Jan Stampioen taught mathematics in Rotterdam, but in 1638 he moved to The Hague to become tutor to Prince William. Two years later Prince William (II) succeeded his father and was to go on to transform the Netherlands into a parliamentary state. While in The Hague Stampioen opened a printing shop in which he printed his own writings on mathematics.
Stampioen appended his own treatment of spherical trigonometry to van Schooten's sine tables. In 1633 he challenged Descartes to a public competition and rejected Descartes' solution as not complete. He posed two further challenges under the alias of John Baptista involving the solution of cubics and gave solutions under his own name.
A young surveyor Waessenaer solved the first, but Stampioen rejected his solution. The argument was adjudicated by van Schooten who favoured Waessenaer. Descartes also became involved in the argument.
In 1644 Stampioen was employed to tutor Huygens and his brother in mathematics.