1648
The
Archdukes died childless and the Habsburg Netherlands returned by default to the
King of Spain. When Maurice died he was succeeded by his brother
Frederick-Henry, an accomplished warrior himself. The truce ended and
Frederick-Henry won great victories. He was Stadtholder off all Provinces except
Groningen and Frisia. There the ruling Counts of Nassau-Dietz, descendants of
his Uncle John, were Stadtholders. During the rule of his son Stadtholder
William II, the Peace Treaties of Westphalia came about in 1648, effectively
ending the conflict with Spain, and the parallel Thirty Years war in Germany.
The Republic was now recognised by the European powers as an independent Nation,
even independent of the Empire, although the Emperor would only recognise that
in 1703. Upon the death of Prince William II of Orange, the office of
Stadtholder was suspended in all but two of the Dutch provinces, Groningen and
Frisia being administered by Stadtholders of the collateral Nassau-Dietz
branch, descendants of William the Silent’s brother John of Nassau. In the rest
of the Republic a semi-aristocratic oligarchy of "Regents" came to power. The
heir to the Orange name, Prince William III was underage at the time. In 1672,
when the Republic came under attack from virtually all of its neighbours in a
coalition led by France and the Stuart monarchs of England, the Dutch rallied to
the side of William III who was made hereditary Stadtholder and saved the
Republic.
