Catherine of Hanau also known as ''Katharina'' (25 January 1408 – 25 September 1460) was a German regent. She was the regent of the County of Rieneck during the minority of her son from 1431 until 1434. She was the eldest daughter of Reinhard II, who would become the first Count of Hanau in 1429, and

Catherine of Nassau-Beilstein Katharina of Nassau-Beilstein (died 6 September 1459) was Countess of Hanau by marriage to Reinhard II, Count of Hanau, and regent of Hanau during the minority of her son Reinhard III from 1452 until 1458. Life She was the daughter of Count Henr ...

(d. 6 September 1459).

Countess of Rieneck

She first married in 1421, to Count Thomas II of Rieneck (before 1408 – 8 February 1431), who was twice a widower at that time, having been married before to Elisabeth of Henneberg and to Elisabeth of

Castell A ''castell'' () is a human tower built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia, the Balearic islands and the Valencian Community. At these festivals, several ''colles castelleres'' (teams that build towers) attempt to build and dismantle a t ...

. His first two marriages were childless. Catherine and Thomas were engaged on 14 October 1419. After their marriage, the pair resided at Wildenstein Castle. They had the following children: # Philip the Elder, Count of

Grünsfeld Grünsfeld is a town and a municipality in the Main-Tauber district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 6 km east of Tauberbischofsheim, and 25 km southwest of Würzburg. It consists of the villages Grünsfeld, Grünsfeldhau ...

, Lauda and Wildenstein (d. 5 December 1488), married to Countess Palatine Amalia of Mosbach (1433 – 15 May 1483), a daughter of

Count Palatine A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

of Mosbach # Philip the Younger, Count of Lohr, Gemünden, Brückenau and Schildeck (d. 14 July 1497), who joined the clergy, but reverted to a secular state in 1454 and married Margaret of

Eppstein Eppstein is a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Eppstein lies west of Frankfurt am Main, around 12 km north east of the state capital Wiesbaden, and is at the edge of the Taunus mountains. The ruins of the Eppstein castle is ...

and then in 1465 to Anna of Wertheim-

Breuberg Breuberg is a town in the Odenwaldkreis district of Hesse, Germany. It is 28 km east of Darmstadt and 20 km southwest of Aschaffenburg. Geography Location Breuberg lies in the northern Odenwald. Neighbouring communities Breuberg ...

Regency

After Thomas' death, Catherine became the guardian of her children, who were still minors. When she remarried, the guardianship and regency of Rieneck were taken up by her brother Reinhard III.

Countess of Henneberg-Schleusingen

In 1434, Catherine married Count William II of Henneberg-Schleusingen (14 March 1415 – 8 January 1444Sources differ slightly on the date of his death; some sources indicate 7 or 9 January in a hunting accident). Catherine and William were engaged on 17 May 1432. On 15 June 1432, Catherine renounced her claim on the County of Rieneck, in exchange for 8000 guilders. From her husband, she received a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

of 16000 guilder, which was secured with the district and castle of Mainberg Castle, near

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

. Catherine and William had the following children: #

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

(12 March 1434 – 26 May 1480), married Duches Margaret of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1451 – 13 February 1509) # Margaret (1437–1491), a nun in the Ilm Convent # John II (2 July 1439 – 20 May 1513), from 1472

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Fulda Abbey The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedicti ...

# Berthold XII (b. 9 January 1441), clergyman # Berthold XIV (4 March 1443 – 20 April 1495), provost of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

# Margaret (10 October 1444 – between 16 February and 3 March 1485), married Count Günther XXXVI of Schwarzburg-Blakenburg (8 July 1439 – 30 December 1503 in Rudolstadt) Catherine died on 25 September 1460 Massfeld Castle in Untermassfeld.

Ancestors

References

* Georg-Wilhelm Hanna: ''Katharina von Hanau'', in: ''Mitteilungsblatt der Heimatstelle des Main-Kinzig-Kreises'', issue 14, 1989, p. 201–203 * Georg-Wilhelm Hanna: ''Ministerialität, Macht und Mediatisierung. Die Ritteradligen von Hutten, ihre soziale Stellung in Kirche und Staat bis zum Ende des Alten Reiches'', in the series ''Hanauer Geschichtsblätter'', vol. 44, Hanau, 2007, , also thesis, Bamberg, 200
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* W. Sattler: ''Das alte Schloß Mainberg bei Schweinfurt und seine Bewohner. Historische Skizze'', new edition, 1854, p. 17ff * Otto Schecher: ''Die Grafen von Rieneck. Studien zur Geschichte eines mittelalterlichen Hochadelsgeschlechtes in Franken'', thesis, Würzburg, 1963 * Reinhard Suchier: ''Genealogie des Hanauer Grafenhauses'', in: ''Festschrift des Hanauer Geschichtsvereins zu seiner fünfzigjährigen Jubelfeier am 27. August 1894'', Hanau, 1894 * Ernst J. Zimmermann: ''Hanau Stadt und Land'', 3rd ed., Hanau, 1919, reprinted: 1978

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katharina of Hanau 15th-century German women House of Hanau People from Meiningen German countesses 1408 births 1460 deaths 15th-century German people 15th-century women rulers