n.
Dutch Willem
born May 27, 1626, The Hague, United Provinces of the Netherlands
died Nov. 6, 1650, The Hague
Prince of Orange, count of Nassau, and stadtholder of the Netherlands (164750).
The son of Frederick Henry , prince of Orange, he married Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of Charles I of England, in 1641 and later succeeded to his father's offices (1647), which included the stadtholdership of all the provinces of the Netherlands except Friesland. Despite the treaty with Spain in 1648 that recognized the independence of the United Provinces, he planned to conquer part of the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium). He imprisoned members of the assembly of Holland who opposed his war policy but died of smallpox before his influence could be tested.