William II, Prince of Orange
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Image:Willem II Prins van Oranje.jpgWilliam II, Prince of Orange (May 27, 1626 – November 6, 1650), stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from March 14, 1647 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 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 many 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 ruling for only three years, he died of smallpox in 1650. Following his death, no stadtholder was appointed in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel for over 20 years.
His son, born shortly after William’s death, finally succeeded him in 1672 and would also become William III of England in 1689.
[edit] References
- 1 Russel Shorto, The Island at the Centre of the World ISBN 0-552-99982-2
| Preceded by: Frederick Henry | Prince of Orange 1647–1650 | Succeeded by: William III |
| Preceded by: Frederick Henry | Baron of Breda 1647–1650 | Succeeded by: William III |
| Preceded by: Frederick Henry | Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel 1647–1650 | Succeeded by: William III |
| Stadtholders of Holland, Zeeland and (since 1528) Utrecht |
|---|
| Hugo van Lannoy |
Willem van Lalaing | Gozewijn de Wilde | Jan van Lannoy | Lewis de Bruges | Wolfert VI van Borselen | Joost van Lalaing | Jan III van Egmond | Henry III of Nassau-Breda | Antoon van Lalaing | René of Châlon | Louis of Flanders | Maximilian II of Burgundy | William of Orange | Maximilian of Hennin | Philip of Noircarmes | William of Orange | Adolf van Nieuwenaar (Utrecht only) | Maurice of Nassau | Frederick Henry of Orange | William II of Orange | interregnum | William III of Orange | interregnum | William IV of Orange | William V of Orange |
de:Wilhelm II. (Oranien) es:Guillermo II de Orange-Nassau fr:Guillaume II d'Orange-Nassau nl:Willem II van Oranje-Nassau ja:ヴィレム2世 (オランダ総督) ru:Вильгельм II Оранский sv:Vilhelm II av Oranien
