Adolf van Nieuwenaar
Encyclopedia
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is a town in the German Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the capital of the Ahrweiler district. It is a renowned spa and it has a casino. The A61 motorway connects the town with cities like Cologne and Mainz. The city consists of two parts, Bad Neuenahr in the east...
) (c. 1545-Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
, 18 October 1589) was a statesman and soldier, who was stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
of Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
and Utrecht
Utrecht (province)
Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...
for the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
during the initial stages of the Eighty Years' War.
Early life
Nieuwenaar (as he is usually called in historiographyHistoriography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
) was the son of Count Gumprecht II von Neuenahr-Alpen and Amöna von Daun. After the death of his father in 1556 he was raised at the court of his guardian and uncle, the Protestant Count Hermann of Neuenahr and Mörs, who was married to Magdalene, a half-sister of William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
, Prince of Orange. In 1570 he married his aunt Anna Walburga von Neuenahr, the widow of Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn
Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn
Philip de Montmorency was also known as Count of Horn or Hoorne or Hoorn.-Biography:De Montmorency was born, between 1518 and 1526, possibly at the Ooidonk Castle, as the son of Jozef van Montmorency, Count of Nevele and Anna van Egmont...
who had been executed by the Duke of Alba
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" in the Low Countries because of his harsh and cruel rule there and his role in the execution of his political opponents and the massacre of several...
in 1568. She was the sister of his guardian Hermann. When Count Hermann died childless in December 1578, Niewenaar inherited his lands, including the county of Moers
Moers
Moers is a German city on the left bank of the Rhine. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel...
. All these lands are close to the current border between Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and abutted the Duchy of Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
in the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands
The Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole of the Low Countries from 1482 to 1556/1581 and solely the Southern Netherlands from 1581 to 1794...
.
Participation in the Cologne War
Nieuwenaar encouraged the Prince-electorPrince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
and Archbishop of Cologne Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg
Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg
Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg was Archbishop-Elector of Cologne. After pursuing an ecclesiastical career, he won a close election in the Cathedral chapter of Cologne over Ernst of Bavaria. After his election, he fell in love with and later married Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben, a Protestant...
to retain his control of the Electorate of Cologne after he married Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben
Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben
Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben was Countess of Mansfeld and the daughter of Johann Georg I, of Mansfeld Eisleben. She converted Gebhard, Seneschal of Waldburg, the Prince-Elector of Electorate of Cologne and archbishop of the Diocese of Cologne to the Protestant faith, leading to the Cologne War...
and converted to Calvinism. In 1583 Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
excommunicated Gebhard, and the Cathedral chapter chose Ernest of Bavaria
Ernest of Bavaria
Ernest of Bavaria was Prince-elector-archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1583 to 1612 as successor of the expelled Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. He was also bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, Freising and Liège....
as the new Elector. War broke out between the two rivals: it was known as the Cologne War
Cologne War
The Cologne War devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire, present-day North-Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany...
. Gebhart was supported by Nieuwenaar (as his general), his brother, Karl, Truchsess von Waldburg
Karl, Truchsess von Waldburg
Karl, Truchsess von Waldburg , Baron and Steward of Waldburg in Trauchburg , Imperial minister. Karl was born in the Fürstenburg fortress of Heiligenberg, the third son of William, known as the younger, , Freiherr and Seneschal of Waldburg and an Imperial Councilor, and his wife, Johanna v...
-Trauchburg and the Dutch rebels. Ernest by his brothers, Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria, Ferdinand of Bavaria, and eventually by Spain. By 1586, Nieuwenaar was driven out of all his German possessions.
Stadtholderate
However, he soon found a new position in the rebellious Netherlands. The stadtholder of the province of GelderlandGelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
in the States-General, Willem IV van den Bergh
Willem IV van den Bergh
Willem IV, Count van den Bergh was Stadtholder of Guelders and Zutphen from 1581 until his arrest for suspected treason in 1583.-Biography:...
, had been caught in treasonous correspondence with the Spanish Governor-General of the Habsburg Netherlands, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592.-Biography:...
, and had been deposed in November 1583. Nieuwenaar was now appointed the new stadtholder. As such he only controlled the city of Arnhem and surroundings, however. Most of the province was in Spanish hands.
In August 1584, Nieuwenaar's uncle, the Prince of Orange, who at the time was also Stadtholder of Utrecht and Overijssel
Overijssel
Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
, was assassinated. After some delay, the States-General appointed Nieuwenaar as stadtholder of these provinces in his uncle's place. In Utrecht a political struggle ensued between radical Calvinists and more conservative nobles and regents. In this conflict, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
, who became the new Governor-General on the side of the States-General in the northern Netherlands in 1585, chose the side of the radicals, and so did Nieuwenaar. However, after Leicester's departure for England in 1587, Nieuwenaar gradually changed his stance. He brought about a (nominal) reconciliation between the warring parties. After a bloodless coup in 1588 the radicals were ousted from the city of Utrecht, but this did not undermine Nieuwenaar's position as stadtholder.
As stadtholder, Nieuwenaar was also commander-in-chief of the military forces of the States-General in his provinces. As such he led several campaigns, but with little success. He captured Neuss
Neuss
Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
in 1585, but this city was soon lost again to Spain. During his retreat, Nieuwenaar destroyed Kamp Abbey
Kamp Abbey
Kamp Abbey , also known as Altenkamp Abbey or Altfeld Abbey was the first Cistercian monastery founded in German territory, in the present town of Kamp-Lintfort in North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:It was founded in 1123 by Friedrich I, Archbishop of Cologne, and settled from Morimond Abbey...
in 1586. In 1585, the Spanish general Juan Baptista de Tassis defeated him and Maarten Schenk van Nydeggen at the Battle of Amerongen on 23 June 1585. Schenk would in the same year build the fortress of Schenkenschans (Schenk's fortress) on his orders.
Nieuwenaar died in an explosion, while testing a new piece of artillery, on 18 October 1589.
Sources
"Nieuwenaar, Neuenahr Adolf," in: Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 5, p. 374http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu05_01/molh003nieu05_01_0497.htmExternal links
„Neuenahr, Adolf Graf von“ in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, herausgegeben von der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Band 23 (1886), pp. 484ff|-
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