Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau

Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau (31 July 1578 – 12 April 1648) was a countess of Hanau-Münzenberg by marriage to Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg, and regent of Hanau-Münzenberg from 1612 until 1626. She was the third daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

Biography

Countess Catharina Belgica was born in Antwerp. After her father had been assassinated in 1584, her aunt Catherine took her to Arnstadt, while most of her sisters were raised by Louise de Coligny. Her older sister Juliana would later criticize Catharina's Lutheran education.

She married Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg by whom she had ten children. The Countess became regent for her son Philip Maurice after her husband's death in 1612. When emperor Ferdinand II requested passage through Hanau, she refused him entry. Her territories were ravaged by imperial troops in 1621.

In 1626 her son took over government.

She died, aged 69, in Hanau.

Family

During a wedding feast in Dillenburg that lasted from 23 October 1596 - 3 November 1596, she married Philip Louis II of Hanau-Münzenberg, producing the following children:

1. Charlotte Louise (1597–1649 Kassel), not married
2. Daughter (29 July 1598 – 9 August 1598), died unbaptised
3. Philip Ulrich (2 January 1601 – 7 April 1604 Steinau)
4. Amalia Elisabeth (1602–1651 Kassel), married to William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
5. Katharina Juliane (1604–1668 Hanau), married first on 11 September 1631 to Count Albert Otto II of Solms-Laubach, Rödelheim and Assenheim and second on 31 March 1642 to Moritz Christian von Wied-Runkel
6. Philip Maurice (1605–1638), buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau
7. Wilhelm Reinhard (1607–1630 Aachen), buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau
8. Henry Louis (1609–1632) died during the Siege of Maastricht
9. Frederick Louis (27 July 1610 – 4 October 1628 Paris), buried in the family tomb of the Duke of Bouillon in Sedan
10. Jakob Johann (1612–1636 Zabern), buried in St. Nicholas in Strasbourg

Ancestry

Sources

• Catharina Belgica: biography on Worldroots