Sabina of Palatinate-Simmern

Sabina was the next youngest of the twelve children^[2] born to her parents. Not much is known about her childhood, but she was most likely given a similar education as other German noble girls of her station.

The family of Johan II von Pfalz-Simmern by an unknown artist, Neuburg an der Donau, Schloss Neuburg

Sabina´s father had received an humanist and legal education, and was in correspondence with many prominent persons and scholars of the day. Highly regarded by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. under which he held several official positions such as the emperors representative at the imperial government (German: Reichsregiment) in Nuremberg, and later 1536 to 1539 he was president (German: Raths-kammergericht) of the Imperial Chamber Court in Speyer. As a ruler, politician and jurist, Johann II was so popular throughout the empire that he was usually simply called "Duke Hans" [German : Herzog Hans].

Sabinas mother was the daughter of Christoph of Baden-Baden^[3] and Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen. Through her grand-mother Sabina could claim a relationship the Wittelsbach and Habsburg family. The epitaph on her funerary monument describes her as a person who lived an honorable way of life, and gave no room to unseemly manners."

In 1532, Sabinas mother died^[3], and Sabina and her sister Helena was taken in to be raised at the court of her childless relative Frederick II, Elector Palatine and his wife Dorothea of Denmark^{[4][5][6][7] [8]}in Heidelberg.

Her father remained a widower for 19 years until 1554, when he remarried to Maria Jakoba von Oettingen-Oettingen,just two years younger than Sabina.

Sabina was as a child raised in the Catholic faith of which her father was a staunch supporter^[9][10][11] and raised his children to be very pious.This coupled with the fact that the small principality of Pfalz-Simmern were small and relatively poor^[12] and therefore not able to afford the substantial dowries required to arrange marriages for all their daughters meant that many of Sabinas older sisters were to become nuns.^[10][3]

^[13].

Apart from Sabina and her older sister Elisabeth, who married Georg II. von Erbach and younger sister Helena who married Philip III of Hanau-Münzenberg.

Sabinas marriage was arranged to Lamoral d'Egmont in 1543 when she was 16 years of age, ^[14]by emperor Charles V.^[15][6]Sabina´s father was only able to supply 6,000 Guilders^[4][10] out of the 30,000 guilders set down in the marriage settlements,the rest of the sum was covered by Sabinas foster parents Friedrich and Dorothea.^[10]

On May 8 1544^[7] Sabina married Lamoral, Count of Egmont at in the Speyer Cathedral . The wedding was a lavish occasion spanning four days ^[16], and attended by Charles V and Ferdinand II, archduke Maximilian, German electors and other dignitaries. The couple were married by John von Weeze, arch-bishop of Lund.

The couple would go on to have twelve children and seemed to have a good marriage. Diking out new land near the river Oude Maas,d'Egmont named these Beijerlanden after his wife.^[17] Sabina and her husband undertook a journey to Heidelberg in 1560, she had not seen her brother in person since 1544 at the time of her marriage. This was nominally a family visit but it also had an official component as Sabinas brother had suceeded Otto Henry as Elector Palatine^[7] and the count d´Egmont would act as Philip II´s envoy to extend his congratulations on achieving the position.

Sabina had a rivalry with her husband´s friend and political compatriot William of Orange´s wife, Anna of Saxony in matter of precedence,as the wives of members of the political elite of equal prestige they were more or less equal, but it was unclear which of them had the higher rank, as Sabina carried the title of "Princess of Gavre"^[18],while Anna as the daughter of an Elector held a rank akin to a princess and was Princess of Orange by her marriage.

As a consequence there were times when both women were jostling to be the first to get through a narrow door-way and thus enter a room first and be considered the highest ranked. Eventually a compromise was reached by both ladies entering arm-in-arm at the same time.^[18]

This rivalry was played upon by other political players who wanted to cause a rift in the friendship and political unity between the count of Egmont and William of Orange.^[18] At one time while both women were invited to dine with the Duchess of Parma at the Nassau Palace^[18], Sabina was invited to sit down and given much attention by the duchess ,while Anna was kept standing waiting for up to an hour much to her chagrin and humiliation.^[19][20][18]

Despite "the princess dying of rage",^[19]it does not seem to have the intended effect however and was ignored by her husband.

The Count of Egmont, was at the head of the faction which opposed the imposition of the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands by Cardinal Granvelle and ultimately forced his resignation. When Granvelle retired, d´Egmont , aided by William of Orange and Horn continued to resist the introduction of the Inquisition and of Spanish rule in the Netherlands. Although Philip II of Spain appeared to be showing leniency in the matter, he had made up his mind to punish the opponents of his policy. He replaced the regent, Margaret, duchess of Parma, with the duke of Alba, who entered the Netherlands at the head of a veteran army.

Orange fled from the country, but Egmont and Horn, despite his warning, decided to remain.

One day in September,1567, while the count d´Egmont and the count of Horn were attending a council of state with other knights of the order, in the very house of the Duke of Alba, a captain entered and summoned them, in the King's name, to follow him to prison.They were intially being held, under the supervision of in the house of the Count Culembourg.^[21]Kept under custody with no formal accusations lodged against them,nor any sort of a preliminary investigation, no trace of judicial review had preceded the long imprisonment of two men.

With her husband in arrest, Sabina wrote a letter to King Philip II, the King of Spain, to plead for his release.^[15] Sabina also went to see Margaret of Parma,half-sister of Philip to implore her to intervene with her brother to release the count. At which time (an eyewitness re-counted); "she was in tears, it was pitiful to see her."^[22].

Her husband was kept in custody in Ghent awaiting his final fate, but no order for their arrest had been read to them or drawn up, but finally After a period of two months^[23], during which Philip recived many inquires from various persons into matters of the men and their fate (many of them spurred on by Sabina herself) She had also utilized her network to write to Queen Elizabeth I of England and ,also sent an envoy to France and to Spain to plead for her husband with Philips wife, Elisabeth of Valois, Ruy Gómez de Silva and confessor de la Cueva (Philip refused to receive the envoy) Sabina's brother Frederick III of the Palatinate also lobbied for his release.

In the castle of Ghent, where the Counts of Egmont and Hornes had been transported, they were kept isolated and not even relatives were allowed to visit nor were they even allowed to take some fresh air outside. Because her husband was not allowed to leave his room, that she herself could not see him, she feared that his life was thereby in danger; she then asked for his mercy or at that at least he were to be allowed to get some fresh air in the castle; she also complained about the confiscation of his goods, which was contrary to the laws and justice, before her husband had been condemned; but also added that she placed all her trust in the goodness, compassion, and justice of the king.^[24]

"I hope," she wrote in a letter on January 9, 1568, "that Your Majesty will not tolerate me leaving these provinces with my eleven children to seek a means of subsistence elsewhere, having been brought to these lands by the late, blessed memory of the Emperor your father (Charles V.)." ^[24]

The Duke of Alva also took note of the lengths and efforts that the countess of Egmont was willing to go to free her husband.

"Here, they consider the Countess a holy woman,and it is certain that, since the imprisonment of her husband, not a single night passes without her and her daughters,going to pray barefoot in all the religious places that exist in this city."

^[1][19]

^[24] However in a letter to the Duke of Alva, Philip noted that the Emperor Maximilian II^[22], Albert V, Duke of Bavaria and Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, the Duchess and the Dowager Duchess had written to him frequently and in the most urgent manner, in the interest of the Counts of Egmont and Horne." and added that he had given them no answer, any more than to other Knights of the Golden Fleece who had begged him to disregard the statutes of the order, and he requested Alva "to hasten the legal proceedings as much as possible."

Then a trial, historically known as the Council of Troubles against the two men were begun at which the count Egmonts and Horn were accused of treason and lese majeste^[23].Despite the fact that they were members of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and claimed the privilege to be tried by their peers, Philip denied this claim, and they were tried and convicted by the Council of Troubles.

Sabina´s letters and supplications did not change her husband's fate and he was sentenced to death and to on 5 June 1568 to death by beheading by sword, which was carried out before the Town Hall on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square).

Among the last things her husband did before his death was to write letters, to Philip II and Alva, to beg them to take good care of his family.^[25] Finally he wrote a letter to Sabina in which he enclosed a ring given to him by Philip II.^[25][24]

'Oh how miserable and fragile is our nature, that when we are supposed to think only of God, we are then concerned with wife and children!'

^[23]

Their children were ;

• Leonore(b.1545-d.1582) married Georg van Horn (Joris van Horne) ,count d'Hautekercke^[26] ,^[27] (son of Maarten van Horne)one of the signatories of the Union of Brussels.

• Francoise^[28] (b.1549-d.)
• Segerse Cornelis (b. 1550- d. 1599)
• Magdalena^[28] (b.1552-d.) married to Floris van Stavele, count of Herlies.^[26][28]
• Marie-Chretienne^{[26] [29]}(b.1552-d.)also known as Marie -Christine, married firstly to Edouard de Bournonville^[26],^[27] secondly to Guillaume van Lalaing( d. 1590), count of Hoogstraten^[26] (son of Antoine de Lalaing and Eléonore de Montmorency, dame de Nivelle, a sister of Philip de Montmorency) married thirdly Karl von Mansfeld^[27]
• Philip (1558 - d.1590), 5th Count of Egmont, Order of the Golden Fleece, married to Maria van Horne, daughter of Maarten van Horne,lord of Gaasbeek och Anna de Croÿ-Chimay, no issue.
• Anna (b.1560-d.) became a nun at St Waltrude in Mons.
• Maria^{[28] [27]},(d. 1582) became a nun at La Cambre Abbey^[26][28][30] after the closure of this convent went to live in the vincinity of Brussels.^[30]
• Lamoral (1565–1617), 6th Count of Egmont, married to Marie de Pierrevive^[26],^[31] daughter of Charles de Pierrevive ,seigneur de Lesigny and Louise de Clermont^[31]. Had issue.
• Charles (1567–1620), 7th Count of Egmont, married to Marie de Lens, Lady of Aubigny,^{[26] [32]}daughter of Gilles, baron d'Aubignies. Had issue.
• Isabella, died young.^[30]
• Sabina (d.1608 at Delft) , married Georg, count of Solms.^[26]. No issue.
• Jeanne, became a nun at La Cambre, later prioress of the St. Elizabeth convent in Brussels^[26][30]

Among the descendants of Sabina and Lamoral were;

• Louis of Egmont

• Louis Philip of Egmont

• Leopold Philippe, Duke of Arenberg
• Charles Louis d'Albert, 5th Duke of Luynes