Maurice of Orange | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byMichiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1607 | |
| Prince of Orange | |
| In office 20 February 1618 – 23 April 1625 | |
| Preceded by | Philip William |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Henry |
| Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland | |
| In office 14 November 1585[1] – 23 April 1625 | |
| Preceded by | William the Silent |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Henry |
| Stadtholder of Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel | |
| In office 1590 – 23 April 1625 | |
| Preceded by | Adolf van Nieuwenaar |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Henry |
| Stadtholder of Groningen | |
| In office 1620 – 23 April 1625 | |
| Preceded by | William Louis |
| Succeeded by | Ernst Casimir |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 November 1567 |
| Died | 23 April 1625(1625-04-23) (aged 57) The Hague,County of Holland,Dutch Republic |
| Resting place | Nieuwe Kerk,Delft, Netherlands |
| Parents |
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| Signature |  |
Maurice of Orange (Dutch:Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) wasstadtholder of all the provinces of theDutch Republic—exceptFriesland—from 1585 until his death. Prior to inheriting the titlePrince of Orange from his elder half-brother,Philip William, in 1618, he was known asMaurice of Nassau.
Born inDillenburg,Nassau, Maurice was educated at theHeidelberg University and theUniversity of Leiden. He succeeded his father,William the Silent, as stadtholder ofHolland andZeeland in 1585, and later assumed the same position inUtrecht,Guelders, andOverijssel (1590), andGroningen (1620). AsCaptain-General and Admiral of the Union, Maurice reorganized theDutch States Army, transforming theDutch Revolt into a disciplined and effective military campaign.
Working alongside theLand's Advocate of Holland,Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Maurice led a series of key victories that droveSpanish forces from much of the northern and eastern Netherlands. He gained wide recognition as one of the foremost military strategists of his time, particularly for his innovations insiege warfare and the development of a modern military drill system. He is widely credited with pioneering training methods that drew from classical principles outlined byVegetius, forming the basis for early modern European armies.[2][3][4]
During theTwelve Years' Truce (1609–1621), a theological and political conflict broke out within the Republic, culminating in a power struggle between Maurice and Oldenbarnevelt. The dispute ended with Oldenbarnevelt's arrest and execution by beheading in 1619, a controversial act that marked a shift in Maurice's political role. After the truce, his military campaigns saw little further success.
Maurice died inThe Hague in 1625 without legitimate issue. He was succeeded by his half-brother,Frederick Henry. The island ofMauritius was named in his honor.
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Maurice was the son ofWilliam the Silent andAnna of Saxony and was born at thecastle ofDillenburg. He was named after his maternal grandfather, theElectorMaurice of Saxony, who was also a noted general.
Maurice never married but was the father of illegitimate children byMargaretha van Mechelen (includingWillem of Nassau, Lord of the Lek, andLouis of Nassau, Lord of De Lek and Beverweerd) and Anna van de Kelder. He was raised in Dillenburg by his uncleJohan of Nassau ("Jan the Old").Together with his cousin,Willem Lodewijk, he studied inHeidelberg and later inLeiden where he metSimon Stevin. The States ofHolland andZeeland paid for his studies, as their father had run into financial problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages of theDutch revolt.
Only 16 when his father was murdered inDelft in 1584, he soon was appointed to his father's office ofstadtholder (Stadhouder). The monarchs of England and France had been requested to accept sovereignty but had refused. This had left Maurice as the only acceptable candidate for the position of Stadtholder. He became stadtholder ofHolland andZeeland in 1585,[1] ofGuelders,Overijssel andUtrecht in 1590 and ofGroningen andDrenthe in 1620 (following the death of Willem Lodewijk, who had been stadtholder there and inFriesland).
Protestant Maurice was preceded asPrince of Orange (not a Dutch title) by his Roman Catholic eldest half-brotherPhilip William, Prince of Orange, deceased 1618. However, Philip William was in the custody of Spain, remaining so until 1596, and was thus unable to lead the Dutch independence cause.
Maria of Nassau (1556–1616) was a full sister of Philip William from the first marriage ofWilliam I, Prince of Orange, (assassinated 1584), to wealthy and powerful aristocratAnna van Egmont (1533–1558), and a contender to Maurice over the estate of their father.
He was appointed captain-general of the army in 1587, bypassing theEarl of Leicester, who returned to England on hearing this news.
_Kavalkade_der_Prinzen_von_Nassau.jpg)
Maurice organized therebellion against Spain into a coherent, successful revolt. He reorganized theDutch States Army together withWillem Lodewijk, studiedmilitary history, strategy andtactics, mathematics andastronomy, and proved himself to be among the best strategists of his age. TheEighty Years' War was a challenge to his style, so he could prove himself a good leader by taking several Spanish outposts. Paying special attention to thesiege theories ofSimon Stevin, he took valuable key fortresses and towns during a period known as theTen Glory Years:Breda in 1590,Zutphen,Knodsenburg in 1591,Steenwijk andCoevorden in 1592,Geertruidenberg in 1593, andGroningen in 1594. In 1597 he went on a further offensive and tookRheinberg,Meurs,Groenlo,Bredevoort,Enschede,Ootmarsum, andOldenzaal and closed off the year with thecapture of Lingen. These victories rounded out the borders to the Dutch Republic, solidifying the revolt and allowing a national state to develop behind secure borders. They also established Maurice as the foremost general of his time. Many of the great generals of the succeeding generation, including his brotherFrederick Henry and many of the commanders of theEnglish Civil War, learned their trade under his command.
His victories in the pitched battles atTurnhout (1597) and atNieuwpoort (1600) were dependent on his innovation of cooperation between arms, with his cavalry playing a major role. The victories earned him military fame and acknowledgement throughout Europe. Despite these successes, theHouse of Orange did not attain great respect among European royalty, as the Stadtholdership was not inheritable.
The training of his army was especially important toearly modern warfare and theMilitary Revolution of 1560–1650. Previous generals had made use of drill and exercise in order to instill discipline or to keep the men physically fit, but for Maurice, they "were the fundamental postulates of tactics."[5]
This change affected the entire conduct of warfare, since it required the officers to train men in addition to leading them, decreased the size of the basic infantry unit for functional purposes since more specific orders had to be given in battle, and the decrease inherd behavior required more initiative and intelligence from the average soldier.[6] One major contribution was the introduction ofvolley fire, which enabled soldiers to compensate for the inaccuracy of their weapons by firing in a large group. It was first used in European combat at the battle of Nieuwpoort in 1600.[7]
As part of his efforts to find allies against Spain, Maurice received Moroccan envoys such asAl-Hajari. They discussed the possibility of an alliance betweenHolland, theOttoman Empire, Morocco and the Moriscos, against the common enemy Spain.[8][9] Al-Hajari's journey chronicles, authored in 1637, mentions in detail the discussion for a combined offensive against Spain.[10]
Maurice was known in his time and by historians as the first general of his age. His reputation rests not as much on his ability to win and exploit field battles as it does on his expertise as a siege commander, military organizer, and innovator. Of his two great adversaries,Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, andAmbrogio Spinola, he cautiously never allowed himself to be brought to battle with Parma and did not follow up chances to offer Spinola battle with forces in his favour on the Yssel in 1606. He was, however, dealt a defeat by the Spanish general at the battle of Mülheim in October 1605.[11] Based on his preference for sieges and small-scale actions, historianDavid Trim states that it is difficult to reach a verdict on his ability as a tactician.[12]Jonathan Israel notes that on one of the rare occasions when he did have to fight a major battle in the open – the 1600Battle of Nieuwpoort – it did end with a Dutch victory, but this outcome was highly risky, and Maurice took care to extricate his army and avoid a second such battle.[13]
Maurice founded a whole new school of military professional practice. These pointed the way to the professional armies of the future by reapplying Roman tactics and innovating in the fields of logistics, training, and economics (e.g. paying troops regularly and on time). Many graduates of service under Maurice, such as his nephew, theMarshal Turenne, or his disciples such asGustavus Adolphus of Sweden, applied the Mauritian reforms to great effect in the remainder of the 17th century.[14]
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Maurice started out as the protégé of Landsadvocaat (Land's Advocate, i.e. secretary to the nobility of Holland and legal counsel to the States of Holland, but functioning as de facto chief minister of Holland and the States-General)Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, but gradually tensions rose between these two men. Against Maurice's advice, and despite his protests, Van Oldenbarnevelt decided to sign theTwelve Years' Truce with Spain, which lasted from 1609 to 1621. The required funds to maintain the army and navy and the general course of the war were other topics of constant struggle. Contrary to Van Oldenbarnevelt, Maurice was also in favour of shifting power from the provinces to the central government.[15]
Religious troubles betweenGomarists (strictCalvinists) and theRemonstrants (Arminians) brought the struggle between Maurice and Van Oldenbarnevelt to a head, with the former backing the Gomarists and the latter the Remonstrants. Maurice hadVan Oldenbarnevelt arrested and tried, and he was finally decapitated in 1619 forhigh treason despite numerous requests for mercy.[15] Important municipal regents such asJacob Dircksz de Graeff andCornelis Hooft from Amsterdam were temporarily removed from office by Maurice's powerful supporterReynier Pauw. From 1618 till his death Maurice now enjoyed uncontested power over the Republic. He expanded the Stadtholder's palace at theBinnenhof in the Hague. The Maurice Tower is now part of the building complex of theSenate of the Netherlands. In 1618, he also succeeded his elder half-brotherPhilip William asPrince of Orange, a title he seems rarely to have used.
Maurice urged his cadet half brotherFrederick Henry to marry in order to preserve the dynasty.
HistorianJonathan Israel places upon Maurice part of the responsibility for the outbreak of theThirty Years' War in which Germany was devastated and a large part of its population killed. As noted by Israel,[16] German Protestants were not eager for an all-out confrontation with the Catholics. Maurice significantly helped precipitate such a confrontation by persuading his nephewFrederick V, Elector Palatine, to accept the Bohemian Crown, as well as actively encouraging the Bohemians toconfront Habsburg rule, providing them 50,000 guilders as well as sending Dutch troops to fight in the doomedBattle of the White Mountain. This ill-considered decision proved disastrous to the Bohemians, who were thereby plunged into prolonged oppression, and to Frederick who lost his ancestral lands. It also worsened the Dutch Republic's own strategic position.
In 1621 the war with Spain resumed after a 12-year period of truces. The Spanish, led byAmbrogio Spinola, had notable successes, including theSiege of Breda, the old Nassau family residence, in 1625.
Maurice died on 23 April 1625, with the siege still underway.Justin of Nassau surrendered Breda in June 1625 after a costly eleven-month siege.
Maurice participated in these battles as principal commander of Dutch forces:
Maurice, besides being stadtholder of several provinces and Captain-General, both non-hereditary and appointive titles, was the hereditarysovereign of theprincipality of Orange in what is todayProvence in France. He also was the lord of many other estates, which formed his wealth:
During his lifetime he kept using the arms as during his father's life-time shown here, and never changed to the simpler arms used by his father and half brothers.
Maurice never married but was the father of several illegitimate children:
by Cornelia Jacobsdochter:
by Ursula de Rijck:
by Anna van de Kelder:
by Deliana de Backer:
Media related toMaurice, Prince of Orange at Wikimedia CommonsMaurice, Prince of Orange Cadet branch of theHouse of Nassau Born: 14 November 1567 Died: 23 April 1625 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prince of Orange Baron ofBreda 1618–1625 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Stadtholder ofHolland andZeeland 1585–1625 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Stadtholder ofUtrecht,Guelders andOverijssel 1590–1625 | |
| Preceded by | Stadtholder ofGroningen 1620–1625 | Succeeded by |
