John III of Nassau-Siegen

Count John III the Younger 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 fifth son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess .

John was first documented in 1401. He initially became a clergyman, perhaps according to his father's wishes. He later took over the lucrative provostship of the cathedral in Münster, in place of his older brother Engelbert, who stepped down to the secular state. 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. Likewise, they promised each other, out of conviction of mutual advantages, not to inflict any violent advances on each other, and to allow the preferences of one and the other to apply, which had been established by older decrees. However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, John with the Helmet was not married, and John the Younger was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long.

When Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach, Countess of Vianden, died without issue in 1417, the four brothers, grandsons of Adelaide of Vianden, Elisabeth's great-aunt, inherited the County of Vianden with the lordships of St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen. 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 with the Helmet 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.

John the Younger obtained with the toll at Lahnstein from Roman King Sigismund on 4 April 1418. 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 II with the Helmet was given Dillenburg Castle, Engelbert I received the County of Vianden in the same way, a new agreement was made which had already led to hostilities, Duke Adolf I of Cleves, compensated the Nassau brothers with 12,000 gold guilders, Tuesday after Egidien 1424. The Duke also appointed John the Younger as Oberst and Amtmann in the County of Mark He was succeeded by his brothers John II and Engelbert I, who jointly ruled their territories again, which continued until their deaths.

John's swearing letter John's swearing letter against Duke John III of Bavaria (Hessian Central State Archives, Wiesbaden, Abt. 170 I Nr. U 1026). John the Younger participated alongside Duke John III of Bavaria in the against Duke John IV of Brabant and Countess Jacqueline of Holland in 1418. Because John the Younger had the luck on his side, John III of Bavaria's army was victorious. For this military service, John III of Bavaria owed John the Younger 5,000 guilders, which, in a debenture, he promised to pay in Arnhem on 25 July 1419. Great-great-grandparents

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