Editing Maurice, Prince of Orange (section)

==Life==
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Maurice was the son of [[William the Silent]] and [[Anna of Saxony]] and was born at the [[castle]] of [[Dillenburg]]. He was named after his maternal grandfather, the [[Prince-elector|Elector]] [[Maurice of Saxony]], who was also a noted general.

Maurice never married but was the father of illegitimate children by [[Margaretha van Mechelen]] (including [[Willem of Nassau, lord of the Lek|Willem of Nassau, Lord of the Lek]], and [[Louis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd]]) and Anna van de Kelder. He was raised in Dillenburg by his uncle [[Johan of Nassau]] ("Jan the Old").
Together with his cousin, [[William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg|Willem Lodewijk]], he studied in [[Heidelberg]] and later in [[Leiden]] where he met [[Simon Stevin]]. The States of [[Holland]] and [[Zeeland]] paid for his studies, as their father had run into financial problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages of the [[Dutch revolt]].

[[File:Maurits.child.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Maurice as a child]]
Only 16 when his father was murdered in [[Delft]] in 1584, he soon was appointed to his father's office of [[stadtholder]] (''Stadhouder''). The monarchs of England and France had been requested to accept sovereignty but had refused. This had left Maurice as the only acceptable candidate for the position of Stadtholder. He became stadtholder of [[Holland]] and [[Zeeland]] in 1585,<ref name=europeanaAppointment>{{Cite web|title=Maurits benoemd als stadhouder, 1585|url=https://www.europeana.eu/pt/item/90402/RP_P_OB_80_002|access-date=2020-08-21|website=europeana.eu|language=pt-PT}}</ref> of [[Guelders]], [[Overijssel]] and [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]] in 1590 and of [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]] and [[Drenthe]] in 1620 (following the death of Willem Lodewijk, who had been stadtholder there and in [[Friesland]]).

Protestant Maurice was preceded as [[Prince of Orange]] (not a Dutch title) by his Roman Catholic eldest half-brother [[Philip William, Prince of Orange]], deceased 1618. However, Philip William was in the custody of Spain, remaining so until 1596, and was thus unable to lead the Dutch independence cause.

[[Maria of Nassau (1556-1616)|Maria of Nassau]] (1556–1616) was a full sister of Philip William from the first marriage of [[William I, Prince of Orange]], (assassinated 1584), to wealthy and powerful aristocrat [[Anna van Egmont]] (1533–1558), and a contender to Maurice over the estate of their father.

He was appointed captain-general of the army in 1587, bypassing the [[Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester|Earl of Leicester]], who returned to England on hearing this news.