Adolf of Nassau-Siegen (1586–1608)

Adolf was born at Dillenburg Castle on 8 August 1586[1] as the third son of Count John VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen and his first wife, Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen.[2] He was baptised on Sunday 21 August^Jul..[3]

Adolf studied in Geneva in 1601,[4] and then in Basel and in France.[5] He entered the Dutch States Army in 1604 and took part in the Siege of Ostend (1604) and the Siege of Sluis (1604).[4][6] On 3 April 1606 he was appointed ritmeester over a company of 86 horsemen.[4] In 1608 he was with his father in the Palatinate.[6] He then undertook an expedition to Luxembourg and was killed on the retreat on 7 November 1608 near Xanten.[1][4][5][6][7][8] He was buried on 23 November 1608 in the Saint Stephen's Church in Nijmegen.[4]

Adolf and his older brothers John Ernest and John 'the Younger' had the reputation of being gamblers and of showing a completely unseemly splendour in their clothes and appearance. Their father wrote letters to the young counts, full of fatherly admonitions, exhorting them to be thrifty, because he did not know what to do with his worries and debts. In a letter of 8 December 1608 he even considered the death of Adolf as a punishment from God and he exhorted the two others, who with "einem ärgerlichen Leben mit Verschwendung fast allem, was ich in der Welt habe, durch Ehebrechen und Hurerei, Plünderung und Beraubung armer, unschuldiger Leute hoch und niederen Standen" ("an annoying life of squandering almost everything I have in the world, through adultery and fornication, plundering and robbing poor, innocent people of high and low rank") ruined the county of Nassau-Siegen, to lead a different, better life, worthy of the name Nassau.[9]

In 1901, on the initiative of municipal archivist H.D.J. van Schevichaven, a plaque measuring 103 by 64 cm was affixed to the northern transept of St. Stephen's Church in Nijmegen.[10] The text on this plaque reads (translated into English):

"IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 1608
WAS BURIED HERE
ADOLF COUNT OF NASSAU SIEGEN
THIRD SON OF JOHN COUNT OF NASSAU SIEGEN
AND OF MAGDALENE OF WALDECK
FALLEN AT THE AGE OF 22
IN A BATTLE NEAR XANTEN
HE WAS ONE OF THE TWELVE HEROES
FROM THE HOUSE OF NASSAU
WHO IN THE EIGHTY YEARS' WAR
GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE FREEDOM
OF THE DUTCH PEOPLE"

• 
  The Siege of Ostend (1601-1604). Painting by Peter Snayers, 17th century. Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft.
• 
  The Siege of Sluis (1604). Engraving by Joan Blaeu. From the Atlas van Loon, 1649.
• 
  The Battle near Xanten (1608). Print by Frans Hogenberg, 1608–1610. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.
• 
  The Saint Stephen's Church in Nijmegen, 2016.

• Van der Aa, A.J. (1852). "Adolf van Nassau de Jonge". Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden, bevattende levensbeschrijvingen van zoodanige personen, die zich op eenigerlei wijze in ons vaderland hebben vermaard gemaakt (in Dutch). Vol. Eerste deel. Haarlem: J.J. van Brederode. pp. 78–81.
• Behr, Kamill (1854). Genealogie der in Europa regierenden Fürstenhäuser (in German). Leipzig: Verlag von Bernhard Tauchnitz.
• Blok, P.J. (1911). "Adolf, de Jonge". In Molhuysen, P.C. & Blok, P.J. (eds.). Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (in Dutch). Vol. Eerste deel. Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff. p. 1222.
• Dek, A.W.E. (1962). Graf Johann der Mittlere von Nassau-Siegen und seine 25 Kinder (in German). Rijswijk: Krips Repro.
• Dek, A.W.E. (1968). "De afstammelingen van Juliana van Stolberg tot aan het jaar van de Vrede van Münster". Spiegel der Historie. Maandblad voor de geschiedenis der Nederlanden (in Dutch). 1968 (7/8): 228–303.
• Dek, A.W.E. (1970). Genealogie van het Vorstenhuis Nassau (in Dutch). Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek.
• von Ehrenkrook, Hans Friedrich; Förster, Karl & Marchtaler, Kurt Erhard (1928). Ahnenreihen aus allen deutschen Gauen. Beilage zum Archiv für Sippenforschung und allen verwandten Gebieten (in German). Görlitz: Verlag für Sippenforschung und Wappenkunde C.A. Starke.
• Hoffmeister, Jacob Christoph Carl (1883). Historisch-genealogisches Handbuch über alle Grafen und Fürsten von Waldeck und Pyrmont seit 1228 (in German). Cassel: Verlag Gustav Klaunig.
• Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain & Magdelaine, F. & B. (1981). l'Allemagne Dynastique (in French). Vol. Tome III: Brunswick-Nassau-Schwarzbourg. Le Perreux: Alain Giraud.
• Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain & Magdelaine, F. & B. (1987). l'Allemagne Dynastique (in French). Vol. Tome V: Hohenzollern-Waldeck-Familles alliées A-B. Le Perreux-sur-Marne: Alain Giraud.
• Lück, Alfred (1981) [1967]. Siegerland und Nederland (in German) (2nd ed.). Siegen: Siegerländer Heimatverein e.V.
• Schutte, O. (1979). "Genealogische gegevens". In Tamse, C.A. (ed.). Nassau en Oranje in de Nederlandse geschiedenis (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: A.W. Sijthoff. pp. 40–44, 224–228. ISBN 90-218-2447-7.
• Textor von Haiger, Johann (1617). Nassauische Chronik (in German). Herborn: Christoph Raab.
• Vorsterman van Oyen, A.A. (1882). Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden tot heden (in Dutch). Leiden/Utrecht: A.W. Sijthoff/J.L. Beijers.

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