Editing House of Orange-Nassau (section)

=== Second Stadtholderless period ===
{{Further|Second Stadtholderless period}}
The regents found that they had suffered under the powerful leadership of William III as the ruler of the Netherlands and king in the British Isles and they left the stadtholdership vacant for the second time. As William III died childless in 1702 the principality became a matter of dispute between Prince [[John William Friso of Nassau-Dietz]] of the Frisian Nassaus and King [[Frederick I of Prussia]], who both claimed the title [[Prince of Orange]]. Both descended from [[Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange]]. The King of Prussia was his grandson through his mother, [[Countess Luise Henriette of Nassau]]. Frederick Henry in his will had appointed this line as successor in case the main House of Orange-Nassau were to die out. John William Friso was a great-grandson of Frederick Henry (through [[Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau]], another daughter) and was appointed heir in William III's will. The principality was captured by the forces of [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV of France]] under [[Comte de Grignan|François Adhémar de Monteil, Count of Grignan]], in the [[Franco-Dutch War]] in 1672, and again in August 1682. With the [[Treaty of Utrecht]] that ended the wars of Louis XIV, the territory was formally ceded to [[Kingdom of France|France]] by Frederick I in 1713.<ref name=Grew/>{{rp|1}} John William Friso drowned in 1711 in the [[Hollands Diep]] near [[Moerdijk]], and he left his posthumously born son [[William IV, Prince of Orange]]. That son succeeded at that time his father as stadtholder in [[Friesland]] (as the stadtholdership had been hereditary in that province since 1664), and [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]]. William IV was proclaimed the stadtholder of [[Guelders]], [[Overijssel]], and [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]] in 1722. When the French invaded Holland in 1747, William IV was appointed stadtholder in [[Holland]] and [[Zeeland]] as well in the [[Orangist revolution]]. The position of stadtholder was made hereditary in both the male and the female lines in all provinces at the same time.<ref name=Rowen/>{{rp|148–151,170}}