Countess Emilia of Nassau (10 April 1569 – 16 March 1629) was the third and youngest 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 second wife

Anna of Saxony Anna of Saxony (23 December 1544 – 18 December 1577) was the heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. Maurice's only son, Albert, died in infancy. Anna was the second wife of William t ...

Biography

Emilia was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. She is named after

Amalia of Neuenahr Amalia of Neuenahr (6 April 1539 – 10 April 1602) was the daughter of Gumprecht of Neuenahr and Cordula of Holstein Schauenburg. Her first husband was Hendrik van Brederode, who played an important part in the events leading up to the Eighty Ye ...

who was in charge of her mother's household at the time of her birth. Emilia's mother had an affair with the father of painter

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

. Due to this infidelity Emilia and her siblings, Anna and

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

, were taken out of their mother's care and went to live with their uncle

John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg Count John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg (22 November 1536 – 8 October 1606) was the second son of William the Rich and the younger brother of William the Silent. He has a special place in the history of the Netherlands because he is the male-lin ...

at Dillenburg. Emilia later went to live in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

with her father and, in

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

, with her sister,

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

. After her father's death she acted as hostess at the court of her brother,

. It was on one of those occasions that she met Dom Manuel of Portugal, son of the

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

claimant of the

Portuguese throne This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the nea ...

António, Prior of Crato António, Prior of Crato (; 153126 August 1595; sometimes called ''The Determined'', ''The Fighter'', ''The Independentist'' or ''The Resistant''), was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal who claimed the Portuguese throne during the 1580 d ...

). She secretly married him in 1597 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. Maurice was firmly opposed to the marriage, because the Nassaus were

Calvinist 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 Ca ...

s and Dom Manuel was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Maurice put Emilia under house arrest; Dom Manuel had to flee to

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighove ...

. When Maurice found he could not convince her to divorce her husband, he banished her from court for ten years. They eventually made peace and she and Dom Manuel were at Maurice's deathbed. Emilia and her husband had ten children. The last years of their lives, they lived separately when her husband decided — due to financial concerns — to live in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

at the court of Isabella of Spain, archenemy of the

House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current dynasty, reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the Politics and governm ...

. Emilia went to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

with her daughters, where she died three years later, at the age of 59.

Children

* Maria Belgica of Portugal (born before 12 October 1598Dek: ''De afstammelingen...'', p. 243 et seq. – 28 July 1647), married in June 1629 to Colonel Theodor Croll (died 1640 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

urdered, Quartermaster general of Duke

Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma Odoardo Farnese (28 April 1612 – 11 September 1646), also known as Odoardo I Farnese to distinguish him from his grandson Odoardo II Farnese, was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1622 to 1646. Biography Odoardo was the eldest legit ...

. *

Manuel António of Portugal Manuel António of Portugal (24 February 1600 in Delft – 27 October 1666 in Schagen) was a Portuguese nobleman. Youth He was born as son of Manuel of Portugal and Countess Emilia of Nassau who was a daughter of William the Silent. Manue ...

(24 February 1600 in

– 27 October 1666 in

Schagen Schagen () is a city and municipality in the northwestern Netherlands. It is located between Alkmaar and Den Helder, in the region of West Friesland (region), West Friesland and the province of North Holland. It received City rights in the Nethe ...

). * Emilia Louise of Portugal (June 1603 in Delft – 29 October 1670), unmarried. * Christopher William Louis of Portugal (1604 – 7 July 1660); a military person, commander of the guards of

Maurice of Nassau Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was '' stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince ...

in 1624, Knight of Malta, married to Donna Anna Maria di Capece-Galeoti de Monteleone. * Anna Louise of Portugal (born before 3 May 1605 – 5 April 1669), unmarried. * Juliana Catherine of Portugal (c. 1607 – 22 July 1680), unmarried. * Mauritia Eleonora of Portugal (born before 10 May 1609 – 25 June 1674), married to Count

George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen Prince George Frederick of Nassau-Siegen (23 February 1606 – 2 October 1674), german: Georg Friedrich Prinz von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: ''Prinz von Nassau, Graf zu Katzenelnbogen, Vianden und Diez, Herr zu Beilstein'', was a c ...

on 4 June 1647 in

. * Sabina Delphica of Portugal (1612 – 20 July 1670), unmarried.

Ancestry

References

General references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emilia of Nassau House of Orange-Nassau People from Cologne 1569 births 1629 deaths Countesses of Nassau