John Louis, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler (23 May 1625,

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

– 9 February 1690, Reichelsheim, was first Count of Nassau-Ottweiler. At times, he was Major General, Regent of the other Nassau territories and chief of the

House of Nassau The House of Nassau is the name of a European aristocratic dynasty. The name originated with a lordship associated with Nassau Castle, which is located in what is now Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With t ...

Life

He was the second son of William Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken and his wife

Anna Amalia of Baden-Durlach Anna Amalia of Baden-Durlach (born: 9 July 1595; died: 18 November 1651 in Saarbrücken) was a Countess of Nassau-Saarbrücken by marriage to William Louis, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken,Wolfgang Behringer & Gabriele Clemens, Geschichte des Saarlan ...

. At the age of ten years he had to flee to

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

with his parents. His father died in 1640. John Louis and his mother were able to return to

three years later. Before his return, he had studied at the Academy of Saumur. Between 1644 and 1645 he completed his Grand Tour to Paris. The

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

restored all the Nassau territories in 1648. John Louis took up the government of Nassau-Saarbrücken and Nassau-Usingen. After the death of his mother in 1651 he also became guardian of his younger brothers. In 1653, he founded the

Ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

in Neunkirchen. In 1659 John Louis and his brothers split their father's inheritance. John Louis received the area around Ottweiler. This made him the founder of the Nassau-Ottweiler branch, which existed until 1728. He entered French military service in 1656 and was Colonel of the Royal-Alsace Regiment. He was taken prisoner during the Franco-Spanish War. Even when he was still a minor, John Louis sought the return of Homburg, which had been taken by

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. He was assisted by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and it came to negotiations before the Reichstag. John Louis was granted sovereign rights over the Homburg district, but the fortress remained in the hands of Lorraine until the Empire had paid its war debts to Lorraine. When another war broke out between France and Lorraine, John Louis surrendered Homburg to the Electorate of Trier. During the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

, John Louis's territories were devastated. Later, the Nassau territories were threatened by Louis XIV's Reunion Policy. John Louis refused to pay homage to the French king as count of Homburg and Ottweiler. Instead, he resigned from the government and in 1680 handed over the reign to his son Frederick Louis. John Louis then went to the Nassau territories East of the Rhine. When in 1675, Frederick of Nassau-Weilburg died, John Louis took up guardianship of his children and the regency of

Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

. When in 1677 Gustav Adolph died, John Louis became the senior member of the

. John Louis was in the service of the

Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle () was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabian Alsace region and the Burgundi ...

and founded a new imperial army. He was appointed General Sergeant and in 1682, he was promoted to General Major. He led his own infantry regiment against the French into the

War of the Palatine Succession The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial possessions in the Americas, India, and West Africa. Relat ...

. He died in 1690 and was buried in the Protestant Church of Ottweiler. His remains were destroyed in the looting of the church during the French Revolution.

Family

In 1649, he married Dorothea Catherine (1634-1715) a daughter of the Count Palatine

Christian I Christian I ''(Christiern I)'' (February 1426 – 21 May 1481) was a German noble and Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he ...

of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler. This had the following children: * Christian Louis (1650-1650) * Frederick Louis (1651-1728) : married firstly on 28 July 1680 Countess Christiane of Ahlefeld (1659-1695) : married secondly on 27 September 1697 Countess Louise Sophie of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1662-1751) * Anna Catherine (1653-1731) : married in 1671 to John Philip II, Wild- and Rhinegrave of Salm-Dhaun (1645-1693) * Wolrad (1656-1705) * Charles Siegfried (1659-1679) * Louis (1661-1699) : married on 9 April 1694 Countess Louise Amalie of Horne (1665-1728) * Louise (1662-1741) * Maurice (1664-1666)

References

* ''General Encyclopedia of Science and Arts'', vol. 21, Leipzig, 1642, p. 144 * Friedrich Köllner: ''Geschichte des vormaligen Nassau-Saarbrück'schen Landes und seiner Regenten'', Saarbrücken, 1841, pp. 337–340
Digitized

External links

Short biography at saarland-biographien.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:John Louis of Nassau-Ottweiler Counts of Nassau House of Nassau 17th-century German nobility 1625 births 1690 deaths Soldiers of the Imperial Circles