County of Nassau-Beilstein

The first County of Nassau-Beilstein was created in 1343, when it was spun off from Nassau-Dillenburg. Over the years, the Liebenscheid castle played a role as the home of a co-ruler of the county or as the seat of another spinoff. In 1561, Beilstein’s ruling line died out and it reverted to Dillenburg, where it survived as a Landesteil. (Some have even characterized Beilstein as quasi-independent because it belonged to a different circle of the Holy Roman Empire than did Dillenburg. Because those circles play no role in my naming of countries or nations, I ignore that nuance.)

 

In 1607, when the Ottonian lands were partitioned again, the County of Nassau-Beilstein was recreated. It lasted only until 1620, when its ruling line died out. Its territory was distributed as follows:

 

• to Nassau-Dillenburg: Amt Driedorf;
• to Nassau-Hadamar: the Mengerskirchen parish, which became part of a new Amt of the same name;
• to Nassau-Dietz: Herrschaft Beilstein (excepting Mengerskirchen) and Herrschaft zum Westerwald, which combined to form Amt Beilstein. (Unlike other territory acquired by Nassau-Dietz, I do not characterize territory received from Beilstein as a Landesteil on the same level as Siegen, Dillenburg, and Hadamar.)