Only three letters survive from Constantijn Huygens to Mary Stuart, the daughter of James II and herself the future queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In January 1687, when this particular letter was written, Mary and her husband Willem were…

The Frisian stadtholders were endowed with the fiefdom Dietz in present-day Germany. The 'Duke's Castle' (built in the eleventh century) was the main residence of Sophia Hedwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbütteland and she remained there after the death…

In 1580 Stadtholder Willem Lodewijk van Nassau-Dillenburg purchased and took up residence at the Rolkemahuis in Leeuwarden, which had been built in 1564 for Philips II Boudewijn van Loo, the rentmeester-generaal to Philip II. In 1603 Willem Lodewijk…

Of the 151 letters currently in Sophia Hedwig's catalogue, twenty letters were written by her son Hendrik Casimir, who sent frequent reports to his mother about both his wellbeing and the military actions of what became known as the Eighty Years War…

In 1696, following the death of her husband Hendrik Casimir II (1657–1696), Henriette Amalia von Anhalt-Dessau became regent on behalf of her son Johan Willem Friso (1687–1711), and she held this post until he came of age in 1707.

Detail of a letter with an original signature of Henriette Amalia von Anhalt-Dessau.