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Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau

Antwerp, 10 Aug 1578 – The Hague, 12 Apr 1648

10 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 10 Aug 1578

    Born in Antwerp

  2. 29 Jan 1602

    A daughter is born

  3. 12 Apr 1648

    Dies in The Hague, aged 69

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

Children · 1

During her lifetime

She lived through 8 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Antwerp.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1570s · Countess is born in Antwerp

In the news1576

Spanish Fury massacre destroys Antwerp

In November 1576, unpaid Spanish soldiers mutinied in Antwerp, murdering about 7,000 residents and plundering the city for three days.

Getting around

Organized local transport market in Brabant

Local transport of commodities in Brabant was highly organized despite lacking corporations, relying on both professional carters and occasional transporters hired through tenders or temporary contracts. There was no price advantage for farmers offering transport services, as all contractors were paid at competitive market rates.

In the news1571

Deadly plague epidemic strikes Antwerp

A severe plague outbreak in 1571 killed approximately 1,700 people in Antwerp in September alone, hitting children particularly hard.

Daily life

Family records in daily life

Well-off families meticulously recorded daily events like births, marriages, and where children were sent to learn Latin or French in personal notebooks.

What people wore

Simple underwear for working women

Flemish working women did not wear corsets or hoop skirts, instead wearing a simple linen smock as their only underwear beneath woolen gowns.

Music

Dancing at bourgeois gatherings

Bourgeois weddings and gatherings featured ensemble music, with people dancing to melodies like rondes, branles, and bergerettes.

At the table

Table Manners for Ordinary People

People were expected to wash their hands before and during meals and were taught not to make slurping or smacking noises while eating.