Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau
Catherine Belgica ( born July 31, 1578 Antwerp, † April 12, 1648 in The Hague) was a daughter of Prince William I of Orange- Nassau, the Silent ( 1533-1584 ) and his third wife, Charlotte de Bourbon - Montpensier ( 1546-1582 ).
The form of the name Belgica was used in official documents of the firm and is still common. She herself wrote to Belgia.
Marriage and issue
Little is known about her childhood. On October 23 / November 3, 1596, she married Count Philipp Ludwig II in Dillenburg of Hanau- coins mountain. Common children were:
Regency
After her husband's death in 1612 led to even minor heirs, Philipp Moritz, alone guardianship until his majority in 1627. It was the first case in the long series count's Hanauer guardianships in which the mother of the ward by the Imperial Court of Justice alone and was confirmed without the assistance of another relative to the guardian of.
As a widow, her seat was assigned the castle in wind corners. Philipp Ludwig II, had her but a small palace, which stood approximately at the site of today's castle Philippsruhe in Hanau- Kesselstadt build. They remained until 1634, when the effects of the Thirty Years War, the county of Hanau - coins mountain in full met in the county.
With her son Philipp Moritz came after his 25th birthday, when he reached the age of majority, and a terrible fight. Points of contention were the height of her widow's care, the final settlement of guardianship and the claim of Catherine Belgia to want to rule together in spite of the majority of the Son on. A 1628 settlement reached could not clean it too. A report by the Law Faculty of the University of Marburg, to the disadvantage that emanated from Catherine Belgia, she tried to ignore it. The two processed soger before the Imperial Court of Justice against each other.
When Philipp Moritz further tried to reduce the influence of his mother, the mutual manners were rude: Philipp Moritz threw his mother in the meantime even from the Hanauer castle, but they compensated for it in 1629.
Age
With most of the count's family fled Catherine Belgia 1634 in the Netherlands to her step- brother, Prince Frederick Henry of Orange - Nassau ( 1584-1647 ), governor of the Netherlands.
She died on 12 April 1648 and was buried on 5 May 1648 the Nieuwe Kerk at Delft.
Assessment
They continued the policy of modernization and her late husband's economic development for the county of Hanau - coins Mountain, also supported the development of the High State School. Your own historical performance is difficult to determine. She was certainly there, goes in the literature but largely lost behind the appreciation of her husband.