William was born in Dillenburg on 13 August 1592,Huberty, et al. (1981), p. 234. the fifth son of Count John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen and his first wife, Countess Magdalene of Waldeck-Wildungen.Dek (1970), p. 87.Dek (1968), p. 249.Vorsterman van Oyen (1882), p. 116. He studied in HeidelbergLück (1981), p. 100.Blok (1911), p. 1572. and then went – along with the later ‘Winter King’ Frederick of the PalatinateFrederick of the Palatinate was the eldest son of Countess Louise Juliane of Nassau, the eldest daughter of Prince William I ‘the Silent’ of Orange and Duchess Charlotte of Bourbon-Montpensier. – to the court of Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne,Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne had been married since 1595 to Countess Elisabeth of Nassau, the second daughter of Prince William I ‘the Silent’ of Orange and Duchess Charlotte of Bourbon-Montpensier. the Duke of Bouillon, in Sedan. With Landgrave Otto was the eldest son of Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel from his first marriage to Agnes of Solms-Laubach. Maurice remarried in 1603 to William’s sister Juliane. William visited England.
