John William Friso

August 4, 1687 (age 23)

Dessau, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany

He was stadtholder of Friesland until his death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. 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 went extinct in the male line in 1890. Because William III"s heir general was King Frederick I of Prussia, the latter also claimed part of the inheritance (for example Lingen). Under William III"s will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange. However, the Prussian King Frederick I also claimed the Principality of Orange in the Rhône Valley, which he later ceded to France. On coming of age in 1707, John William Friso became a general of the Dutch troops during the War of Spanish, under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, and turned out to be a competent officer He commanded Dutch infantry in the battle of Oudenarde, siege of Lille, and battle of Malplaquet. The prestige that he acquired from his military service, could have favored his eventual election as a stadtholder in the remaining five provinces. However, in 1711, when traveling from the front in Flanders to The Hague in connection with his suit in the succession dispute, he drowned on 14 July, when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather.

John William Friso

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politician

Background

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.

Career

He was stadtholder of Friesland until his death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711. 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 went extinct in the male line in 1890.

Because William III"s heir general was King Frederick I of Prussia, the latter also claimed part of the inheritance (for example Lingen). Under William III"s will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange.

However, the Prussian King Frederick I also claimed the Principality of Orange in the Rhône Valley, which he later ceded to France.

On coming of age in 1707, John William Friso became a general of the Dutch troops during the War of Spanish, under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, and turned out to be a competent officer He commanded Dutch infantry in the battle of Oudenarde, siege of Lille, and battle of Malplaquet. The prestige that he acquired from his military service, could have favored his eventual election as a stadtholder in the remaining five provinces.

However, in 1711, when traveling from the front in Flanders to The Hague in connection with his suit in the succession dispute, he drowned on 14 July, when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather.

Membership

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.

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