Johann Ludwig of Nassau-Hadamar (born Dillenburg, 6 August 1590) was the son of Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg and his third wife Johannetta of Sayn-Wittgenstein.
When Johann VI died in 1606, Nassau was divided amongst his five sons. William Louis received Nassau-Dillenburg, John received Nassau-Siegen, George received Nassau-Beilstein, Ernst Casimir received Nassau-Dietz and Johann Ludwig received Nassau-Hadamar.
Marriage and children[]
He married in 1617 Countess Ursula of Lippe, daughter of Simon VI, Count of Lippe. They had five living children as of the Ring of Fire:
- Johanna Elisabeth (b. 1619)
- Sofie Magdalene (b. 1622)
- Maurice Henry (b. 1626)
- Hermann Otto (b. 1627)
- Johann Ernst (b. 1631
Career[]
When Johann Ludwig was 28 years old, the Thirty Years' War broke out. He tried in vain to keep Nassau-Hadamar out of the war. (As a youth, he’d been friends with Frederick V, Elector Palatine —the same man who later, as the “Winter King,” triggered off the War when he accepted the throne of Bohemia. The count had also fought on the side of the Dutch Republic against Philip IV of Spain.) His lands suffered from the passage of multitudes of Imperial and Protestant troops, which plundered and requisitioned them into poverty.
Johann Ludwig was raised a Calvinist, and was was sent in 1629 by his brothers as a diplomat to Vienna to negotiate a truce with Emperor Ferdinand II. Here he converted to Catholicism under the influence of Wilhelm Lamormaini.
Johann Ludwig in 1632[]
In 1636 Johann Ludwig was used by Axel Oxenstierna as a cat's-paw, arranging with Maximilian of Bavaria for a Bavarian attack on the Oberpfalz as a distraction. Maximilian and Oxenstierna both held him in contempt.[1][2] While it is not explicitly stated, he is presumably the first among Oxenstierna's minions to be executed for involvement in the conspiracy with Bavaria.
External links[]
- ↑ "Duke Maximilian despised Johann Ludwig. He was quite sure the count of Nassau-Hadamar had converted to Catholicism in 1629 simply to prevent Ferdinand II from seizing his family’s possessions. Prior to that time, Johann Ludwig had been a partisan for Protestant causes.... A man, in short, to whom treason came as naturally as waddling to a duck—and here he was, once again engaged in treason." 1636: The Saxon Uprising, chapt. 11
- ↑ "The problem with working through men like Johann Ludwig was that they were . . . men like Johann Ludwig. The count of Nassau-Hadamar had none of the great virtues, so why should it be surprising that he lacked the lesser ones as well? Such as being able to keep his mouth shut and refrain from bragging. No matter. Johann Ludwig was playing over his head too. Oxenstierna had been careful not to deal with the man directly. When the time came, and Duke Maximilian of Bavaria needed to be humbled again, the count of Nassau-Hadamar’s treasonous role could be exposed and the man sent to the executioner’s block. 1636: The Saxon Uprising, chapt. 19