Albertine Agnes
(
The Hague,
April 9 1634 — Oranjewoud,
May 26 1696), was the fifth daughter of stadtholder
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels.
Family
thumb|left| Frederick Henry, Amalia and their youngest three daughters, Albertine Agnes is second on the right, holding hands with her younger sister Henriette CatherineAlbertine Agnes was born in
The Hague and was the sixth of nine children born to her parents. Some of her siblings died in childhood. Albertine and four other siblings lived to adulthood, her surviving siblings were:
William II, Prince of Orange,
Luise Henriette of Nassau,
Henriette Catherine of Nassau and
Mary of Nassau.
Albertine's paternal grandparents were
William the Silent and his fourth wife
Louise de Coligny. Her grandfather, William was murdered on the orders of
Philip II of Spain who believed that William had betrayed the Spanish king and the
Catholic religion.
Her maternal grandparents were
Johan Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels and his wife
Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein.
Life
In 1652 she married her second-cousin,
Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz.
They had three children:
- Amalia of Nassau-Dietz, married to John William of Saxe-Eisenach
- Wilhelmina Sophia Hedwig (1664–1667)
After the death of her husband in 1664, she became regent for her son in
Friesland,
Groningen and
Drenthe. When both
England and the
bishop of Münster declared war on
the Netherlands. Because most of the money for defence had been used for the fleet, the army had been neglected. When
Groningen was under siege, Albertine Agnes hastened to the city to give moral support. The forces of their enemies retreated, but six years later the Netherlands were attacked from the south, by the French under
Louis XIV and from the north by the bishop of Münster and
archbishop of Cologne. She organised defence and kept moral high.
It is through her that the Dutch queen
Beatrix is descended from
William the Silent.
Ancestors
Sources
House of Orange-NassauAlbertine Agnes of NassauCategory:People from The HagueCategory:1634 birthsCategory:1696 deathsde:Albertine Agnes von Oranien-Nassaufy:Albertine Agnes fan Nassaunl:Albertine Agnes van Nassau
