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Bust from left of Frans of Anjou (1555-1584). Surrounded by snakes at the bottom of the title. Frans van Anjou was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de 'Medici. At birth he was given the title of Duke of Alençon, but upon the accession of his brother Henry in 1575, he took over his original title of Duke of Anjou and was intended heir to the French throne. The States General appointed him in 1581 as sovereign prince ("prince and lord of the Netherlands"). This happened at the insistence of William of Orange. Frans van Anjou demanded that the Netherlands declare itself independent from Spain. So in 1581 the Acte van Verlatinghe was passed. Copper engraving by Pieter van Gunst (c. 1659 - 1731), after the painting by Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722). Signed in print. Manufactured around 1700.
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