William of Orange
William of Orange was a member of the Dutch aristocracy who ruled over England and Ireland as King William III from February 13, 1689 until his death on March 8, 1702. He was also pronounced William II of Scotland on April 11, 1689, and as with England and Ireland ruled there until his death.
He had also held previous titles in his native land as William III of Orange, Stadtholder of the major provinces of the Dutch Republic and from birth was known as the Protestant Prince of Orange, having been raised in the Protestant faith.
William was born to William II, Prince of Orange and Mary, Princess Royal of England in The Hague, Netherlands on November 14, 1650. He was actually appointed the title of Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth as his father died from smallpox just eight days before William was born.
William was only 10 years old when on December 23, 1660 his mother Mary succumbed to smallpox as well, during a visit to Whitehall Palace in the City of London where her brother King Charles II lived.
Mary had previously expressed in her will that should she die, the legal guardianship of William would be the responsibility of Charles II. Charles in turn assigned this task to William's grandmother, Princess Dowager Amalia and maintained an advisory role during William's early years.
As Prince of Orange, William had to face many formidable challenges to his Kingdoms security; France with help from English forces had overrun the country and its leadership was ineffective in negotiating a truce. William was appointed Stadtholder of the Netherlands and he continued to ward of the French and English invaders.
At this time he was also receiving assistance from Spain. William later on negotiated for peace with England and entered into a marriage agreement with Mary, the daughter of James who was then still the Duke of York.
While the King of France made a formal declaration of peace with the Netherlands in 1678, he did not halt his military campaigns and so the country joined the League of Augsburg, an organization of countries opposed to the French.
When James, refused to join the League of Ausberg, William in an attempt to gain support for his cause, condemned James' religious policies. This made him popular with the Protestant leaders who were eager to be rid of James.
It was this religious affiliation with the Protestant Church that paved the way for his eventual rise to the throne, for many Protestants in England then looked to him for the solution to the rising Catholic influence in the country.
William actually came to the throne after his uncle James II was deposed as King of England by an act of Parliament during the Glorious Revolution. William was then married to James' Protestant daughter Mary II and the Parliament of England offered both of them their full support in claiming the crown. They ruled together jointly until Mary's death in December 28, 1694.
In fact, William was initially reluctant to accept the responsibility of claiming the throne of England. Even though many Protestant leaders had approached him with plans to lead an invasion into England, he was fearful that the English people would not readily accept a foreign King. He had not realized however that James' religious policies in England had made him many enemies and that they were clamouring for a change in leadership. In any case William demanded that the Protestants formalize their invitation for him to assume the throne of England, before he would consent to the invasion.
While William was a prime candidate for the throne by virtue of his Protestant upbringing, it was his formidable military assets that secured his claim. His army boasted of a naval fleet four times bigger than the armada of Spain. While James did make an attempt to wrest control of the throne, in the end he was no match for the superior strength and number of William's armies and he was forced to abdicate the crown.
In effect, William's coronation was a turning point in English history; not only was James II the last of the Stuart clan to rule over England, but William's rule was also the end of the absolutist type of rule as exemplified by the Stuarts and the beginning of the Parliamentary rule as espoused by the tenets of the House of Hanover.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: RPN
Updated On: 11/04/2007
