County of Holzappel (-Dillenburg)

Principality of Schaumburg (-Dillenburg)

County of Holzappel-Schaumburg (-Hoym)

The County of Holzappel was founded in 1643, when Nassau-Hadamar sold Gericht Esterau and Vogtei Isselbach to the newly-created count, Peter Melander. The County existed under that name until 1656, when Melander’s widow died, shortly after purchasing the Lordship of Schaumburg.

 

Both Holzappel and Schaumburg then fell to Melander’s daughter (Elizabeth Charlotte), who was married to the Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg. I deem this to be a personal union with Dillenburg and so change the simplified country names to Holzappel-Dillenburg and Schaumburg-Dillenburg respectively. I do not combine Holzappel and Schaumburg into a single country at this point because later events demonstrated that they were easily separable.

 

After the Prince of Dillenburg died, Elizabeth Charlotte retained Holzappel and Schaumburg, but not Dillenburg. She had assumed the title of Princess of Nassau-Schaumburg, so on that basis, I deem Holzappel and Schaumburg to remain in personal union with Schaumburg dominant. The simplified country names thus become Holzappel-Schaumburg and Schaumburg respectively.

 

Elizabeth Charlotte arranged a marriage contract for her daughter (Charlotte) with an Ascanian prince (Lebrecht) of Anhalt-Bernburg, which was executed in 1692. The contract gave the couple the right to co-rule in Holzappel, but effective control remained with Elizabeth Charlotte. Holzappel did not functionally pass into Ascanian hands until Charlotte died in 1700 and it passed to her and Lebrecht’s son, Victor Amadeus. At that point, the simplified name reverts to simply “Holzappel”, although the country moved from the Nassuvian to the Ascanian nation.

 

In 1707, Elisabeth Charlotte died and Victor Amadeus (her grandson) inherited Schaumburg. From then on, I treat Holzappel and Schaumburg as a single country, which I render as Holzappel-Schaumburg. (The names were more typically reversed at the time, but I keep Holzappel first to avoid confusion with the Schaumburgian nation, which had no role here.) When Lebrecht died in 1727, Victor Amadeus inherited Anhalt-Hoym (although not as sovereign) and I append -Hoym to the simplified country name to reflect the personal union with a higher-ranking entity.