Changes

   

   

==Life==

==Life==

He was born Prince William Henry, at [[The Hague]] on November 4, 1650, eight days after the death of his father William II, Prince of Orange, ruler of the United Provinces (the independent [[Dutch History|Netherlands]]).<ref>He held the hereditary title "Prince of Orange" but there was no longer a country called Orange.</ref> His mother was Mary, daughter of [[Charles I (England)|Charles I]] of England, and he was their only child. He was raised by his mother until he entered at the University of Leiden, where he excelled in languages and field sports. Even though a Calvinist by birth and training, he was tolerant in religious matters by nature and policy.

He was born Prince William Henry, at [[The Hague]] on November 4, 1650, eight days after the death of his father William II, Prince of Orange, ruler of the United Provinces (the independent [[Dutch History|Netherlands]]).<ref>He held the hereditary title "Prince of Orange" but there was no longer a country called Orange.</ref> His mother was Mary, daughter of Charles I of England, and he was their only child. He was raised by his mother until he entered at the University of Leiden, where he excelled in languages and field sports. Even though a Calvinist by birth and training, he was tolerant in religious matters by nature and policy.

William's dynastic position was at first ambiguous because many of the Dutch, insisting on state rights, resented submission to the House of Orange; this attitude was maintained by the two De Witt brothers, who were the effective rulers of the seven federated provinces during the Prince's minority. They led an anti-Orangist constitutional revolution that abolished the posts the prince would normally have inherited. The Orange party maneuvered to put William in power, and his opportunity came in 1672. That spring the French invaded under King [[Louis XIV]], and the people called for Orange. [[John De Witt]] had to acquiesce making William Captain General in charge of stopping the French and their English allies; within weeks he became Stadholder of the states of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland and, in effect, supreme ruler of the Netherlands. De Witt was lynched, murdered, and mutilated by an angry mob.

William's dynastic position was at first ambiguous because many of the Dutch, insisting on state rights, resented submission to the House of Orange; this attitude was maintained by the two De Witt brothers, who were the effective rulers of the seven federated provinces during the Prince's minority. They led an anti-Orangist constitutional revolution that abolished the posts the prince would normally have inherited. The Orange party maneuvered to put William in power, and his opportunity came in 1672. That spring the French invaded under King [[Louis XIV]], and the people called for Orange. John De Witt had to acquiesce making William Captain General in charge of stopping the French and their English allies; within weeks he became Stadholder of the states of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel, and Gelderland and, in effect, supreme ruler of the Netherlands. De Witt was lynched, murdered, and mutilated by an angry mob.

==Stadholder of the Netherlands==

==Stadholder of the Netherlands==