Vlissingen in Zeeland. It had been the property of Philip II since 1567, but had fallen into arrears to the province. In 1580, the Court of Holland ordered it sold. William bought it as it gave him two more votes in the States of Zeeland. He owned the government of the two towns, and so could appoint their magistrates. He already had one as First Noble for Philip William, who had inherited Maartensdijk. This made William the predominant member of the States of Zeeland. It was a smaller version of the countship of Zeeland (and Holland) promised to William, and was a potent political base for his descendants. William then added the shield of Veere and Buren to his arms as shown in the third coat of arms below. It shows how arms were used to represent political power in general, and the growing political power of William. Ancestry See also List of monarchs of the Netherlands Notes References Petrus Johannes Blok, "History of the people of the Netherlands". New York: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1898.* Herbert H. Rowen, The princes of Orange: the stadholders in the Dutch Republic. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Jardine, Lisa. The Awful End of William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with A Handgun. London: HarperCollins: 2005: ; John Lothrop Motley, "The Rise of the Dutch Republic". New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855. John Lothrop Motley, "History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort". London: John Murray, 1860. John Lothrop Motley, "The Life and Death of John of Barnevelt". New York & London: Harper and Brothers Publishing, 1900. van der Lem, Anton. 1995. De Opstand in de Nederlanden 1555–1609. Utrecht: Kosmos. . Various authors. 1977. Winkler Prins – Geschiedenis der Nederlanden. Amsterdam: Elsevier. . Wedgwood, Cicely. 1944. William the Silent: William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, 1533–1584. External links The Revolt of the Netherlands Het Huis van Oranje-Nassau en de Nederlandse geschiedenis Willem van Oranje. Dutch history website The Complete Correspondence of William I of Orange. Digital archive by the Huygens Institute for Dutch History 1533 births 1584 deaths People from Dillenburg Assassinated Dutch politicians Assassinated royalty Burials in the Royal Crypt at Nieuwe Kerk, Delft Counts of Germany Deaths by firearm in the Netherlands Dutch Protestants Dutch rebels Dutch stadtholders German people of the Eighty Years' War