Henriette Catherine of Nassau (10 February 1637 – 5 November 1708) was princess consort of Anhalt-Dessau by marriage to

John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau John George II (17 November 1627 – 7 August 1693) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1660 to 1693. A member of the Fruitbearing Society, he also served as a field marshal of Brandenbu ...

, and regent of Anhalt-Dessau from 1693 to 1698 during the minority (and then the absence) of her son

Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (3 July 1676 – 7 April 1747) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau from 1693 to 1747. He was also a ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Prussian army. Nickname ...

Life

Gerrit van Honthorst - Frederik Hendrik met familie

Henriette was born 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 o ...

as a member of the

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

, being the seventh of nine children born to

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 ...

and

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia may refer to: People *Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named) *Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name Films and television series * ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...

. Some of her siblings died in childhood. Henriette and four other siblings lived to adulthood, her surviving siblings were:

William II, Prince of Orange William II (27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650) was sovereign Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen in the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three year ...

, Luise Henriette of Nassau, Albertine Agnes of Nassau and Maria of Nassau. Mijtenstoechterfriedrichheinrichs

Princess consort of Anhalt-Dessau

The

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

had left

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

in ruins but the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

under the reign of Henriette's father, Frederick Henry, had made great progress since the assassination of William the Silent. Her father wanted to make peace with Germany and so married some of his daughters off to German nobles. Her mother, continuing this policy had Henriette married to

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

on 9 September 1659. Henriette's consent cannot have been taken for granted: she was a woman of spirit and independence, who had already refused to marry a cousin whom she disliked, and for a time considered marrying her brother-in-law

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

. Judging by his letters Charles may have been genuinely in love with her, but later said that he was happy about her marriage, and believed that Henriette and John had married for love. Henriette and John George were a great influence over the German court at

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

of ports,

levees A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

and

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

. In 1660, John George gave his wife the town of

Nischwitz Nischwitz is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andreas Nischwitz (born 1957), West German pair skater * Margarete Nischwitz (1891–1979), German political activist and politician * Ron Nischwitz (born 1937), American bas ...

where she built houses and a cemetery, made glass and brought it to fruition.

Regency

John George died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

1693. Their son, Leopold was still only a minor, so Henriette resumed regency for his son until he came of age, and resigned from regency in 1698. She was first regent during his minority; when he became of age, however, she continued as regent due to his absence from the Principality, and thus did not resign her regency until 1698. During her regency, she founded a refuge home for children and women and instituted regulations for lawyers and a system for the care of orphans.Wil Tiemes, Henriëtte Catharina van Oranje, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/hcnassau 7/04/2016/ref> Henriette died in 1708.

Issue

#Amalie Ludovika (Berlin, 7 September 1660 - Dessau, 12 November 1660). #Henriette Amalie (Cölln an der Spree, 4 January 1662 - Cölln an der Spree, 28 January 1662). #Frederick Casimir, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (Cölln an der Spree, 8 November 1663 - Cölln an der Spree, 27 May 1665). #Elisabeth Albertine (Cölln an der Spree, 1 May 1665 - Dessau, 5 October 1706), Abbess of

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford. Geography Geographic locat ...

(1680–1686); married on 30 March 1686 to Henry of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby. # Henriette Amalie (Kleve, 26 August 1666 - Oranienstein an der Lahn, 18 April 1726), married on 26 November 1683 to

Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz (18 January 1657 – 25 March 1696) was Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen from 1664 till 1696. Life Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz was born in The Hague, the eldest son of Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz a ...

. #Louise Sophie (Dessau, 15 September 1667 - Dessau, 18 April 1678). #Marie Eleonore (Dessau, 14 March 1671 - Dessau, 18 May 1756), married on 3 September 1687 to Prince Jerzy Radziwiłł, Duke of

Olyka Olyka ( uk, Оли́ка, pl, Ołyka, yi, אליק ''Olik'') is an urban-type settlement in Lutsk Raion, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. It is located east of Lutsk on the Putylivka Rriver. Its population is . History The village of Olyka was foun ...

. #Henriette Agnes (Dessau, 9 September 1674 - Dessau, 18 January 1729). #

(Dessau, 3 July 1676 - Dessau, 9 April 1747). # Johanna Charlotte (Dessau, 6 April 1682 - Herford, 31 March 1750), Abbess of

(1729–1750); married on 25 January 1699 to

Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt Philip William, Prince in Prussia (german: Philipp Wilhelm von Brandenburg-Schwedt; May 19, 1669, castle of Königsberg – December 19, 1711, castle of Schwedt) was a Prussian Prince, was the first owner of the Prussian secundogeniture of ...

Legacy

It is speculated that Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, daughter of

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess B ...

and current heir apparent to the dutch throne, was named Catharina after Henriette Catherine.

Ancestors

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau, Henriette Catherine Of 1637 births 1708 deaths 17th-century Dutch women 17th-century women rulers Henriette Catherine Henriette Catherine Henriette Catherine