William I "the Silent", Prince of Orange (24 April 1533-10 July 1584) was Prince of Orange from 15 July 1544 to 10 July 1584, succeeding Rene of Chalon and preceding Philip William, Prince of Orange. William was best-known for being the first leader of the Dutch Revolt, which resulted in his House of Orange becoming rulers of an independent Netherlands after eighty years of war with Spain.
Biography[]
William the Silent was born in Dillenburg, Nassau, Holy Roman Empire on 24 April 1533, the son of William I, Count of Nassau-Dillenberg and Juliana of Stolberg. William was raised a Lutheran, but he converted to Catholicism in 1544 before converting to Calvinism in 1573. William's cousin Rene of Chalon, Prince of Orange, named him his heir before dying in 1544, and William succeeded the childless Rene at the young age of eleven. He inherited the Principality of Orange in France, significant lands in Germany, and vast estates in the Netherlands and Belgium from his cousin, and Emperor Charles V served as regent until William came of age to rule. At the age of 22, William was already in command of one of the emperor's armies, and he was sent with an army to capture Bayonne from France in 1555 during the Italian Wars. In 1559, King Philip II of Spain appointed William Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht, and he was given control over Franche-Comte in 1561.
Dutch Revolt[]
Philip II of Spain berating William the Silent before leaving the Netherlands
William was disappointed with the political situation in the Spanish Netherlands, where he felt that Dutch nobles should hold more power than Spanish nobles. Despite being a Catholic convert, William still felt sympathy for Protestants, and he believed in freedom of religion instead of religious persecution. In 1566, Protestant nobles created the Compromise of Nobles, which petitioned for the moderation of anti-Protestant laws in the Low Countries. Spain's refusal to adhere to the compromise's terms led to several acts of iconoclasm in 1567, leading to Spanish troops being sent in to restore order. The Dutch responded by rising in rebellion against the Spanish, leading to the start of the Dutch Revolt.
When William refused to show up to the Duke of Alba's court to speak about the iconoclast insurrection, William was declared an outlaw, and he responded by openly becoming a rebel leader. Early in the war, the rag-tag Dutch army suffered several losses, with William losing two of his brothers at the Battle of Mookerhyde, but the Dutch won several minor battles in 1574. In 1576, the "Spanish Fury" in Antwerp left 7,000 Antverpians dead, and the massacre proved to be a great propaganda coup for the Dutch. The Dutch rallied behind William, who now had the support of the Union of Utrecht in the north.
In 1580, King Philip offered a reward of 25,000 crowns to any man who could kill William, leading to William making several enemies. The French Catholic Balthasar Gerard resolved to kill him, and he met him at Delft on 10 July 1584. That night, Gerard shot William in the chest with a wheelock pistol in the dining room, killing William. William's son Maurice of Orange would go on to be an even greater military commander than his father.