1303-1328	Henry	before 1288	1347
	Nassau-Siegen reunited with Nassau-Dillenburg
1606-1623	John VII	7 July 1561

Catholic line

reign	ruler	born	died	relation to predecessor
1623-1638	John VIII	29 September 1583		son of John VII
1638-1699	John Francis Desideratus	28 July 1627		son
1699-1743	William Hyacinth	3 April 1667		son

Protestant line

reign	ruler	born	died	relation to predecessor
1624-1642	William	13 August 1592		son of John VII
1642-1679	John Maurice	18 June 1604		halfbrother
1679-1691	William Maurice	18 January 1649		nephew
1691-1722	Frederick William Adolf	20 February 1680		son
1722-1734	Frederick William II	11 November 1706		son

References

A.J. Weidenbach: Nassauische Territorien, 1870

External links

• History of Nassau-Siegen