John Ernst, Count of Nassau-Weilburg

Who was John Ernst, Count of Nassau-Weilburg?

John Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg was an Imperial Generalfeldmarschall, from 1675 to 1688 Count and from 1688 till his death Prince of Nassau-Weilburg.

John Ernst was the eldest son of Frederick, Count of Nassau-Weilburg and Christiane Elisabeth of Sayn-Wittgenstein. After the death of his parents, his regents were John, Count of Nassau-Idstein and after his death, John Louis, Count of Nassau-Ottweiler.

In Juli 1679 John Ernst started his studies at the University of Tübingen. Between 1681 and 1682 he stayed at the court of King Louis XIV of France in the Palace of Versailles.

John Ernst married on April 3, 1683 Maria Polyxena of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hartenburg.

They had 9 children :

Frederick Louis, killed in the Battle of Speyerbach

Charles August

Maria Polyxena

Johanna Louise

Charles Ernst

Henry Louis

Magdalena

Albertina

a daughter

John Ernst became the only ruler of Nassau-Weilburg when his brother Frederick William Louis was killed in 1684 during the siege of Buda. His territories on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by France and only returned after the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697.