Marie de Brimeu

Marie de Brimeu (born ca. 1550, Megen, North Brabant, died Liège, 18 April 1605), was a Flemish noblewoman known for her knowledge of botany and horticulture. She inherited her titles from her uncle, Charles de Brimeu, Count of Meghem, when he died in 1572, becoming the Countess of Meghem. Her second marriage in 1580 to Charles III, Prince of Chimay, elevated her to the rank of princess. Life Family and early life Princess Marie de Brimeu of Chimay was the niece of Charles de Brimeu, Count of Meghem (1556–1572). He was her paternal uncle and she inherited his titles when he died without direct descendants. She thus became, among other titles, Countess of Meghem. She was born in 1550 in Megen (Meghem), a small town on the river Meuse, in the Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands (it is now in the province of North Brabant, the Netherlands). She was the younger daughter of George de Brimeu, Lord of Quierieu (d. c. 1572), Charles' younger brother, by his second wife, Anna van Walthausen; her older sister was Marguerite de Brimeu. She spent much of her early life in Mechelen, where her family had a large house behind the cloth hall. From her early life she developed an interest in gardens and plants, and in February 1571 sent a letter and plant material from Antwerp to the botanist Carolus Clusius in Mechelen, whom she had recently met there, suggesting that she had already established a garden in Antwerp. Another botanist, Matthaeus Lobelius, also refers to her Antwerp garden. Marriages Her first marriage, shortly before the end of January 1572, in Megen, was to Lancelot de Berlaymont, Lord of Beauraing (c.1550–1578), second son of Charles de Berlaymont, who styled himself Count of Meghem in his wife's right. His father was an important public figure in the Netherlands, being a counsellor of Margaret of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands (1559–1567). As a fellow Catholic, he supported the Spanish Habsburgs in their struggle against the northern insurgents following the Dutch revolt of 1568. From 1570 he fought as a captain in a number of campaigns, and he was made governor of the fortress of Charlemont at Givet. In 1578 both he and his father died during the siege of Philippeville. She had two children from this marriage, both of whom died in infancy.