Henry III of Nassau-Breda - Family Life and Death

Family Life and Death

Henry married three times:

• Louise-Françoise of Savoy († 17 September 1511) on 3 August 1503.
• Claudia of Châlon (° 1498 – † 31 May 1521) in May 1515.
• Mencia de Mendoza y Fonseca (° 30 November 1508 – † 4 January 1544) on 26 June 1524.

With Claudia of Châlon he had a son, René of Châlon (° 5 February 1519), who became prince of Orange in 1530 on the death of Claudia's brother Philibert. Henry had no further legitimate children, although he is known to have had some bastard offspring. His marriage to Mencia de Mendoza y Fonseca was mainly encouraged by Charles V, as part of his plan to make the nobility of Spain and the Low Countries mix. Henry was however never really liked by the Spaniards, who regarded him as a loud and barbarian German parvenu. Upon his death in 1538 he was succeeded by his only son, but René was himself slain in battle only a few years later in 1544. Henry lies buried beneath the grave monument he had erected for his uncle Engelbert in the Grote kerk at Breda.