The year 1650 marked a political turning point for the Dutch Republic: for the first time in its short history, there was no member of the House of Orange who was a suitable candidate for the office of stadholder. This situation posed fundamental questions about the existing political order. At the invitation of the States of Holland, eighteen delegates from all the provinces gathered to discuss the matter on 18 January 1651 in the Knights' Hall (Ridderzaal) at the Binnenhof in The Hague. This Great Assembly, which lasted until 21 August, debated the most important aspects of the Union's form of government and its power structures. On the subject of religion, the Acts of the Synod of Dordrecht were confirmed, including the basic principle that church organisation was a matter for the provinces. A general amnesty was declared for those who had been involved in the attempted coup of 1650. The thorniest issue, however, was what to do about the stadholderate. Friesland, led by the Frisian stadholder Willem Frederik, expressed the view that each province should be required to have a stadholder and that the army needed an ‘eminent head’, chosen, in the light of recent history, preferably from the House of Orange. Willem Frederik also offered to serve as acting captain-general until his young cousin, the infant Prince William, came of age. Even before the assembly convened, however, Holland had decided not to appoint a new stadholder and had persuaded the other provinces to endorse its point of view.