So, here we are around the campfire again to discuss William’s third wife, Charlotte de Bourbon. She was the daughter of Louis III de Bourbon-Vendôme, duke of Montpensier and Jacqueline de Longwy, duchess of Bar-sur-Seine.

Charlotte had a brother, François, who was seen as the heir of all his parents’ wealth. Charlotte, however, wasn’t going to accept this, eventhough her father had put her in a nunnery. She was destined to become abbess, but she was not having it. I already like the feistiness of this lady!

Though her family were catholics, Charlotte herself had a lot of sympathy for the Huguenots and this was one of the reasons why she fled from the nunnery in 1572. Kinda cool, no? I can picture it: on horseback, hitching up her skirts and off she went. Charlotte ended up in Heidelberg, at the courts of Frederic III. It was here she met William of Orange and he asked for her hand in marriage two years later. They were officially married on June 12, 1575.

Their marriage did not start in a proper fashion according to the ideas of those times. William was deep down in debt and Charlotte was an ex-nun without a dowry. In addition, her father still refused her the part of the inheritance she was officially entitled to. And William had not officially divorced his second wife Ann of Saxony.

So, we can assume this was a marriage out of love and mutual respect, despite William being 15 years older. Charlotte moved to the castle in Breda that William owned and they had six daughters together who all reached adulthood, a unique feat in those days.

Early in 1582, William escaped a murder attempt on his life and his wife nursed him back to health. Sadly, she passed away in May of that same year of pneumonia.

Here are some of their letters:

This letter is dated May 1576 in which William is inquiring about his wife’s “condition”. I can only assume this had to do with the fact that their eldest daughter Louise Juliana was born at the end of March of that year.

In September of 1577, it is Charlotte who writes to William and urges him to come home. Signing off, she wishes him all the happiness and a very long life.