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A 'Stadtholder' (Dutch: ''stadhouder'', "steward" or literally "place-keeper", in French "lieutenant", compare also Englands XVI century Lord Lieutenant) in the Low Countries was a medieval function which during the 18th century developed into a rare type of ''de facto'' hereditary head of state of the thus "crowned" Dutch Republic.

Statthalter is about a gubernatorial title in Austria.

Contents

History

See also

Sources and references

History

Stadtholders were in the Middle Ages appointed by feudal lords to be represented by them in their absence; if a lord had several dominions (or, being a vassal, fiefs), some of these could be ruled by a permanent stadtholder, to whom was delegated the full authority of the lord. A stadtholder was thus much more powerful than a mere governor, who had only limited authority, but the stadtholder was not as such a vassal himself, having no title to the land. The local rulers of the independent provinces of the Low Countries (which included the present-day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) made extensive use of stadtholders, e.g. the Duke of Guelders appointed a stadtholder to represent him in Groningen.
In the fifteenth century the Dukes of Burgundy acquired most of the Low Countries and these Burgundian Netherlands mostly each had their own stadtholder.
In the sixteenth century, the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, also King of Spain, who had inherited the Burgundian Netherlands, completed this process, now being the sole feudal overlord: the Lord of the Netherlands. Only the prince-bishopric of Liège remained outside of the Holy Roman Empire's Burgundian Imperial Circle or ''Kreis'' but even the Bishopric of Utrecht was secularised. Stadtholders continued to be appointed to represent Charles and King Philip II, his son and successor in Spain and the Low Countries (the electoral Imperial title would be held by heirs of Charles in the separate Austrian branch of Habsburgs). Due to the centralist and absolutist policies of Philip, the actual power of the stadtholders strongly diminished.
When however in 1581 during the Dutch Rebellion some of the Dutch provinces declared their independence with the Oath of Abjuration, the representative function of stadtholder as such became obsolete in the rebellious northern Netherlands — the feudal Lord himself having been abolished — but the office was nevertheless continued by these provinces of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The United Provinces were struggling to adapt existing feudal concepts and institutions to the new situation and tended to be conservative in this matter, as they had after all rebelled against the king to defend their ancient privileges. The stadtholder now no longer represented the lord but became the highest executive official, appointed by the States of each province. Although each province could assign its own stadtholder, most stadtholders held appointments from several provinces at the same time. The highest executive power was normally exerted by the sovereign States of each province, but the stadtholder had some prerogatives, like appointing some lower officials and having sometimes the ancient right to affirm the appointment (by cooptation) of the members of regent councils in some cities, or choose from a shortlist of candidates. As these councils themselves appointed most members of the States, the stadtholder could very indirectly influence the general policy in this way. In Zealand he was the ''First Noble'', the first in rank of the nobility representatives, and as such himself a member of the States of that province.
On the Republic's central, for want of a better word 'confederal' level, the stadtholder of the provinces of Holland and Zealand was normally also appointed Captain-General of the confederate army and Admiral-General of the confederate fleet, though no stadtholder ever actually commanded a fleet in battle. In the army he could appoint officers by himself; in the navy only affirm the appointments of the five admiralty councils. The legal powers of the stadtholder were thus rather limited, and by law he was a mere official. His real powers however were sometimes much larger, especially given the martial law atmosphere of the 'permanent' (be it hot-cold-hot) Eighty Years War. Maurice of Orange after 1618 ruled as a military dictator and William II of Orange attempted the same. This situation was caused by the fact that the leader of the rebellion, William the Silent (William I of Orange), had been appointed stadtholder in 1572 by the first province to rebel, Holland; his personal influence and reputation were thus associated with the office and tranferred to later members of his house. Maurice in 1618 and William III of Orange from 1672 replaced entire city councils with their partisans to increase their power: the so-called "Changings of the Legislative" (''Wetsverzettingen''). By intimidation the stadtholders tried to extend their right of affirmation. In reaction the regents in Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel after the death of William II in 1650 simply appointed no stadtholder, only being forced to reinstitute one by the catastrophic events of 1672, the Dutch Year of Disaster (''Rampjaar''). On the death of William III in 1702 they did the same.
However, after the French invasion of 1747 they were forced by riots to accept the stadtholder of Frisia and Groningen as their own and on 22 November 1747, the office of stadtholder was made hereditary (''erfstadhouder''), with the stadtholder of Friesland becoming stadtholder for the entire — thus 'crowned' — Republic (which, though officially remaining a republic, ''de facto'' became a monarchy under the House of Orange-Nassau), and his function accordingly being restyled 'Stadhouder-Generaal' (rendered as General Hereditary Stadtholder).
Political protests against the now heridatary role of the House of Orange simmered through, until in 1780 the Patriot movement started to roar, they took over many city councils and hostilities against the House of Orange became vocal. With the aid of Prussia, Prince William V was able to fend off this opposition and many leaders of the Patriot movement went in exile into France. From which they returned toegether with French armies in the winter of 1795, to overcome the frozen Waterline of defense. William V of Orange-Nassau fled to England and the function of stadtholder was abolished in 1795 when the French revolutionary forces instated the Batavian Republic.
Meanwhile in the Southern Netherlands the Habsburg lords continued to appoint stadtholders for the provinces of this region, until it was annexed by France in 1794.

See also

★ List of stadtholders for the Low Countries provinces

Sources and references

★ WorldStatesmen - the Netherlands

★ ''Van Dale Etymologisch Woordenboek'' (Dutch etymology, in Dutch)

★ Simon Schama - Patriots and Liberators: : Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780-1813

★ Dutch language Wikipedia: List of stadtholders