Prince Maurits (1567-1625) and Prince Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647)
In Holland and Zealand William of Orange was succeeded as stadholder and commander of the army by his son, Prince Maurits (1567-1625), who would later become stadholder of Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and Drenthe as well.
Upon his death he was succeeded by Prince Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647), his half-brother. Both princes had many successes on the battlefield.
The great economic prosperity that the Netherlands enjoyed in the first half of the 17th century (the Golden Age) had a positive effect on their ability to wage war. The Dutch war of independence (or Eighty Years’ War, as it is also known) ended in 1648 with the Treaty of Münster (part of the Peace of Westphalia), which granted official recognition to the Dutch Republic.
Marital politics
Prince Frederik Hendrik and his wife Amalia van Solms elevated the prestige of court life at The Hague. The couple also proved to be shrewd marriage brokers, engineering the union of their son, Prince William II, and Mary Stuart, daughter of the British Charles I, while their daughter Louisa Henrietta became the wife of the Elector of Brandenburg and later the mother of the first King of Prussia.