William IV (Orange)

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Prince Wilhelm IV of Orange-Nassau-Dietz
Signature Wilhelm IV. (Orange) .PNG

Wilhelm Carl Heinrich Friso (born September 1, 1711 in Leeuwarden ; † October 22, 1751 in Huis ten Bosch ) was Wilhelm IV. Prince of Orange and Nassau . From 1747 to 1751 he was inheritance holder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands .

Life

He was the son of Johann Wilhelm Friso , Prince of Nassau-Dietz and governor of Friesland , and his wife Marie Luise von Hessen-Kassel . His father drowned while crossing a boat seven weeks before his son was born. The newborn was therefore already his heir in Friesland and in the Principality of Nassau-Dietz.

Through his father he also had inheritance claims to the continental titles and lands of the English-Scottish king and Dutch governor Wilhelm III, who died in 1702 . of Orange , in particular the sovereign Principality of Orange and the extensive land holdings of the Orange in the Netherlands, since Wilhelm III. had appointed his father as the sole heir in his will. As early as 1702, however, the paternal inheritance claims were challenged by Friedrich I of Prussia and Prince Wilhelm Hyacinth of Nassau-Siegen , who themselves raised claims to the estate of the last Orange. It was not until the Peace of Utrecht in 1713 that a regulation was established: the lands of the Principality of Orange fell to France and Wilhelm was only given the formal title of Prince of Orange; henceforth he called himself Prince of Orange-Nassau and accordingly his principality Nassau around the seat of government Dietz "Principality of Orange-Nassau". Prussia received the upper quarters of the Duchy of Geldern (with the exception of Austrian Geldern ), and most of the private fortunes of the extinct Orange main line also fell to the Prussian king, as he was more closely related to the Orange than the princes of Nassau-Dietz. Friedrich Wilhelm I , the soldier king, ceded the castles Huis ten Bosch and Het Loo to Wilhelm IV in 1732 .

William IV of Nassau-Orange

In 1711 he had inherited Nassau-Hadamar and in 1734, when the Nassau-Siegen line died out with Friedrich Wilhelm II , the Principality of Nassau-Siegen , which he united with his "Principality" (Orange) Nassau-Dietz. In 1739 he also inherited Nassau-Dillenburg . He thus reunited all imperial German and Dutch possessions of the house and was the first to bear the title of Prince of Orange and Nassau . He administered the home countries through a German cabinet. Since 1742 there was a central administration in Dillenburg .

From 1747 to 1751 he was elected governor of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, after the death of Wilhelm III. the office remained vacant.

According to him, Orange County named in Virginia.

progeny

In 1734 Wilhelm IV married Anna of England (1709–1759), daughter of George II , King of Great Britain.

  • nameless (male) (December 1734 - December 1734), Prince of Orange-Nassau
  • nameless (female) (* / † December 19, 1735 - stillborn)
  • nameless (female) (* December 22, 1739; † December 26, 1739), she was buried in the crypt of the Jacobijnerkerk in Leeuwarden
  • Karoline (* 1743, † 1787), Princess of Orange-Nassau and regent of the governor of Friesland from 1765 to 1766, ⚭ 1760 Karl Christian von Nassau-Weilburg (1735–1788),
  • Anna Maria (November 15, 1746 - December 29, 1746), Princess of Orange-Nassau. She was baptized on November 27, 1746 in Leeuwarden.
  • Wilhelm V (1748–1806)

literature

  • Fred Jagtenberg: Willem IV. Stadhouder in roerige tijden, 1711–1751. Vantilt: Nijmegen, 2018, ISBN 978-94-6004-365-9
  • Uwe Schögl (Red.): Orange. 500 years of portraits of a dynasty from the portrait collection of the Austrian National Library, Vienna and the Dutch Royal Collection The Hague. (Exhibition from February 1 to March 19, 2002, Camineum of the Austrian National Library, Vienna). Austrian National Library et al., Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-01-000028-6 , p. 96.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm IV.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Johann Wilhelm Friso Prince of Nassau-Dietz
from 1713 "Prince of Oranien-Nassau"
1711–1751
Wilhelm V.
Johann Wilhelm Friso Count of Vianden
Lord of Breda
1711–1751
Wilhelm V.
Friedrich Wilhelm II. Prince of Nassau-Siegen
1734–1751
Wilhelm V.
William III. Governor of the Netherlands
1747–1751
Wilhelm V.