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Principality of Orange

Principality of Orange
Principauté d'Orange (French)
1163–1713
of Orange
Coat of arms
Map of the Principality of Orange (with south at the top)
Map of the Principality of Orange (with south at the top)
StatusVassal state of the Holy Roman Empire
CapitalOrange
GovernmentFeudal Monarchy
Prince of Orange 
• 1171–1185
Bertrand I of Baux (first)
• 1650–1702
William III of Orange and England (last)
History 
• Principality status granted
1163
• Ceded to France by the Treaty of Utrecht
1713
Area
• Total
108 sq mi (280 km2)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Arles
Kingdom of France

The Principality of Orange (French: Principauté d'Orange) was, from 1163 to 1713, a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city of Avignon, and surrounded by the independent papal state of Comtat Venaissin.

It was constituted in 1163, when Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I elevated the Burgundian County of Orange (consisting of the city of Orange and the land surrounding it) to a sovereign principality within the Empire. The principality became part of the scattered holdings of the house of Orange-Nassau from the time that William the Silent inherited the title of Prince of Orange from his cousin in 1544, until it was finally ceded to France in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht. Although permanently lost by the Nassaus then, this fief gave its name to the extant Royal House of the Netherlands. The area of the principality was approximately 12 miles (19 km) long by 9 miles (14 km) wide, or 108 square miles (280 km2).[1]

  1. ^ George Ripley And Charles A. Dana (1873). The New American Cyclopædia. 16 volumes complete. article on Principality of Orange: D. Appleton And Company.

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