Willem I van Oranje 1533-1584
Son of Willem of Nassau-Dillenburg (of House of Nassau) (also named de Rijke (the Rich because of his many children) and Countess Juliana van Stolberg-Wernigrode. Prins van Oranje (1544)
Philips Willem van Oranje 1554-1618
Son of Willem I of Orange and Anna van Egmont, Gravin van Buren. Prins van Oranje vanaf 1584. Willem was kidnapped to Spain in 1668 (start 80 years war) never to see is father again.
Maurits van Oranje 1567-1625
Son of Willem I of Orange and his second wife Anna of Saxony. Organised the Dutch revolution against Spain and became Prins van Oranje after the dead of his half-brother in 1618.
Frederik Hendrik van Oranje 1584-1647
Son of Willem I of Orange and his fourth wife Louise de Coligny. Prins van Oranje from 1625. He led the revolution until his dead in 1647, just 1 year before the peace treaty was signed.
Willem II van Oranje 1626 - 1650
Son of Frederik Hendrik and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. Prins of Oranje from 1647. Married Mary, Princess Royal (eldest daughter of King Charles I of England. Died of smallpox in 1650 after which the first stadtholderless period started until 1672.
Willem III van Oranje 1650-1702
Son of Willem II and Mary Stuart I. Prins of Oranje as of 1650. Married Mary Stuart II (his 15 years old cousin) and became King of England after the Glorious Revolution (disposed her father James). They had no children.
William I, Prince of Orange (24 April 1533 – 10 July 1584)
Also known as William the Silent or William the Taciturn (Willem de Zwijger), or more commonly known as William of Orange (Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1581. He was born into the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he is also known as Father of the Fatherland (Vader des Vaderlands).
A wealthy nobleman, William originally served the absburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Unhappy with the centralisation of political power away from the local estates and with the Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants, William joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard (also written as “Gerardts”) in Delft in 1584.
Royal family trees of The Netherlands (House of Orange) and their main opponents during the 17’th century Spain, England and France
