William II of Orange

1626 – 1650 · Generation XXVII · Stadtholder of the Netherlands

William II of Orange (1626–1650). Stadtholder of the Netherlands. Married Mary Princess Royal in 1641. The elder son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, and a grandson of William the Silent, he was not yet fifteen at his Whitehall wedding; a second ceremony followed at The Hague in 1643. In 1647, at twenty-one, he succeeded his father as Prince of Orange and stadtholder of six of the seven Dutch provinces. He opposed the Peace of Münster of 1648, which ended the war with Spain but left the southern Netherlands Spanish, began secret talks of his own with France, and pressed for the restoration of his brother-in-law Charles II. In 1650 his quarrel with Holland and the regents of Amsterdam led him to imprison eight members of its States and send troops against Amsterdam. Soon afterwards he died of smallpox. His only son, the future William III, was born eight days after his death, and a period without a stadtholder followed.

Place in the family

William II of Orange married Mary Princess Royal, a 4× great-niece of King Henry VIII.

Partners

Married Mary Princess Royal (1631 – 1660) in 1641 — one child together

Children

King William III (1650 – 1702)

Life

1626 — Born
1641 — Married Mary Princess Royal
1650 — Died