Countess Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau (

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, 17 September 1580 –

Château-Renard Château-Renard () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. Geography The commune is traversed by the river Ouanne. Population Sights and monuments * Château de Châteaurenard See also * Communes of the Loiret departm ...

, August 1631) was the fifth daughter of

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

and his third spouse,

Charlotte of Bourbon Charlotte of Bourbon (1546/1547 – 5 May 1582) was a Princess consort of Orange as the third spouse of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish. She was the fourth daughter of Louis III de Bou ...

. She lived in her life at the French royal court and performed many successful assignments as a mediator.

Life

She and her sisters lost their mother in 1582 and their father in 1584 and were taken care of by their stepmother

Louise de Coligny Louise de Coligny (23 September 1555 – 9 November 1620) was a Princess consort of Orange as the fourth and last spouse of William the Silent. She was the daughter of Gaspard II de Coligny and Charlotte de Laval. Biography Louise was born at C ...

, with whom they had a very good relationship. In 1594 Louise introduced the elder sisters Elisabeth and Charlotte Brabantina at the court of Henry IV of France in order to find French Huguenot spouses for them. Elisabeth married the Duke of Bouillon in 1596 and Charlotte Brabantina married Claude de La Trémoille in 1598. She was described as a beauty and called La Belle Brabantine. She was widowed in 1604. Charlotte Brabantina divided her life between the Thours castle, the French royal court and the Dutch court in The Hague, and was well liked by Henry IV, Marie de' Medici and Louis XIII. Being well liked by most and with good connections, she was often given assignments as a mediator. She acted as a mediator during the conflict between the Duke of Bouillon and Henry IV. She also acted as a mediator in the negotiations resulting in the Treaty of Loudun in 1616. Louis XIII appointed her to chair the synd between the French reformed churches in Vitry in May–June 1617. She maintained a correspondence with her stepmother and her sisters, who were also often politically active, and they often referred to themselves as 'femmes d'état' or female "statesmen".Matty Klatter, Charlotte Brabantina van Oranje, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/CharlotteBrabantina 3/01/2014/ref>

Ancestry

References

Charlotte Brabantina: biography on Worldroots
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte Brabantina Of Nassau House of Orange-Nassau House of La Trémoille Countesses of Nassau 1580 births 1631 deaths Princesses of Taranto