William II, Prince of Orange
- William II, Prince of Orange
until his death.
William II, Prince of Orange, was the son of stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. William the Silent had been succeeded in the position of stadtholder and as military commander by his son Maurits of Nassau, who in turn was followed by his brother Frederick Henry. William II’s ancestors governed in conjunction with the States-General, an assembly made up of representatives of each of the seven provinces but usually dominated by the largest and wealthiest province, Holland.
On May 2, 1641 William married Mary Henrietta Stuart, the Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London. In 1648 he opposed acceptance of the Treaty of Münster, despite the fact that it recognized the independence of the Netherlands. Secretly, William opened his own negotiations with France with the goal of extending his own territory under a centralized government. In addition, he worked for the restoration of his brother-in-law, Charles II, to the throne of England.In 1650 William II became involved in a bitter quarrel with the province of Holland and the powerful merchants of Amsterdam, like Andries Bicker over troop reduction following the Treaty of Münster. William opposed the reduction in the size of the army which would diminish his powerbase. This resulted in William putting eight members of the provincial assembly in prison in the castle of Loevestein. In addition he sent his cousin Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz with an army of 10 thousand troops with the aim of taking Amsterdam by force. Bad weather foiled this campaign 1.
After having served as stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel for only three years, he died of smallpox in 1650. His son William was born one week after his death. This was the beginning of the First Stadtholderless Period for the provinces Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel. His son succeeded him in 1672 as stadtholder and later, in 1689, also became king of England.
Ancestors
References
* 1 Russel Shorto, "The Island at the Centre of the World" ISBN 0-552-99982-2
-
-
-
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
William V, Prince of Orange — William V Batavus, Prince of Orange and Nassau (March 8, 1748 ndash; April 9, 1806) was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He was the leader of the conservative faction. BiographyWilliam V was born at The Hague, the son of William IV,… … Wikipedia
William IV, Prince of Orange — Infobox Person name = William IV, Prince of Orange image size = 200px caption = birth date = September 1, 1711 birth place = Leeuwarden death date = death date and age|1751|10|22|1711|9|1 death place = Huis ten Bosch education = occupation =… … Wikipedia
Royal descendants of John William Friso, Prince of Orange — The descendants of John William Friso, Prince of Orange currently occupy all the hereditary thrones [Two monarchies of Europe, Andorra and Vatican City, have elected or appointed leaders and thus no royal houses.] of Europe, as well as some… … Wikipedia
John William Friso, Prince of Orange — John William Friso, Prince of Orange, Prince of Nassau Dietz (4 August, 1687 ndash; 14 July 1711) became the titulair Prince of Orange in 1702. He was stadholder of Friesland until his untimely death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. He… … Wikipedia
William, Prince of Orange — For other princes of Orange or Orange Nassau called William, see William of Orange (disambiguation) William Prince of Orange Prince of Orange Reign … Wikipedia
William The Silent of Orange — (1533 1584) William the Silent of Orange was born in Dillenburg near Wiesbaden, Germany, to the Protestant Count William of Nassau and Juliana of Stolberg. In 1544, William became the prince of Orange when his cousin René de Châlon, who held… … Dictionary of Renaissance art
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange — Infobox Officeholder name = Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange imagesize = 250px caption = Prince Frederick Henry by Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt order = office = Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel term start = 1625… … Wikipedia
Prince of Orange — Coat of Arms of the city/town of Orange in the Vaucluse. They were granted to the city by the princes of Orange of the house of des Baux in the last quarter of the XIIth century.[1] … Wikipedia
Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange — Maurice of Nassau Prince of Orange Prince of Orange In office 1618–1625 Preceded by … Wikipedia
Alexander, Prince of Orange — Infobox Person name = Alexander, Prince of Orange image size = 250px caption = Alexander, Prince of Orange birth name = Willem Alexander Karel Hendrik Frederik birth date = birth date|1851|8|25 birth place = The Hague, Netherlands death date =… … Wikipedia
