Ernest Casimir, Count of Nassau-Dietz

He was the 11th child of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, and Countess Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg. After the death of his father, his counties Nassau-Dillenburg, Nassau-Siegen, Nassau-Dietz, and Vianden were divided among his five living sons. Ernest Casimir followed him as Count of Nassau-Dietz. In 1631, he inherited the small county of Spiegelberg near Lauenstein.{{cite book |last1=Jacobi |first1=Adam Friedrich Ernst |title=Die alte Geschichte der Grafschaft Spiegelberg: nebst verschiedenen Anekdoten von den Prinzen Oranien-Nassau die zugleich Grafen von Spiegelberg gewesen |date=1785 |publisher=Cröker |pages=33–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22IAAAAAcAAJ&dq=Ernest+Casimir+I+%221631%22+Spiegelberg&pg=PA34 |access-date=28 July 2024 |language=de}}

Ernest Casimir was primarily known as an outstanding military leader during the Eighty Years' War. He served under Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, in the siege of the cities of Steenwijk and Oldenzaal, and Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, during the Siege of Groenlo and the Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch. As Stadtholder of Groningen, he founded the Nieuweschans fortress in 1628.{{cite book |last1=Witkamp |first1=Pieter Harme |title=Aaardrijkskundig woordenboek van Nederland |date=1877 |publisher=D. Mijs |page=861 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXhAAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ernst+Casimir+I+Nieuweschans+%221628%22&pg=PA861 |access-date=28 July 2024 |language=nl}} Although he owned little in Friesland, he was popular there, and people granted his heir the right to rule after his death.

He was killed by a bullet at the siege of Roermond while he was inspecting the trenches in June 1632.{{cite book |last1=Molhuysen |first1=Philip Christiaan |title=Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek |date=1911 |publisher=A. W. Sijthoff's uitgevers-maatschappij |page=834 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZeAZAAAAYAAJ&dq=Ernest+Casimir+I+%22loopgraven%22+2+juni+1632&pg=PA833 |access-date=28 July 2024 |language=nl}} The hat he was wearing when he was shot and killed is now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/Ernest-Casimir-s-Hat-with-a-Bullet-Hole--142c2450eed0fae83dfb46ca7b6ba24a Ernest Casimir’s Hat with a Bullet Hole, felt, before 1632 His son, Henry Casimir I, succeeded him as count of Nassau-Dietz and as Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe.{{cite book |last1=Fuldauer |first1=G. |title=De Navorscher: Een middel tot gedachtenwisseling en letterkundig verkeer tuschen allen, die iets weten, iets te vragen hebben of iets kunnen oplossen |date=1880 |publisher=J.C. Loman Jr. |page=594 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZN0SAAAAYAAJ&dq=Ernst+Casimir+I+%222+juni+1632%22&pg=PA594 |access-date=28 July 2024 |language=nl}}

In 1607, Ernest Casimir married Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg, daughter of Henry Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg. They had nine children:

1. stillborn daughter (1608)
2. stillborn son (1609)
3. unnamed son (1610)
4. Henry Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz (21 January 1612 – 13 July 1640)
5. William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz (7 August 1613 – 31 October 1664), married Albertine Agnes of Nassau
6. Elizabeth (25 July – 18 September 1614)
7. John Ernest (29 March – May 1617)
8. Maurice (21 February 1619 – 18 September 1628)
9. Elizabeth Friso (25 November 1620 – 20 September 1628)

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| 1 = {{nowr|1. Ernest Casimir of Nassau-Dietz}}

| 2 = 2. John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg

| 3 = 3. Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg

| 4 = 4. William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen

| 5 = 5. Juliana of Stolberg

| 6 = 6. George III of Leuchtenberg

| 7 = 7. Barbara of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach

| 8 = 8. John V, Count of Nassau-Siegen

| 9 = 9. Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg

| 10 = 10. Bodo III of Stolberg-Wernigerode

| 11 = 11. Anna of Eppstein-Königstein

| 12 = 12. John IV of Leuchtenberg

| 13 = 13. Margaret of Schwarzburg

| 14 = 14. Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach

| 15 = 15. Sophia Jagiellon of Brandenburg-Ansbach

| 16 = 16. John IV, Count of Nassau-Siegen

| 17 = 17. Mary of Looz-Heinsberg

| 18 = 18. Henry III of Upper Hesse

| 19 = 19. Anna of Katzenelnbogen

| 20 = 20. Henry IX of Stolberg

| 21 = 21. Matilda of Mansfeld

| 22 = 22. Philip I of Eppstein-Königstein

| 23 = 23. Louise de la Marck

| 24 = 24. Frederick V of Leuchtenberg

| 25 = 25. Dorothea of Rieneck

| 26 = 26. Günther XXXVIII of Schwarzburg

| 27 = 27. Catherine of Querfurt

| 28 = 28. Albert III Achilles

| 29 = 29. Anna of Saxony

| 30 = 30. Casimir IV of Poland

| 31 = 31. Elizabeth of Austria

}}

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{{s-hou|House of Nassau-Dietz|22 December|1573|2 June|1632}}

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{{s-ttl|title = Stadtholder of Friesland|years = 1620–1632}}

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{{s-ttl|title = Stadtholder of Groningen and Drenthe|years = 1625–1632}}

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Category:1573 births

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Category:Stadtholders in the Low Countries

Category:People from Dillenburg

Category:German people of the Eighty Years' War

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