Walram II of Nassau
Encyclopedia
Biography
Walram was the elder son of Count Henry II of NassauHenry II of Nassau
Henry II the Rich was Count of Nassau between 1198 and 1247. Among his descendants are the present-day rulers of both Luxembourg and the Netherlands.-Biography:...
and Matilda of Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
. He was chief cavalry officer in the service of Emperor Rudolf I.
In about 1247, Henry II abdicated, passing the reign to Walram's younger brother, Otto
Otto I of Nassau
Otto I of Nassau , Count of Nassau was the younger son of Count Henry II of Nassau and Matilda of Geldern. Otto I became the count of Dillenburg, Hadamar, Siegen, Herborn and Beilstein after many years of quarrel with his brother Count Walram II. In the division of 17 December 1255 he received...
. Sometime between 1249 and 1251, Walram began to share the reign as Co-Count of Nassau.
Because of continuing disputes with Otto, Walram II divided the inheritance with him on December 17, 1255, beginning a centuries-long political and geographical separation between the two lines of the House of Nassau. The present-day Grand Dukes of Luxemburg
Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg
The Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg consists of the extended family of the sovereign Grand Duke....
are descended from Walram. Walram received all of his father's lands south the Lahn
Lahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
River including Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Idstein
Idstein
Idstein is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße , connecting towns with fine timber-frame buildings and...
, Weilburg
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...
and Sonnenberg
Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg
Sonnenberg is a borough of Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse, Germany. Formerly an independent municipality, Sonnenberg was incorporated into Wiesbaden on October 28, 1926. The borough has approximately 8,000 residents....
.
Walram was chief cavalry officer and a secret advisor of Rudolph I
Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolph I was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg dynasty to a leading position among the Imperial feudal dynasties...
, King of Germany.
Walram lost several towns, including Nieder-Lahnstein
Lahnstein
Lahnstein is a verband-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn River with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz...
, Pfaffenhofen
Pfaffenhofen
Pfaffenhofen is the name ofin Germany:* Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, a town in Bavaria* Pfaffenhofen , in Bavaria* Pfaffenhofen an der Glonn, a municipality in Dachau, Bavaria* a part of the municipality of Altomünster in Dachau, Bavaria...
and Vallendar
Vallendar
Vallendar is a municipality in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Vallendar. A city named "Vallendar" is included in the PC game Call of...
to the Archbishop of Trier. He also continued the Dernbacher Feud
Dernbacher Feud
The Dernbacher Feud was an over one hundred year long ongoing dispute in present-day Germany between the House of Nassau, several knightly families, and the Landgrave of Hesse...
against Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. He died on January 24, 1276), allegedly in mental derangement.
Family and children
Walram was married before 1250 to Adelheid of KatzenelnbogenKatzenelnbogen
Katzenelnbogen is the name of a castle and small city in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Katzenelnbogen.-History:...
(died February 22, 1288 in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
), daughter of Count Diether IV of Katzenelnbogen. The union produced the following children:
- Matilda, died young.
- Imagina (died before 1276), may have married Frederick of Lichtenberg.
- Diether (died November 23, 1307), Archbishop and Elector of Trier, 1300-1307.
- Adolf (ca. 1255-1298), King of Germany from 1292 until 1298.
- Robert (died ca. 1305)
- Walram (died ca. 1324)
- Richardis (died July 28, 1311), a nun in Klarenthal AbbeyKlarenthal AbbeyKlarenthal Abbey is a former convent of the Order of Poor Ladies in the borough of Klarenthal in Wiesbaden, Germany...
and MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
External links
This article is based on translations of the corresponding articles from the German and Dutch Wikipedia.