Martine Van Neyt

Martine Filomena Maria van Neyt (3 October 1693 - 10 August 1733) was Queen of Brunant from 1709 to her death in 1733. She was the third wife of King Marten I.

Biography

Early life and marriage

Martine was the youngest child of Baron Martin Van Neyt, who was Chief Minister to her future father-in-law, Karl Van Draak, and his second wife Diana, whose maiden name is unknown. She grew up in Koningstad and was educated alongside her brothers Franciscus and Adrian.

Martine was married to the 42-year-old Crown Prince Marten on 14 May 1707, at the age of 15. She was his third wife. Marten's previous wives, Alexandra of Brandenburg and Louise of France, died from prolonged sickness. The pair had four children:

• Louisa Alexandra (1712-1733)
• Sofia (1713-1716)
• Martin Philip (1715-1721)
• Bertha (1717-1728)

Queen of Brunant

In 1709, Marten succeeded his father as King of Brunant, with Martine becoming his queen consort. She was the first Queen of Brunant to be born on the Brunanter islands.

Her two youngest children died in 1721 and 1728 respectively, leaving the queen very worried about her eldest child, Princess Louisa Alexandra. In 1732, she arranged her daughter's marriage with Count Augustus of Leiningen-Dagsburg, the youngest son of Johann, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg and Countess Johanna Magdalene of Hanau-Lichtenberg. The king initially opposed the marriage, but since the princess had fell in love with the German-born count, Martine pushed to king to also support the marriage.

Martine has several younger lovers from the 1720s on since their marriage was a rather political one arranged by her father and father-in-law.

With the death of her only child in childbirth in July 1733, the queen became severely depressed; she refused to leave her bedroom and ate very little. She died less than a month after her daughter's death.