Maria of Nassau or Maria of Orange-Nassau (5 September 1642 – 20 March 1688) was a Dutch

princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

of the

house of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of O ...

and by marriage ''pfalzgräfin'' or

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Simmern-Kaiserslautern.

Life

Maria was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, the youngest daughter of

Amalia of Solms-Braunfels Amalia of Solms-Braunfels (31 August 1602 – 8 September 1675) was Princess of Orange by marriage to Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She acted as the political adviser of her spouse during his reign, and acted as his de facto deputy and regent ...

and her husband

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...

. Her father was already in his late fifties when she was born and died when she was only four. She was also the aunt of the future William III, via her older brother William II. In 1660 her family began negotiations for her to marry Charles II of Great Britain. However, in the end he opted to marry Catharine of Braganza to establish an anti-Spanish alliance with Portugal. A year later marriage negotiations with

John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen John Maurice of Nassau ( ; ; ; ; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil, was Count and (from 1664) Prince of Nassau-Siegen. He served as ''Herrenmeister'' (equivalent to Gra ...

began, but these also proved abortive. On 23 September 1666 in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

she married Louis Henry, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern (1640-1674), son of Louis Philip and a grandson of Maria's aunt

Countess 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 ...

. Like her sisters' marriages, Maria's marriage was intended to draw the network of Calvinist princes closer together. Maria and Louis Henry were married eight years but the marriage proved childless and on her husband's death the Simmern-Kaiserslautern line died out. Maria kept up a correspondence with her two surviving sisters after her marriage. Like her sisters Louise Henriette with the

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is on the banks of the River Havel, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg consists of ni ...

, Albertine Agnes with the Oranienstein and Henriette Catherine with Oranienbaum, Maria built herself a new palace after her marriage - she completed hers in 1669 at

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...

and named it Schloss Oranienhof. Maria died in 1688 at

Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of the few remaining bridges in the world wi ...

after six days of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and Schloss Oranienhof was destroyed by French troops in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

a year later.

Ancestry

External links

*
''De kinderen van Prins Willem „de Zwijger“ (1533–1584) van Oranje-Nassau Prins van Oranje in 1544.''
* Wil Tiemes
''Maria prinses van Oranje (1642–1688).''
In: ''Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland.'' 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria of Orange-Nassau (1642-1688) 1642 births 1688 deaths Nobility of the Dutch Republic 17th-century Dutch women Deaths from pneumonia in Germany House of Orange-Nassau House of Palatinate-Simmern Nobility from The Hague Princesses of Orange-Nassau Daughters of princes regnant