William the Silent
Monarch
1533 – 1584
Who was William the Silent?
William I, Prince of Orange, also widely known as William the Silent, or more commonly known as William of Orange, was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the branch House of Orange-Nassau and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands.
A wealthy nobleman, William originally served the Habsburgs as a member of the court of Margaret of Parma, governor of the Spanish Netherlands. Unhappy with the centralisation of political power away from the local estates and with the Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants, William joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft in 1584.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Apr 24, 1533
Dillenburg - Also known as
- William I of Orange
- William I
- Prince of Orange
- William of Orange
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Anna van Egmont
(1551/07/06 - 1558/03/24) - Charlotte of Bourbon
(1575/06/12 - 1582/05/05) - Anna of Saxony
(1561 - 1571/12/14) - Louise de Coligny
(1583/04/12 - 1584/07/10)
- Anna van Egmont
- Children
- Religion
- Calvinism
- Lutheranism
- Nationality
- Netherlands
- Profession
- Died
- Jul 10, 1584
Delft
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"William the Silent." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/william_the_silent>.
Discuss this William the Silent biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In