prince d'Orange

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Prince of Orange or Princess of Orange (Dutch: Prins(es) van Oranje) is a title usually held by the heirs apparent to the throne of the Netherlands. It arose as a feudal title in the middle ages with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France, and was later held by the stadtholders of the Netherlands. The title "Prince of Orange" was created in 1163 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, by elevating the county of Orange to a principality, in order to bolster his support in that area in his conflict with the Papacy. The title and land passed to the French noble houses of Baux, in 1173, and of Chalons, in 1393, before arriving with René of Nassau in 1530. The principality then passed to René's cousin, the German-born nobleman from then Spanish Netherlands, William (known as "the Silent"), in 1544. Subsequently, William led a successful Dutch revolt against Spain; however, with independence, the new country became a decentralised republic rather than a unitary monarchy. In 1702, after William the Silent's great-grandson William III of England died without children, a dispute arose between his cousins, Johan Willem Friso and Frederick I of Prussia. In 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht Frederick William I of Prussia ceded the Principality of Orange to King Louis XIV of France (while retaining the title as part of his dynastic titulature). In 1732, under the Treaty of Partition, Friso's son, William IV agreed to share use of the title "Prince of Orange" (which had accumulated prestige in the Netherlands and throughout the Protestant world) with Frederick William. With the 19th century emergence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the title has been traditionally borne by the heir apparent of the Dutch monarch. Although originally only borne by men, since 1983 the...