Juliane of Nassau-Siegen (1587–1643)

Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg
Princess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg, later landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
Born	(1587-09-03)3 September 1587 Dillenburg
Died	15 February 1643(1643-02-15) (aged 55) Rotenburg an der Fulda
Noble family	Nassau
Spouse(s)	Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
Father	John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen
Mother	Countess Magdalena of Waldeck

Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg (3 September 1587, Dillenburg – 15 February 1643, Rotenburg an der Fulda), was the fifth child and second daughter of John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623), who became Count John I of Nassau-Siegen when his father's inheritance was divided in 1606, and his wife Countess Magdalena of Waldeck (1558–1599).

Life

In Dillenburg on 22 May 1603 Juliane married Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel as his second wife. They had fourteen children:

• Philipp (b. Kassel, 26 September 1604 - killed in battle, Lutter am Barenberge, 17 June 1626).
• Agnes (b. Kassel 14 May 1606 - d. Dessau, 28.5.1650), married John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau.
• Herman (b. Kassel, 15 August 1607 - d. Rotenburg, 25 March 1658), inherited Rotenburg.
• Juliane (b. Marburg, 7 October 1608 - d. Kassel, 11 December 1628).
• Sabine (b. Kassel, 5 July 1610 - d. Kassel, 21 May 1620).
• Magdalene (b. Kassel, 25 August 1611 - d. Bedburg, 12 February 1671), married Erich Adolf, Count of Salm-Reifferscheid.
• Maurice (b. Kassel, 13 June 1614 - d. Kassel, 16 February 1633).
• Sophie (b. Kassel, 12 September 1615 - d. Bückeburg, 22 November 1670), married Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe.
• Frederick (b. Kassel, 9 May 1617 - killed in battle, Kosten, 24 September 1655), inherited Eschwege.
• Christian (b. Kassel, 5 February 1622 - d. Bückeburg, 14 November 1640), Swedish colonel, died after an altercation with General Johan Banér and some other officers; he was probably poisoned.
• Ernest (b. Kassel, 17 December 1623 - d. Köln, 12 May 1693), inherited Rheinfels.
• Christine (b. Kassel, 9 July 1625 - d. Kassel, 25 July 1626).
• Philipp (b. Kassel, 28 September 1626 - d. Rotenburg, 8 July 1629).
• Elisabeth (b. Kassel, 23 October 1628 - d. Kassel, 10 February 1633).

In order to ensure that they all had incomes befitting a landgrave, she had a policy of transferring income and ownership rights to her children. Eventually, Maurice transferred a quarter of Hesse, the so-called Rotenburg Quarter to his children. However, this area remained under Hesse-Kassel's sovereignty. Thus, Juliane's sons Herman and Frederick founded the Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Eschwege cadet branches of the House of Hesse and in 1649 her son Ernest founded the Hesse-Rheinfels line. Herman and Frederick died childless and by 1658, Ernest had inherited all parts of the Rotenburg Quarter. Nevertheless, in the next 250 years, Rotenburg was divided, merged and again divided, giving rise to cadet branches with names like Hess-Rheinfels-Roternburg, Hesse-Eschwege-Wanfried and Hesse-Rotenburg-Eschwege.

Landgrave Maurice abdicated in 1627, under pressure from the Estates. He retired to Eschwege, where he died in 1632. Hesse-Kassel was inherited by William V, Maurice's son from his first marriage. In 1629, Juliane and her children moved into Rotenburg Castle in Rotenburg an der Fulda, where she died in 1643.

References and Sources

• Lemberg, Margret: Juliane Landgräfin zu Hessen (1587 - 1643), published as: Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte, vol. 90, Darmstadt, Marburg, 1994.