Second Stadtholderless Period

The Second Stadtholderless Period was the era from 1702 to 1747 when most provinces of the Dutch Republic left the office of stadtholder vacant after the death of William III. Regent oligarchies governed under grand pensionaries such as Anthonie Heinsius, while the costs of the War of the Spanish Succession burdened the Republic with debt. It ended when a French invasion in 1747 provoked an Orangist revolt and William IV became hereditary stadtholder of all the provinces.