Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau

Biographical Text

A daughter of Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik van Oranje-Nassau and his wife Amalia von Solms-Braunfels, Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau was the first member of the Oranje-Nassau dynasty to marry into the family of Nassau-Dietz. Following the death of her husband, the Frisian Stadtholder Willem Frederik (1613–1664), and until the coming-of-age of her son Hendrik Casimir II (1657–1696), Albertine Agnes became the first female ruler to assume the stadtholdership as regent, and her extensive correspondence throughout this period is testament to her work in this role.

Albertine’s son Hendrik Casimir suffered from poor health. He was also short-tempered and, as a consequence, lacked diplomatic skills. Albertine, who was acutely aware of her son’s failings, continued to make frequent interventions on his behalf. The continuous rivalry between Hendrik Casimir and his cousin Stadtholder-King Willem III caused strained internal relations within the House of Nassau, something Albertine, in her role as mediator, also worked to improve.

Albertine Agnes was widely known as the patron — a Maecenas — of a number of large architectural projects, as well as a passionate collector of paintings and objects d’art

Bibliography

  • A. M. Backer, Er stond een vrouw in de tuin. Over de rol van vrouwen in het Nederlandse landschap (Rotterdam, 2016).
  • M. Bruggeman and A. P. van Nienes, eds, Archieven van de Friese stadhouders. Inventarissen van de archieven van de Friese stadhouders van Willem Lodewijk tot en met Willem V, 1584–1795 (Hilversum, 2002).
  • S. Groenveld, ‘Nassau contra Oranje in de 17de eeuwse Republiek’, Jaarboek Oranje-Nassau Museum (1997), pp. 11–53.
  • A. A. Kleijn, De stadhouders van Friesland uit het Huis van Nassau (Nijkerk, 1904).
  • G. H. Janssen, Creaturen van macht. Patronage bij Willem Frederik van Nassau (1613–1664) (Amsterdam, 2005).
  • L. Kooijmans, Liefde in opdracht. Het hofleven van Willem Frederik van Nassau (Amsterdam, 2000).
  • R. Mulder-Radetzky, ‘Huizen van Albertine Agnes’, in S. Groenveld, J. J. Huizinga and Y. B. Kuiper, eds, Nassau uit de schaduw van Oranje (Franeker, 2003), pp. 99–112.
  • Johanna Naber and L. de Neve, De vorstinnen van het Huis van Oranje-Nassau (Haarlem, 1898).
  • F. Storto, Oranienstein. Barockschloss an der Lahn (Koblenz, 1994).
  • J. Visser, ‘De Friese stadhouders, De Witt en de Unie’, in J. J. Kalma and K. de Vries, eds, Friesland in het rampjaar 1672. It jier fan de miste kânsen (Leeuwarden, 1972), pp. 73–91.
  • J. Visser, ed., Gloria Parendi, Dagboeken van Willem Frederik, stadhouder van Friesland, Groningen en Drenthe, 1643–1649, 1651–1654 (The Hague, 1995).
Portrait of Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau with her children

Dublin Core

Title

Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau

Description

A daughter of Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik van Oranje-Nassau and his wife Amalia von Solms-Braunfels, Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau was the first member of the Oranje-Nassau dynasty to marry into the family of Nassau-Dietz.

Identifier

VIAF (1)
VIAF (2)

Birth Date

1634

Death Date

1696

Occupation

Wife of Willem Frederik van Nassau-Dietz, stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe; daughter of Frederick Hendrik van Oranje-Nassau and Amalia von Solms-Braunfels.

Part of Collection

Citation

“Albertine Agnes van Oranje-Nassau,” The Wives of the Stadtholders: an exhibition, accessed March 28, 2024, http://emlo-portal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/exhibition/sw/items/show/12.