When his father died in 1516, William inherited his properties, including the county. The county was primarily agricultural. Pigs were raised on the
Kalteiche, which benefited from the large oak forests. The county was known for its good horse and cattle breeding in
Westerwald, and wool
weaving in
Herborn. However, the main source of income came from the mountains; from the
iron ore of the
Sieg and
Dill regions. The Counts of Nassau regularly received the iron ore
tithes from the mines and
smelting rents from the smelters. The latter was levied in various ways, partly as compensation for the
fief of the land on which the smelter stood, partly as a tax on the use of the watercourse, which was on
loan from the
territorial lord. As some of the most important citizens of the state, the
hammer smiths of Siegen were granted exemption from
feudal duties, and from about 1539, paid 24 raderguilders a year for this instead of the hitherto usual
reisigen Pferdes. Until 1555, the count himself owned many iron smelters, and in the Dillenburg district he retained his influence even after 1555. Naturally, the counts cared about the welfare of the iron industry, which was the country's main source of income. They discussed with the iron workers
price regulations, wages and working times as well as trying out new technical processes. In 1520, the counts united in associations or
Korrespondenzen, and divided into two large districts of the Netherlands and of the
Wetterau. William was put in charge of the Wetterau district. The justice system continued in the forms adopted in the 16th century. Periodically, the
Schützen (town watchers) were responsible for apprehending offenders, confining them either in the tower or, for less severe offences, in the
Hundskrapf. The most common method of execution was hanging, with the
gallows situated near Dillenburg on the
Galgenberg. The executions were exclusively conducted in Dillenburg. In 1546, one occurred in
Ebersbach, as was common in the past, with the participation of
Schultheißen from Dillenburg. Conversely,
Schultheißen from Herborn were often involved in the executions in Dillenburg, and were subsequently entertained by the city. On 18 May 1525, William wrote to his brother Henry in the Netherlands, stating that the whole of southern Germany was ablaze with
peasant revolt and that he was very worried about it: "
Meine Bauern sind gottlob noch ruhig und zufrieden, aber das Wetter ist allenthalben um mich her." ("My
peasants are thankfully still calm and content, but the bad weather is all around me."). William helped his threatened fellow princes against the peasants by sending some of them a Nassau auxiliary corps "
wider den uffruhr" ("against the revolt"). Nevertheless, he enjoyed a certain respect among the peasants as a just territorial lord. The Hessian
Amtmann Balthasar Schrautenbach wrote that the
Franconian peasants wanted to expel
Landgrave Philip I the Magnanimous of Hesse and put William in his place. The peasant writer Sigle is said to have given courage to his people by saying that as soon as the landgrave turned against them,
der reiche Nassau would come into the country. Thus even then, William was nicknamed the Rich. In 1526, Prince
John Frederick of Saxony and his father, Elector
John the Steadfast of Saxony, visited William in Siegen. He was asked to convey for the prince his marriage proposal to Princess
Sibylle of Cleves. In 1528, William was concerned about his local industry. He regulated the working hours of iron smelters and banned hammer smiths from working at night. He also ordered iron to be marked before it was sold, creating one of the earliest
hallmarks for steel. In 1529, William's wife Walburga died and was buried in Siegen. The baptism of their eldest son,
William, on 4 May 1533 also took place according to Catholic tradition; a full
mass with
Latin formulas, with the use of
salt, which symbolised the
doctrine of faith, and with a real
exorcism of the devil. Through this marriage, William acquired a quarter of the
County of Diez (of which he already owned half) in 1535, which had previously been in possession of the
Eppstein family. Lord Eberhard IV of Eppstein-Königstein, brother of William's mother-in-law, died childless in 1535. The Eppstein family had gained control of this territory in 1420 through the marriage of Lord Godfrey VII of Eppstein-Münzenberg to Countess Jutta of Nassau-Siegen. He rejected the Order of the Golden Fleece, which Charles V wanted to grant him, due to its requirement for members to adhere the Catholic faith. On 10 January 1531, the
Schmalkaldic League was founded by the
Protestant Elector John of Saxony,
Duke Ernest I of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Landgrave Philip I of Hesse,
Fürst Wolfgang of Anhalt-Köthen, the
counts of Mansfeld and several minor
Imperial Estates. The threat to
Vienna and the imperial homelands by the
Turks initially prevented Charles V from acting against the league, and the league forced him to conclude the in 1532. After Duke
Ulrich of Württemberg, supported by Philip of Hesse, recaptured his lands in 1534, most members of the
Wetterauer Grafenverein joined the league, including William. On 10 January 1536, he committed to contribute to, and cooperate with everything the league would decide. Because of the
Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit, Philip of Hesse protested against William's admission into the league. William issued several decrees for the economical, social and ethical benefit and advancement of his subjects. Despite his country being beset by threats of war throughout his reign, he instructed his officials by various mandates to ensure that the land peace renewed by the Emperor on various Imperial Diets was maintained in his county and that all troublemakers,
vagrants and
beggars were taken into the strictest custody. In the spring, the wagoners were only allowed to use their horses and wagons for arable farming. William was also already thinking about a more generous
meat supply for his country. Pig breeding lagged especially in times of poor acorn harvest. In such years, he bought fat pigs from abroad. In 1538, for example, he sent the and an attendant to
Lippe to buy pigs. Times forced William to carefully build up an
armament industry. As early as around 1540, he had research conducted in Siegen into whether the iron from
Wissenbach could be hammered into sheet iron for body armours and the like. He planned the construction of new
Plattenhämmer (sheet metal factories), for which he employed sheet metal smiths from the
Olpe district on 25 March 1540. The fire outbreak at the small border fortress and the village of
Freudenberg in July 1540 boosted these plans. William had the houses hastily rebuilt, while the damaged castle was repaired more slowly. He died the next day unusually bypassing his uncle, because of his Lutheran sympathies. On 13 February 1545, Charles V formalised the arrangements. William did not take part in the war of the Schmalkaldic League against Duke
Henry V of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The growing power of his opponent Philip of Hesse in the league forced William to be wary of violence and was one of the reasons why he did not take part in the
Schmalkaldic War against the Emperor, which broke out in 1546. William executed the recruitment of 600 horsemen for the Imperial Army entrusted to him. He thus escaped the punishment inflicted on his cousins from the
Walramian Line and the other members of the
Wetterauer Grafenverein. William attended the Imperial Diet in
Augsburg in 1548. Some historians claim that William, because of his knowledge of the French language, was the spokesman for the German princes at
Fontainebleau, who, in exchange for his help against the Emperor, assured the French king of sovereign rights as imperial vicar over the
bishoprics of
Metz,
Toul,
Verdun and
Cambrai, thus relinquishing these cities to France. This claim is based solely on the dubious
memoirs of the French marshal de Vieilville, Sire de Scépaux. These were not written until after 1584 and not printed in
Paris until 1756–1763, long after the death of Prince William of Orange, to whom and whose house they wished to do harm. William issued a large number of decrees aimed at the moral uplift of his subjects who, despite all previous measures, continued to return to their old vices. Since excessive spending on family celebrations provided particular opportunity for this, William tried to put an end to intemperance at child baptisms, weddings, funerals and guild meetings through strict regulations. To prevent revels and Sunday desecration, residents were obliged to close pubs at a surprisingly early hour, eight o'clock in summer and seven o'clock in winter. The count's ordinance of 19 December 1555 stipulated "
daß über die bestimmte Zeit, wenn abends die Weinglock geläutet ist, kein Wirt länger weder über die Schwell hinaus oder auch sunsten seinen Gästen im Hause Wein reichen oder zapfen soll" ("that after the stipulated time, when in the evening the wine bell is rung, no
innkeeper shall serve or tap wine to his guests in the house, nor over the threshold, nor otherwise"), because otherwise "
viel Unrats, Mord, Totschlag, Unzucht und alle Untugend gemehret und überhand nimmt, wie neulich ein schrecklich Exempel und Totschlag sich derhalber zugetragen" ("much mischief, murder, manslaughter,
fornication and all immorality will increase and prevail, as recently a terrible example and manslaughter took place thereby"). A particularly strict order issued by William on 7 July 1556 was against dancing. Dancing was generally forbidden in the county on Sundays and holidays. For weddings, permission was given by the mayors and
bailiffs, and the dance took place in the presence of elders, a councillor, the town clerk or the court clerk at the town hall. Dancing was allowed only with violins and
lutes, not on the street with drums,
shawms and
bagpipes, no longer than two hours in the afternoon and one hour after supper, and all disorderly and immoral jumping, twisting, overturning, arguing and shouting was to be avoided. One ordinance of William that characterised him as a profound and far-sighted sovereign was his ban on marriages between relatives: "
Dieweil es etzo unter unseren Untertanen gemein wird, dass die Eltern ihr Kind in Verwandt-, Blutfreundschaft und Schwagerschaft im vierten Glied vermählen, daß doch im Rechte verboten" ("Because it is now customary among our subjects for parents to marry off their child in
kinship, blood relationship and
consanguinity in the fourth degree, which is forbidden by law"), the friends of both parties, when agreeing on a marriage, "
sich erstlich der Sippschaft halben gründlich erkundigen, ob und wie nahe die Personen einander verwandt, und so die Verwandtnis zwischen ihnen im dritten oder vierten Glied bestände, alsdann soll dieselbig Ehe ohn unser Wissen und Willen nicht beteidingt, geschlossen noch zugelassen werden" ("first of all thoroughly inquire into the kinship, whether and how closely the persons are related to each other, and if the kinship between them is in the third or fourth degree, this marriage shall not be concluded or allowed without our knowledge and will"). At the
Imperial Diet of Worms in 1521, William was an eyewitness to Luther's appearance before Emperor Charles V and the Empire. Also present in the Emperor's entourage was William's brother Henry. The Henry's
secretary Alexander Schweis received the protest note for the Emperor. Immediately after William's return, were "
die religion und kirchengebräuch zue Dillenbergk ... geendert und die meß abgestellt" ("the religion and church customs in
Dillenburg ... changed and the
mass ended"). He formally introduced the
Augsburg Confession and abolished
celibacy and mass. and as spiritual inspector of the entire county in 1541. During regular
synods and church visits, Sarcerius reorganised the church system of the county on a Protestant basis.
The Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit A major challenge during William's reign was the dispute over the succession in the rich
County of Katzenelnbogen, known as the
Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit. This succession dispute between Nassau and the
Landgraviate of Hesse lasted for decades, and exerted considerable impact on William's country. Substantial resources were expended on numerous legal proceedings, and the rebuilding of
Dillenburg Castle into a strong fortress, where soldiers were stationed for years to repel opposition attacks. The county consisted of
Rheinfels,
Sankt Goar,
Braubach,
Hohenstein,
Darmstadt,
Zwingenberg,
Rüsselsheim and
Umstadt, as well as
Eppstein, the district of
Driedorf and parts of
Diez,
Hadamar,
Ems,
Löhnberg,
Camberg, and
Wehrheim. The last seven possessions were jointly owned with the Counts of Nassau. , 1534.
Wartburg-Stiftung,
Eisenach. After the death of
John V in 1516, his sons
Henry and William continued the case with increased vigour. Henry's high position and close personal relationship with Charles V as an educator, general and advisor gave the Nassaus a major support in this protracted legal battle. Their legal opponent, the young Landgrave
Philip I the Magnanimous of Hesse had an advantage because Hesse had gained control of the entire disputed territory, which gave him a strong position over the small
County of Nassau; in addition, powerful imperial princes, such as
Elector Frederick III the Wise of Saxony, were on his side as allies. In the course of the dispute, armed raids on Dillenburg Castle were repeatedly planned. Shortly after the Tübingen verdict was announced, in June 1523 William feared that Philip had mobilised against him in order to overrun him and drive him out. On 1 September of the same year, he wrote to his brother Henry, saying: "
der lantgraf rüst sich ernstlich, thut ein Aufgebot über das andere und lest sich oeffentlich hoeren, er wolle mich verjagen" ("the landgrave is seriously arming himself, issuing one summons after another and is publicly announcing that he wants to expel me"). At the same time, William asked for at least 2,000
guilders, which he needed for defence. Similarly, in 1525 and 1528, Philip again took up arms with
Saxony to get the County of Katzenelnbogen permanently in his hands. Then, too, William expected a surprise attack on
Dillenburg. He had new
bastions built and equipped with cannons. Major fortifications had been under construction since 1525, as a letter from Henry dated 2 February 1526 reads: , 1575. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. At that time, construction of the
Hohen Mauer (high wall) began under the leadership of Utz or Ulrich von Anspach, who had been
Burgrave of since 1516. The colossal structure was 300m long and 20m high. In December 1531, the construction of the wall was still being built, when William wrote to his brother that he had only just begun the heavy foundation work for the fortress, which is still entirely unfinished and requires great foresight. On 24 May 1533, he again described to him his difficult situation: because the landgrave "
allenthalben an ihn stoße, könnte er nit wohl sicher aus seinem Haus reiten oder gehn" ("collided with him everywhere, he could not safely ride or go out of his house") and was therefore "
zu einem bau und festung höchlich verursacht" ("compelled to a construction and fortification in a high degree"). , 1555.
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel,
Kassel. In the autumn of 1551, Dillenburg received threatening news, and feared a new invasion. William wrote to his son Prince
William of Orange on 6 December 1551, saying: "one could get from the land of Hesse to Dillenburg in one day". Johann Opferkampf was hastily sent to the Netherlands to order and recruit 50–60 good soldiers for the castle, and requested money, gunpowder and a gunsmith. His recruitment was successful, as from early 1552 there were 60 Dutch soldiers at Dillenburg Castle, some of whom stayed there until July. At this time, the city church was also included in the fortification system of the castle, and as can still be clearly seen in the oldest images of the city, the cemetery wall was equipped with firing holes. to Nassau), but ceded for 150.000 guilders to Nassau: Hesse was to pay 450,000 guilders in cash in such a way that 150,000 guilders was to be paid on 28 December 1557, 45,000 guilders was to be paid annually, from 1559 to 1564, and 30,000 guilders was to be paid in 1565. Hesse fulfilled its payment obligations. In April of that year, the ceded districts of Driedorf, Ellar, Hadamar and Camberg were transferred by Hesse to Nassau. The preservation of the Imperial Estates became a life task for the House of Nassau. Without the stronghold Nassau, princely power would have removed the influence of the
imperial immediate nobility, clergy and the
free imperial cities on the fate of the nation. With that, the Holy Roman Empire would have irrevocably disintegrated. In the dispute over the County of Katzenelnbogen with a much stronger opponent, the Counts of Nassau acquired the strength that later enabled them to withstand the great trials in the Netherlands. Empires of which the counts and other Imperial Estates were the bearers, had become bloodless in the 16th century. The leaders of the counts and lords in this struggle were Counts of Nassau. To prove his entitlement to this resistance, William's counsellor Wilhelm Knüttel, who held office in Siegen, compiled a work on the genealogy of the House of Nassau. Although it does not hold up to modern-day scrutiny, it did have an impact at the time, mainly due to his appeal to the
charisma (royal salvation) that had come to Nassau through Roman King
Adolf. The Counts of Nassau were helped by similar ideas in a writing prepared by the imperial counsellor
Lazarus von Schwendi. The Counts from the County of Nassau were impressed, especially those who had united in the
Wetterauer Grafenverein. ==Final years, death, and succession==