| Van Wassenaer | |
|---|---|
| Noble family | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Country |  Netherlands |
| Founded | 13th century |
| Founder | Philips van Wassenaer |
| Style(s) | Count, baron |
The Van Wassenaer family is the name of an old Dutch noble family. It was first mentioned in the County of Holland on 3 November 1200. They are one of the few original noble families from Holland that has survived to this day. Members of the family carry the title of count or baron.
The family was already noble from earliest times ("Uradel"). According to family legend, the name may be taken from the crescent (wassende) moon on the family coat of arms, borrowed from an Arabian banner that a member of the van Wassenaer family obtained while on a crusade. According to some family archives, Wassenaar means Wasser Herren, Sea Lords/Kings, which had been a traditional title that the invading Romans (under Caligula) had recognized while destituting the kings of Batavia.
The founding father of the Wassenaer family was Philip, who lived in the early 13th century and owned lands in Wassenaar (current-day spelling). He was a vassal of William I, Count of Holland who took part in the Third Crusade and the Fifth Crusade.
Philip's son Dirk I founded the branches van Wassenaer, van Cranenburch and van Groenevelt. A seal of Dirk I of 1226 shows a different coat of arms than his later coat of arms, but the crescent may have served as crest at the time. The van Wassenaer branch was made Burgraves of Leiden by the Counts of Holland in 1340. In 1544 this branch extinguished.
Dirk's younger brother Filips received Duivenvoorde Castle in 1226 and founded the branch van Duvenvoirde. His son Arend I van Duvenvoorde (†1268) continued the main Van Duvenvoorde branch which in the 17th century resumed the name van Wassenaer.
The Polanen branch descended from a younger brother of the Van Duvenvoorde branch. Arend I van Duvenvoorde had a younger brother Jan van Duvenvoirde (noted 1226–1248). He is the founding father of the Van Polanen branch. His son Philips III van Duivenvoorde (c. 1248 – after 1301) received the fief of Polanen (near Monster, South Holland) in 1295. His son Jan I van Polanen (c. 1285 – 1342) then named himself van Polanen. In the early phases of the Hook and Cod wars, the Van Polanen family, as well as their bastard Willem van Duvenvoorde led the Hook faction.
The Van Polanen branch played an important role later on. It was through the marriage of Johanna van Polanen with Engelbert I of Nassau, that the House of Nassau first gained territories in the Netherlands, namely Breda. Much later this fact, among others, led to the House of Orange-Nassau's rise to the ruling dynasty of the country.
The Duvenvoirde branch ended with Jacoba Maria van Wassenaar, baroness of Torck (1709–1771) whose descendants in the female line, the barons Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, still today own Kasteel Duivenvoorde.
Jacob II van Wassenaer Obdam (1645–1714) married Adriana Sophia von Raesfeld in 1676, who inherited Twickel Castle near Delden. The branch van Wassenaer Opdam was elevated to the rank of (non-ruling) imperial counts in 1711. This branch extinguished in 1850 with Marie Cornélie van Wassenaer Obdam (1799–1850) who left the castle to her children, barons van Heeckeren van Kell, who took on the name van Heeckeren van Wassenaer. Baroness Marie Amélie van Heeckeren van Wassenaer, née countess van Aldenburg Bentinck (1879–1975), gave the castle to her family foundation in 1953. It is now administrated by the heirs of her grand nephew, count Christian zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (1952–2010).
Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord of Voorschoten, Duivenvoorde and Veur (1649–1707), married Jacoba van Lyere, heiress of Katwijk, thus founding the branch van Wassenaer tot Catwijck which is still existing. Furthermore, the castles of Hoekelum and Nederhemert were owned by Wassenaer family members until the late 20th century.
At the beginning of the 19th century, all family members were granted the title of baron in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
Obdam is a village and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. The municipality ceased to exist on 1 January 2007 when it merged with Wester-Koggenland to form the new municipality of Koggenland.
Unico Wilhelm, Count van Wassenaer Obdam was a Dutch nobleman who was a diplomat as well as a composer. He reorganized the Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order. His most important surviving compositions are the Concerti Armonici, which until 1980 had been misattributed to the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) and to Carlo Ricciotti (1681–1756).
Tuyll is the name of a noble Dutch family, with familial and historical links to England, whose full name is Van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Several knights, members of various courts, literary figures, generals, ambassadors, statesmen and explorers carried the family name.
The Admiralty of Rotterdam, also called the Admiralty of de Maze, was one of the five Dutch admiralties in the Dutch Republic.
The van Voorst tot Voorst family is an old Dutch noble family from the province of Overijssel.
The House of Rechteren is the name of an old noble family belonging to the Dutch and German nobility. The German branch of Counts von Rechteren-Limpurg-Speckfeld has been mediatised.
Van Heeckeren is an old Dutch noble family from the Dutch provinces Overijssel and Gelderland.
The Lords of Brederode were a noble family from Holland who played an important role during the Middle Ages and the Early modern period. The family had a high noble rank and hold the titles Count of Brederode, Count of Gennep, and furthermore they ruled the souverain Lordship of Vianen, the Viscountship of Utrecht among other feudal titles.
Johanna van Polanen was a Dutch noblewoman. She was the daughter of John III of Polanen, Lord of Breda, and his wife, Odilia of Salm. The House of Polanen was a side branch of the still existing House of Wassenaer.
Jacob van Wassenaer Duivenvoorde, lord of Obdam, was a famous Dutch naval commander, Lieutenant-Admiral of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and nobleman during the French Wars of Religion, the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War.
Van Polanen was a noble family that played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages. The impact of the family transcended its dissolution in the 15th century as the House of Nassau gained the vast properties of the House of Polanen in 1403 through marriage. The titles such as baron of Breda and lord of Polanen remain amongst the titles of the monarch of the Netherlands until today.
John I, Lord of Polanen was Lord of Polanen, and Lord of De Lek.
Willem van Duvenvoorde or van Duvoorde (1290–1353), also known as Willem Snikkerieme, was a 14th-century nobleman and financier who served as a financial and political adviser to four successive counts and countesses of Hainaut and Holland.
Twickel is a protected historic country estate with 81 complex parts near Delden in the hamlet of Deldeneresch, in the municipality of Hof van Twente in the province of Overijssel in The Netherlands. The moated castle forms the center.
Polanen Castle was a castle located in today's Monster, South Holland in the Netherlands. The ancestral home of the Polanen family, it suffered a siege in 1351 and was demolished in 1394. It was replaced by a small manor somewhat to the south.
Dirk III van Wassenaar was Heer van Wassenaar and burggraaf (burgrave) of Leiden.
Philips III van Wassenaer was an oldest son of the main branch of the Dutch noble family Van Wassenaer.
Hof te Dieren is a former hunting lodge in Dieren, the Netherlands. It was a favourite retreat of the princes of Orange and king-stadtholder William III at the south-eastern border of the Veluwe. Nothing remains of the lodge nor from the 19th century manor house which was built as replacement. The estate is open for visit.
The Siege of Geertruidenberg (1351–1352) was a long siege of Geertruidenberg Castle during the first of the Hook and Cod wars.
Rosenburgh Castle or Rosenburg was a castle located in today's Voorschoten, the Netherlands. In the early 1700s, it was replaced by a manor which was demolished only a few years after its construction. Rosenburgh Castle was the center of a significant siege in 1351.
