Biography
John was the second son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess Margaret of the Mark [nl].[1][2] To distinguish him from his brother and brother's son of the same name, he was called the Elder (German: der Älteste, der Ältere) after his father's death.[3] His most common epithet, however, was: with the Helmet (German: der Hubener, der Häubener, mit der Haube), which was caused by his bellicose life[3][4] and the frequent use of the helmet associated with it.[3] He inherited his father's belligerence, but meanwhile he lived in harmony with his brothers.[4]
John was first documented as already an adult in 1401. There is no doubt that he had already taken part in the feuds in which his brother Adolf, as Count of Diez, was involved with Count Rupert the Bellicose of Nassau-Sonnenberg and the Rhenish cities.[3] Apart from that, John had already distinguished himself valiantly in wars with Hesse and the Electorate of Mainz, when he loyally stood by his elder brother Adolf and, as long as the latter was alive, fought many important battles with him. John became formidable and unforgettable with his helmet and armour.[4]
John and his brothers, Adolf, Engelbert and John the Younger, already agreed on a joint continuation of the government of the County of Nassau-Siegen, when their father would die,[4][5][6] on 21 December 1409. Whichever of the brothers would be native or closest to his lands on the father's death should take possession of them in all brothers' name until a division would have taken place.[6] Likewise, they promised each other, out of conviction of mutual advantages, not to inflict any violent advances on each other, and to allow the preferences of one and the other to apply, which had been established by older decrees.[4] Whoever would take something for himself alone would be disinherited. All parental decrees favouring one brother over the other were declared null and void in advance. Adolf hereby tacitly renounced his right to the part of Nassau-Hadamar and the districts of Herborn, Haiger and Löhnberg, which he could have claimed in advance from the marriage contract with the heiress of the County of Diez.[6] In accordance with this agreement, the brothers took over the government jointly after their father's death in 1416.[4][5][6][7][note 3] However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, John the Elder was not married, the younger of the same name was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long.[6] Together, the brothers bought back the other half of the city of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.[7][note 4]
In association with the Electorate of Mainz,[note 5] John waged a lengthy war with Landgrave Herman II of Hesse during his father's lifetime around 1410, which was very damaging for both countries. The Hessian annalists give sad descriptions of it.[3] The treaty concluded in 1410 for a two-year truce confirms this.[10] After the end of this truce, there were new hostilities with Landgrave Louis I of Hesse, including a battle in the Rippach near Sinn, in which, according to Hessian tales, John lost his banner and many people, especially Paris Galgenholz, a born Hessian.[4][11] John had used this extremely clever man, perhaps as notorious as his name sounds (his surname translated into English was Gallowswood), for reconnaissance and negotiation for a long time.[4]
When Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach, Countess of Vianden, died without issue in 1417, the four brothers, grandsons of Adelaide of Vianden, Elisabeth's great-aunt, inherited the County of Vianden with the lordships of St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen.[7][note 6] When the actual transfer took place and in which year the brothers came into possession of the County of Vianden cannot be stated with certainty and reliability. It probably happened in 1420 or 1421, because it was in the latter year that John II was first named Count of Vianden in the Palatinate feudal charter of 27 February. A few years before taking possession of Vianden, Engelbert I had already come into possession of half the lordships of St. Vith and Bütgenbach. Vianden included 47 villages (with 583 taxable households in 1562). Apart from the city of St. Vith, St. Vith and Bütgenbach contained 51 villages with 814 taxable subjects, while Dasburg had 304 in 36 villages. The Counts of Vianden only partially owned the lordship of Grimbergen, and it could only partially be inherited by the House of Nassau.[3]
After the death of the eldest brother Adolf in 1420, the three remaining brothers succeeded him, but they lost half of the County of Diez,[7][note 7] as well as ¼ of Camberg in 1428.[7][note 8] On 2 July 1420, Engelbert I and Count Godfrey VII of Eppstein-Münzenberg, as the joint owners, transferred the County of Diez, which was an imperial fief, to Archbishop Otto [de] of Trier, and received it back from him as a fief.[14] On 28 October 1425,[15][note 9] the three remaining brothers established a kind of division: John the Elder was given Dillenburg Castle,[4][15][16] Engelbert Herborn Castle, and John the Younger Haiger Castle [de] as his Residenz.[15] The eldest brother, as far as some sovereign rights were concerned, was given the County of Nassau and the Lordship of Hadamar;[1][4][15][16] Engelbert received the County of Vianden in the same way, and John the Younger half of the County of Diez. All of them, however, remained in joint ownership of these territories.[15] The revenues were collected jointly and distributed equally.[4][15]
In 1427,[note 10] a new agreement was made[4][15] for four years. Of the land on both sides of the Kalteiche (the later principalities of Nassau-Dillenburg and Nassau-Siegen), each brother was assigned a third and John the Younger was assigned Siegen Castle [de] as his Residenz instead of Haiger Castle.[15] This division, however, mainly concerned services and fines from the allotted places. Everything else remained in joint ownership.[4][15] This joint government is particularly remarkable because of the addition it has gained, half the County of Diez and the County of Vianden with St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen.[3] After the death of John the Younger in 1430, before the end of the appointed years, the two remaining brothers jointly ruled their territories again, which continued until their deaths.[4][7][17] However, Engelbert mostly stayed in the Dutch territories, while John administered mainly the German lands.[4][17]
John was invested with the Duchy of Cleves and the County of Mark by Roman King Sigismund in 1422, but settled for financial compensation two years later.[18] To settle the claims to Cleves and Mark,[note 11] which had already led to hostilities, Duke Adolf I of Cleves, compensated the Nassau brothers with 12,000 gold guilders, Tuesday after Egidien[note 12] 1424. In a later treaty of 1429 or 1439, they jointly ceded their rights to the heerlijkheden of Ravenstein, Herpen and Uden to the Counts of Virneburg for a sum of 21,000 gold guilders.[11]
John was also able to the acquire the serfs in Siegerland, which had belonged to the extinct lords of Wildenburg [de] and were fully secured against the rightful heirs, the lords of Hatzfeld; to renew the fiefs over Greifenstein; to get the confirmation of the fiefs of the Electorate of Trier; and to reach a settlement with the Electorate of Mainz after a feud over the part of the toll in Oberlahnstein.[4]
In the last years of his life, which he lived to a high age, John seems to have taken little interest in the affairs of government, preferring to leave them to his nephews, the sons of Engelbert I.[4] John died unmarried at Dillenburg Castle in early May 1443[4][11][20][note 13] and was buried in Keppel Abbey [de] near Hilchenbach.[1][4][16][20] He was succeeded by his nephews John IV and Henry II of Nassau-Siegen, the sons of Engelbert I.[4][7][20]
-
Siegen Castle, 2011.
-
Vianden Castle. Photo: Vincent de Groot, 2004.
-
Diez Castle. Photo: Peter Klassen, 2006.
-
Keppel Abbey Church, 2018.
.jpg)
