Noble family Nassau | Name Countess of | |
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Father John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen Mother Countess Magdalena of Waldeck Born 3 September 1587
Dillenburg ( 1587-09-03 ) Died February 15, 1643, Rotenburg an der Fulda, Germany Spouse Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (m. 1603–1632) Children Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels Parents Countess Magdalena of Waldeck, Johann VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen Grandchildren William, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg Grandparents Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Philipp IV, Count of Waldeck, Countess Elisabeth of Leuchtenberg | ||
Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg (3 September 1587, Dillenburg – 15 February 1643, Rotenburg an der Fulda), was the fifth child and second daughter of John VII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623), who became Count John I of Nassau-Siegen when his father's inheritance was divided in 1606, and his wife Countess Magdalena of Waldeck (1558–1599).
Life
In Dillenburg on 22 May 1603 Juliane married Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel as his second wife. They had fourteen children:
In order to ensure that they all had incomes befitting a landgrave, she had a policy of transferring income and ownership rights to her children. Eventually, Maurice transferred a quarter of Hesse, the so-called Rotenburg Quarter to his children. However, this area remained under Hesse-Kassel's sovereignty. Thus, Juliane's sons Herman and Frederick founded the Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Eschwege cadet branches of the House of Hesse and in 1649 her son Ernest founded the Hesse-Rheinfels line. Herman and Frederick died childless and by 1658, Ernest had inherited all parts of the Rotenburg Quarter. Nevertheless, in the next 250 years, Rotenburg was divided, merged and again divided, giving rise to cadet branches with names like Hess-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Hesse-Eschwege-Wanfried and Hesse-Rotenburg-Eschwege.
Landgrave Maurice abdicated in 1627, under pressure from the Estates. He retired to Eschwege, where he died in 1632. Hesse-Kassel was inherited by William V, Maurice's son from his first marriage. In 1629, Juliane and her children moved into Rotenburg Castle in Rotenburg an der Fulda, where she died in 1643.