Walburga of Egmont

Walburga of Egmont
Countess Consort of Nassau-Siegen
Walburga of Egmont in the tree of the House of Orange-Nassau, c. 1813–1844.
Coat of arms
Full name	Walburga Countess of Egmont
Native name	Walburga Gravin van Egmont
Born	c. 1489
Died	7 March 1529
Buried	St. John's Church, Franciscan monastery, Siegen Reburied: St. Mary's Church [de], Siegen 1836
Noble family	House of Egmond
Spouse(s)	William I of Nassau-Siegen
Issue Detail	Elisabeth Magdalene
Father	John III of Egmont
Mother	Magdalene of Werdenberg

Countess Walburga^{[note 1]} of Egmont (c. 1489 – 7 March 1529), Dutch: Walburga Gravin van Egmont, was a countess from the House of Egmond and through marriage Countess of Nassau-Siegen.

Walburga was born c. 1489^[1][2][3] as the eldest daughter of Count John III of Egmont and Countess Magdalene of Werdenberg (from the House of Werdenberg).^[1][2][3]

Walburga met her future husband, William I of Nassau-Siegen (Dillenburg, 10 April 1487^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]} – Dillenburg, 6 October 1559^{[1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9][10]}), in Arnhem in 1505, where he accompanied Elector Frederick III the Wise of Saxony. The following year, the marriage was arranged at Siegen with a messenger from Walburga's father.^[11]

The marriage was consummated at Koblenz on 29 May 1506.^{[1][2][4][note 2]} The glorious wedding was attended by the archbishops Herman IV of Cologne^{[note 3]} and John II of Trier and many other guests from the high nobility.^[12] Henry, the groom's brother, had come over from the Netherlands.^[11]

Shortly before, on 16 February 1506, the Beilager of William's sisters Elisabeth and Mary, who married the counts John III of Wied [de] and Jobst I of Holstein-Schauenburg-Pinneberg respectively, was celebrated in Dillenburg with the greatest of festivities. The purchase of gold fabric for 747 guilders and silk fabric for 396 guilders at the trade fair in Mainz for these celebrations, as well as the unusually high total expenditure of 13,505 guilders in the accounts of 1505/1506, show that these weddings must have been splendid events. Soon after the wedding, William set up his own court at Dillenburg Castle.^[12]

In 1516, following the death of his father Count John V of Nassau-Siegen, William succeeded him as Count of Nassau-Siegen and of half Diez.^{[2][4][5][11][13]} Since then William and Walburga had their Residenz in Siegen.^[14]

Walburga died on 7 March 1529^{[1][2][3][15]} and was buried next to her eldest daughter in the crypt of St. John's Church in the Franciscan monastery in Siegen, which her father-in-law had founded.^[14] In 1836, they were reburied in St. Mary's Church [de] in Siegen.^[16]

William's brother Henry suggested the widower to look for a new life companion in the highest princely houses and suggested a princess of Lorraine, "die ein gut heiratgut mitbrächte" ("who brought in a rich marital estate").^[12] Instead William remarried in Siegen on 20 September 1531^{[1][2][3][15][17][18]} to Countess Juliane of Stolberg-Wernigerode (Stolberg, 15 February 1506^{[1][2][3][5][17]} – Dillenburg, 18 June 1580^{[1][2][3][5][15][17]}).

From the marriage of Walburga and William, the following children were born:^{[1][2][3][15][note 4]}

1. Elisabeth (Siegen, October 1515 – Siegen (?), January 1523).
2. Magdalene (Siegen, 6 October 1522 – 18 August 1567), married on 16 July 1538 to Count Herman of Neuenahr and Moers [de] (1514 – 4 December 1578).

• Aßmann, Helmut & Menk, Friedhelm (1996). Auf den Spuren von Nassau und Oranien in Siegen (in German). Siegen: Gesellschaft für Stadtmarketing Siegen e.V.
• Becker, E. (1983) [1950]. Schloss und Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Gang durch ihre Geschichte in Mittelalter und Neuzeit. Zur Gedenkfeier aus Anlaß der Verleihung der Stadtrechte am 20. September 1344 herausgegeben (in German) (Neuauflage ed.). Dillenburg: Der Magistrat der Stadt Dillenburg.
• Dek, A.W.E. (1968). "De afstammelingen van Juliana van Stolberg tot aan het jaar van de Vrede van Münster". Spiegel der Historie. Maandblad voor de geschiedenis der Nederlanden (in Dutch). 1968 (7/8): 228–303.
• Dek, A.W.E. (1970). Genealogie van het Vorstenhuis Nassau (in Dutch). Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek.
• Van Ditzhuyzen, Reinildis (2004) [1992]. Oranje-Nassau. Een biografisch woordenboek (in Dutch) (3rd ed.). Haarlem: Becht. ISBN 90-230-1124-4.
• Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain & Magdelaine, F. & B. (1981). l'Allemagne Dynastique (in French). Vol. Tome III: Brunswick-Nassau-Schwarzbourg. Le Perreux: Alain Giraud. ISBN 2-901138-03-9.
• Kolb, Richard (1898). "Wilhelm (der Reiche), Graf von Nassau-Katzenellenbogen". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. Band 43. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 129–131.
• Lück, Alfred (1981) [1967]. Siegerland und Nederland (in German) (2nd ed.). Siegen: Siegerländer Heimatverein e.V.
• Menk, Friedhelm (1994). "Die nassauischen Begräbnisstätten in der ev. Stadtkirche zu Dillenburg". In Pletz-Krehahn, Hans-Jürgen (ed.). 650 Jahre Stadt Dillenburg. Ein Text- und Bildband zum Stadtrechtsjubiläum der Oranierstadt (in German). Dillenburg: Verlag E. Weidenbach GmbH + Co. KG. pp. 119–125.
• Schutte, O. (1979). "Genealogische gegevens". In Tamse, C.A. (ed.). Nassau en Oranje in de Nederlandse geschiedenis (in Dutch). Alphen aan den Rijn: A.W. Sijthoff. pp. 40–44. ISBN 90-218-2447-7.
• Textor von Haiger, Johann (1617). Nassauische Chronik. In welcher des vralt, hochlöblich, vnd weitberühmten Stamms vom Hause Naßaw, Printzen vnd Graven Genealogi oder Stammbaum: deren geburt, leben, heurath, kinder, zu Friden- vnd Kriegszeiten verzichtete sachen und thaten, absterben, und sonst denckwürdige Geschichten. Sampt einer kurtzen general Nassoviae und special Beschreibung der Graf- und Herschaften Naßaw-Catzenelnbogen, etc (in German). Herborn: Christoph Raab.
• Vorsterman van Oyen, A.A. (1882). Het vorstenhuis Oranje-Nassau. Van de vroegste tijden tot heden (in Dutch). Leiden & Utrecht: A.W. Sijthoff & J.L. Beijers.