Charlotte of Bourbon (1546/1547 – 5 May 1582) was a Princess consort of Orange as the third spouse 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 ...
,
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands.
The title ...
, the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish. She was the fourth daughter of
Louis III de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier
Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier (10 June 1513 – 23 September 1582) was the second Duke of Montpensier, a French Prince of the Blood, military commander and governor. He began his military career during the Italian Wars, and in 1557 was ...
and
Jacqueline de Longwy
Jacqueline de Longwy, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine (before 1520 – 28 August 1561), Duchess of Montpensier, Dauphine of Auvergne was a French noblewoman, and a half-niece of King Francis I of France. She was the first wife of Louis III de Bourbon, D ...
, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine.
Biography
Her paternal grandparents were
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon and
Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier
Louise de Bourbon (1482 – 15 July 1561) was the Duchess of Montpensier, suo jure from February 1538 to 1561. She was the great great great grandmother of ''La Grande Mademoiselle''.
Inheritance
The eldest daughter of Gilbert, Count of Montpens ...
. Her maternal grandparents were John IV de Longwy, Baron of Pagny, and
Jeanne of Angoulême
Jeanne may refer to:
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* Jeanne (crater), on Venus
People
* Jeanne (given name)
* Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, 1412–1431)
* Joanna of Flanders (1295–1374)
* Joan, Duchess of Brittany (1319–1384)
* Ruth Stuber Jeanne (1910–2004), Americ ...
, a natural (but legitimated by Royal decree in 1501) half-sister of King
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...
.
Her mother, Jacqueline, was a believer in the Reformed doctrines, and she secretly taught them to her children. By some accounts, Charlotte's father determined to thwart his wife's influence by sending three of his daughters to convents. Charlotte was then only thirteen years old and begged to be allowed to stay with her mother, who died during the time Charlotte was in the convent. Her father, influential in the court of
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
, placed her in the royal convent of
Jouarre
Jouarre () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France.
Jouarre Abbey
It is the site of the Jouarre Abbey, a Merovingian foundati ...
, near
Meaux
Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris.
Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...
, to be raised as a nun. When she was professed as a nun at the age of thirteen, she made a formal written protest.
Other sources claim that Louis simply wanted to avoid paying dowries in order to conserve his only son's patrimony. Charlotte was first sent to Jouarre, where her aunt was abbess, as an infant. The plan for Charlotte was to renounce her inheritance and succeed her aunt. This plan was carried out upon the aunt's death, against Charlotte's wishes, and despite her being only 12. While abbess, Charlotte was secretly instructed in
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
by a dissident priest.
The young Charlotte shocked both her family and the royal court by fleeing the convent in 1572, announcing her conversion to Calvinism and, on the advice of
Jeanne d'Albret
Jeanne d'Albret (Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572.
Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margaret ...
, fleeing to the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...
, well beyond her parents' reach.
On 24 June 1575 Charlotte married the Protestant William, Prince of Orange. They had six daughters, including
Louise Juliana of Nassau
Louise Juliana of Orange-Nassau (31 March 1576 in Delft – 15 March 1644 in Königsberg) was a countess consort of the Palatinate by marriage to Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, and took part in the regency government of her son between 1610 and 1 ...
, from whom descended the
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...
and most other (Protestant) royal houses. The marriage was very happy–it is said to have been the only one of William's four marriages which was for love–and the obvious happiness of the couple increased William's popularity.
Charlotte allegedly died from exhaustion while trying to nurse her husband after an assassination attempt in 1582. Though William was outwardly stoical, it was feared that his grief might cause a fatal relapse. Charlotte's death was widely mourned. Following her death, William married on 24 April 1583, his fourth and last wife,
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 ...
, by whom he had a son
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry ( nl, Frederik Hendrik; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last ...
.
William's brother
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, who had initially opposed the marriage, paid tribute to Charlotte as a wife "so distinguished by her virtue, her piety, her great intelligence, in sum as perfect as he (William) could desire her".
[Wedgwood, p.157]
References
Bibliography
*Blaisdell, Charmarie, ‘Religion, Gender, and Class: Nuns and Authority in Early Modern France’, in Michael Wolfe (ed.), ''Changing Identities in Early Modern France'' (London, 1997), pp. 147–168.
*
Dalberg-Acton, John Emerich Edward, et al. ''The Cambridge Modern History.'' Vol. III, New York: Macmillan Co, 1902
googlebooks.comAccessed July 30, 2007
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlotte of Bourbon
1540s births
1582 deaths
16th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians
16th-century Dutch people
16th-century French people
16th-century French women
16th-century Dutch women
Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism
Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians
French Calvinist and Reformed Christians
French nobility
French people of the Eighty Years' War
House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon (France)
House of Orange-Nassau
Princesses of Orange
William the Silent