Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd (1602 – 28 February 1665) was a Dutch soldier. He was the illegitimate son of Margaretha van Mechelen

Margaretha van Mechelen

Margaretha van Mechelen was a South Dutch noblewoman and the mistress of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, with whom she had 3 sons:*Willem of Nassau, lord of the Lek...

 and Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange from 1618, on the death of his eldest half brother, Philip William, Prince of Orange,...

, and so a collateral member of the House of Orange-Nassau

House of Orange-Nassau

The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...

. He was a Lord of the heerlijkheid

Heerlijkheid

A heerlijkheid was the basic administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in Dutch-speaking lands before 1800. It originated in the feudal subdivision of government authority in the Middle Ages. The closest English equivalents of the word are "seigniory" and "manor"...

 De Lek and Beverweerd. From his father he inherited the estate of Beverweerd; and when his older brother Willem died in 1627 he inherited his estate as well.

Career

He joined the army which had claimed his brother Willem's life and served with distinction in 1629 in the battle near Den Bosch. In 1632 he was advanced to Colonel and after 1635 was in charge of a regiment. In 1640 during the battle for Hulst he prevented the cannons from falling into enemy hands. In the same year he was sent to Paris to advise the French king of the forthcoming marriage of the 14-year-old Prince Willem II of Orange to the 9-year-old English Princess Mary Stuart. Also, when the young Prince proceeded to England to fetch his bride, he was accompanied by Lodewijk van Nassau. In 1643 he became General-Major and Governor of the city of Bergen-op-Zoom.

Despite his mother's objections he married Isabella van Hornes in the spring of 1630 and from this marriage ten children were born. Lodewijk was highly regarded by his uncle, Prince Frederik Hendrik, and took part in the Prince's family life.

Louis started as a supporter of his cousins the Princes of Orange ("Prinzengezind"). After the death of William II of Orange

William II, Prince of Orange

William II, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three years later.-Biography:...

, he made his peace with the regents of the cities of Holland ("Statengezind") and worked with the administration of Johan de Witt

Johan de Witt

Johan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid 17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age...

, becoming First Noble of Holland. In 1658 Lodewijk van Nassau became Governor of Den Bosch and in 1660 was sent as a special ambassador to England. Apart from representing the Dutch republic, two of his daughters were married to British noblemen. Emilia married the heir of the Duke of Ormonde and Elisabeth the Earl of Arlington, one of King Charles II's ministers. By 1662 he had forged an apparently strong relationship between England and the Dutch republic and returned to Holland where he died on 28 February 1665.

Marriage and children

He married Countess Isabella of Hornes in the spring of 1630, and had ten children.

He and Countess Isabella had three surviving sons:

• Maurits Lodewijk I, Lord of De Lek (or LaLecq) and Beverweerd
• Willem Adriaan I, Lord of Odijk, Kortgene
  Kortgene
  Kortgene is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Noord-Beveland, and lies about 15 km northeast of Middelburg.Kortgene received city rights in 1431...
  
  , Zeist
  Zeist
  Zeist is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, located east of the city of Utrecht.-Population centres :*Austerlitz*Bosch en Duin*Den Dolder*Huis ter Heide*Zeist- The town of Zeist :...
  
   and Driebergen
  Driebergen
  Driebergen is a former village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Later it became a part of the single town of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. And presently it's part of Utrechtse Heuvelrug....
  
  
• Hendrik, Lord of Ouwerkerk and Woudenberg
  Woudenberg
  Woudenberg is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.There are still forests in the western part of the municipality. The Pyramid of Austerlitz is located here.-The town Woudenberg :...
  
  

He also had seven daughters of whom the two eldest were:

• Elisabeth van Nassau-Beverweert (28 December 1633-18 January 1718), a notable Dutch beauty, who married March 1665 Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
  Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington
  Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington KG, PC was an English statesman.- Background and early life :He was the son of Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Middlesex, and of Dorothy Crofts. He was the younger brother of John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston; his sister was Elizabeth Bennet who married Robert Kerr,...
  
   and had an only daughter
  • Lady Isabella Bennet
    Isabella FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton
    Isabella Bennet FitzRoy, 2nd Countess of Arlington and Duchess of Grafton was a British peeress and heiress.-Family and marriage:...
    
     (c. 1668–7 February 1723) who married 1 August 1672 as a four-year-old child Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton
    Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton
    Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton KG was the illegitimate son of King Charles II by Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine....
    
     (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690 d. at the storming of Cork
    Cork (city)
    Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
    
    ), the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England and his mistress the Duchess of Cleveland
    Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland
    Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland was an English courtesan and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children, all of which were acknowledged and subsequently ennobled...
    
    . They have many descendants.
• Emilia Butler, Countess of Ossory, a notable beauty like her sister. She was wife of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, and mother of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde
  James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
  James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
  
   and many other children.
• A third daughter Wilhelmina married a Dutch nobleman, and had a daughter Anna Elisabeth van Ruytenbergh who married George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley
  George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley
  George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley KB, PC , styled as Viscount Malpas from 1725 to 1733, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Life:...
  
   in 1701.

His descendants are buried in the family crypt at Ouderkerk aan den IJssel

External links

• Leo van der Pas. Lodewijk van Nassau Heer van Beverweerd. Retrieved 7 October 2009.

References:
See: Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, Oranje-Nassau: Een biografisch woordenboek, Haarlem 2004, 171-173 (with a portrait, ca. 1650)