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The Princes of Orange

The Princes of Orange

The Princes of Orange

The Stadholders in the Dutch Republic
Author:
Herbert H. Rowen, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Published:
September 1990
Availability:
Available
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9780521396530

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£41.00
GBP
Paperback
$51.00 USD
eBook

    This major study provides the first comprehensive assessment of an important European institution, the Stadholderate of the Dutch Republic. Professor Rowen looks at the career of each Prince of Orange in turn, from William I ('The Silent'), to the last and saddest, William V, examining their roles as Stadholder and interweaving their personal lives and characters with the development of the institution. Without engaging in psycho-history, Rowen treats the individual personality of each Stadholder as a significant factor, and shows how the Stadholderate contributed to a distinctive political and constitutional coloration that rendered the United Provinces unique in Europe. The work assesses the contribution of the Stadholderate to the rise and subsequent fall of the Dutch Republic as one of the great powers of early modern Europe, and analyses each prince within his contemporary context, avoiding the highly present-minded approach of many of the Republic's subsequent historians. The Princes of Orange is thus neither a work of hagiography, glorifying the Dutch royal house, nor a piece of destructive iconoclasm, but an authoritative account of a most unusual political, dynastic and diplomatic institution.

    Reviews & endorsements

    ' … a skilful outline history which promises to enable the ordinary reader with little previous knowledge of Dutch history to grasp the essence of the political history of one of the more distinctive, dynamic and creative societies of early modern times.' The Times Literary Supplement

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    Product details

    May 2012
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781139240062
    0 pages
    0kg
    This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.

    Table of Contents

    • List of illustrations
    • Preface
    • Prologue
    • 1. William I: from courtier to rebel
    • 2. Maurice of Nassau: defender of the Republic
    • 3. Frederick Henry: firm in moderation
    • 4. William II: the challenger
    • 5. The first stadholderless period:
    • 1 exclusion
    • 6. The first stadholderless period:
    • 2 return
    • 7. William III: Stadholder and king
    • 8. The second stadholderless period: doldrums
    • 9. William IV: neither revolutionary nor reformer
    • 10. William V: the era of Anna and Brunswick
    • 11. William V: the Patriot challenge
    • Epilogue
    • Bibliography
    • Index.
      Author
    • Herbert H. Rowen , Rutgers University, New Jersey