European Kingdoms

Nassau

The rulers of Nassau were the Laurenbergs. They bore the title Count of Nassau. Nassau emerged from Franconia, which fragmented in the thirteenth century.

b.c.1146 - 1198

Walram I

Count of Laurenberg & first Count of Nassau.

1198 - 1250

Heinrich II the Rich

Count of Nassau. m Dutch Machteld of Gelders.

1250

The county is divided between Heinrich's sons: Walram II gains Nassau-Weilburg. Otto gains Nassau-Dillenberg.

County of Nassau-Weilburg
AD 1250 - 1806

As with most minor German states, Nassau-Weilburg suffered from its own territorial sub-dividing. The various sub-divisions are not listed separately here.

1250 - 1276

Walram II

Son of Heinrich II of Nassau. Count of Nassau-Weilburg.

1277 - 1298

Adolph I

HRE (1291-1298).

1298 - 1304

Rupert IV

Died 1308.

1298 - 1355

Gerlach I

Died 1361.

1298 - 1322

Walram III

1344 - 1355

Adolph II

Count of Nassau-Weisbaden-Idstein (1355-1370).

1355

Nassau-Weilburg becomes Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrucken.

1344 - 1371

John I

Gained Nassau-Weilburg in 1355.

1355 - 1390

Rupert

Count of Nassau-Sonnenberg.

1371 - 1429

Philip I

1429 - 1492

Philip II

1442

Nassau-Weilburg reverts to its old title.

1492 - 1523

Louis I

1523 - 1559

Philip III

1559 - 1593

Albert

? - 1596

Johan Ludwig I

Count of Nassau-Idstein. Fell from a tower window.

1559 - 1602

Philip IV

1593 - 1625

Louis II

1625 - 1629

William Louis

Count of Nassau-Saarbrucken (1629-1640).

1625 - 1629

John IV

Count of Nassau-Idstein (1629-1668).

1625 - 1655

Ernest Casimir

1655 - 1675

Frederick

1675 - 1719

John Ernest

Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden.

1675 - 1684

Frederick William

Count of Nassau-Weilburg.

1719 - 1753

Charles Augustus

1753 - 1788

Charles Christian

1788 - 1806

Frederick William

1806

With the fall of the Holy Roman empire, the French First Empire's Napoleon I forms his Confederation of the Rhine and elevates the county to become the duchy of Nassau.

County of Nassau-Dillenberg
AD 1250 - 1555

1250 - 1289

Otto I

Son of Heinrich II of Nassau. Count of Nassau-Dillenberg.

1290 - 1303

Control of the county is apparently shared by John, Henry & Emich. In 1303, John gains overall control, with Henry being granted Nassau-Siegen, and Emich, Nassau-Hadamar. John is succeeded by Henry while Emich predeceases Henry.

1303 - 1328

John

Count of Nassau-Dillenberg.

1328 - 1343

Henry I

Count of Nassau-Siegen (1303), Nassau-Dillenberg (1328).

1290 - 1303

Emich I

Count of Nassau-Hadamar (1303-1334).

1334

With the death of Emich, Nassau-Dillenberg is fully reunited under Henry's control.

1343 - 1350

Otto II

1350 - 1416

John I

1416 - 1420

Adolph

1420 - 1443

John II

1420 - 1442

Engelbert I

Count of Nassau-Dietz (1403).

Engelbert marries Johanna van Polanen and gains the county's first possessions in the Netherlands.

1420 - 1429

John III

1442 - 1475

John IV

Son of Engelbert I.

1442 - 1451

Henry II

1475 - 1504

Engelbert II

1475 - 1516

John V

Grandson of Engelbert I.

1515

Hendrik / Henry III marries Claudia of Chalon & Orange, and gains the title Prince of Orange. The Counts of Nassau are henceforth also Princes of Orange, a possession in the Netherlands, but they hold no power there until 1555. Nassau-Dillenberg becomes Nassau-Breda.

1516 - 1538

Henry III

Son of John V.

1538 - 1544

René of Chalon

Son. Prince of Orange (1540).

1544

Nassau-Breda reverts to Nassau-Dillenberg.

1544 - 1555

William I the Rich

Nephew. Made Stadhoulder of Holland in 1555 by HRE.

1555

The county of Nassau-Dillenberg becomes subsidiary to the title Prince of Orange as William the Silent becomes Stadhoulder in Holland. The county is renamed Nassau-Orange.

Duchy of Nassau-Weilburg
AD 1806 - 1866

The duchy held the east bank of the Rhine next to Hesse, and below the Ruhr and Maine.

1806 - 1816

Frederick William

Former Count of Nassau-Weilburg.

1815

Nassau-Weilburg is granted the German lands of Nassau-Orange.

1816 - 1839

William

Duke of Nassau.

1839 - 1866

Adolphe

Son. Loses duchy, but maintains title.

1866

Prussia fights the Austro-Prussian War against Austria, essentially as a decider to see which of the two powers will be dominant in Central Europe. Prussia gains the newly-created kingdom of Italy as an ally in the south and several minor German states in the north. Austria and its southern German allies are crushed in just seven weeks (giving the conflict its alternative title of the Seven Weeks' War), and Prussia is now unquestionably dominant. Bismark oversees the seizure of four of Austria's northern German allies, the kingdom of Hanover, the electorate of Hessen-Kassel, and the duchy of Nassau, along with the free city of Frankfurt. Prussia also subsumes Schleswig and Holstein and Saxe-Lauenberg. The dukes of Nassau, now in exile, maintain their claim on the title.

1890

Duke Adolphe of Nassau is elected Grand Duke of Luxembourg.