Map of the Battle of Malplaquet (1709) by Matthijs Pool, c. 1714–16

Background

Johan Willem Friso (1687–1711), the ancestor of all monarchs occupying a European throne today, was Henriette Amalia’s eldest son. He was destined to follow in the footsteps of his father, the Frisian Stadholder Hendrik Casimir II, who died in 1696. With no heir to the stadholders of Holland, Henriette Amalia, acting as regent, was able to secure the succession for Johan Willem Friso. After Johan Willem Friso drowned on 14 July 1711, his wife Marie Louise van Hessen-Kassel became regent until their son, Willem IV, came of age.

Although no letters from Henriette Amalia to her son have survived, a total of 231 letters from the other side of the correspondence, from Johan Willem Friso to his mother, have been preserved. The majority of these were sent from the battlefields of the Spanish War of Succession, where Johan Willem Friso spent most of his time as a general of the Dutch troops. The letter on display here was sent by Johan Willem Friso at 8 o'clock in the evening of 11 September 1709, just after the conclusion of the Battle of Malplaquet. Although the battle was decided in favour of the allies, thousands of Dutch soldiers lost their lives as a result of a misunderstanding between the British commander John Churchill, first duke of Marlborough, and Johan Willem Friso. This is not the news the young stadtholder reported to his mother, however. He assures her that, although two horses under him had been injured during the intense fighting, he is faring well.