Staging the Nassau-Dietz Identity: Funerary Culture and Managing Succession at the Frisian Nassau Court in the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

The time after the death of a prince was crucial for a dynasty to safeguard titles, possessions and other privileges for future generations. Whereas official agreements arranged the deceased’s succession on paper, funerary culture provided dynasties with opportunities to legitimise and consolidate their position. This article focuses on the funeral of Ernest Casimir, Count of Nassau-Dietz (1573–1632) and stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe. It unravels the main themes in the dynastic identity of the Nassau-Dietz family and examines how this identity helped the dynasty protect its hold on the non-hereditary office of stadtholder. Furthermore, it aims to demonstrate that the direct relatives of the deceased were not the only stakeholders in the process of identity construction after Ernest Casimir’s death; local political elites were closely involved as well.