Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (November 22, 1536, Dillenburg

Dillenburg

Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....

 – October 8, 1606, Dillenburg) was a Count of Nassau in Dillenburg

Dillenburg

Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....

. Other names he had were Jan VI or Jan de Oude.

John VI was second son of Count William I of Nassau-Dillenburg and his second wife Juliane of Stolberg-Wernigerode

Juliana of Stolberg

Juliana, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode was the mother of William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish in the 16th century....

 and brother of William I of Orange. He was the principal author of the Union of Utrecht

Union of Utrecht

The Union of Utrecht was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain....

.

Family and children

John VI was married three times. He was called "John the Elder" to separate him from his 2nd son, "John the Middle", and his grandson "John the Younger". First, he was married on 16 June 1559 with Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg (1537 – 6 July 1579) and had in this marriage the following children:

1. Count Willem Lodewijk "Us Heit"
   William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
   William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg was Count of Nassau-Dillenburg from 1606 to 1620, and stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe. He was the eldest son of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.William Louis served as a cavalry officer under William the Silent...
   
    (13 March 1560 – 31 May 1620)
2. Count John VII of Nassau-Siegen (7 June 1561 – 27 September 1623)
3. Count Georg of Nassau-Dillenburg (1 September 1562 – 9 August 1623)
4. Elisabeth (24 January 1564 – 5 May 1611), married:
   1. on 3 October 1583 to Count Philipp IV of Nassau-Saarbrücken
   2. on 7 May 1603 to Count Wolfgang Ernst I of Isenburg-Büdingen
5. Juliana (6 October 1565 – 4 October 1630), married:
   1. on 24 April 1588 to Wild and Rheingraf Adolf Henry of Dhaun
   2. on 8 February 1619 to Count John Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels
6. Philipp
   Philip of Nassau
   Philip of Nassau or Filips of Nassau was a Count of Nassau, Katzenelbogen, Vianden and Dietz, fought for the United Provinces during the Eighty Years' War...
   
    (1 December 1566 – 3 September 1595)
7. Maria (12 November 1568 – 10 May 1625), married on 2 December 1588 to Count John Louis I of Nasau-Wiesbaden-Idstein
   John Louis I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein
   John Louis I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein was the son of Count Balthasar of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein and his wife Margaret of Isenburg-Bierstein. He succeeded his father in 1568 as Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden....
   
   
8. Anna Sibylla (29 September 1569 – 19 December 1576)
9. Mathilde (27 December 1570 – 10 May 1625), married on 24 June 1592 to Count Wilhelm V of Mansfeld-Arnstein
10. Albert, born and died in 1572
11. Count Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz (22 December 1573 – 2 June 1632)
12. Louis Günther (15 February 1575 – 12 September 1604)

Secondly, he married on 13 September 1580 with Kunigunde Jakobäa of Simmern (1556–1586) and had in this marriage two daughters:

1. Maria Amalia (27 July 1582 – 31 October 1635), married on 23 August 1600 to Count Wilhelm I of Solms-Braunsfeld-Greiffenstein
2. Kunigunde (12 July 1583 – 4 April 1584)

Thirdly, he married on 14 June 1586 to Johannetta of Sayn-Wittgenstein (1561–1622) and had in this marriage the following children:

1. Georg Ludwig, born and died in 1588
2. Prince John Louis of Nassau-Hadamar (6 August 1590 – 10 March 1653)
3. Johannette Elisabeth (13 February 1593 – 13 September 1654), married on 16 December 1616 to Count Conrad Gumprecht of Bentheim-Limburg
4. Anna (24 November 1594 – 11 February 1660), married on 19 June 1619 to Count Philipp Ernst of Isenburg-Birstein
5. Magdalene (13 November 1595 – 31 July 1633), married on 29 May 1624 to Count Georg Albrecht I of Erbach
6. Anna Amalie (19 July 1599 – 4 May 1667), married on 25 November 1648 to Count Wilhelm Otto of Isenburg-Birstein
7. Juliane, born and died in 1602