Countess Elisabeth of Nassau-SiegenIn many sources she is called Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg. The County of Nassau-Siegen is erroneously called Nassau-Dillenburg in many sources. The county was not named after the small, unimportant city of Dillenburg, which did not even have a church until 1491, but after the, for that time, large city of Siegen, the economic centre of the county and the counts' main residence. See Lück (1981), passim. It is also evident from the numbering of the reigning counts with the given name John. One John without regal number who ruled the County of Nassau-Dillenburg in the period 1303–1328, and eight counts by the name of John who ruled the County of Nassau-Siegen in the period 1362–1638. (1488 – 3 June 1559), , official titles: Gräfin zu Nassau, Vianden und Diez, was a countess from the House of Nassau-Siegen, a cadet branch of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau, and through marriage Countess of Wied.
Biography Elisabeth was born in 1488Schutte (1979), p. 42.Dek (1970), p. 71.Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 97. as the eldest daughter and fifth child of Count John V of Nassau-Siegen and his wife Landgravine Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg.
Elisabeth married in February 1506 to Count (1485The year of birth 1485 is mentioned by Schutte (1979), p. 42, and Dek (1970), p. 71. However, his mother's date of death is stated as 12 March 1478 by Stammtafel des mediatisierten Hauses Wied. Which of these two dates is incorrect is unclear. – 18 May 1533). It was a double wedding, on the same day Elisabeth's younger sister Mary married to Count Jobst I of Holstein-Schauenburg-Pinneberg.Assman & Menk (1996). The double wedding of Elisabeth and Mary was held at . A banquet was also held in the city hall in Siegen at which both brides and grooms were present. The feast with the city magistrates was paid for by the brides' father and the city council donated 16 oxen and 19 pigs for the feast. On 16 February 1506, the ʻBeilagerʼ of the two sisters was celebrated in Dillenburg with the greatest of festivities. The purchase of gold fabric for 747 guilders and silk fabric for 396 guilders at the trade fair in Mainz for these celebrations and the wedding of their brother William in Koblenz in May 1506, as well as the unusually high total expenditure of 13,505 guilders in the accounts of 1505/1506, show that these weddings must have been splendid events.Becker (1983), p. 55.
Elisabeth's husband was the son of Count Frederick IV and Countess Agnes of Virneburg. John succeeded his father together with his brother William III, who relinquished all his rights to the County of Wied to John in 1505. The year later John's brothers, who were clergymen, also renounced their rights to him. Elisabeth's mother-in-law was a niece of Countess Genoveva of Virneburg, who was married to Count Henry II of Nassau-Siegen, Elisabeth's great uncle.Schutte (1979), p. 41.Dek (1970), p. 67.Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 92. Elisabeth's husband died in 1533 and was succeeded by their son John IV.
Elisabeth's brother-in-law archbishop Herman V of Cologne tried in vain to bring the Archbishopric of Cologne to the Reformation,Becker (1983), p. 60.Lück (1981), p. 44. but had then been deposed by papal bull. He then went to Siegen to seek the advice of Elisabeth's brother Count William I the Rich of Nassau-Siegen, and asked him to put in a good word for him with Emperor Charles V. With the Wied Family, the archbishop spent several weeks in Siegen.
Elisabeth died in Dillenburg on 3 June 1559, where she no doubt was to attend the triple wedding of her nephew John and nieces Anne and Elisabeth, which took place a few days later.Becker (1983), p. 56.
Issue From the marriage of Elisabeth and John the following children were born: Philip (). Count John IV (), succeeded his father as Count of Wied in 1533. He married in February 1543 to Countess (26 March 1525 – after 15 June 1581). Frederick (), was elected archbishop Frederick IV of Cologne on 19 November 1562, he resigned in 1567. (), Abbess of . (). She married: on 29 September 1523 to Count Bernhard of Bentheim-Steinfurt (). in 1534 to Count Arnold of Manderscheid-Blankenheim (14 November 1500 – 6 May 1548). Walpurga (), married in 1528 to Count Louis of Stolberg-Königstein (Stolberg, 13 January 1505 – Wertheim, 24 August 1574). Agnes (). She married: in Siegen, 28 August 1539 to Count Caspar of Mansfeld-Hinterort (). in Dierdorf on 11 July 1545 to Count Frederick Magnus of Solms-Laubach (1 October 1521 – Laubach, 13 January 1561). Genoveva (), married in 1546 to Count (Stolberg, 1 October 1501 – Allstedt, 8 March 1552). Mary (), married on 1 September 1554 to Christoph Reichserbschenk, Semperfrei und Herr zu Limpurg-Gaildorf (12 July 1541 – Obersontheim, 3 September 1574). Elisabeth (), married in 1522 to Count (1501 – 1560).
Ancestors Ancestors of Elisabeth of Nassau-SiegenHuberty, et al. (1981), p. 219.Schutte (1979), pp. 40–42.Dek (1970), pp. 66–71."Kwartierstaat Willem van Oranje". In: , et al. (eds.) (1933), Prins Willem van Oranje 1533-1933 (in Dutch). Haarlem: H.D. Tjeenk Willink & Zoon N.V. between pp. 16–17.Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), pp. 89–97.Great-great-grandparentsJohn I of Nassau-Siegen(–1416)⚭ 1357()John III of Polanen()⚭ 1390()Godfrey II of Heinsberg()⚭ 1357Philippa of Jülich()Otto I of Solms()⚭Agnes of Falkenstein(–1409)Herman II the Scholar of Hesse(–1413)⚭ 1383Margaret of Nuremberg(–1406)Frederick I the Belligerent of Saxony(1370–1428)⚭ 1402Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg()John III of Katzenelnbogen()⚭ 1383Anne of Katzenelnbogen()Eberhard IV the Younger of Württemberg(1388–1419)⚭ 1397/98Henriette of Montbéliard(1387–1444)Great-grandparentsEngelbert I of Nassau-Siegen(–1442)⚭ 1403Joanne of Polanen(1392–1445)John II of Looz-Heinsberg()⚭ 1423Anne of Solms()Louis III the Peaceful of Hesse(1402–1458)⚭ 1433Anne of Saxony(1420–1462)Philip the Elder of Katzenelnbogen(–1479)⚭ 1422Anne of Württemberg(1408–1471)GrandparentsJohn IV of Nassau-Siegen(1410–1475)⚭ 1440Mary of Looz-Heinsberg(1424–1502)Henry III the Rich of Hesse-Marburg(1440–1483)⚭ 1458Anne of Katzenelnbogen(1443–1494)ParentsJohn V of Nassau-Siegen(1455–1516)⚭ 1482Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg(1466–1523)
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