Catherine of the Palatinate (1499–1526)

Catherine of the Palatinate (14 October 1499 in Heidelberg – 16 January 1526 in Neuburg Abbey) was a member of the Wittelsbach family and a titular Countess Palatine of Simmern. She was abbess of Neuburg Abbey.

Catherine of the Palatinate (1499–1526)
Contemporary tombstone in the Klosterkirche Neuburg
Born14 October 1499
Heidelberg
Died16 January 1526(1526-01-16) (aged 26)
Neuburg Abbey
BuriedAbbey church of Neuburg Abbey.
Noble familyWittelsbach
FatherPhilip, Elector Palatine
MotherMargaret of Bavaria-Landshut

Life

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Catherine was the youngest child of Elector Palatine Philip (1448–1508) from his marriage to Margaret (1456–1501), the daughter of Duke Louis IX of Bavaria-Landshut. In 1515, Catherine renounced her inheritance and entered the Benedictine Neuburg Abbey.[1] She became abbess of the abbey.

Catherine died in 1526, at the age of 26. She was buried in the abbey church of Neuburg. Her grave stone can be found on the north wall of the nave, opposite the monastery portal. It is made of red sandstone and it shows, in bas-relief, Catherine wearing a nun's habit, with the abbess's staff and a book in her hands and a lion at her feet.[2]

References

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  • August Benedict Michaelis: Einleitung zu einer volständigen geschichte der chur- und fürstlichen häuser in Teutschland vol. 2, 1760, p. 32

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Neues Archiv für die Geschichte der Stadt Heidelberg und der Kurpfalz, vol. 6, 1905, p. 22
  2. ^ Renate Neumüllers-Klauser: Die Inschriften der Stadt und des Landkreises Heidelberg, Reichert, 1970, p. 121