Editing William II, Prince of Orange (section)

==Reign and later life (1647-1650)==
[[File:Workshop of Gerard van Honthorst 001.jpg|left|thumb|William II, Prince of Orange, {{circa|1651}} by [[Gerard van Honthorst]]]]
{{Infobox historical era
| name      = Stadtholderate of William II
| location  =
| start     = 1647
| end       = 1650
| image     = Anselm van Hulle (Attr.) - Equestrian portrait of William II, Prince of Orange.PNG
| alt       = Equestrian portrait of William II
| caption   = Equestrian portrait of William II, {{circa|1645-1647}}
| before    = [[Frederick_Henry,_Prince_of_Orange#Stadtholder|Stadtholderate of Frederick Henry]]
| including = [[Dutch Golden Age]]
| after     = [[First Stadtholderless Period]]
| monarch   = 
| leaders   = 
| presidents = 
| primeministers = 
| key_events = [[Peace of Münster]]
}}
In 1647, his father, Frederick Henry died on 14 March,<ref name="FrederickBritannica" /> after a long illness (he suffered from [[gout]] and possibly some kind of Alzheimer's in the last few years of his life), and William II succeeded to both his hereditary titles and his elective offices as stadtholder of six of the seven provinces: Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel and Groningen at the young age of 21.<ref name="WilliamBritannica" /> Soon after he became stadtholder, his wife Mary suffered a miscarriage, after which she couldn't conceive for a few years.

The Netherlands at this time was engaged in the [[Eighty Years' War]] against [[Spain]] for its independence. Under Frederick Henry, the Netherlands had largely won the war, and since 1646 had been negotiating with Spain on the terms for ending it.

The negotiators agreed to the [[Peace of Münster]] in 1648, but William opposed acceptance of the treaty, even though it recognized the independence of the (northern) Netherlands, because it left the southern Netherlands in the hands of the Spanish monarchy. A separate peace furthermore violated the alliance with France formed in 1635. However, the States of six provinces voted to accept it.

Secretly, William opened his own negotiations with France with the goal of extending his own territory under a more centralized government. In addition, he worked for the restoration of his exiled brother-in-law, [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], to the throne of England, William's father-in-law Charles I [[Execution of Charles I|had been executed]] months earlier.

In 1650 William II became involved in a bitter quarrel with the province of Holland and the powerful [[Regenten|Regents of Amsterdam]], [[Cornelis Bicker|Cornelis]] and [[Andries Bicker]] and their more diplomatic cousin [[Cornelis de Graeff]]. With the Peace of Münster, the Regents wanted to reduce the army, saving money. That would also diminish William's authority. William imprisoned eight members of the [[States of Holland and West Friesland|States of Holland]] (including [[Jacob de Witt]]) in the castle of [[Loevestein]]. In addition, he sent his cousin, [[Willem Frederik of Nassau-Dietz]] with an army of 10,000 men to seize [[Amsterdam]] by force. Bad weather foiled this campaign, but Amsterdam did give in.<ref>Russel Shorto. ''The Island at the Centre of the World''; {{ISBN|0-552-99982-2}}</ref>