Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
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Frederick Henry (
As the leading soldier in the Dutch wars against Spain, his main achievement was the successful Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629. It was the main Spanish base and a well-fortified city protected by an experienced Spanish garrison and by formidable water defenses. His strategy was the successful neutralization of the threat of inundation of the area around 's-Hertogenbosch' and his capture of the Spanish storehouse at Wesel.[1] The successful sieges under his command earned him the epithet ‘city forcer’ (Dutch: stedendwinger).
Biography
Early life
Frederick Henry was born on 29 January 1584 in
Frederick Henry was born six months before his father's
Stadtholder
On the death of Maurice in 1625 without legitimate issue, Frederick Henry succeeded him in his paternal dignities and estates, and also in the
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 for the golden age of the republic.[2] 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. His chief opponent during the later 1640s was Andries Bicker, burgomaster of Amsterdam and powerful member of the States General, who was looking for peace with Spain, wanted to reduce the army and preferred Amsterdam's trading power. 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
Death
Frederick Henry died on 14 March 1647 in The Hague, Holland, Dutch Republic. He left his wife Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, his son William II, Prince of Orange, four of his daughters, and his illegitimate son Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein.
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.
His widow commissioned an elaborate mausoleum in the Oranjezaal, a panoramic painted ballroom with scenes from his life and allegories of good government based on his achievements.
Children
Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia of Solms-Braunfels had nine children, seven daughters and two sons. Four of their children, including one son, died in childhood, leaving Frederick Henry with only a single son as heir. Ultimately, after the death of Frederick Henry's only male-line grandson, the stadtholdership was to pass to a distant agnatic cousin, who was married to Frederick Henry's daughter
- William II, Prince of Orange (27 May 1626 – 6 November 1650)
- Luise Henriette of Nassau(27 December 1627 – 18 June 1667)
- Henriëtte Amalia of Nassau (26 October 1628 – December 1628)
- Elisabeth of Nassau (4 August 1630)
- Isabella Charlotte of Nassau (22 January/28 April 1632 – 17 May 1642)
- Albertine Agnes of Nassau(9 April 1634 – 24 May 1696)
- Henriette Catherine of Nassau(10 February 1637 – 3 November 1708)
- Hendrik Lodewijk of Nassau (30 November 1639 – 19 December 1639)
- Maria of Nassau(5 September 1642 – 17/20 March 1688)
Frederick Henry recognized one illegitimate child by Margaretha Catharina Bruyns:
- Frederick Nassau, lord of Zuylestein (1624–1672)
Coat of arms and titles
Frederick Henry, besides being Stadholder of several provinces and Captain-General, both non-hereditary and appointive titles:
he was the hereditary sovereign of the principality of Orange in what is today Provence in France. He also was the lord of many other estates, which formed his wealth:
- Marquis of Veere and Vlissingen;
- ;
- Viscount of Antwerp;
- ;
- .
List of military battles
Frederick Henry participated in these battles as principal Dutch commander:
- 5th Groenlo, 1627
- 's-Hertogenbosch
- Bruges
- 3rd Maastricht
- Leuven
- Schenkenschans
- 5th Breda, 1637
- 4th Venlo, 1637
- Kallo
- 2nd Hulst
- 3rd Hulst
- 5th Venlo, 1646
- 2nd Antwerp, 1646
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Frederick Henry". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 62. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Israel, Jonathan I. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1998) excerpt and text search pp 506–45
External links
- (in Dutch) Frederik Hendrik. Prins van Oranje. Een biografisch drieluik, a biography by J.J. Poelhekke