John William Friso | |
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John William Friso, Prince of Orange (1710)
by Louis Volders |
|
Prince of Orange | |
Period | 19 March 1702 – 14 July 1711 |
Predecessor | William III |
Successor | William IV |
Prince of Nassau-Dietz | |
Reign | 25 March 1696 – ca. 1702 |
Predecessor | Henry Casimir II |
Prince of Orange-Nassau | |
Reign | ca. 1702 – 14 July 1711 |
Successor | William IV |
Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen | |
Reign | 25 March 1696 – 14 July 1711 |
Predecessor | Henry Casimir II |
Successor | William IV |
Born | 14 August 1687 Dessau, Anhalt |
Died | 14 July 1711 Hollands Diep, between Dordrecht and Moerdijk |
(aged 23)
Spouse | Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel |
Issue |
Amalia of Nassau-Dietz William IV, Prince of Orange |
House | Orange-Nassau |
Father | Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz |
Mother | Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau |
John William Friso, Prince of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: Johan Willem Friso van Oranje-Nassau; 14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711) became the titular Prince of Orange in 1702. He was stadtholder of Friesland until his death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. Friso and his wife, Marie Louise, are ancestors of all European monarchs occupying the throne today.
He was the son of Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, and Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau who were both first cousins of William III. As such, he was a member of the House of Nassau, and through the testamentary dispositions of William III became the progenitor of the new line of the House of Orange-Nassau.
With the death of William III, Prince of Orange, the legitimate male line of William the Silent (the second House of Orange) became extinct. John William Friso, the senior agnatic descendant of William the Silent's brother and a cognatic descendant of Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III, claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces held by William III. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands.
The five provinces over which William III ruled – Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel – all suspended the office of Stadtholder after William III's death. The remaining two provinces – Friesland and Groningen – were never governed by William III, and continued to retain a separate Stadtholder, John William Friso. He established the third House of Orange, which became extinct in the male line in 1890. His son William IV, Prince of Orange, however, later became stadtholder of all seven provinces.