The Patriottentijd was a period of political instability in the Dutch Republic between approximately 1780 and 1787. Its name derives from the Patriots faction who opposed the rule of the stadtholder, William V, Prince of Orange, and his supporters who were known as Orangists.
The Arrest of Wilhelmina of Prussia by the Patriots
Genootschap "De Vrijheid" from Dordrecht
The civic militia (exercitiegenootschap) of Sneek, gathered on the market square in 1786
William V, c. 1768–1769.
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, officially the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands, and the first independent Dutch state. The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 and declaring their independence in 1581. It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland, and Zeeland.
William of Orange, by Adriaen Thomasz Key.
Anonymous portrait of the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza. He was of Portuguese-Jewish origin.
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, by Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde
Dam Square in the late 17th century: painting by Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde