Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange

Frederick Henry,
Prince of Orange
Prince Frederick Henry by Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt
Prince of Orange
In office
1625–1647
Preceded by Prince Maurice
Succeeded by Prince William II
Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel
In office
1625–1647
Preceded by Prince Maurice, half brother, no issue.
Succeeded by Prince William II, Frederick Henry's son.
Personal details
Born 29 January 1584(1584-01-29)
Delft, Dutch Republic
Died 14 March 1647(1647-03-14) (aged 63)
The Hague, Dutch Republic
Resting place Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, Netherlands
Spouse(s) Amalia of Solms-Braunfels

Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch (29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647), was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Frederick Henry was born on 29 January 1584 in Delft, Holland, Dutch Republic. He was the youngest child of William the Silent and Louise de Coligny. His father William was stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland. His mother Louise was daughter of the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, and was the fourth wife of his father. He was thus the half brother of his predecessor Maurice of Orange, deceased in 1625.

Frederick Henry was born six months before his father's assassination on 10 July 1584. The boy was trained to arms by his elder brother Maurice, one of the finest generals of his age. After Maurice threatened to legimitize his illegitimate children if he did not marry, Frederick Henry married Amalia of Solms-Braunfels in 1625. His illegitimate son by Margaretha Catharina Bruyns (1595–1625), Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein was born in 1624 before his marriage. This son later became the governor of the young William III of England for seven years.

Stadtholder

On the death of Maurice in 1625 without legitimite issue, Frederick Henry succeeded him in his paternal dignities and estates, and also in the stadtholderates of the five provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Guelders, and in the important posts of captain and admiral-general of the Union (commander-in-chief of the Dutch States Army and of the Dutch navy).

Frederick Henry proved himself almost as good a general as his brother, and a far more capable statesman and politician. For twenty-two years he remained at the head of government in the United Provinces, and in his time the power of the stadtholderate reached its highest point. The "Period of Frederick Henry," as it is usually styled by Dutch writers, is generally accounted the golden age of the republic. It was marked by great military and naval triumphs, by worldwide maritime and commercial expansion, and by a wonderful outburst of activity in the domains of art and literature.

The chief military exploits of Frederick Henry were the sieges and captures of Grol in 1627, 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629, of Maastricht in 1632, of Breda in 1637, of Sas van Gent in 1644, and of Hulst in 1645. During the greater part of his administration the alliance with France against Spain had been the pivot of Frederick Henry's foreign policy, but in his last years he sacrificed the French alliance for the sake of concluding a separate peace with Spain, by which the United Provinces obtained from that power all the advantages they had been seeking for eighty years.

Frederick Henry built the country houses Huis Honselaarsdijk, Huis ter Nieuwburg, and for his wife Huis ten Bosch, and he renovated the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. Huis Honselaarsdijk and Huis ter Nieuwburg are now demolished.[1]

Death

Frederick Henry died on 14 March 1647 in The Hague, Holland, Dutch Republic. He left a wife, a son William II, Prince of Orange, four daughters, and the illegitimate son Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein.

On Frederick Henry's death, he was buried with great pomp beside his father and brother at Delft. The treaty of Munster, ending the long struggle between the Dutch and the Spaniards, was not actually signed until 30 January 1648, the illness and death of the stadtholder having caused a delay in the negotiations. Frederick Henry left an account of his campaigns in his Mémoires de Frédéric Henri (Amsterdam, 1743). See Cambridge Mod. Hist. vol. iv. chap. 24.

The funeral procession of Frederik Hendrik

Children

Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia van Solms had nine children:

Depictions of Family

Arms

Frederick Henry used two sets of arms as shown: before and after he became prince of Orange, Stadholder and Captain-General:

Ancestors

Frederick Henry's ancestors in three generations
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Father:
William the Silent
Paternal Grandfather:
William I, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Count John V of Nassau-Dillenburg
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Landgravine Elisabeth of Hesse-Marburg
Paternal Grandmother:
Juliana of Stolberg
Paternal Great-grandfather:
Bodo VIII, Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Paternal Great-grandmother:
Anna of Eppstein-Königstein
Mother:
Louise de Coligny
Maternal Grandfather:
Gaspard de Coligny
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Gaspard I de Coligny
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Louise de Montmorency
Maternal Grandmother:
Charlotte de Laval
Maternal Great-grandfather:
Guy XVI de Laval, Comte de Laval
Maternal Great-grandmother:
Antoinette de Daillon

References

  1. ^ (Dutch) Poelhekke, J.J. (2008). "Hoofdstuk IX". Frederik Hendrik. Prins van Oranje. Een biografisch drieluik. Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren. http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/poel003fred01_01/poel003fred01_01_0010.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-07. 
  2. ^ Rietstap, Johannes Baptist (2003). Armorial general. vol.2. Genealogical Publishing Co.. p. 297. ISBN 0806348119. 

External links

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Cadet branch of the House of Nassau
Born: 29 January 1584 Died: 14 March 1647
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Maurice of Nassau
Prince of Orange
1625–1647
Succeeded by
William II
Baron of Breda
1625–1647
Political offices
Preceded by
Maurice of Nassau
Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel
1625–1647
Succeeded by
William II