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Catholic. The remembrance of his ancestors' services and his own high qualities endeared William to Charles, who secured for him, at the age of seventeen, the See also:

hand of See also:

Anne of See also:

Egmont, heiress of the count of Buren. Anne died in 1J58, leaving issue a son See also:

Philip William, prince of Orange and count of Buren, and a daughter. It was on the See also:

SHOULDER (in O.E. sculder, cognate with Ger. Schulter, Dutch schouder, Swed. skuldra, &c; the root is unknown)

shoulder of the See also:

young prince of Orange that Charles V. leant when, in 1555, in the presence of a great assemble at Brussels, he abdicated. in favour of hisson Philip, the See also:

SOVEREIGNTY

sovereignty of the See also:

NETHERLANDS

Netherlands. William was also selected to carry the insignia of the See also:

EMPIRE

empire to See also:

Ferdinand, See also:

king of the See also:

Romans, when Charles resigned the imperial See also:

CROWN

crown.

He had, at the age of twenty-one, been placed by the emperor, before his See also:

ABDICATION (Lat. abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one)

abdication, at the See also:

head of an See also:

army of 20,000 men in the See also:

war with See also:

France, and he continued to fill that See also:

POST

post under Philip in 1556, but without distinction. His services, as a diplomatist, were much more brilliant. He was one of the three plenipotentiaries who negotiated the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis (1559), and was largely responsible for bringing about a See also:

settlement so favourable to See also:

SPANISH

Spanish interests. After the conclusion of the See also:

peace, the prince spent some See also:

time at the See also:

French court, in the capacity of a See also:

state See also:

HOSTAGE (through Fr. ostage, modern otage, from Late Lat. obsidaticum, the state of being an obses or hostage; Med. Lat. ostaticum, ostagium)

hostage for the carrying out of the treaty. It was during his sojourn in France that William by his discreetness acquired the soubriquet of le Tacilurne (the Silent), which has ever since clung to his name. The appellation is in no way expressive of the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the See also:

man, who was fond of conversation, most eloquent in speech, and a See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master of persuasion. His two great adversaries of the See also:

DECADE (from Gr. Oka, ten)

decade, which followed the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, were in 1559 closely associated with him; Granvelle as a plenipotentiary, See also:

Alva as a See also:

FELLOW

fellow-hostage. Up to this time the See also:

LIFE

life of Orange had been marked by lavish display and extravagance. As a See also:

GRAND

grand seigneur in one of the most splendid of courts, he surrounded himself with a See also:

RETINUE (O. Fr. retenue, from retenir, Lat. retenere, hold back, retain)

retinue of See also:

gay young noblemen and dependents, kept open See also:

house in his magnificent Nassau See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace at Brussels, and indulged in every See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure and dissipation. The See also:

revenue of his vast estates was not sufficient to prevent him being crippled by See also:

DEBT (Lat. debitum, a thing owed)

debt. But after his return from France, a See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change began to come over Orange. Philip made him councillor of state, See also:

knight of the See also:

GOLDEN

Golden Fleece, and See also:

STADTHOLDER (Du. stadhouder, a delegate or representative)

stadtholder of See also:

Holland, See also:

ZEELAND (or ZEALAND)

Zeeland and See also:

Utrecht; but there was a latent antagonism between the natures of the two men which speedily See also:

DEVELOPED

developed into relations of coolness and then of distrust.

The harshness with which the stern See also:

LAWS

laws against heretics were carried out, the presence of Spanish troops, the filling up of ministerial offices by Spaniards and other foreigners had, even before the departure of Philip for See also:

Spain (See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1559), stirred the most influential Netherland noblemen—foremost among them the prince of Orange, and the See also:

COUNTS

counts of Egmont and See also:

HOORN

Hoorn—to a policy of constitutional opposition. With the See also:

ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, " the coming of the Saviour ")

advent of See also:

Margaret of See also:

PARMA

Parma the situation became more serious. All state business was carried out by the Consulta; all See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power virtually placed in the hands of See also:

CARDINAL (Lat. cardinalis)

Cardinal Granvelle; the edicts against heretics enforced with the utmost severity; the number of bishoprics increased from three to fourteen (see NETHER-LANDS). As a protest, Orange, Egmont and Hoorn withdrew from the See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of state, and wrote to the king setting forth their grievances. At this time Orange was still nominally a Catholic, but his See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage in August 1561 with Anne, daughter and heiress of the elector See also:

Maurice of See also:

Saxony, with Lutheran See also:

RITES

rites, at See also:

DRESDEN

Dresden, was significant of what was to come. It marked the beginning of that See also:

GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual change in his religious opinions, which was to See also:

lead William through Lutheranism to that moderate Calvinism which he professed after 1573. Of the sincerity of the man during this See also:

period of transformation there can be little doubt. Policy possibly played its See also:

PART

part in dictating the particular moments at which the changes of faith were acknowledged. No student of the prince's voluminous See also:

correspondence can fail, however, to see that he was a deeply religious man. The charges of insincerity brought against him by his enemies arise from the fact that in an age of bigotry and fanaticism the statesmanlike breadth and tolerance of William's treatment of religious questions, and his aversion to persecution for matters of See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion, were misunderstood. His point of view was in advance of that of his time. In the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring of 1564 the constitutional opposition of the great nobles to the policy of the king appeared to be successful.

Granvelle was withdrawn, the Consulta abolished, and Orange, Egmont and Hoorn took their seats once more on the Council. They speedily found, however, that things did not mend. Granvelle had gone, but the royal policy was unchanged. In August 1564 Philip issued an See also:

order for carrying out the decrees of the Council of See also:

Trent, and for the strict See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution of the placards against heretics. Protests, letters, See also:

PERSONAL

personal See also:

MISSIONS (Lat. missio, a sending)

missions were in vain, the king's will was not to be moved from its purpose. The spirit of resistance spread first to the lesser nobles, then to the See also:

PEOPLE

people. In the memorable See also:

YEAR

year 1566 came " the See also:

COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

Compromise," " the See also:

REQUEST, LETTERS OF

Request," the banquet at the Hotel Culemburg with its cries of '' Vivent See also:

les See also:

GUEUX, LES

Gueux " followed by the See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild iconoclastic riots and outrages by bodies of fanatical See also:

PROTESTANT

Protestant sectaries at See also:

Antwerp and elsewhere. The effect of this last outbreak was disastrous. Philip was filled with anger and vowed vengeance. The See also:

NATIONAL

national leaders See also:

drew back, afraid to identify themselves with revolutionary movements, or the cause of extreme Protestantism. Egmont was a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good Catholic, and took active steps to suppress disorder, and Orange himself at the request of the See also:

REGENT (from Lat. regere, to rule)

regent betook himself to Antwerp, where the citizens in arms were on the point of engaging in See also:

CIVIL

civil strife. At the See also:

RISK

risk of his life the prince succeeded in bringing about an See also:

ACCORD (from Fr. accorder, to agree)

accord, and as he proclaimed its terms to a sullen and See also:

HALF

half-hostile See also:

CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd he uttered for the last time the words, " See also:

Long live the King!" It was his final See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of loyal service to a See also:

SOVEREIGN

sovereign, who from See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret emissaries that he kept at See also:

MADRID

Madrid, he knew to be plotting the destruction of himself and his See also:

friends.

In vain he endeavoured to rouse Egmont to a sense of his danger, and to induce him and other prominent leaders to take steps, if necessary by armed resistance, to avert their See also:

DOOM (Old Eng. dOm, a word common to Tent. languages for that which is set up or ordered, from " do," in its original meaning of " place "; cf, Gr. &Ass, from stem of ri'rust)

doom. Finding all his efforts fruitless William, after resigning all his posts, left the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country (22nd of April 1567), and took up his See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence with his family at the ancestral See also:

home of the Nassaus at Dillenburg. At that very time Alva was quitting Madrid for his terrible See also:

MISSION

mission of vengeance in the Netherlands (see ALVA). The See also:

story of the Council of See also:

BLOOD

Blood and of the executions of Egmont and Hoorn is told elsewhere. The prince of Orange was out of reach of the See also:

TYRANT (Gr. r6pavvos, master, ruler)

tyrant's See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm, but by an act of imprudence he had left his eldest son, Philip William, count of Buren, studying at the university of See also:

LOUVAIN (Flem. Leuven)

Louvain. He was seized (See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1568) and carried off to Spain, to be brought up as an enemy to the See also:

POLITICAL

political and religious principles of his See also:

FATHER

father. He himself was outlawed, and his See also:

PROPERTY

property confiscated. In See also:

March he published a lengthy See also:

defence of his conduct, entitled " See also:

JUSTIFICATION

Justification of the Prince of Orange against his Calumniators," and meanwhile strained every See also:

NERVE (Lat. nervus, Gr. vevpov, a bowstring)

nerve to enlist an armed force for the invasion of the Netherlands. To raise See also:

MONEY

money his See also:

BROTHER

brother, John of Nassau, pledged his estates, William himself sold his See also:

PLATE

plate and jewels. An attack was made in three directions, but with disastrous results. The force under See also:

Louis of Nassau indeed gained a victory at Heiligerlee in See also:

FRIESLAND, or VRIESLAND

Friesland (May 23rd), but met with a crushing defeat at the hands of Alva in See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person (See also:

JULY

July 21st) at Jemmingen. All seemed lost, but William's indomitable spirit did not despair.

" With See also:

God's help," he wrote to his brother Louis, " I am determined to go on." In See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September he himself crossed the See also:

Meuse at the head of 18,000 See also:

INFANTRY

infantry and 7000 See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry. But Alva, while clinging to his steps, refused to fight, and William, through lack of funds, was compelled to disband his mercenaries, and withdraw over the French frontier (See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 17th). Then followed the most miserable period of Orange's life. In fear of assassination, in fear of creditors, he wandered about from See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to place, and his misfortunes were aggravated by the See also:

BAD, BCD

bad conduct of his wife, Anne of Saxony, who left him. She was finally, on the ground of See also:

INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

insanity, placed in See also:

close confinement by her own family, and remained incarcerated until her See also:

DEATH

death six years later. During the years 1569–1572 the See also:

BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

brothers William and Louis, the one in See also:

Germany, the other in France, were, however, actively preparing for a renewal of the struggle for the freedom of the Netherlands. The barbarities of Alva had caused Spanish See also:

RULE

rule to be universally hated, and the agents of the Nassaus .See also:

vere busy in the provinces rousing the spirit of resistance and trying to raise funds. In 1569 eighteen vessels provided with letters of marque from the prince of Orange were preying upon Spanish See also:

commerce in the narrow seas.

End of Article: WILLIAM (1J33-1584)

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