Countess Maria of Nassau (1556–1616)

Countess Maria of Nassau (7 February 1556, Breda – 10 October 1616, Buren) was the second daughter of William the Silent by his first wife Anna of Egmont.

[citation needed] At the start of the Eighty Years' War her older brother Philip William was removed to Spain where he was raised as a Catholic.

Maria vigorously defended her brother's claims to the title Prince of Orange and the barony and city of Breda against the claims of their half-brother Maurice of Nassau.

Also, Maria claimed guardianship of the possessions of Philip William while hostage in Spain, because of her being a full sister to Philip William, while Maurice was only his younger half-brother, and started a trial.

On 2 February 1595, at the age of 39, Maria finally married Philip of Hohenlohe in Buren, in the Dutch Reformed Church.