Maurice, Prince of Orange

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Maurice of Orange was stadtholder of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upon the death of his eldest half-brother Philip William in 1618, he was known as Maurice of Nassau.

Portrait by Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1607

Maurice as a child

The Cavalcade of princes of the House of Orange and Nassau, 1. Front Row: Maurice (1567–1625), Philip William (1558–1618), Frederick Henry (1584–1647), 2. Second Row: William Louis (1560–1632), Ernst Casimir (1573–1632) und Johann Ernst. after a print by W. J. Delff (1621) after a painting from A. P. van de Venne

Maurice and his followers on the Vijverberg (the Hofvijver embankment) in The Hague. Adam van Breen, 1618.

Stadtholder

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In the Low Countries, a stadtholder was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The stadtholder was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and Habsburg period.

William the Silent was a stadtholder during the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Empire.