biography
| name: |
Frederick Henry
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Dutch Frederik Hendrik, Prins van Oranje
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1584–1647)
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| biography:
| Prince of Orange, born in Delft, W Netherlands, the youngest son of William of Orange and his third wife Louise de Coligny. A leading general in the Eighty Years' War, he avoided pitched battles, but was very effective at sieges and acquired the soubriquet of Stedendwinger (Town Enforcer). He married Amalia of Solms in 1625, and arranged the marriage of his son William II to Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England, and of his daughter Louise Henrietta to the Great Elector, Frederick William of Brandenburg. His second daughter, Albertine Agnes, married William Frederick, the future Stadtholder of Friesland, which assured the future of the Orange line. He held a generally tolerant religious attitude, supporting the Remonstrants, but did not agree with Oldenbarnevelt's attempt to raise a new army of which he would be the leader. He actually opened a seminary for training remonstrant ministers in Amsterdam. In 1625 he became stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel, and captain-general of the Union, adding the stadtholderships of Groningen and Drenthe in 1640. His military successes brought North Brabant and most of Limburg into the Union. He tried to recover the Southern Netherlands by a policy of friendship with France, but was thwarted by opposition from the regents. He was the first stadtholder to hold a court. |
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