Post by Waverley on Jan 26, 2008 10:17:42 GMT 1
William of Orange – England’s Forgotten King.
William was born on November 4, 1650 at Binnenhof, The Hague, the son of William II and Princess Mary Stuart the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was also the great grandson of William The Silent of Orange-Nassau who had led the revolt by the Dutch against the Spanish in the 16th century. William The Silent , was the Prince of Orange the small principality in southern France, was assassinated by the fanatical young Catholic lawyer Balthasar Geraerts at the convent of St. Agatha, near Delft, on July 10. 1584.
Despite being referred to as 'Dutch William' by most British historians William had very little Dutch blood running through his veins despite being a passionate Dutchman by birth, education and sentiment. He had a mixture of bloodlines from his illustrious ancestors, which included German, French, Italian, Danish, English and Scots blood through his maternal great grandfather James VI & I and grandfather King Charles I. He was and still is considered by many historic researchers to be the 'first European'.
William never knew his father William II, as he died of smallpox, a very common disease in the 17th century, three days before he was born...indeed when William was born he was so delicate that it wasn't thought that he would survive. However, he did survive and was baptised William Henry after his historic great grandfather William The Silent, when ten weeks old on January 21st 1651, at the insistence of William's paternal grandmother Amalia of Solms-Braunfeldt. Much to the indignation of his mother the Princess Mary who had wanted him named after her father and her brother Charles I and Charles II respectively.
Please note that this posting will be ongoing and will be a serious study of William's life which hopefully will create a better understanding of his religious, political beliefs and his life...