William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2018) ) |
William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken | |
|---|---|
Anna Amalia of Baden-Durlach | |
| Father | Louis II, Count of Nassau-Weilburg |
| Mother | Anna Maria of Hesse-Kassel |
William Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken (18 December 1590, Ottweiler – 22 August 1640, Metz), was a Count of Saarbrücken.
Life
His parents were
After his education at Metz from 1609 to 1614 he made a Grand Tour of France, the Netherlands and England.
In 1616 William Louis became co-regent with his father. His father died in 1627 and he became guardian of his two youngest brothers, Otto and
Shortly thereafter, on 2 March 1629, Emperor
King Gustavus Adolphus was killed on 16 November 1632 (6 November according to the Julian Calendar which was still used in Sweden at the time). The Protestant estates then met in
In August 1633, the Swedish army attacked form the Alsace into the County of Saarwerden, which was still occupied by Lorraine. The county was conquered, but not given back to the Nassaus. On 5 September 1633, their representative Count John of Nassau-Idstein, signed an alliance with France against the Emperor.
In March 1634 William Louis was at the meeting in Frankfurt, where Oxenstierna tried to win over the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg to join the Heilbronn League. Here, the Nassau brothers also reached a compromise with the Lords of Geroldseck about the ownership rights to Lahr. On 7 June William Louis sealed the alliance with France. The negotiations in Frankfurt came to an abrupt end when Emperor Ferdinand II won the Battle of Nördlingen on 6 September 1634. As the imperial army of the Middle Rhine approached, the counts brought their archives to a secure place in Frankfurt and then proceeded to Kirchheim. They had to give up their possessions of the right bank of the Rhine.
After the death of Rhinegrave Otto Louis, William Louis entered the service of Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. They launched a campaign to Wetterau and attacked a division of the Imperial General Count von Mansfeld at Michelstadt on the 24 December 1634
In 1635, he returned to Frankfurt to attend a meeting of the Protestant states and their allies. At this meeting, it was decided that Sweden would return Saarwerden to the Nassaus. On 23 April 1635 the family fled to
In November 1635 the imperial commissioner Bertram von Sturm appeared in the Nassau lands of and declared the three brothers and had forfeited their counties and all their possessions. The Emperor gave the Duke of Lorraine the counties of Saarbrücken and Saarland and the bailiwick of Herbitzheim and the fortress of Homburg on the Blies as a reward for services rendered.
In 1636, the brothers attempted to petition the Emperor for an imperial pardon; the Elector of Saxony mediated. This attempt failed, but it wasn't until 1637 that the counts were told the reasons for this imperial wrath. Only in 1639 did William Louis and Ernest receive a pass that enabled them to represent their cause in Vienna in person.
William Louis died on 22 August 1640 in Metz and was buried in a pauper's grave. His widow returned with the children to Saarbrücken in 1643. His three sons participated in a new division of the Nassau territories on 31 March 1659.
Registrar Andreae completed William Louis's genealogy books, a project his father Louis II had begun. Some works of the painter Henrich Dors from Altweilnau were commissioned by William Louis.
Marriage and issue
On 25 November 1615 he married Countess
- Anna Juliane (1617–1667), married Count Palatine Frederick of Zweibrücken
- Maurice (1618-1618)
- Charlotte (1619–1687), married Louis Everhard of Leiningen-Westerburg
- Crato (born: April 7, 1621 in Saarbrücken, died: 25 July 1642 at a battle in Straelen)
- Anna Amalia (1623–1695)
- John Louis (1625–1690); inherited Ottweiler and founded the Nassau-Ottweiler line
- Elisabeth Sibylle(1626–1627)
- Marie Sibylle (1628–1699), married in 1651 August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck
- George Frederick (1630-1630)
- Gustav Adolph (1632–1677); inherited Saarbrücken
- George Frederick (1633–1635)
- Walrad (1635–1702); inherited Usingen and founded the Nassau-Usingen line
See also
External links
References and sources
- Richard Kolb (1898), "Wilhelm Ludwig (Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken)", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 43, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 131–133
- "William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 7, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1966, p. 334 (added entry)
- "William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 15, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1987, p. 404 (added entry)
- Joe Conrad. "William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken". Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German).
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
