Count John V of Nassau-Siegen (9 November 1455 – 30 July 1516), German: Johann V. Graf von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: Graf zu Nassau, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Breda, was since 1475 Count of Nassau-Siegen (a part of the County of Nassau) and of half Diez. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.
John was Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen in the period 1504–1505. He took little part in imperial politics, but concentrated mainly on the administration of his own counties. During his reign, the dispute over the succession in the County of Katzenelnbogen with the Landgraviate of Hesse started (German: Katzenelnbogische Erbfolgestreit), which did not end until 41 years after his death.
John had an obvious special interest in promoting the economy of his county. He protected and promoted mining. During his reign, the number of iron mines in the Siegerland and in the Dillenburg district increased. The county's economic prospects were therefore positive. John also promoted the revival of trade by issuing numerous guild certificates. He issued ordinances for the craft of steel and blacksmiths as well as for the wool weavers' guild.
As a devout Catholic John founded a Franciscan monastery in Siegen. He also built a church in Hadamar, and in Dillenburg.
John is somewhat overshadowed by his older brother Engelbert II. In the relevant reference works about the dynastic history of the House of Orange-Nassau, especially in Dutch book editions, he is sometimes completely missing. In the very well founded biographical dictionary Oranje-Nassau by the Dutch historian Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen, for instance, one searches in vain for a mention of this Count of Nassau-Siegen, whereas his brother is praised there as a 'complete Dutch nobleman'.
John was born in Breda on 9 November 1455 as the second and youngest son of Count John IV of Nassau-Siegen and Lady Mary of Looz-Heinsberg.
On 4 May 1472 John IV and his sons Engelbert and John signed an inheritance treaty in which it was decided to divide the possessions after John IV's death. The eldest son, Engelbert, would get the possessions in the Netherlands, while the youngest son, John, would get the possessions right of the River Rhine (Nassau-Siegen and Diez).
Count of Nassau-Siegen and Diez
John succeeded his father in 1475 in accordance with the succession treaty of 1472. His possessions included Siegen and Dillenburg, parts of Löhnberg, Ellar and Hadamar, the districts Diez, Kirberg, Altweilnau, Wehrheim and Camberg, the Esterau, Nassau, the Einrich and Ems, furthermore the heerlijkheden Kerpen and Lommersum in the Duchy of Jülich, fiefs in Nideggen and Düren, toll rights in Ehrenfels Castle, Düsseldorf and Königsdorf and revenues in the County of Mark. He had his Residenz in Siegen. To the many common possessions, which he administered together with the different dynasties, he added a new one, namely that over Seelbach and Burbach with the Counts of Sayn. The complex jurisdictional relations in Seelbach and Burbach led to frequent disputes. John did not live to see the end of the result of the many negotiations on these matters in 1542.
The County of Nassau-Siegen was divided into districts (Ämter). In each district (Amt) the count appointed an Amtmann. These were members of the local nobility and deputised for the count. They had a number of servants to guard the public order. In times of war they formed the core of the army.
For the administration of justice, the county had a Schultheiß in most of the districts. The oldest preserved ordinance for the Schultheiß of the Dillenburg district is from 10 April 1465, which contains only a part of his tasks and authority. In 1498 there followed the joint justice ordinance for the districts of Siegen and Dillenburg, which contained the complete law of the time. This ordinance had to be read out loud to all citizens every year. In the ordinances of 1465 and 1498 the provisions on matrimonial law are prominently present. The Landgericht zum Oberhof zu Siegen was designated as the court of appeal. Until then the Reichshofgericht in Rottweil had been competent for appeals. In a decree of 8 June 1494, Roman King Maximilian I, released John from the obligation to go to Rottweil and to be subordinate to the Westphalian Landgerichter and vehmic courts. Because of the increasing "Rauben, Morden, Brennen und andere Gewalttätigkeiten" ("robbery, murder, arson and other acts of violence") and in order to be able to execute justice more quickly and effectively, John established a vehmic court on Ginsburg Castle. For the Blutgerichtsbarkeit (high jurisdiction) the Hochgericht was competent. The Ebersbach district had its own Hochgericht auf dem Stein. During the executions there, the count occasionally wielded the sword himself in order to behead the criminals. But mostly he left that to the executioners. Also the other punishments and fines, which the count himself imposed in special cases, to give an example, were not insignificant for the monetary value of the time. John also installed an Oberhofgericht in Hadamar.
The financial administration was still relatively simple; there was no distinction between the public and the private treasury of the count. All income flowed into the private treasury of the count. The count received the revenues from the farms in the villages in kind, which were supplied by the serfs working there. With the increase in coinage, which resulted in payments in kind being increasingly replaced by payments in money, the office of Rentmeister became more and more important. The count's fixed income included the Mai und Herbst Bede, which were levied on land tenure. There was also the Leibbede, a personal tax, which was levied when the serf died and had to be paid by his relatives. This originally consisted of the best piece of livestock, but was later replaced by a sum of money. Finally, there was a hearth tax, which had to be paid during Lent. The irregular revenues of the count included first of all the so-called Schatzungen, taxes for special expenses and emergencies. Then there was the income from tolls, which were often leased to subjects. This also applied to fishing rights, which the count owned. Taxes were also levied in the cities, on houses, gardens, fields and meadows. A not inconsiderable source of income for the Counts of Nassau has always been the iron toll. A charter of 1 April 1470 concerning the tariffs in Siegen, Netphen and Wilnsdorf lists the individual taxes for pig iron, steel, cast iron pans, metal sheets, scythes, cauldrons, etc. in detail. The expenses included the travels of the count and his family, celebrations at court, the remuneration of officials, court clothes, altar candles and communion wine, but especially the workmen and materials for construction work at the various castles. In 1481 John finished the expansion of Tringenstein Castle, which his father had started in 1472.
Early on after the death of his father, John was confronted with the accusations of Count Gerhard of Sayn, who accused him of interfering with and violating Sayn's sovereign rights in the parishes of Burbach and Neunkirchen. In the context of the settlement of their dispute in 1478, Gerhard and John agreed to make an arrangement regarding the purchase of ironstone and coal and the metallurgical industry in both lands. This is an example of John's obvious special interest in promoting the economy of his county. Historians speculate whether his interest in the economy was also linked to Nassau's advance into the County of Wittgenstein. Here, first of all, has to be thought of a section of the historic Eisenstraße in today's southern Westphalia, which reached into the Rothaar Mountains. For John this part of a cross-border route for iron apparently was a strategically and geographically important connection between the Siegerland and the neighbouring area along the Dill, in order to involve Wittgenstein in the economic process and to create new market opportunities for Nassau. In any case, this section of the Eisenstraße served as part of an important north–south connection or as part of a supra-regional traffic network within the Hessenstraße and the Kölnische Landstraße to connect the Siegerland with Electoral Cologne's Sauerland and the Nassau areas beyond the Kalteiche. The border disputes between the counties of Nassau and Wittgenstein in 1484 and 1515 imply that John apparently wanted to gain possession of a part of the Rothaar Mountains, presumably in order to control the trade traffic along this part of the Eisenstraße.