The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

STADTHOLDER

A stadtholder was a government official in the Low Countries between the 15th and 18th centuries. Initially, stadtholders were noblemen appointed by the ruling dukes as viceroys in each province of the Low Countries. In the late 16th century, when the provinces that later became the Netherlands won their independence from Spain, the stadtholderates were recognized as belonging to the house of Orange. In 1747 Prince William IV was elected to all the stadtholder positions, effectively making him ruler of the Netherlands. The system of stadtholder rule was replaced in 1795 by the so-called Batavian Republic, which was modelled on the revolutionary French republic.
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