Louis_of_Nassau,_Lord_of_De_Lek_and_Beverweerd

Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd

Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd

Dutch soldier

Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd (1602 – The Hague, 28 February 1665) was a Dutch soldier. He was the illegitimate son of Margaretha van Mechelen and Maurice, Prince of Orange, and so a collateral member of the House of Orange-Nassau. He was a Lord of the heerlijkheid van De Lek (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 heerlijkheid from his father.[1]

Portrait of Louis of Nassau, Lord of den Lek and Beverweerd (1602-1665)about 1650.
Louis at 18 months of age in 1604, by Daniël van den Queborn, 1604/5
Arms of Louis of Lecke, Lord of Beverweerd.

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. In 1632 he was advanced to Colonel and after 1635 was in charge of a regiment. In 1640 during the battle for 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 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. Lodewijk was highly regarded by his uncle, Prince Frederick Henry, and took part 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, 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, one of King Charles II's ministers; and Emilia married Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, the heir apparent of the Duke of Ormond. By 1662 Louis had forged an apparently strong relationship between England and the Dutch Republic and returned to Holland where he died on 28 February 1665. [2]

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:

He also had seven daughters of whom the three eldest were:

Louis of Nassau died in The Hague and was buried there, 6 March 1665, in de Great, or St. James Church.[3] His descendants are buried in the family crypt at Ouderkerk aan den IJssel.

More information Family tree of the House of Nassau-den Lek ...

References

  1. [1]
    van der Pas, Leo. "Lodewijk van Nassau Heer van Beverweerd". Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  2. [2]
    Rowen, Herbert H. (1978). John de Witt, grand pensionary of Holland, 1625-1672. Princeton University Press.
  3. [3]
    Molhuysen, Dr. P.C. and Blok, Prof. Dr. P.J., Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, volume 1, pages 1365-1366: Lodewijk (Louys) van Nassau. A.W. Sijthoff's Publishers Company, Leiden, 1911

References: See: Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, Oranje-Nassau: Een biografisch woordenboek, Haarlem 2004, 171-173 (with a portrait, ca. 1650)
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