William Otto of Nassau-Siegen explained

William Otto of Nassau-Siegen
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Full Name:William Otto Count of Nassau-Siegen
Native Name:Wilhelm Otto Graf von Nassau-Siegen
Noble Family:House of Nassau-Siegen
Father:John VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen
Mother:Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
Birth Name:Wilhelm Otto Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein
Birth Date:23 June 1607
Birth Place:Dillenburg Castle
Death Place:near Wolfenbüttel
Burial Date:16 September 1641
Burial Place:Kassel
Occupation:Officer in the Swedish Army

Count William Otto of Nassau-Siegen (23 June 1607  - 14 August 1641), German: Wilhelm Otto Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein, was a count from the House of Nassau-Siegen, a cadet branch of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau. He served as an officer in the Swedish Army.

Biography

William Otto was born at Dillenburg Castle[1] [2] on 23 June 1607[3] [4] [5] as the third son of Count John VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen and his second wife, Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.[6] William Otto studied in Kassel in 1622 together with his elder brother George Frederick.

The will and testament of Count John VII 'the Middle' of 1621 bequeathed John Maurice and his younger brothers from their father's second marriage the district of Freudenberg, some villages in the Haingericht and a third part of the administration of the city of Siegen.[7] [8] After his older half-brother John 'the Younger' had accepted the homage of the city of Siegen for the entire county of Nassau-Siegen on 12 January 1624[9] and had voluntarily ceded the sovereignty over the Hilchenbach district with and some villages belonging to the and Netphen districts to his younger brother William on 13/23 January 1624,[10] [11] William Otto and his younger brothers accepted only modest appanages. His older brothers John Maurice and George Frederick did not.[12] [13]

During the Thirty Years' War William Otto served in the Swedish Army[14] [15] under Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. When the latter died in 1639, he bequeathed to William Otto a riding horse and 10,000 Rhineland Thalers. William Otto occupied Kreuznach and Bingen in 1639 and Braunfels in 1640. He was killed in a cavalry battle near Wolfenbüttel on 14 August 1641, and was buried in Kassel on 16 September 1641.

William Otto was the only one of the many sons of Count John VII 'the Middle' who never served the Dutch Republic.

Ancestors

Ancestors of William Otto of Nassau-Siegen[16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
Great-great-grandparentsJohn V of Nassau-Siegen
(1455–1516)
⚭ 1482
Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg
(1466–1523)
Bodo III 'the Blissful' of Stolberg-Wernigerode
(1467–1538)
⚭ 1500
Anna of Eppstein-Königstein
(1481–1538)
John IV of Leuchtenberg
(1470–1531)
⚭ 1502
Margaret of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg
(1482–1518)
Frederick V 'the Elder' of Brandenburg-Ansbach
(1460–1536)
⚭ 1479
Sophia of Poland
(1464–1512)
Frederick I of Denmark
(1471–1533)
⚭ 1502
Anne of Brandenburg
(1487–1514)
Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg
(?–1543)
⚭ 1509
Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
(?–1563)
Philip I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
(ca. 1476–1551)
⚭ 1517
Catherine of Mansfeld
(1501–1535)
George I of Pomerania
(1493–1531)
⚭ 1513
Amalie of the Palatinate
(1490–1524)
Great-grandparentsWilliam I 'the Rich' of Nassau-Siegen
(1487–1559)
⚭ 1531
Juliane of Stolberg-Wernigerode
(1506–1580)
George III of Leuchtenberg
(1502–1555)
⚭ 1528
Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach
(1495–1552)
Christian III of Denmark
(1503–1559)
⚭ 1525
Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg
(1511–1571)
Ernest V of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
(1518–1567)
⚭ 1547
Margaret of Pomerania
(1518–1569)
GrandparentsJohn VI 'the Elder' of Nassau-Siegen
(1536–1606)
⚭ 1559
Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg
(1537–1579)
John 'the Younger' of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
(1545–1622)
⚭ 1568
Elisabeth of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
(1550–1586)
ParentsJohn VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen
(1561–1623)
⚭ 1603
Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
(1583–1658)

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 235.
  2. The other sources that mention a place of birth, state Dillenburg as place of birth.
  3. Dek (1970), p. 89.
  4. Dek (1968), p. 249.
  5. Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 119.
  6. All sources that mention both parents, name these parents.
  7. Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 251.
  8. Menk (1979), p. 42.
  9. Lück (1981), p. 126.
  10. Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 247.
  11. Huberty, et al. (1981), pp. 249–250.
  12. Huberty, et al. (1981), pp. 251–252.
  13. Spielmann (1909), p. 217.
  14. Lück (1981), p. 100.
  15. Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 119 is the only to mention that he held the rank of general.
  16. Huberty, et al. (1994).
  17. Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 219.
  18. Schutte (1979), pp. 40–44, 224.
  19. Dek (1970).
  20. Dek (1968).
  21. Dek (1962).
  22. von Ehrenkrook, et al. (1928).
  23. Vorsterman van Oyen (1882).
  24. Behr (1854).
  25. Textor von Haiger (1617).
  26. Europäische Stammtafeln.