John Ernest van Nassau-Siegen

Count John Ernest of Nassau-Siegen (8 November 1618 – 23 November 1639), German: Johann Ernst Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein, was a count from the House of Nassau-Siegen, a cadet branch of the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau. He served as a naval officer in the Dutch West India Company.

John Ernest was born at Siegen Castle [de] on 8 November 1618 as the seventh and youngest son of Count John VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen and his second wife, Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. He was baptised in Siegen on 10 January 1619 and was named after his eldest halfbrother John Ernest, who died the previous year.

The will and testament of Count John VII 'the Middle' of 1621 bequeathed John Maurice and his younger brothers from their father's second marriage the district of Freudenberg, some villages in the Haingericht and a third part of the administration of the city of Siegen. After his older half-brother John 'the Younger' had accepted the homage of the city of Siegen for the entire county of Nassau-Siegen on 12 January 1624 and had voluntarily ceded the sovereignty over the Hilchenbach district with Ginsburg Castle [de] and some villages belonging to the Ferndorf [de] and Netphen districts to his younger brother William on 13/23 January 1624, John Ernest and his brothers, with the exception of the oldest two brothers John Maurice and George Frederick, accepted only modest appanages.

John Ernest enlisted in the Dutch States Army under Prince Frederick Henry of Orange. He accompanied his eldest brother John Maurice to Dutch Brazil and served as a naval officer on the 'Alkmaar'. He died of dysentery in São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos on 23 November 1639 aboard the 'Alkmaar', and was buried in the Calvinist church in Mauritsstad on 1 December.

The first stronghold built by the Dutch in Mauritsstad was named Fortress Ernestus after him.

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  Siegen in 1617. From Braun & Hogenberg, Civitates orbis terrarum Band 6, Cologne, 1617. On the left Siegen Castle.

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  Count John Ernest with his eldest brother John Maurice.

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  São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos. Engraving by Hessel Gerritsz, 1627.

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  The Calvinist church in Mauritsstad. Detail of an engraving by Frans Post, 1647.

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