Stadtholder
In the Low Countries, a stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [ˈstɑtˌɦʌudər] ⓘ) 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 (1384 – 1581/1795).[1]
The title was used for the highest executive official of each province performing several duties, such as appointing lower administrators and maintaining peace and order, in the early
The title stadtholder is roughly comparable to the historical titles of Lord Protector in England, Statthalter in the Holy Roman Empire and Governor-general of Norway.
Etymology
Stadtholder means "steward". Its component parts literally translate as "place holder," from
History
Seventeen Provinces
Stadtholders in the
In the 15th century the Dukes of Burgundy acquired most of the Low Countries, and the constituent parts (duchies, counties, lordships) of these Burgundian Netherlands mostly each had their own stadtholder, appointed by the Duke in his capacity of duke, count or lord.
In the 16th century, the
Dutch Republic
When, in 1581, during the
On the Republic's central 'confederal' level, the stadtholder of the provinces of Holland and Zeeland was normally also appointed
The leader of the Dutch Revolt was William the Silent (William I of Orange); he had been appointed stadtholder in 1572 by the States of the first province to rebel, Holland, as a replacement of the royal stadtholder (He had previously held the post as an appointee of Philip II.). His personal influence and reputation was subsequently associated with the office and transferred to members of his house. After his assassination, however, there was a short-lived move to install Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester as governor-general of Elizabeth I before Maurice in 1590 became stadtholder of five provinces,[6] a position he would hold until his death (his cousin William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg held the post in the remaining two provinces, Friesland and Groningen).
Tensions nonetheless persisted between Orangists and republicans in the United Provinces, sometimes exploding into direct conflict. Maurice in 1618 and William III of Orange from 1672 replaced entire city councils with their partisans to increase their power: the so-called "Changings of the Legislative" (Wetsverzettingen). By intimidation, the stadtholders tried to extend their right of affirmation, while they also attempted to add the remaining stadholderships like Friesland and Groningen to their other holdings.[6] In reaction, the regents in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel, after the death of William II in 1650, appointed no stadtholder,[7] and banned his son William from the stadtholdership by an Act of Seclusion, something overcome by popular feeling during the catastrophic events of 1672, the Dutch Year of Disaster (Rampjaar), when the future William III of England was swept to power.[8] After the death of William III in 1702 they again abstained from appointing a stadtholder.[7] These periods are known as the First Stadtholderless Period and the Second Stadtholderless Period.
After the French invasion of 1747, the regents were forced by a popular movement to accept
After William IV's death in 1751, his infant son was duly appointed stadtholder under the regency of his mother. The misgovernment of this regency caused much resentment, which issued in 1780 in the
Abolition and transition to sovereign kingdom
The exiles returned with French armies in the winter of 1795 and overcame the frozen
Soon after the French army withdrew from the Netherlands, William Frederick, the son of William V, was invited by the Triumvirate of 1813 to become the first 'Sovereign Prince'. William had been living in exile in London during the French occupation. On 13 November 1813 he returned to the Netherlands to accept the invitation. On 16 March 1815 he assumed the title of King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
As political model
The stadtholderate was taken as a political model by the Founding Fathers of the United States with regard to the executive powers – Oliver Ellsworth for example arguing that without its influence in the United Provinces, "their machine of government would no more move than a ship without wind".[11]
See also
- Lord Protector
- Steward (office)
- List of stadtholders in the Low Countries
- List of governors of the Habsburg Netherlands
- Governor-general of Norway
- Orangists
- Dutch monarchy
- List of monarchs of the Netherlands
- King's Commissioner(modern name)
References
- Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ Ward 1922, p. 482.
- ^ Philippa, M. (2003–2009). "Stadhouder". Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands (in Dutch).
- ASIN B000X7VPEA.
- ^ Ashley 1966, p. 10.
- ^ a b Lieber, F., ed. (1854). Encyclopaedia americana. Vol. 11. p. 555.
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 750.
- ^ Ashley 1966, p. 10–14.
- ^ Ward 1922, p. 171–172.
- ^ Ward 1922, p. 258.
- ISBN 978-0898382259.
Bibliography
- Ashley, M. (1966). The Glorious Revolution of 1688. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 978-0340008966.
- Ward, A. W., ed. (1922). The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy I. Cambridge University Press.
Other
- Van Dale Etymologisch Woordenboek (Dutch etymology, in Dutch)