- Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (
31 August 1602 –8 September 1675 ), Countess ofSolms-Braunfels , was the wife ofFrederick Henry, Prince of Orange . She was the daughter ofJohan Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels andAgnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein .Biography
Childhood
Amalia spent her childhood at the parental castle at
Braunfels . She became part of the train of Elizabeth, wife ofFrederick V, Elector Palatine , the "Winter King" of Bohemia. After imperial forces defeated Frederick V, she fled with the pregnant queen to the west. Shelter was denied to them because the emperor forbade it. Elizabeth went into labor during their flight and Amalia helped her with her delivery.The end of their journey was
The Hague , wherestadtholder Maurice of Nassau gave them asylum. They often appeared at his court, where Maurice's younger half-brother Frederick Henry became infatuated with Amalia. She refused to become his lover and held out for marriage.Marriage and Children
When Maurice of Nassau died, he made his half-brother Frederick Henry promise to wed. Frederick married Amalia on
4 April 1625 .Their marriage produced five children who lived to adulthood, and four who died young:
* Stadtholder William II (1626-1650), married Mary, The Princess Royal
*Luise Henriette of Nassau (1627-1667), marriedFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
* Henriette Amalia of Nassau (1628)
* Elisabeth of Nassau (1630)
* Isabella Charlotte of Nassau (1632-1642)
*Albertine Agnes of Nassau (1634-1696), married William Frederick, Count of Nassau-Dietz
* Henriette Catharina of Nassau (1637-1708), marriedJohn George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
* Hendrik Lodewijk of Nassau (1639)
* Maria of Nassau (1642-1688), married Prince Maurice of the Palatine-Simmern, son of Louis Philip of Palatine-Simmern-KaiserslauternWife to the Stadtholder
When Frederick Henry became stadtholder after the death of his half-brother Prince Maurice, his influence grew substantially, as did Amalia's. Together Frederick Henry and Amalia succeeded in expanding court life in The Hague. They had a number of palaces built, including
Huis ten Bosch . Amalia was the prime mover of a number of royal marriages, including that of her son William II to Mary, Princess Royal of England and Scotland (daughter of KingCharles I of England ) and of their daughters with a number of German princes. After the death of her son William II she became the main guardian of her grandson William III (Prince William III of Orange and later also King William III of England).King
Philip IV of Spain granted her the area aroundTurnhout in 1649.External links
*County of Solms in German Wikipedia
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