Stadholder Willem I 'The Taciturn' (1533-1584), Wives and Children

**Marengo** · #1 08-16-2007, 05:07 PM

William (1533 - 1584) of Nassau, Prince of Orange

Parents: Count Jan of Nassau and Countess Juliana of Stolberg

1st wife: Countess Anna van Buren and Egmond

2nd wife: Princess Anna of Saxony

3rd wife: Princess Charlotte de Bourbon

4th wife: Countess Louise de Coligny

Children 1st marriage: Prince Filips-Willem of Orange, Princess Maria of Hohenlohe

Children 2nd marriage: Countess Anna of Nassau, Countess Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg, Prince Maurice of Orange, Princess Emilia of Portugal

Children 3rd marriage: Princess Louise-Juliana of the Paltinate, Duchess Elisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, Countess Catharina-Belgica of Hanau-Münzenberg, Countess Charlotte-Flandrina of Nassau, Duchess Charlotte-Brabantina of Thouars, Countess Emilia Antwerpiana of Zweibrücken-Landsberg

Son 4th marriage: Prince Frederik-Hendrik of Orange

Siblings: Countess Hermanna, Count Jan VI, Count Lodewijk of Nassau, Countess Maria van den Bergh, Count Adolf, Countess Anna, Countess Elisabeth of Nassau, Countess Catharina of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt, Countess Juliana of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Countess Magdalena and Count Hendrik of Nassau.

* All images posted by me in this thread are free of copyrights, unless stated differently.

**Marengo** · #2 08-30-2007, 06:53 AM

Prince William I of Orange, Count of Nassau (April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584), also widely known as William the Silent (Dutch: Willem de Zwijger), was born in the House of Nassau. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau. He was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648.
A wealthy nobleman, William originally served at the court of the governor Margaret of Parma. Unhappy with the lack of political power for the local nobility and the Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants, William joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several military successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard (also written as 'Gerardts') in Delft at a time when William's popularity was waning.
There are several explanations for the origin of this nickname "William the Silent". The most common one is that he rarely spoke out clearly on controversial matters at the court or in public, or (by some accounts) even completely avoided speaking about such topics. In the Netherlands, he is also known as the Vader des Vaderlands, "Father of the Fatherland", and the Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, was written in his honour.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #3 08-30-2007, 06:54 AM

Anna of Egmond (Grave, March 1533 — Breda, March 24, 1558), countess of Buren, Lingen and Leerdam; lady of IJsselstein, Borssele, Grave, Kranendonk, Jaarsveld, Kortgene, Sint-Maartensdijk and Odijk. She was the only daughter and heir of Maximiliaan of Egmont and Françoise de Lannoy.
In 1551 she married William the Silent in Buren and thereby he earned the titles Lord of Egmond and Count of Buren.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #4 08-30-2007, 06:56 AM

Anna of Saxony (December 23, 1544-December 18, 1577) was the only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. She was the second wife of William the Silent.
Anna was reputedly unattractive and lame, but her wealth drew many suitors. She accepted the suit of William I of Orange, and they were married on August 25, 1561. Anna was unstable, swinging wildly between melancholia, violence, and suicidal despair. William soon tired of her unpredictable personality, and she became unpopular both with his family and the citizenry. Anna and William produced five children.

She took up with her lawyer, Jan Rubens, in 1570 and gave birth to their illegitimate daughter, Christina, on August 22, 1571. News of this indiscretion reached her husband, who refused to acknowledge Christina as his own. Rubens was arrested, and William removed his and Anna's children, who never saw their mother again. Later, Rubens was released and returned to his wife, by whom he was father of Peter Paul Rubens.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #5 08-30-2007, 06:57 AM

Charlotte of Bourbon (1546/1547 - Antwerp, 5 May 1582) was the daughter of Louis of Bourbon and Jaqueline of Longwy. She was third spouse of William the Silent, the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish. The couple married on 12 June 1575 and had six daughters. Charlotte died from exhaustion while trying to nurse her husband after an assassination attempt in 1582.

**Marengo** · #6 08-30-2007, 07:27 AM

Louise de Coligny (Châtillon-sur-Loing, 23 September 1555 - Fontainebleau, 13 November 1620) was the daughter of Gaspard de Coligny and Charlotte de Laval and the fourth and last spouse of William the Silent.
When she was seventeen, she married Charles de Teligny. Both he and her father were murdered at the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. She then married William the Silent on April 12, 1583. Like her murdered father, she was a French Huguenot. She became the mother of Frederick Henry in 1584

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #7 08-30-2007, 08:06 AM

Some more pictures of Willem I:

**Marengo** · #8 08-30-2007, 08:07 AM

Philip William, Prince of Orange (° December 19, 1554 - † February 20, 1618). He was the eldest son of William the Silent by his first wife Anna van Egmond en Buren. Knight of the Golden Fleece in 1599. Prince of Orange in 1584.
When William the Silent ignored Alva's summons to return to Brussels, remaining in Germany. Philip William, only a boy of 13, was studying at the university at Leuven. He was seized in February 1568, and taken to Spain partly as a hostage, but especially to be raised as a good catholic and loyal subject. He would never see his father again. His mother had died in 1558 already.
In Spain he continued his studies at the university of Alcalá de Henares. He remained his catholic practices until 1567. After the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre 1572, Orange, as he was called, became an avowed Calvinist.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

Philips-Willem on his deathbed:

His wife:

**Marengo** · #9 08-30-2007, 08:08 AM

Maria of Nassau, Countess, (February 7, 1556, Breda – October 10, 1616, Buren) was the second daughter of William the Silent by his first wife Anna of Egmond and Buren. She was named after William's first daughter, who had died in infancy.

At the start of the Eighty Years' War her older brother Philip William was removed to Spain where he was raised as a Catholic. Maria vigorously defended her brother's claims to the title Prince of Orange and the barony and city of Breda against the claims of their half-brother Maurice of Nassau. Philip William returned to Breda in 1610.

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

Maria: ............................................................................................................Her husband:

**Marengo** · #10 08-30-2007, 08:08 AM

Anna of Nassau (05 November 1563 - 13 June 1588) was the second daughter of Willem and Anna of Saxony. The first daughter was also named Anna and died in infancy. This Anna married her cousin, Count Willem-Lodewijk of Nassau-Dillenburg. The marriage remained childless.

Anna: ..........................................Her husband:

**Marengo** · #11 08-30-2007, 08:08 AM

Maurice of Nassau (Dutch: Maurits van Nassau) (14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625), Prince of Orange (1618–1625), son of William the Silent and Princess Anna of Saxony, was born at the castle of Dillenburg. He was named after his maternal grandfather, the Elector Maurice of Saxony.
Maurice never married but was the father of illegitimate children by Margaretha van Mechelen and Anna van de Kelder. He was raised in Dillenburg by his uncle Johan of Nassau (Jan the Old). Together with his cousin Willem Lodewijk he studied in Heidelberg and later with his brother Philip in Leiden where he met Simon Stevin. The States of Holland and Zeeland paid for his studies, as their father had run into financial problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages of the Dutch revolt.
Only 16 when his father was murdered in Delft in 1584, he soon took over as stadtholder (Stadhouder), though this title was not inheritable (The monarchs of England and France had refused, and there simply was no one else to take the job). He became stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland in 1585, of Guelders, Overijssel and Utrecht in 1590 and of Groningen and Drenthe in 1620 (following the death of Willem Lodewijk, who had been Stadtholder there and in Friesland).
Maurice was preceded as Prince of Orange (not a Dutch title) by his elder half-brother Philip William. However, Philip William was in the custody of Spain, remaining so until 1596, and was thus unable to lead the Dutch cause.

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #12 08-30-2007, 08:08 AM

Stadholder Maurits

**Marengo** · #13 08-30-2007, 08:09 AM

Countess Emilia of Nassau (Cologne, April 10, 1569 - Geneva, March 16, 1629) was the youngest daughter of William the Silent and his second wife Anna of Saxony.

Emilia is named after Amalia of Neuenahr, who was in charge of her mother's household at the time of her birth. Emilia's mother had an affair with the father of painter Peter Paul Rubens. Due to this infidelity Emilia and her siblings Anna and Maurice were taken out of their mother's care and went to live with their uncle John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg at Dillenburg. Emilia later went to live in Delft with her father and in Friesland with her sister Anna.
After her father's death, she acted as hostess at the court of her brother Maurice. It was on one of those occasions that she met Don Emanuel of Portugal. She secretly wed him in 1597

Read the entire wikipedia article here.

Her husband, Emmanuel ´the bastard´ of Portugal:

**Marengo** · #14 08-30-2007, 08:09 AM

Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (Delft, 31 March 1576 - Königsberg, 15 March 1644) was the eldest daughter of prince William of Orange and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

Countess Louise Juliana is the first Dutch born member of the House of Orange-Nassau. After her father was murdered in 1584, she and some of her five sisters were raised by their stepmother Louise de Coligny. The Countess married Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, by whom she had eight children

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

Louise-Juliana:........................................................................Her husband:

**Marengo** · #15 08-30-2007, 08:10 AM

Countess Elisabeth of Nassau (Maria Elisabeth) (Middelburg, 26 April 1577 - Sedan, 3 September 1642) was the second daughter of prince William of Orange and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

After her father was murdered in 1584, there was a shortage of money for Elisabeth, her sibblings and her stepmother Louise de Coligny. In 1594 Louise took Elisabeth with her to France, where they met with several protestant nobles. One of them, Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, sent a proposal of marriage which was accepted. The couple had ten children.

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #16 08-30-2007, 08:10 AM

Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau (Antwerp, July 1578- Hanau 12 April 1648) was the third daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

Countess Catharina Belgica married Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg by whom she had ten children. The Countess became regent for her son Philipp Moritz after her husband's death in 1612.

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #17 08-30-2007, 08:10 AM

Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (Antwerp, 18 August 1579 - St.Croix (near Poitiers), 16 April 1640) was the fourth daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

After her mother's death in 1582 her French grandfather asked for Charlotte Flandrina to stay with him. She became a Roman Catholic and entered a convent in 1593.

**Marengo** · #18 08-30-2007, 08:11 AM

Countess Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau (Antwerp, 17 September 1580 - Château-Renard, August 1631) was the fifth daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

Countess Charlotte Brabantina, her sister Elisabeth and their stepmother Louise de Coligny went to Paris in 1593. Elisabeth married Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Duke of Bouillon and at that wedding Charlotte Brabantine met the Duke of Thouars, whom she married in 1598.

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #19 08-30-2007, 08:19 AM

Countess Emilia Antwerpiana of Nassau (Antwerp, 9 December 1581 - Landsberg, 28 September 1657) was the sixth and youngest daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

Countess Emilia Antwerpiana married Frederick Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Landsberg (1585-1645) in 1616.

Read more of this wikipedia article here.

**Marengo** · #20 08-30-2007, 08:20 AM

The youngest son of Willem the Silent is Frederik-Hendrik, Prince of Orange. For more information and pictures of him and his family, go to this thread.