Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen

Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen
Ottilie and her five daughters, section of the Markgrafentafel.
Born	c. 1451
Died	15 August 1517 Baden-Baden
Spouse	Christoph I of Baden
Father	Philipp II the Younger of Katzenelnbogen
Mother	Ottilie of Nassau-Dillenburg

Ottilie of Katzenelnbogen (c. 1451 – 15 August 1517, Baden-Baden), was by marriage Margravine of Baden-Baden.

She was the only child of Philipp II the Younger of Katzenelnbogen (1427 – 27 February 1453) and Ottilie of Nassau-Dillenburg (April 1437 – July 1493). Her baptism took place one month after her father's death, on 22 March in Starkenburg Castle, near Darmstadt.

Philipp II the Younger was in turn the eldest of the two sons of Count Philipp I of Katzenelnbogen the Elder (1402 – 1479) and his first wife, Anna of Württemberg (1408 – 1471).

Shortly after Ottilie's uncle and last male member of the family, Eberhard of Katzenelnbogen was murdered (1456), her grandfather Philipp I made an agreement with Frederick I, Elector Palatine, under which Ottilie was betrothed with the Elector's nephew Philip; however, when she reached a marriageable age in 1467, eleven years after the engagement, the groom refused to marry her due to personal reasons. Instead, and thanks to the intrigues of John II of Baden, Elector and Archbishop of Trier, she was engaged with his nephew Christoph, heir of Baden-Baden. The marriage contract was signed on 20 June 1468, and the formal wedding ceremony took place seven months later, on 30 January 1469 in the city of Koblenz as a part of double ceremony, because that day Christoph's sister Cimburga married with Count Engelbert II of Nassau-Dillenburg (first-cousin of Ottilie's mother). Only two years later, before 13 January 1471, Ottilie of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dowager Hereditary Countess of Katzenelnbogen remarried, with Count Oswald of Thierstein (1435 - end June 1488) and three years later, on 24 January 1474, Anna of Nassau-Dillenburg, Engelbert II's sister, married with Count Philipp I of Katzenelnbogen the Elder as her second wife.

Ottilie's dowry was the highest of the Middle Ages ever introduced into the House of Baden. In addition to the Stadeck Castle with all his accessories (about 26,000 florins) were added further 48,000 longer-dated guilders. The total amount was of about 80,000 florins.