Editing William the Silent (section)

===Succession and family ties===
[[Philip William, Prince of Orange|Philip William]], William's eldest son by his first marriage, to [[Anna of Egmond]], succeeded him as the [[Prince of Orange]]. However, as Philip William was a hostage in Spain and had been for most of his life, his brother [[Maurice of Nassau]] was appointed [[Stadholder]] and [[Captain-General]] at the suggestion of [[Johan van Oldenbarneveldt]], and as a counterpoise to the [[Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester|Earl of Leicester]]. Phillip William died in Brussels on 20 February 1618 and was succeeded by his half-brother [[Maurice of Nassau|Maurice]], the eldest son by William's second marriage, to [[Anna of Saxony]], who became Prince of Orange. A strong military leader, he won several victories over the Spanish. Van Oldenbarneveldt managed to sign a very favourable twelve-year armistice in 1609, although Maurice was unhappy with this. Maurice was a heavy drinker and died on 23 April 1625 from liver disease. Maurice had several sons by Margaretha van Mechelen, but he never married her. So, [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange|Frederick Henry]], Maurice's half-brother (and William's youngest son from his fourth marriage, to Louise de Coligny) inherited the title of Prince of Orange. [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange|Frederick Henry]] continued the battle against the Spanish. Frederick Henry died on 14 March 1647 and is buried with his father William "The Silent" in Nieuwe Kerk, Delft.<ref name = "ND">{{citation | url = http://www.nieuwekerk-delft.nl/ | title = Nieuwekerk-Delft | place = NL}}.</ref> The Netherlands became formally independent after the [[Peace of Münster]] in 1648.

The son of Frederick Henry, [[William II of Orange]] succeeded his father as stadtholder, as did his son, [[William III of England|William III of Orange]]. The latter also became [[Kingdom of England|king of England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] from 1689. Although he was married to [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], Queen of Scotland and England for 17 years, he died childless in 1702. He appointed his cousin [[John William Friso|Johan Willem Friso]] (William's great-great-great-grandson) as his successor as the Prince of Orange. Because [[Albertine Agnes of Nassau|Albertine Agnes]], a daughter of Frederick Henry, married [[William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz|William Frederik of Nassau-Dietz]], the present royal house of the Netherlands is descended from William the Silent through the female line. See [[House of Orange]] for a more extensive overview. As the chief financer and political and military leader of the early years of the Dutch revolt, William is considered a national hero in the Netherlands, even though he was born in Germany, and usually spoke French.

In the 19th century the Netherlands became a constitutional monarchy, currently with [[King Willem-Alexander]] as head of state: he has [[cognatic]] descent from William of Orange. All stadtholders after William of Orange were drawn from his descendants or the descendants of his brother.

Many of the Dutch national symbols can be traced back to William of Orange:

* He is the ancestor of the [[Dutch monarchy]]
* The [[flag of the Netherlands]] (red, white and blue) is derived from the [[Prince's Flag|flag of the prince]], which was orange, white and blue.
* The [[coat of arms]] of the Netherlands is based on that of William of Orange. Its motto ''Je maintiendrai'' (French, "I will maintain") was also used by William, who based it on the motto of his cousin René of Chalon, who used ''Je maintiendrai Chalon''.
* The [[national anthem]] of the Netherlands, "[[Wilhelmus]]", was originally a propaganda song for William. It was probably written by [[Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde]], a supporter of him.
* The national colour of the Netherlands is orange, and it is used, among other things, in the clothing of Dutch athletes.
* The Prussian [[Order of the Black Eagle]], founded by [[Frederick I of Prussia]] in 1702, had an orange sash in honour of his mother, [[Louise Henriette of Nassau]], who was the granddaughter of William the Silent.

Other remembrances of William of Orange:
*[[William the Silent (statue)|A statue of William the Silent]] was erected in 1928 on the main campus of [[Rutgers University]] across from the [[New Brunswick Theological Seminary]] of the [[Reformed Church in America]] in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey]], a legacy of the university's founding by ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1766. The statue is commonly known to students and alumni as "Willie the Silent" or "Silent Bill" and contains an inscription referring to William as "Father of his Fatherland".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/historic_ru_paths.shtml#Willie |title= Willie |work= Libraries: Special Collections and University Archives |publisher= Rutgers University |access-date= 23 April 2010 |archive-date= 3 September 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060903014416/http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/university_archives/historic_ru_paths.shtml#Willie |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3590719700/ |title=Father of His Fatherland, Founder of the United States of the Netherlands | work = Flickr  |publisher= Yahoo! |access-date=23 April 2010|date=9 May 2009 }}</ref>
*Another statue of William the Silent was erected in 1908 in front of the [[Marktkirche, Wiesbaden]], Germany. The statue is a copy of the original statue by [[Walter Schott]] in front of the [[Berlin Palace]], which was destroyed in the World War II.
*In January 2008, the asteroid [[12151 Oranje-Nassau]] was named after him.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/dezwijger.html |title=Planetoïde (12151) Oranje-Nassau |publisher=Xs4all | location = NL |access-date=23 April 2010}}</ref>