Leopold Count van

Limburg Stirum The House of Limburg-Stirum (or Limburg-Styrum), which adopted its name in the 12th century from the Imperial immediacy, immediate county of Limburg an der Lenne in what is now Germany, is one of the oldest families in Europe. It is the eldest ...

(March 12, 1758 in

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

– June 25, 1840 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) was a politician who was part of the

Triumvirate A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...

that took power in 1813 in order to re-establish the monarchy in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Career

Leopold was Captain in the 2nd Regiment Orange-Nassau. During the French occupation, he was also the governor of

. After the French troops, under the command of Charles-François Lebrun, 1st Duke of Plaisance, had fled the country, he took over the rule of the

, together with

Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp Gijsbert Karel, Count van Hogendorp (27 October 1762 – 5 August 1834) was a liberal conservativeJan de Jongste: ''Van Hogendorp'', article in th''Cultureel Woordenboek. Nederlandse geschiedenis 1500 – 1813'' "Van Hogendorp werd 'van conser ...

and Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam. They were called the

Triumvirate of 1813 The Triumvirate of 1813 (''Driemanschap van 1813''), or the Provisional Government, governed the Netherlands briefly at the end of the Napoleonic era, before Prince William Frederick, the future King William I, came to power. It consisted of Gi ...

. In this temporary government, count Leopold was Minister of War and thus responsible for preventing anarchy and also making sure the Netherlands wouldn't be annexed to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The three statesmen invited the almost forgotten prince William VI of Orange, the later King William I, to

to establish the monarchy. On November 30, 1813 Limburg Stirum welcomed the prince on the beach of

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

and on December 6 the provisional government offered him the title of King. William refused, instead proclaiming himself "sovereign prince". He also wanted the rights of the people to be guaranteed by "a wise constitution". He became king

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, ...

in 1815. He confirmed count Leopold as governor of The Hague and named him

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. On the 8th of July 1815, Leopold van Limburg Stirum was named

Knight Grand Cross A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

, a title reserved for members of the Royal Family, foreign Heads of State and a select group of former prime ministers, Princes and Cardinals. In 1828 he became

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the infantry. From 1833 until his death, he was member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Family

He first married in 1782 Theodora van der Does, Lady of

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the f ...

(born 1758, died 1793). They had four children: * Wilhelmina Frederica Sophia, countess van Limburg Stirum (born 1784, died 1870); * Wigbold Albert Willem, count van Limburg Stirum Noordwijk,

baron de l'Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both befo ...

, (born in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

16 April 1786, died in

15 January 1855), member of the (1814), member of the

, Knight in the

. He married in 1811 Maria Margareta Elisabeth, Baroness van Slingeland (born 1790, died 1834); *Otto Jan Herbert, count van Limburg Stirum (born 1789, died 1851). He married (1st) in 1814 Josephine Arnoldine baroness Rengers (born 1789, died 1839); (2nd) in 1843 Sophia Augusta von Buchwald (born 1814, died 1890); * Frederik Govert, count van Limburg Stirum (born 1790, k.a. Leipzig 1813). In 1801 he married Maria van Styrum (born 1763, died 1848). They had one daughter who died at the age of 5: * Marie Johanna Leopoldine, countess van Limburg Stirum (born 1803, died 1808).

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Limburg Stirum, Leopold Karel Van 1758 births 1840 deaths People from Hoogeveen Leopold Karel 19th-century Dutch politicians Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of William Dutch military commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from the Kingdom of Holland