John II of Nassau-Siegen

Count John II with the Helmet of Nassau-Siegen , , succeeded, with his brothers, his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen (a part of the County of Nassau). With his brothers, he inherited the County of Vianden in 1417, and also inherited half of the County of Diez in 1420. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.

Biography John was the second son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess . To distinguish him from his brother and brother's son of the same name, he was called the Elder after his father's death. His most common epithet, however, was: with the Helmet , which was caused by his bellicose life and the frequent use of the helmet associated with it. on 21 December 1409. Whichever of the brothers would be native or closest to his lands on the father's death should take possession of them in all brothers' name until a division would have taken place. However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, John the Elder was not married, the younger of the same name was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long.

In association with the Electorate of Mainz, John waged a lengthy war with Landgrave Herman II of Hesse during his father's lifetime around 1410, which was very damaging for both countries. The Hessian annalists give sad descriptions of it. After the end of this truce, there were new hostilities with Landgrave Louis I of Hesse, including a battle in the Rippach near Sinn, in which, according to Hessian tales, John lost his banner and many people, especially Paris Galgenholz, a born Hessian. John had used this extremely clever man, perhaps as notorious as his name sounds (his surname translated into English was Gallowswood), for reconnaissance and negotiation for a long time. When the actual transfer took place and in which year the brothers came into possession of the County of Vianden cannot be stated with certainty and reliability. It probably happened in 1420 or 1421, because it was in the latter year that John II was first named Count of Vianden in the Palatinate feudal charter of 27 February. A few years before taking possession of Vianden, Engelbert I had already come into possession of half the lordships of St. Vith and Bütgenbach. Vianden included 47 villages (with 583 taxable households in 1562). Apart from the city of St. Vith, St. Vith and Bütgenbach contained 51 villages with 814 taxable subjects, while Dasburg had 304 in 36 villages. The Counts of Vianden only partially owned the lordship of Grimbergen, and it could only partially be inherited by the House of Nassau. as well as ¼ of Camberg in 1428. On 2 July 1420, Engelbert I and Count Godfrey VII of Eppstein-Münzenberg, as the joint owners, transferred the County of Diez, which was an imperial fief, to Archbishop of Trier, and received it back from him as a fief. On 28 October 1425, the three remaining brothers established a kind of division: John the Elder was given Dillenburg Castle, Engelbert Herborn Castle, and John the Younger as his Residenz. a new agreement was made However, Engelbert mostly stayed in the Dutch territories, while John administered mainly the German lands. To settle the claims to Cleves and Mark, which had already led to hostilities, Duke Adolf I of Cleves, compensated the Nassau brothers with 12,000 gold guilders, Tuesday after Egidien 1424. In a later treaty of 1429 or 1439, they jointly ceded their rights to the heerlijkheden of Ravenstein, Herpen and Uden to the Counts of Virneburg for a sum of 21,000 gold guilders. and was buried in near Hilchenbach. Great-great-grandparents

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