History of Orange

wn was badly damaged. In 1568 the Eighty Years' War began with William as stadtholder leading the bid for independence from Spain. William the Silent was assassinated in Delft in 1584. It was his son, Maurice of Nassau (Prince of Orange after his elder brother died in 1618), with the help of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, who solidified the independence of the Dutch republic. The United Provinces survived to become the Netherlands, which is still ruled by the House of Orange-Nassau. William, Prince of Orange, ruled England as William III of England. Orange gave its name to other Dutch-influenced parts of the world, such as the Oranges (West Orange, South Orange, East Orange, Orange) in New Jersey, USA, and the Orange Free State in South Africa.

The city remained part of scattered Nassau holdings until it was captured by the forces of Louis XIV in 1672 during the Franco-Dutch War, again captured in August 1682 and was finally ceded to France in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht that ended the wars of Louis XIV. Following the French Revolution of 1789, Orange was absorbed into the French département of Drôme, then Bouches-du-Rhône, then finally Vaucluse. However, the title remained with the Dutch Princes of Orange.

Orange attracted international attention in the 1990s, when it elected a member of Front National as its mayor. It is now run by Jacques Bompard, a member of the conservative Movement for France which he joined after having resigned from the Front National.

Orange was also home to the French Foreign Legion's armored 1er REC or First Foreign Cavalry Regiment. The 1er REC officially moved to Carpiagne on July 10th 2014.