Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd (1602 –

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, 28 February 1665) was a Dutch soldier. He was the illegitimate son of

Margaretha van Mechelen Margaretha van Mechelen (c. 1580 in Lier – 17 May 1662 in The Hague) was a noblewoman of the Southern Netherlands and (from c.1600 to c.1610) the mistress of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, with whom she had three sons: * Willem of Nassau, ...

and

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Lordship of Frisia, Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became P ...

, and so a collateral member of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of Or ...

. He was a Lord of the

heerlijkheid A ''heerlijkheid'' (a Dutch language, Dutch word; pl. ''heerlijkheden''; also called ''heerschap''; Latin: ''Dominium'') was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and Judiciary, judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking ...

van

De Lek De Lek was a ''heerlijkheid'' ( manor) and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province South Holland. It is named after the Lek River. Heerlijkheid According to the 19th-century historian Van der Aa, the old ''Heerlijkheid van de L ...

(which he inherited on the death of his older brother, William of Nassau on his death in 1627), as well as the Beverweerd Castle and its

from his father.

Career

He joined the army which had claimed his brother William's life and served with distinction in 1629 in the battle near

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

. In 1632 he was advanced to Colonel and after 1635 was in charge of a regiment. In 1640 during the battle for

Hulst Hulst () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and city in southwestern Netherlands in the east of Zeelandic Flanders. History Hulst received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in the 12th century. Hulst Siege of Hulst ...

, he prevented the cannons from falling into enemy hands. In the same year he was sent to Paris to advise the French king of the forthcoming marriage of the 14-year-old

William II of Orange William II ( Dutch: ''Willem II''; 27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650) was sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen in the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 un ...

to the 9-year-old English Princess Mary Stuart. Also, when the young Prince proceeded to England to fetch his bride, he was accompanied by Louis of Nassau. In 1643 he became General-Major and Governor of the city of Bergen-op-Zoom. Despite his mother's objections, he married Isabella van Hornes in the spring of 1630 and from this marriage, ten children were born. His uncle,

Prince Frederick Henry Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...

, highly regarded Lodewijk, and participated in the Prince's family life. Louis was originally a supporter of his next of kin, the Princes of Orange. After the death of William II he made his peace with the anti-Orangist regents of the cities of the Dutch Republic and worked with the administration of

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman and mathematician who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial exp ...

, becoming First Noble of Holland. In 1658 Louis of Nassau became Governor of Den Bosch and in 1660 was sent as a special ambassador to England. In addition to his representing the Dutch Republic, two of his daughters married British noblemen. Isabella married

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618 – 28 July 1685) was an England, English statesman. A supporter of the Cavaliers, Royalists during the English Civil War, he joined the royal family in exile before returning to England at the Stuart R ...

, one of King Charles II's ministers; and Emilia married

Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory (8 July 1634 – 30 July 1680) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke. ...

, the heir apparent of the

Duke of Ormond The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. History of Ormonde titles The earldom ...

. By 1662 Louis had forged a strong relationship between England and the Dutch Republic and returned to Holland where he died on 28 February 1665.

Marriage and children

He married Countess Isabella of Hornes in the spring of 1630, and had ten children. He and Countess Isabella of Hornes had three surviving sons: *Maurits Lodewijk I, Lord of De Lek (or LaLecq) and Beverweerd *Willem Adriaan I, Lord of

Odijk Odijk is a town in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Bunnik, and lies about south of Zeist. Odijk used to be a separate municipality. It merged with Bunnik and Werkhoven in 1964. Overview The village was fir ...

Kortgene Kortgene is a small city in the southwest Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Noord-Beveland, Zeeland, about 15 km northeast of Middelburg. It received city rights in 1431, but was flooded in 1530 and 1532. The new settlement r ...

Zeist Zeist () is the Capital city, capital and largest town of the Zeist (municipality), municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht (province), Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of " ...

and

Driebergen Driebergen is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is first mentioned as Thriberghen in 1159. The former municipality of Driebergen existed until 1931, when it merged with Rijsenburg, to create the new municipa ...

* Hendrik, Lord of

Ouwerkerk Ouwerkerk is a village in the southwest Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland about 60 km south of Rotterdam. History Ouwerkerk is the oldest village of the former island of Duiveland, possibly founde ...

and

Woudenberg Woudenberg () is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the central Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. In 2023, it had a population of 14,410. There are forests in the ...

He also had seven daughters of whom the three eldest were: * Isabella van Nassau-Beverweert (28 December 1633 – 18 January 1718), sometimes recorded as Elisabeth, a notable Dutch beauty, who married March 1665

and had an only daughter ** Lady Isabella Bennet (c. 1668–7 February 1723) who married 1 August 1672 as a four-year-old child

Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress Barbara Villiers. A military commander, Henry FitzRoy was appointed colonel of the Grenadier Guar ...

(28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690 d. at the storming of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

), the illegitimate son of

King Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

and his mistress the Duchess of Cleveland. They have many descendants. *

Emilia Butler, Countess of Ossory Emilia Butler, Countess of Ossory (4 March 1635 (baptised) – 12 December 1688 (buried)), born Æmilia van Nassau-Beverweerd, was an Anglo-Dutch courtier. Emilia was born in The Hague, the daughter of Louis of Nassau-Beverweerd, Lodewijk v ...

, a notable beauty like her sister. She was wife of

Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory (8 July 1634 – 30 July 1680) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke. ...

, and mother of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde and other children. * Wilhelmina Anna, married the Dutch noble Albert Willemsz van Ruytenburgh (1630-1688), son of

Willem van Ruytenburch Willem van Ruytenburch, ''lord of Vlaardingen and Vlaardingen-Ambacht'' (1600–1652) was a member of the Dutch gentry and Amsterdam patriciate of the Dutch Golden Age. He became an alderman of Amsterdam and joined the Schutterij (city guard) o ...

, and ha
a daughter Anna Elisabeth van Ruytenbergh
who married

George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley George Cholmondeley, 2nd Earl of Cholmondeley, PC, FRS (1666 – 7 May 1733), styled The Honourable from birth until 1715 and then known as Lord Newborough to 1725, was an English soldier. Cholmondeley was the second son of Robert Cholmondele ...

in 1701. Louis of Nassau died in

and was buried there, 6 March 1665, in de Great, or St. James Church.Molhuysen, Dr. P.C. and Blok, Prof. Dr. P.J.,

Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek The ''Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek'' (''NNBW'') is a biographical reference work in the Dutch language. It was published in ten parts between 1911 and 1937 by Sijthoff, Leiden, and the editors were P. C. Molhuysen and P. J. Blok. ...

, volume 1, pages 1365-1366
Lodewijk (Louys) van Nassau
A.W. Sijthoff's Publishers Company, Leiden, 1911 His descendants are buried in the family crypt at

Ouderkerk aan den IJssel Ouderkerk aan den IJssel (; ) is a village in the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, in the province of South Holland, the Netherlands. It is situated along the river Hollandse IJssel and has over 4000 inhabitants. Ouderkerk aan den IJssel, togethe ...

References

External links

* Leo van der Pas
Lodewijk van Nassau Heer van Beverweerd
Retrieved 7 October 2009. References: See: Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, Oranje-Nassau: Een biografisch woordenboek, Haarlem 2004, 171-173 (with a portrait, ca. 1650) {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 1602 births 1665 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel People from Utrecht (province)