Margaretha van Mechelen, by school of Michiel van Mierevelt

Margaretha van Mechelen (c. 1580 in Lier – 17 May 1662 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 ...

) was a noblewoman of the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

and (from c.1600 to c.1610) the mistress of

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange 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 o ...

, with whom she had 3 sons: * Willem of Nassau, lord of the Lek *

Louis of Nassau, lord of De Lek and Beverweerd Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd (1602 – The Hague, 28 February 1665) was a Dutch soldier. He was the illegitimate son of Margaretha van Mechelen and Maurice, Prince of Orange, and so a collateral member of the House of Oran ...

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 o ...

Though Maurice refused to marry her (probably because she was a Catholic and only from the minor nobility), he did state his intent to do so from his death bed (and to legitimise and marry off their children). This would threaten his half-brother Frederick Henry's place in the succession and so Frederick Henry summoned

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 ...

and married her a few days before Maurice's death.

External links

Portrait
in the Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechelen, Margaretha van 1580s births 1662 deaths 17th-century Dutch women Dutch nobility Van Mechelen, Margaretha