The principality became part of the scattered holdings of the house of Orange-Nassau from the time that William the Silent inherited the title of Prince of Orange from his cousin in 1544, until it was finally ceded to France in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.

In 1431, the Count of Provence waived taxation duties for Orange's rulers (Mary of Baux-Orange and Jean de Châlons of Burgundy) in exchange for liquid assets to be used for a ransom.

William, 11 years old at the time, was the cousin of René of Châlon who died without an heir when he was shot at St. Dizier in 1544 during the Franco-Imperial wars.

René's mother, Claudia, had held the title prior to it being passed to young William since Philibert de Châlon was her brother.

It was his son, Maurice of Nassau (Prince of Orange after his elder brother died in 1618), with the help of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, who solidified the independence of the Dutch republic.

In 1815 the Congress of Vienna took care of a French sensitivity by stipulating that the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be ruled by the House of Oranje-Nassau – "Oranje", not "Orange" as had been the custom until then.

In the 12th century, Tiburge d'Orange [fr], daughter of Count Raimbaud of Nice, rebuilt the Roman walls of the town and rehabilitated the ancient "castrum Aurasice".

In the 14th century, the Les Baux princes of Orange consolidated the donjon and rampart of the chateau in order to resist the assaults of the "grandes compagnies" that were devastating Provence at the time.

The incumbent prince of Orange, the celebrated general Maurice of Nassau, executed a plan by the architect Servole to build a fortress incorporating the modern science of fortification he had pioneered in his wars in the Netherlands.

The fortress was composed of three parts: the 14th century castle, the curtain wall, and the "Vignasse", an esplanade, says Joseph of Pisa, capable of containing 10,000 men at arms.

The entire complex and the city were surrounded by moats and Bastion fort walls to protect against cannon fire similar to the fortifications of towns in the Netherlands.

In 1672, in reprisal for the young William III, prince of Orange and "stadtholder" of Holland defending the interests of his nation and of the Protestant religion, Louis XIV instructed the count of Grignan to lay siege to the citadel and to destroy it.