Five Brothers and a War

History—1500 to 1600 AD

The castle in the town of Dillenburg was destroyed hundreds of years ago, and there are no renderings of it. Willem was the eldest son of Willem, Count of Nassau, and Juliana of Stolberg Werningerode. He was raised as a Lutheran, following the new teachings of fellow German, Martin Luther. When Willem was 11 years old, his cousin, René of Châlon, Prince of Orange, died without an heir, thereby transferring to Willem the claim to all of Châlon's property, including the title Prince of Orange. But there was a condition—Willem would have to receive a Roman Catholic education. Willem acquiesced to the demand, and thereby founded the House of Orange-Nassau. Besides Châlon's properties, he also inherited vast estates in Holland and Belgium courtesy of the Duchy of Orange. The county of Orange was a very tiny area, surprisingly in Southern France. It was first constituted in 1163 when the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I made it a principality.

holland

The principality was only about 19 km (12 miles) long by about 14 km (9 miles) wide. It is located in present-day Provence, where the River Rhone meets the Durance River, by the city of Avignon.

Five Brothers and a War

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