ORANGE, HOUSE OF. The small principality of Orange, a district now included in the French department of Vaucluse, traces back its history as an independent sovereignty to the time of Charlemagne. William, surnamed le Cornet, who lived towards the end of the 8th century, is said to have been the first prince of Orange, but the succession is only certainly known after the time of Gerald Adhemar (fl. 1086). In 1174 the principality passed by marriage to Bertrand de Baux, and there were nine princes of this line. By the marriage of John of Chalons with Marie de Baux, the house of Chalons succeeded to the sovereignty in 1393. The princes of Orange-Chalons were (I) John I., 1418, (2) Louis I., (3) William VIII., (4) John II., 1475-1502, (5) Philibert, 1502-1530. Philibert was a great warrior and statesman, who was held in great esteem by the emperor Charles V. For his services in his campaigns the emperor gave him considerable possessions in the Netherlands in 1522, and Francis I. of France, who had occupied Orange, was compelled, when a prisoner in Madrid, to restore it to him. Philibert had no children, and he was succeeded by his nephew Rene of Nassau-Chalons, son of Philibert's sister Claudia and Henry, count of Nassau, the confidential friend and counsellor of Charles V. He too died without an heir in 1544 at the siege of St. Dizier, having devised all his titles and possessions to his first cousin William, the eldest son of William, count of Nassau Dillenburg, who was the younger brother of Rene's father, and had inherited the German possessions of the family.
William of Orange-Nassau was but 11 years old when he suc ceeded to the principality. He was brought up at the court of Charles V. and became famous in history as William the Silent (q.v.), the founder of the Dutch Republic. On his assassination
in 1584 he was succeeded by his eldest son Philip William, who had been' kidnapped by Philip II. of Spain in his boyhood and brought up at Madrid. This prince never married, and on his death in 1618 his next brother, Maurice (q.v.), stadtholder in the United Netherlands and one of the greatest generals of his time, became prince of Orange. Maurice died in 1625, also unmarried. Frederick Henry, the son of Louise de Coligny, William's fourth wife, born just before his father's murder, now succeeded to the princedom of Orange and to all his brothers' dignities, posts and property in the Netherlands. Frederick Henry was both a great general and statesman. His only son, William II. (q.v.), was married in 1641 to Mary, princess royal of England, he being fifteen and the princess nine years old at that date, and he suc ceeded to the title of prince of Orange on his father's death in 1647. At the very outset of a promising career he suddenly suc cumbed to an attack of smallpox on Nov. 6, 1650, his son William III. (q.v.) being born a week after his father's death.
A revolution now took place in the system of government in the United Provinces, and the offices of stadtholder and captain- and admiral-general, held by four successive princes of Orange, were abolished. However, the counter revolution of 2672 called William III. to the head of affairs. At this time Louis XIV. conquered the principality of Orange and the territory was incorporated in France, the title alone being recognized by the treaty of Ryswick. For William III.'s accession to the throne of England, see ENG