Albertine Agnes of Nassau

Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau
Born	(1634-04-09)9 April 1634 The Hague
Died	26 May 1696(1696-05-26) (aged 62) Oranjewoud Palace
Burial	Grote of Jacobijnerkerk in Leeuwarden
Spouse	William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz ​ ​ (m. 1652; died 1664)​
Issue	Amalia, Hereditary Duchess of Saxe-Eisenach Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz Wilhelmina Sophia Hedwig
House	Orange-Nassau
Father	Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Mother	Amalia of Solms-Braunfels

Albertine Agnes and her sisters

Oranienstein Palace, Diez

Albertine Agnes of Nassau (9 April 1634 – 26 May 1696), was the regent of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe during the minority of her son Henry Casimir II, Count of Nassau-Dietz, between 1664 and 1679. She was the sixth child and fifth daughter of stadtholder Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels.

Life

Albertine 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.

In 1652 she married her second-cousin, William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz.

Regency

After the death of her husband in 1664, she became regent for her son in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. In 1665, both England and the bishopric 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. Pressure by King Louis XIV of France, then an ally, forced the forces of her 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 morale high.

In 1676 Albertine Agnes bought a country seat in Oranjewoud and called it Oranjewoud Palace. It was here that she died in 1696. She also had Schloss Oranienstein built from 1672 as her new residence at Diez.

Issue

She and William Frederick had three children:

• Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (1655-1695), married to John William III, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
• Henry Casimir II, Count of Nassau-Dietz (1657-1696), married to Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau
• Wilhelmina Sophia Hedwig (1664–1667)

Ancestors

Albertine Agnes's ancestors in three generations

Albertine Agnes of Nassau	Father: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange	Paternal Grandfather: William the Silent	Paternal Great-grandfather: William I, Count of Nassau-Siegen
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Juliana of Stolberg
		Paternal Grandmother: Louise de Coligny	Paternal Great-grandfather: Gaspard de Coligny
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Charlotte de Laval
	Mother: Amalia of Solms-Braunfels	Maternal Grandfather: John Albert I, Count of Solms-Braunfels	Maternal Great-grandfather: Conrad, Count of Solms-Braunfels
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg
		Maternal Grandmother: Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein	Maternal Great-grandfather: Louis I, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth of Solms-Laubach

External links

• The Correspondence of Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau in EMLO
• "Women in power 1640–1670" last accessed August 4, 2007