John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 855

The County of Nassau became Protestant during the reign of William the Rich, who was soon poor trying to protect his decision.  William's wife, Walburga, died in 1529, and his good friend Philipp of Hanau died about the same time, leaving a widow, Juliane.  William and Juliane married and her devotion to Lutheranism converted William the Rich to that faith.  This turned out to be one of the key events in Nassau history.  She became the mother of some of the great leaders of the Nassau line.

William the Rich introduced Lutheranism slowly; the churches at Dillenburg and at Siegen were among the first to have Protestant ministers.  The first son of William the Rich and Juliane was also named William.  The next son was John.  Juliane was very active in educating her sons.  In 1544, when the son William was 11, William the Rich's brother died without heirs.  At stake were the Nassau family holdings in the Netherlands and the Orange principality.  William the Rich was the heir to these properties but Charles V (of the Holy Roman Empire and also known as Charles I of Spain) wanted control of the Netherlands.  Not only was greed involved, but Charles could see that William the Rich would install Protestant leaders.  Charles' proposal was that the younger William, now 11, would inherit the lands, but William would have to live in the Court of Charles, under Catholic influence.  In this "hardball" game between military unequals, William and Juliane agreed.

As the young William grew up, he became a scholar, soldier, father, and the emissary of the Emperor.  But the Emperor had plans that William did not know about, but which he learned through friends, plans to forcibly exterminate Protestant thought and leaders in the Netherlands.  After consulting friends, he became very withdrawn and was soon known as William the Silent.  He brooded on where his loyalty lay, to the Emperor, to his own children, or to the people of the Netherlands.  He soon became the chief leader of the forces struggling for independence among the Dutch.  His younger brother, John (to be called the Elder), inherited his father's domains in the County of Nassau.  The son's reign was wise.  John advocated better schools, better pay for teachers, and financial assistance for poorer students.

FREUDENBERG"> When the struggle for Dutch independence became very active about 1566, John the Elder levied taxes on his own citizens to aid the Dutch.  He organized an army to help, which assembled about twelve miles northeast of Freudenberg.  Juliane outlived her husband and saw both William (of Orange) and John (County of Nassau) become leaders of the Protestant movement.  Though Juliane had originally been Lutheran, both sons became Reformed.  The Reformed religion became the favored religion of Nassau County in 1581.  William of Orange had announced his conversion from Catholicism in 1573.

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