 Together with his cousin Willem Lodewijk he studied in Heidelberg and later in Leiden where he met Simon Stevin.The States of Holland and Zeeland paid for his studies, as their father had run into financial problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages of the Dutch revolt.Only 16 when his father was murdered in Delft in 1584, he soon was appointed to his father's office of stadtholder ("Stadhouder").