Count John II 'with the Helmet' of Nassau-Siegen (d. early May 1443), , succeeded, with his brothers, his father in 1416 as Count of Nassau-Siegen (a part of the County of Nassau). With his brothers, he inherited the County of Vianden in 1417, and also inherited half of the County of Diez in 1420. He descended from the Ottonian Line of the House of Nassau.
Biography
John was the second son of Count John I of Nassau-Siegen and Countess . To distinguish him from his brother and brother's son of the same name, he was called 'the Elder' () after his father's death. His most common epithet, however, was: 'with the Helmet' (), which was caused by his bellicose life and the frequent use of the helmet associated with it. He inherited his father's belligerence, but meanwhile he lived in harmony with his brothers.
John was first documented as already an adult in 1401. There is no doubt that he had already taken part in the feuds in which his brother Adolf, as Count of Diez, was involved with Count Rupert 'the Bellicose' of Nassau-Sonnenberg and the Rhenish cities. Apart from that, John had already distinguished himself valiantly in wars with Hesse and the Electorate of Mainz, when he loyally stood by his elder brother Adolf and, as long as the latter was alive, fought many important battles with him. John became formidable and unforgettable with his helmet and armour.
John and his brothers, Adolf, Engelbert and John 'the Younger', already agreed on a joint continuation of the government of the County of Nassau-Siegen, when their father would die, on 21 December 1409. Whichever of the brothers would be native or closest to his lands on the father's death should take possession of them in all brothers' name until a division would have taken place. Likewise, they promised each other, out of conviction of mutual advantages, not to inflict any violent advances on each other, and to allow the preferences of one and the other to apply, which had been established by older decrees. Whoever would take something for himself alone would be disinherited. All parental decrees favouring one brother over the other were declared null and void in advance. Adolf hereby tacitly renounced his right to the part of Nassau-Hadamar and the districts of Herborn, Haiger and Löhnberg, which he could have claimed in advance from the marriage contract with the heiress of the County of Diez. In accordance with this agreement, the brothers took over the government jointly after their father's death in 1416. However, the intended division did not take place: Adolf had no male offspring, John 'the Elder' was not married, the younger of the same name was a clergyman; it was to be expected that a division would not last long. Together, the brothers bought back the other half of the city of Siegen from the Electorate of Cologne.
In association with the Electorate of Mainz, John waged a lengthy war with Landgrave Herman II of Hesse during his father's lifetime around 1410, which was very damaging for both countries. The Hessian annalists give sad descriptions of it. The treaty concluded in 1410 for a two-year truce confirms this. After the end of this truce, there were new hostilities with Landgrave Louis I of Hesse, including a battle in the Rippach near Sinn, in which, according to Hessian tales, John lost his banner and many people, especially Paris Galgenholz, a born Hessian. John had used this extremely clever man, perhaps as notorious as his name sounds (his surname translated into English was Gallowswood), for reconnaissance and negotiation for a long time.
When Elisabeth of Sponheim-Kreuznach, Countess of Vianden, died without issue in 1417, the four brothers, grandsons of Adelaide of Vianden, Elisabeth's great-aunt, inherited the County of Vianden with the lordships of St. Vith, Bütgenbach, Dasburg and Grimbergen. When the actual transfer took place and in which year the brothers came into possession of the County of Vianden cannot be stated with certainty and reliability. It probably happened in 1420 or 1421, because it was in the latter year that John II was first named Count of Vianden in the Palatinate feudal charter of 27 February. A few years before taking possession of Vianden, Engelbert I had already come into possession of half the lordships of St. Vith and Bütgenbach. Vianden included 47 villages (with 583 taxable households in 1562). Apart from the city of St. Vith, St. Vith and Bütgenbach contained 51 villages with 814 taxable subjects, while Dasburg had 304 in 36 villages. The Counts of Vianden only partially owned the lordship of Grimbergen, and it could only partially be inherited by the House of Nassau.