Henriette Catherine of Nassau

Henriette Catherine of Nassau
Princess consort of Anhalt-Dessau
Spouse	John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
Issue
Frederick Casimir, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Elisabeth Albertine, Countess of Barby Henriette Amalie, Princess of Nassau-Dietz Marie Eleonore, Duchess of Olyka Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Johanna Charlotte, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt
House	House of Orange-Nassau
Father	Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Mother	Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
Born	10 February 1637(1637-02-10) The Hague
Died	3 November 1708(1708-11-03) (aged 71)

Henriette Catherine of Nassau (10 February 1637 – 3 November 1708) was a daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and his wife Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. Henriette was a member of the House of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands).

Family

Frederick Henry, Amalia and their youngest three daughters, Henriette is first on the right

Henriette was born in The Hague and was the seventh of nine children born to her parents. Some of her siblings died in childhood. Henriette and four other siblings lived to adulthood, her surviving siblings were: William II, Prince of Orange, Luise Henriette of Nassau, Albertine Agnes of Nassau and Maria of Nassau.

Henriette and her sisters

Henriette's paternal grandparents were William the Silent and his fourth wife Louise de Coligny. Henriette's grandfather, William was murdered on the orders of Philip II of Spain who believed that William had betrayed the Spanish king and the Roman Catholic religion.

Henriette's maternal grandparents were Johan Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels and his wife Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Life

Marriage and issue

The Thirty Years War had left Germany in ruins but the Netherlands under the reign of Henriette's father, Frederick father had made great progress since the assassination of William the Silent. Her father wanted to make peace with Germany and so married some of his daughters off to many German nobles. Frederick had Henriette married to John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau in Groningen on 9 September 1659. The couple were married for thirty-four years and had ten children:

1. Amalie Ludovika (b. Berlin, 7 September 1660 - d. Dessau, 12 November 1660).
2. Henriette Amalie (b. Cölln an der Spree, 4 January 1662 - d. Cölln an der Spree, 28 January 1662).
3. Frederick Casimir, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. Cölln an der Spree, 8 November 1663 - d. Cölln an der Spree, 27 May 1665).
4. Elisabeth Albertine (b. Cölln an der Spree, 1 May 1665 - d. Dessau, 5 October 1706), Abbess of Herford (1680–1686); married on 30 March 1686 to Henry of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby.
5. Henriette Amalie (b. Kleve, 26 August 1666 - d. Oranienstein an der Lahn, 18 April 1726), married on 26 November 1683 to Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz.
6. Louise Sophie (b. Dessau, 15 September 1667 - d. Dessau, 18 April 1678).
7. Marie Eleonore (b. Dessau, 14 March 1671 - d. Dessau, 18 May 1756), married on 3 September 1687 to Prince Jerzy Radziwiłł, Duke of Olyka.
8. Henriette Agnes (b. Dessau, 9 September 1674 - d. Dessau, 18 January 1729).
9. Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (b. Dessau, 3 July 1676 - d. Dessau, 9 April 1747).
10. Johanna Charlotte (Dessau, 6 April 1682 - d. Herford, 31 March 1750), Abbess of Herford (1729–1750); married on 25 January 1699 to Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.

Henriette and John George were a great influence over the German court at agriculture, construction of ports, levees, architecture and painting. In 1660, John George gave his wife the town of Nischwitz were she build houses, a cemetery, made glass and brought it to fruition.^[1]

John George died in Berlin 1693. Their son, Leopold was still only a minor so Henriette resumed regency for his son until he came of age.^{[citation needed]}

Henriette died in 1708.

It is speculated that Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands (granddaughter of Beatrix of the Netherlands) received the name Catharina after Henriette Catherine.

Ancestors

William II's ancestors in three generations

Henriette Catherine of Nassau	Father: Frederik Hendrik of Orange	Paternal Grandfather: William the Silent	Paternal Great-grandfather: William I, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
			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: Johan Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels	Maternal Great-grandfather: Conrad Graf zu Solms-Braunfels
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth von Nassau-Dillenburg
		Maternal Grandmother: Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein	Maternal Great-grandfather: Ludwig Graf von Sayn-Wittgenstein
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elisabeth zu Solms-Laubach

References

1. ^ Henriette Catharina of Orange-Nassau

External links

Persondata
Name	Nassau, Henriette Catherine Of
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 February 1637
Place of birth	The Hague
Date of death	3 November 1708
Place of death