Mary Magdalene of Limburg-Stirum

Mary Magdalene was born in 1632^{[2][note 2]} as the daughter and only child of Count George Ernest of Limburg-Stirum and his first wife Countess Magdalene of Bentheim-Tecklenburg.^[3] The exact date and place of birth of Mary Magdalene are unknown. As the only child of her father, Mary Magdalene was heiress to the County of Bronkhorst and the heerlijkheden of Wisch [nl], Borculo [nl], Lichtenvoorde [nl] and Wildenborch [nl].^[4]

Mary Magdalene married at Wisch Castle [nl] in Terborg on 19/29 April 1646^{[2][5][note 3]} to Count Henry of Nassau-Siegen (Siegen Castle [de], 9 August 1611^{[5][note 4]} – Hulst, 27 October/7 November 1652^{[5][note 5]}), the fourth son of Count John VII 'the Middle' of Nassau-Siegen and his second wife, Duchess Margaret of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg.^[6] Mary Magdalene's great-great-grandmother Countess Mary of Nassau-Siegen was a younger sister of Henry's great-grandfather Count William I 'the Rich' of Nassau-Siegen.^[7]

The will and testament of Count John VII 'the Middle' of 1621 bequeathed John Maurice and his younger brothers from their father's second marriage the district of Freudenberg, some villages in the Haingericht^{[note 6]} and a third part of the administration of the city of Siegen.^[9][10] After his older half-brother John 'the Younger' had accepted the homage of the city of Siegen for the entire county of Nassau-Siegen on 12 January 1624^[11] and had voluntarily ceded the sovereignty over the Hilchenbach district with Ginsburg Castle [de] and some villages belonging to the Ferndorf [de] and Netphen districts to his younger brother William on 13/23 January 1624,^[12][13] Henry and his brothers, with the exception of the oldest two brothers John Maurice and George Frederick, accepted only modest appanages.^[14][15]

Henry served the Dutch Republic as an officer in the Dutch States Army since 1632,^[16] in diplomatic missions^{[16][17][18][19]} and as governor of Hulst since 1645.^[16][17][20] He died in 1652 and was first buried in Terborg.^[5] On 17 July 1669^{[5][note 7]} he was reburied in the Fürstengruft [nl] in Siegen.^[5][18][21]

After the death of Mary Magdalene's mother in 1649, her father remarried at Wisch Castle in Terborg on 13 January 1656 to Countess Sophie Margaret of Nassau-Siegen (Siegen Castle, 16 April 1610 – Wisch Castle, Terborg, 8/18 May 1665), an older sister of Mary Magdalene's husband.^[22] That marriage remained childless. After the death of her father in September 1661, Mary Magdalene succeeded him countess of Bronkhorst, lady of Wisch, Borculo, Lichtenvoorde and Wildenborch, and hereditary lady banneret of the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen. Thus, these properties came into the possession of the House of Nassau.^[4]

Mary Magdalene died in the Nassauischer Hof [de] in Siegen on 27 December 1707.^{[2][note 8]} She was buried on 29 December in the Fürstengruft there.^[1][2][4]

From the marriage of Henry and Mary Magdalene the following children were born:^[16][23][24]

1. Ernestine (Wisch Castle, Terborg, 15 November 1647^{[note 9]} – Hulst, October 1652^{[note 10]}).
2. Fürst William Maurice (Wisch Castle, Terborg, 18/28 January 1649^{[note 11]} – Nassauischer Hof, Siegen, 23 January 1691^{Jul.[note 12]}), succeeded his uncle John Maurice as Fürst of Nassau-Siegen in 1679. Married at Schaumburg Castle on 6 February 1678^{Jul.[note 13]} to Princess Ernestine Charlotte of Nassau-Schaumburg (Schaumburg Castle, 20 May 1662^{Jul.[note 14]} – Nassauischer Hof, Siegen, 21 February 1732^{[note 15]}).
3. Sophie Amalie (Wisch Castle, Terborg, 10 January 1650^{Jul.[note 16]} – Mitau, 15/25 November 1688^{[note 17]}), married in The Hague on 5 October 1675^{Greg.[note 18]} to Duke Frederick Casimir of Courland (6 July 1650 – 22 January 1698).
4. Frederick Henry^{[note 19]} (Wisch Castle, Terborg, 11 November 1651^{[note 20]} – Roermond, 4 September 1676^{[note 21]}), was a colonel in the Dutch States Army.

The sons William Maurice and Frederick Henry were adopted by their uncle John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen after the death of their father.^[18][29][30] William Maurice, Sophie Amalie and Frederick Henry were elevated to the rank and title of prince(ss) in 1664.^{[31][note 22]}