Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg


Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-line forefather of the House of Orange.
John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg was a Count of Nassau in Dillenburg. Other names he had were Jan VI or Jan de Oude.
John VI was born in Dillenburg, the second son of Count William I of Nassau-Dillenburg and his second wife Juliane of Stolberg-Wernigerode and brother of William I of Orange. He was the principal author of the Union of Utrecht.

Family and children

John VI was married three times and had a total of 24 children:
First, he was married on 16 June 1559 with Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg, who bore him 13 children:
  1. Count Willem Lodewijk "Us Heit"
  2. Count John VII
  3. Count George
  4. Elisabeth, married:
  5. # on 3 October 1583 to Count Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg
  6. # on 7 May 1603 to Count Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen
  7. Juliana, married:
  8. # on 24 April 1588 to Wild- and Rhinegrave Adolf Henry of Dhaun
  9. # on 8 February 1619 to Count John Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels
  10. Philip
  11. Maria, married on 2 December 1588 to Count John [Louis I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein|John Louis I of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein]
  12. Anna Sibylla
  13. Mathilde, married on 24 June 1592 to Count Wilhelm V of Mansfeld-Arnstein
  14. Albert
  15. Count Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz. It is through Ernest Casimir that the royal family of the Netherlands are descended.
  16. Louis Gunther
  17. Stillborn son
Secondly, he married on 13 September 1580 with Kunigunde Jakobäa of Simmern, daughter of Frederick III, Elector Palatine, who bore him 4 children:
  1. Stillborn son
  2. Maria Amalia, married on 23 August 1600 to Count Wilhelm I of Solms-Braunsfeld-Greiffenstein
  3. Kunigunde
  4. Stillborn son
Thirdly, he married on 14 June 1586 to Johannetta of Sayn-Wittgenstein, who bore him 7 children:
  1. George Louis
  2. Prince John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar
  3. Johannette Elisabeth, married on 16 December 1616 to Count Conrad Gumprecht of Bentheim-Limburg, son of Arnold III, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg
  4. Anna, married on 19 June 1619 to Count Philipp Ernst of Isenburg-Birstein
  5. Magdalene, married on 29 May 1624 to George [Albert I, Count of Erbach-Schönberg|Count Georg Albrecht I of Erbach]
  6. Anna Amalie, married on 25 November 1648 to Count Wilhelm Otto of Isenburg-Birstein
  7. Juliane.
He died in his native city of Dillenburg, aged 69.

Ancestry