This book deals with a previously unexplored element of Dutch history. In 1650 the Dutch Orange stadholder William II died unexpectedly and his opponents used the opportunity to suspend the stadholderate.William III, his posthumous son, became the focus of the Orangist struggle to restore the young Prince of Orange to the offices of his forefathers. This book describes the language and imagery deployed by the Orangists in the critical years 1650 to 1675 in their attempt to restore the stadholderate in the person of the young prince. Contrary to the view of previous historians, this book argues that the Orangist position was intellectually coherent and appealed to a wide section of the people of the Dutch Republic. Orangist rhetoric and imagery drew on established European political theory of the mixed constitution while siting it in a uniquely Dutch perspecive. The author argues that the Orangists had no desire for the prince to become a monarch, rather they viewed the stadholderate as an essential component of the Dutch constitution, the Union of Utrecht, and fulfilling a key role as defender of the rights and privileges of the citizenry against an overwheening urban oligarchy. Source material is drawn not only from books and political pamphlets but also from contemporary drama, poetry, portraits, prints, and medals. This enables the author to examine the imagery used by the supporters of the House of Orange, in particular the symbols of rebirth and regeneration which were deployed to propagate the restoration of the stadholderate in the person of William III.

Jill Stern is an independent scholar with a doctorate in Dutch History from University College, London