Henry II of Nassau

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Henry II of Nassau (Dutch: Hendrik II "de Rijke") (1180 – 25 January 1251), Count of Nassau. He was the eldest son of Count Walram I of Nassau and Kunigunde of Ziegenhain.

Henry II succeeded in 1198 as a Count of Nassau and, starting in 1240, disputed with the Teutonic Knights about the fraternal inheritance, gained the Reichsvogtei Wiesbaden and the Imperial special district (Königssondergau) as fiefdoms and built the Sonnenberg castle for protection against the Archbishops of Mainz. He was later forced to recognize the sovereignty of the Archbishops of Mainz over Sonnenberg. He was a loyal suporter of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, except between 1209 and 1211, when he briefly he backed Emperor Otto IV, before reverting sides to support Frederick II. Between 1212-1214 he kept Otto IV and his opponent Archbishop Diether of Trier imprisoned. The latter reinforced Montabaur in order to protect his possessions on the right side of the Rhine from Nassau.

He became marshal and Schenk of Archbishop Engelbert of Cologne, thereby gaining protection from the Archbishops of Mainz and Trier, had him 1224 half of victories transfers and built the cathedral in Limburg. In 1247 he supported Anti-King William II of Holland, kept confirmed for his all imperial possessions and the right to mint money. In 1248 Dernbach's feud began in the context of the Thuringia hereditary war; Henry wanted to completely subjugate the aristocratic families of the Herborner Marks, thereby launching a century-long conflict with Hesse. He built the castle Dillenburg.