Editing Christiaan Huygens (section)

===Student years===
At sixteen years of age, Constantijn sent Huygens to study law and mathematics at [[Leiden University]], where he enrolled from May 1645 to March 1647.<ref name="completedictionary"/> [[Frans van Schooten|Frans van Schooten Jr.]], professor at Leiden's Engineering School, became private tutor to Huygens and his elder brother, Constantijn Jr., replacing Stampioen on the advice of Descartes.<ref>{{cite book|author=H. N. Jahnke|title=A history of analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CVRZEXFVsZkC&pg=PA47|access-date=12 May 2013|date=2003|publisher=American Mathematical Soc.|isbn=978-0-8218-9050-9|page=47|archive-date=30 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630095949/http://books.google.com/books?id=CVRZEXFVsZkC&pg=PA47|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Margret Schuchard|title=Bernhard Varenius: (1622–1650)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmArFPaY5ZgC&pg=PA112|access-date=12 May 2013|date=2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-16363-8|page=112|archive-date=30 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630095832/http://books.google.com/books?id=dmArFPaY5ZgC&pg=PA112|url-status=live}}</ref> Van Schooten brought Huygens's mathematical education up to date, particularly on the work of [[François Viète|Viète]], Descartes, and [[Pierre de Fermat|Fermat]].<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last=Paoloni |first=B. |date=2022 |title=L'art de l'analyse de Christiaan Huygens de l'Algebra à la Geometria |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/rds/143/3-4/article-p423_6.xml |journal=Revue de Synthèse |volume=143 |issue=3–4 |pages=423–455 |doi=10.1163/19552343-14234034 |s2cid=254908971 |issn=1955-2343}}</ref>

After two years, starting in March 1647, Huygens continued his studies at the newly founded [[Orange College of Breda|Orange College]], in [[Breda]], where his father was a [[curator]]. Constantijn Huygens was closely involved in the new College, which lasted only to 1669; the rector was [[André Rivet]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Andriesse|first=C. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6FTqA9fwxFMC&pg=PA80|title=Huygens: The Man Behind the Principle|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-521-85090-2|pages=80–82|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617112715/https://books.google.com/books?id=6FTqA9fwxFMC&pg=PA80|archive-date=17 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Christiaan Huygens lived at the home of the jurist Johann Henryk Dauber while attending college, and had mathematics classes with the English lecturer [[John Pell (mathematician)|John Pell]]. His time in Breda ended around the time when his brother Lodewijk, who was enrolled at the school, duelled with another student.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Christiaan Huygens – A family affair, by Bram Stoffele, pg 80. |url=http://www.proevenvanvroeger.nl/eindopdrachten/huygens/huygensfamily.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812225640/http://proevenvanvroeger.nl/eindopdrachten/huygens/huygensfamily.pdf |archive-date=12 August 2017 |access-date=16 February 2013}}</ref> Huygens left Breda after completing his studies in August 1649 and had a stint as a diplomat on a mission with [[Henry, Duke of Nassau]].<ref name="completedictionary"/> After stays at [[County of Bentheim (district)|Bentheim]] and [[Flensburg]] in Germany, he visited [[Copenhagen]] and [[Helsingør]] in Denmark. Huygens hoped to cross the [[Øresund]] to see Descartes in [[Stockholm]] but was prevented due to Descartes' death in the interim.<ref name=":14" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stoffele |first=B. |date=2006 |title=Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/15920743/christiaan-huygens-a-family-affair-proeven-van-vroeger |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=Utrecht University |language=en}}</ref>

Although his father Constantijn had wished his son Christiaan to be a diplomat, circumstances kept him from becoming so. The [[First Stadtholderless Period]] that began in 1650 meant that the House of Orange was no longer in power, removing Constantijn's influence. Further, he realized that his son had no interest in such a career.<ref name="Dictionary, p. 469">Bunge et al. (2003), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Philosophers,'' p. 469.</ref>