The Story of The Netherlands Season 2

Daan Schuurmans talks about the origins of the Orange dynasty. With the marriage of Count Engelbrecht of Nassau to the Dutch Johanna van Polanen, the German Nassau family set foot on Dutch soil for the first time. More than a century later, descendant Willem received the title Prince of Orange thanks to an inheritance. This William of Orange-Nassau wants to strengthen his position by marrying the Protestant Anne of Saxony. But that gets him into big trouble with his ruler, the Spanish king Philip the Second.

After the murder of William of Orange, the role of the Nassaus in the Netherlands seems to have ended. His inheritance sows division within the family and a battle erupts over who can call himself the rightful successor of the Father of the Fatherland: eldest son Philip Willem or the younger Maurits?

In Friesland, the Nassau-Dietz family continued the Orange Line after the death of King-Stadholder William the Third. From Leeuwarden they try to match the name and fame of their Orange predecessors and obtain the governorship over the whole of the Netherlands.