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Who was stadtholder William II?

There is not a lot of info available on this fascinating character. Despite this, I still managed to piece something together based on a number of sources (mostly through Google Books and Wikipedia :eek:). Please bear with me. Right then. William II. He was the son of stadtholder Frederick-Henry of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. He went on to marry of Mary Henrietta, daughter of Charles I of England. Frederick-Henry died in 1647 and William II became his successor. He was opposed to the negotiations with Spain. When he was overruled, he opened secret negotiations with France with the goal of dividing the Spanish Netherlands and centralizing the republic. He also wanted to restore Charles II to the throne of England. He also had big plans for the Dutch colonial empire. At one point, William II was finally fed up with the powerful regents of Holland, who wanted to reduce spending on the military, and launched a coup in 1650. Despite the coup being somewhat of a failure, he got away with most of his demands met. After serving as stadtholder for three years, he suddenly and unexpectedly died of smallpox in 1650.

He was fairly handsome and quite tall, apparently. It is said that William inherited the cunning of his father and the fierce temper of his mother. This basically made him a man of extremes: he was affable and charming; he was also known for hotheadedness and sudden bouts of melancholia. The man was also a wasteful spender with a taste for stage actresses. To me, he seems like a younger, more angry version of Charles I mixed with a dash of Wilhelm II. So suppose that he did not die in 1650. How would history judge him?

Would he occupy a spot in England's rogues gallery next to Napoleon, Philip II, Wilhelm II, etc.? ;)
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