Editing William II, Prince of Orange (section)

==Early life and childhood (1626-1640)==
[[File:Prince William II of Orange, by Anthony van Dyck.jpg|left|thumb|William II as a young boy, {{circa|1632}}.]]
William II (or Willem II), Prince of Orange, was born on 27 May 1626, as the first [[legitimate child]] and elder son of [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange]], and his wife [[Amalia of Solms-Braunfels]].<ref name="WilliamBritannica" /> Frederick Henry was the youngest son of [[William the Silent]] (stadtholder 1559–1584); his older half brother [[Maurits of Nassau]] was Stadtholder (1585–1625); Frederick Henry was stadtholder from 1625 to 1647.<ref name="FrederickBritannica">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-10 |title=Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, count of Nassau, Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-Henry |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Frederick Henry also had another half-brother, [[Philip William, Prince of Orange|Philip William]], who reigned as [[Prince of Orange]] (1584−1618).  William had eight liveborn siblings, but his surviving siblings were [[Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau|Luise Henriette]] (1627−1667), [[Albertine Agnes of Nassau|Albertine Agnes]] (1634−1696), [[Countess Henriette Catharina of Nassau|Henriette Catherine]] (1637−1708) and [[Maria of Orange-Nassau (1642–1688)|Maria]] (1642−1688). All of his surviving sisters married into [[Germans|German]] nobility. The stadtholders governed in conjunction with the [[Netherlands States-General|States-General]], an assembly of representatives from each of the seven provinces, but usually dominated by the largest and wealthiest province, [[Holland]].