Engelbert I of Nassau (, in

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday roa ...

3 May 1442, in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

) was a son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess Margaret of the Mark, daughter of Count

Adolph II of the Marck Adolph II of the Marck (died 19/20 October 1347, Fröndenberg) was Count of the Marck. He was the eldest son of Engelbert II of the Mark and Mechtild of Arenberg. Adolph was betrothed to Irmgard of Cleves, daughter of Otto, Count of Cleves and ...

Early years

Engelbert of Nassau was a student in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany in 1389 and a dean in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

from 1399 to 1404. He became counselor to the Duke of Brabant, first to Anton of Burgundy, and later for his son Jan IV of Brabant. He would later serve

Philip the Good Philip III the Good (; ; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) ruled as Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death in 1467. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged. During his reign, ...

Marriage and issue

Engelbert's brothers were childless and he left the deanery so he could marry Johanna van Polanen in 1403.J. ter Haar, Geschiedenis van de Lage Landen, Uitgeverij Kok, 2004, p 234 They had six children: * John IV, Count of Nassau-Siegen (born 1 August 1410) married Mary of Looz-Heinsberg * Henry II, Count of Nassau-Siegen (born 7 January 1414) married 1) Genoveva of Virneburg 2) Irmgard of Schleiden-Junkerath * Margaretha (born 1415), married Diederik, Count of Sayn * Willem (born December 1416) *

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

(born 2 February 1418 - died 2 October 1472), married Count John II of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein * Philip (born 13 October 1420 – died 1429) Engelbert had an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mistress: * Margaretha of Nassau. She married Hugo Wijnrix. He died May 3, 1442, in

. A mausoleum was built for Engelbert in the Church-of-Our-Lady (the Great Church) in Breda. The construction took thirty years, from 1460 to 1490.

References

1370s births 1442 deaths House of Nassau Counts of Nassau Marshals of Westphalia People from Dillenburg Military personnel from Hesse {{Germany-count-stub