William of Orange

William was prince of Orange during the 16^th century. He was also known as William the Silent. William was very famous for his Dutch revolt against the Spanish which resulted in a victory.

William of Orange was born in 1522 in Germany. At the age of only 11 years old he became a Prince. Now his family’s religion was Lutheran, but there was a condition that for him to become Prince he had to receive a Catholic education. That for William meant switching to a totally different religion basis. Even though that was a big change he did go with that condition and received his education in the Netherlands.

William later married in 1551. He was becoming very successful throughout his life and even got assigned as head of the cavalry. If that wasn’t successful enough, he later got recognized by the emperor Charles V. After that, he became a commander in one of the emperor’s armies.

Throughout his life he was chosen for many great things, it still wasn’t the end for him yet, William then became governor of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht. During this time the Netherlands was being ruled by the Spanish, William didn’t like this. Since he started disagreeing about the rule, he joined an opposition group. Specifically he disagreed about the religious persecutions because he was the type of person who believed in religious freedom. William also thought that they were being to controlling and they were ruling too much.

William didn’t want the Spanish to rule any longer so he started to speak up and revolt. He financially went against the Spanish as well. Because of William doing this the Spanish wanted it to end so they called a council meeting to punish him. The only problem was, he didn’t even show up. After that happened he was declared an outlaw and even got his properties taken away from him.

William started to get more and more people backing him and started an army against the Spanish. He started what is known as the Eighty Years’ War. This war lasted all the way up until 1648. But for the Dutch it was worth it because they received a victory and gained their independence from the Spanish.

Unfortunately this war lasted way after William died because right after he was declared an outlaw he was assassinated. He got shot in the chest by a Catholic Frenchman. After he died his son Philip William became Prince of Orange.