John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen

Timeline

1. 1621–1636Battlefields of the Dutch United Provinces · Dutch RepublicFrom 1621 he fought against Spain under his cousin Frederick Henry, was promoted to captain in 1626, and took part in the capture of 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629 and the recovery of Schenkenschans in 1636, which led to his nomination as governor by the West India Company.
2. 1637–1641Recife (Mauritsstad) · PernambucoAfter arriving in Recife in January 1637, he drove the Portuguese forces south of the São Francisco River, controlled all of Pernambuco, and took Ceará to the north. He rebuilt the port and allowed Catholics and Jews to worship openly to stabilize sugar production, while dispatching expeditions to seize Elmina on the Gold Coast and elsewhere to supply slaves to the plantations. His 1638 attack on Bahia failed, and in 1640 he repelled a joint Spanish-Portuguese fleet under the Count of Torre.
3. 1641–1644Mauritsstad · PernambucoIn 1641 he sent troops to capture Luanda and Benguela in Angola and São Tomé, key slave-trade hubs, and also occupied Saint-Louis in Maranhão, bringing Dutch control in the Atlantic to its peak. On Antonio Vaz Island he built Mauritsstad and residences such as Freiburg, and engaged Marcgrave, Piso, Frans Post, and Eckhout to record Brazil's nature and society. The West India Company directors, displeased with his extravagance, recalled him in 1643, and he departed for Europe in May 1644.
4. 1647–1679Cleves · ClevesIn 1647 he accepted the appointment from the Great Elector Frederick William as governor of Cleves and other territories, and was raised to Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1652. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665 he led Dutch forces against the Bishop of Münster, and in the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–1674 he commanded the defenses of Friesland and Groningen, taking part in the Battle of Seneffe before retiring in 1675; he died at Cleves in 1679.