Countess Emilia of Nassau (April 10, 1569 – March 16, 1629) was the youngest daughter of William the Silent

William the Silent

William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

 and his second wife Anna of Saxony

Anna of Saxony

Anna of Saxony was the only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. She was the second wife of William the Silent.Anna was born and died in Dresden...

.

Biography

Emilia was born in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

. She is named after Amalia of Neuenahr

Amalia of Neuenahr

Amalia of Neuenahr was the daughter of Gumprecht of Neuenahr and Cordula of Holstein Schauenburg.Her first husband was Hendrik van Brederode, who played an important part in the events leading up to the Eighty Years' War...

, who was in charge of her mother's household at the time of her birth. Emilia's mother had an affair with the father of painter Peter Paul Rubens. Due to this infidelity Emilia and her siblings Anna and Maurice

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange from 1618, on the death of his eldest half brother, Philip William, Prince of Orange,...

 were taken out of their mother's care and went to live with their uncle John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg at Dillenburg. Emilia later went to live in Delft

Delft

Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....

 with her father and in Friesland with her sister Anna

Countess Anna of Nassau

Countess Anna of Nassau was a daughter of William the Silent and his second wife, Anna of Saxony. She was the wife of William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg.- Biography :...

.

After her father's death, she acted as hostess at the court of her brother Maurice. It was on one of those occasions that she met Dom Manuel de Portugal

Manuel de Portugal

thumb|160px|Manuel, son of Anthony, Prior of CratoManuel of Portugal was the son of António, Prior of Crato, pretender to the Portuguese throne during the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis. He secretly married in 1597 Countess Emilia of Nassau, daughter of William the Silent and Anna of Saxony....

 (son of pretender to the Portuguese throne, António, Prior of Crato

António, Prior of Crato

António, Prior of Crato , was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal, claimant of the Portuguese throne during the 1580 dynastic crisis, who was King of Portugal as António I of Portugal during 33 days in the continent in 1580, and, after the crowning of Philip II of Spain as King of Portugal,...

). She secretly wed him in 1597. Maurice was firmly opposed to the marriage and banished her from court for ten years. They made peace with each other later on and she was with him at his deathbed.

Emilia and her husband had ten children. They went to live separately later on when her husband decided - due to financial concerns - to live at the court of Isabella of Spain, archenemy of the house of Orange, in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

. Emilia went to Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 with her daughters where she died three years later.

Children:

• Daughter (1598–1602)
• Maria Belgica of Portugal (1599–1647)
• Emanuel II of Portugal (1600–1666)
• Lodewijk Willem of Portugal (1601–1660)
• Daughter (1602–1603)
• Emilia Louise of Portugal (1603–1670)
• Anna Louise of Portugal (1605–1669)
• Juliana Catharina of Portugal (ca. 1607–1680)
• Mauritia Eleonora of Portugal (1609–1674) married Georg Friedrich (Nassau-Siegen) (1606–1674) son of John VII, Count of Nassau a great nephew of William I of Orange
• Sabina Delphica of Portugal (1612–1670)

Ancestry

Countess Emilia of Nassau: Ancestors in three generations

Countess Emilia of Nassau	Father: Prince William I of Orange (The Silent) William the Silent William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...   (1533–1584)	Grandfather: Count William I of Nassau-Dillenburg William I, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg William of Nassau was a count of Nassau-Dillenburg from the House of Nassau. He was called William the Rich....   (1487–1559)	Greatgrandfather: Count John V of Nassau-Dillenburg (1455–1516)
			Greatgrandmother: Landgravine Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg (1466–1523)
		Grandmother: Countess Juliana of Stolberg-Wernigerode Juliana of Stolberg Juliana, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode was the mother of William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish in the 16th century....   (1506–1580)	Greatgrandfather: Count Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode Count Bodo VIII of Stolberg-Wernigerode was Count of Stolberg and Hohnstein and Lord of Wernigerode from 1511 until his death.- Life :...  (1467–1538)
			Greatgrandmother: Anna of Epstein-Königstein (1482–1538)
	Mother: Anna of Saxony Anna of Saxony Anna of Saxony was the only child and heiress of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, and Agnes, eldest daughter of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. She was the second wife of William the Silent.Anna was born and died in Dresden...   (1544–1577)	Grandfather: Elector Maurice I of Saxony Maurice, Elector of Saxony Maurice was Duke and later Elector of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity....   (1521–1553)	Greatgrandfather: Duke Henry IV of Saxony Henry IV, Duke of Saxony Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony was a Duke of Saxony from the House of Wettin.-Biography:Heinrich was the second son of Albert, Duke of Saxony and his wife Sidonie Podiebrad, princess of Bohemia...  (1473–1541)
			Greatgrandmother: Catherine of Mecklenburg Catherine of Mecklenburg Catherine of Mecklenburg , Duchess of Saxony, was the daughter of the Duke Magnus II of Mecklenburg and Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin. She married on 6 July 1512 in Freiberg Duke Henry the Pious of Saxony...  (1487–1561)
		Grandmother: Agnes of Hesse Agnes of Hesse Agnes of Hesse was a princess of Hesse by birth and by marriage Electress of Saxony.- Life :...  (1527–1555)	Greatgrandfather: Landgrave Philip I of Hesse Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....  (1504–1567)
			Greatgrandmother: Christine of Saxony Christine of Saxony Christine of Saxony was a German noble, landgravine of Hesse. She was the regent of Hesse in 1547-1549.... (1505–1549)