Johan Willem Friso of Orange-Nassau
|
|
Johan Willem Friso of Orange-Nassau (1687 -1711) was stadholder of Friesland until his untimely death by drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711.
After the death of William III of Orange the direct male line of William the Silent (the 2nd House of Orange) was extinct and Johan Willem Friso, senior descendant in male line from William the Silent´s brother and a descendant in female line from William the Silent, claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces held by Willem III. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands. The five provinces over which William III ruled — Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel — all suspended the office of Stadtholder after William III's death. The remaining two provinces — Friesland and Groningen — were never governed by William III, and continued to retain a separate Stadtholder, Johan Willem Friso. He commenced the 3rd House of Orange, which continues also today in person of queen Beatrix. His son William IV of Orange, however, later became stadtholder of all seven provinces. Because William III´s most senior heir in the female line was the Prussian king, the latter also claimed part of the inheritance (for example Lingen). Under William III's will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange. However, the Prussian King Frederick I also claimed the Principality of Orange in Rhone Valley, which he later ceded to France.nl:Johan Willem Friso van Nassau-Dietz