Orange (France)

Orange The ruling house (in full Orange-Châlons) of the principality centred on the small city of Orange, southern France. The city grew up around its Roman monuments, which include a semicircular theatre and a triumphal arch. In the 11th century it became an independent countship, and from the 12th century its rulers were vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor and came to style themselves ‘princes’.

After 1530 the related house of Nassau-Châlons succeeded to the title, and in 1544 William of Nassau-Dillenburg (1533–84) became Prince of Orange and subsequently, as William I (the Silent), statholder in the Netherlands. His younger son, Maurice of Nassau (1567–1625), assumed the military leadership of the Dutch Revolts in 1584. Until the late 18th century the Orange dynasty continued to play a major part in the politics of the United Provinces. The principality itself was conquered by Louis XIV (1672) and incorporated into France by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), but the title of Prince of Orange was retained by WILLIAM III, who became King of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1689.

Orange , town (1990 pop. 28,136), Vaucluse dept., SE France. An agricultural market center, the town also produces refined sugar, pâtés, preserves, wool, and shoes. Tourism is also important. Orange was an earldom probably founded by Charlemagne. It became the capital of a principality (12th cent.) and was passed from family to family and eventually (1554), through inheritance, to William the Silent, of the house of Nassau. Among William's descendants were William III of England and the ruling family of the Netherlands. Orange was conquered (1672) by Louis XIV and confirmed in French possession by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) and the Peace of Utrecht (1713), although the title remained with the Dutch princes of Orange. The town has important Roman ruins, notably a triumphal arch (1st cent. AD) and an amphitheater (c.AD 120) which is still in use.

Orange name of a town (Arausio in the ancient province of Gallia Narbonensis) on the Rhône in France, which in 1530 passed to the house of Nassau and so to the ancestors of William III of England (‘William of O.’, i.e. O.-Nassau), after whom were named (late XVIII) the O. lodges, Orangemen, and O. boys of an ultra-Protestant party in Ireland formally constituted into a secret society in 1795. The coincidence of this name with that of the fruit made the wearing of orange-coloured badges a symbol of attachment to William III and of membership of the O. Society.