Dutch noble family
Van Polanen was a noble family that played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages. The impact of the family transcended it's dissolution in the 15th century as the House of Nassau gained the vast properties of the House of Polanen in 1403 through marriage. The titles such as baron of Breda and lord of Polanen remain amongst the titles of the monarch of the Netherlands until today.
History
The Van Polanen family was a side branch of the Van Wassenaer family which owned Duivenvoorde Castle since 1226. The branch took its name from Polanen Castle (Kasteel Polanen), a castle situated in Monster which was destroyed in 1351 and finally demolished in 1394.
Philips III van Duivenvoorde received the fief of Polanen in 1295. Willem van Duvenvoorde (1290–1353) purchased Oosterhout in 1324, together with vast properties around Breda and Bergen op Zoom, among them De Lek and Schoonenburg Castle (abandoned around 1450). The ruins of Strijen Castle, his possible residence, are still preserved in Oosterhout. Philips's son Jan I van Polanen, received the fief of Breda in 1339, together with his son John II who built a new castle there.
All of these properties were inherited by Johanna van Polanen who married Engelbert I of Nassau. Through this marriage the House of Nassau first gained territories in the Netherlands. Much later this fact, among others, led to the House of Orange-Nassau's rise to the ruling dynasty of the country.
Netherlands
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