Stadtholder

A stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder ]), literally place holder (holding someone's place; possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Medieval Latin locum tenens), was a term for a "steward" or "lieutenant". In the Low Countries, the stadtholder was a medieval function, which during the 18th century, developed into a rare type of de facto hereditary head of state of the thus "crowned" Dutch Republic. It is comparable with the French title Lieutenant and England's 16th century Lord Lieutenant. Additionally, this position was tasked with maintaining peace and provincial order in the early Dutch Republic.