Birth
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| Princess Mary & Prince William II |
William III,
Prince of Orange, was the son of Charles I eldest daughter, Princess Mary. The
nine year old Mary married William II Prince of Orange in 1641. In October 1650
William II died of a short illness, a month before his son & heir was born.
The head of
the House of Orange was the ruler of the tiny principality of Orange in
southern France, where many of the inhabitants were Protestant. The Princes of
Orange also held the great offices of the Dutch republic, now in its second
year of hard won independence from rule by the Spanish crown. The Dutch
republic was made up of seven of the original provinces of the Spanish
Netherlands. The remaining ten provinces were still ruled from Spain. The
province of Holland, wherein lay the great towns of Amsterdam, Rotterdam &
Leyden, was the most powerful & richest province, contributing 58% of the
countries income from taxation. The offices of Stadtholder and Captain General
were traditionally held by the Princes of Orange.
There were
fears in the country that the Princes of Orange would attempt to turn the
country into a monarchy. Such fears were not assuaged when in 1650 Prince
William II attempted a military coup against the city of Amsterdam. The offices
of Stadtholder & Captain General held by William II lapsed with his death
in the October.
Infancy |
| Prince William |
William III
did not have a happy childhood. His mother and paternal grandmother were
frequently at odds. Princess Mary did not like the Netherlands and felt that,
as royalty, she was superior to all around her. Mary refused to attend
William’s christening in January 1651, because Princess Amalia, widow of Prince
Frederick Henry, would not let Mary call her son Charles in honour of her
father & brother. The baby prince was called William after his father, a
traditional House of Orange name.
William
spent more time with his mother than was normal for royal families at the time.
Her main interests however were not focussed on her son’s future, but on her
brother’s. Mary believed that once Charles was restored to the thrones of
England & Scotland[i]
he would then assist his nephew attain his rightful position in the
Netherlands. To this end Mary ‘loaned’ Charles monies that the House of Orange
could ill afford and which Charles was not expected to repay.
At the age
of two William was given his own court and his mother arranged for an English
lady, Lady Stanhope, to be governess of his household. At the age of four William
started making public appearances. Although an unhealthy, small child, who was
subject to asthma all his life, William was extremely popular with the Dutch
people, who saw him as the direct descendant of their hero of the fight for
independence, William the Silent. When William was three there had been
suggestions that the infant be named Captain General. But in 1654 the Dutch
republic signed a peace treaty with the English Commonwealth agreeing that
neither William nor his descendants would ever be appointed chief commander of
the Dutch armies & navies[ii].
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| Princess Mary of Orange |
In 1656
Princess Mary visited France. Her mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, had hopes of a
marriage between Mary & her eighteen year old cousin, Louis XIV. The match
did not come off, but Mary dallied in France until news reached her that
William was seriously ill. When she arrived in Bruges Mary was told that
William merely had measles and was making a good recovery, whereupon Mary
stayed several further weeks in Bruges.[iii]
There seems to be some difference of opinion as to whether Mary was fond of her
child. Some sources claim that the two were estranged when William was
relatively young, others that Mary was devoted to him and wanted to ensure that
he inherited the position left vacant by his father.
Education
William’s
education was somewhat neglected, with the significant exception of his
religious studies, which commenced when he was six, under the tutelage of
Pastor Cornelius Trigland, a follower of Voetius[iv].
Calvinism is a dour religion and may have contributed to William’s reserved
& cold demeanour. William had to read the bible every day and learn a psalm
by heart daily.
William’s studies
in other subjects did not begin until he was nine, .when he was enrolled as a
student at the University of Leyden. One of the prince’s governor was his uncle
Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein, an illegitimate son of his grandfather Prince Frederick
Henry. Zuylenstein was not cultivated and was lazy into the bargain, but
intelligent. William’s domestic governor was Constantine Huygens, who had been
secretary to his grandfather & his father. William was constantly made
aware that gluttony & drunkenness were inappropriate for a person of honour,
in contrast to the court in England. Not that William was ever in danger of
being a glutton; indeed his tutors had to sit with him at mealtimes to persuade
him to eat.
William
spoke English, French, German and Spanish, along with his native Dutch & Latin
although his grammar and spelling were both poor. He was however well tutored
in military theory. William’s hunchback, asthma & general poor health
precluded him from enjoying much sport.
When William
was nine, in May 1660 his uncle Charles was restored to the throne of England. Charles
embarked for England from den Haag, which thronged with English visitors come
to greet their new king.
‘About
10 at night the prince comes home, and we found an easy admission. His
attendance very inconsiderable as for a prince. But yet handsome, and his tutor
a fine man and himself a very pretty boy.’[v]
Along with most
other acts passed by the Commonwealth, the Act of Seclusion, agreed with the
Dutch in 1654, was declared void, by the English parliament in the frenzy of
support for the new regime. Princess Mary & Princess Amalia attempted to
persuade some of the provinces to declare William Stadtholder, but all
declined.
In September
Princess Mary pawned her jewels and travelled to England to enjoy the
restoration celebrations in September. Before leaving Mary asked the States
General to provide Commissioners to supervise William’s education. In England
Mary caught smallpox and died in the December, asking her brother to look out
for the interests of her ten year old son, while begging the States General to
take care of William ‘The being who is dearest to us in the world.’[vi]
Uncle Charles was the king of the Dutch republic’s greatest commercial rival and the young William was in an invidious position – the elevation of his uncle led to William being regarded as a valuable pawn by the Dutch States General. The supporters of the House of Orange and the advocates of a more republican Netherlands were at odds over the guardianship & education of the young prince. William’s French tutor, a close friend of his mother’s who had tried to comfort the orphan, was dismissed by his grandmother after his mother’s death. This may have been an act of spite against the dead woman, but hardly conducive to her grandson’s wellbeing.
Early in
1661 William was seriously ill; his asthma flared up badly combined with
violent headaches & recurring fainting fits found the doctors fearing for
his life. In April, as William was convalescent, Princess Amalia decided to
take him to Cleves to visit their Brandenburg relations. For six weeks, with
the Elector of Brandenburg and his wife and children, William enjoyed a family
life he had never known, nor was to again. He played with his young cousins and
learnt to ride and was introduced to the delights of hunting for the first
time. In the future William was to find release from his troubles in hunting,
wearing a special breastplate/cuirass as an adult, when on horseback. Being out
in the open air relieved his asthma.
After this
break William returned to his studies in Leyden, now in good health. The
Elector’s physicians had decreed that William no longer needed the heavy the
heavy corset he was forced to wear, as the risk of deformity was now low.
Instead he wore a lighter corset. In the winter of 1661-2 William was ill again
and his grandmother had him moved back to live in den Haag in June. By now
William was finding pleasure not only in riding and hunting, but also in a
flight of falcons, a present from the King of Denmark.
Adolescence
At the age
of thirteen William found an interest in art and he appointed an agent to
purchase the Italian paintings he coveted. Unfortunately William’s modest
allowance was insufficient to buy the old masters he desired. He was soon in
debt and his grandmother had to order his agent to cease his purchases. His
court was a frugal one. In the winter months William was allowed two white wax
candles a day and a night light, with a turf fire in the morning & evening.
At the age of fourteen William was taking part in society, attending parties at
the great houses of the republic. By the time he was fifteen William had a
personal suite of thirty three, excluding servants. In 1666 William gave his
first dinner party attended by 50 persons.  |
| Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt |
During the
Second Anglo-Dutch War one of Charles’ demands was an improvement in William’s official
position. In March 1666 Johan de Witt, the Grand Pensionary, made proposals to
Princess Amalia about William’s future. Zeeland, the foremost supporter of the
House of Orange among the states, was proposing that William be given command
of Dutch troops under Turenne, the French general prosecuting the land war,
which had been going badly for the Dutch and their allies. Eager to see her
grandson receive the honours that had been his father’s, Princess Amalia
agreed. In April the Dutch made William a ward of the state. All his
pro-English courtiers, including his uncle de Zuylenstein were removed from his
household, despite William’s pleas to de Witt asking for his uncle, one of the
few remaining members of his family, to be allowed to stay.
De Witt took
over the tutoring of the prince, who was always courteous to the elder man, despite
the knowledge that de Witt was determined to block William’s attempts to
inherit his father’s responsibilities & positions. In 1667 de Witt arranged
for the States General to issue the Perpetual Edict declaring that Captain
Generals or Admiral Generals could not act as Stadtholders. The province of
Holland and four of the other provinces abolished the post of Stadtholder.
On the 17th
September 1668 William made a triumphal entry into Middleberg, Zeeland, where
the State had made him Premier Noble of the province some years previously.
This trip had been arranged in secrecy by Huygens and others. The welcome he
received was rapturous and William swore his oath as Premier Noble on the
following day. The next month Princess Amalia declared William of age and gave
him control of his own household.
By the age of
nineteen William was self-possessed, with a maturity belied by his years; the
French diplomat Pomponne viewed William thus:
‘He
was naturally intelligent and his judgement seemed as great as his
intelligence. He knew how to hide his feelings – dissimulation seemed to come
naturally to him. His morals were extremely regular. His manner was virtuous,
calm & polite. He had an application and a capacity for business remarkable
in one so young. He knew where his interests lay and how to manage them
skilfully.’[vii]
 |
| Louis XIV |
In 1670 Louis XIV persuaded Charles II
that it was in England’s interests to invade & partition the Dutch Republic.
The two kings signed the secret Treaty of Dover, which was facilitated by
Charles’ French mistress, the Duchess of Portsmouth - one of Louis’ agents. Charles
planned to use William and his supporters to harass the States. He failed to
recognise that, for William, Dutch interests were paramount and hoped to gain
his support when William visited England in November. De Witt approved the
visit, as William hoped for the return of some of the loans given to Charles by
his mother. William travelled with his uncle de Zuylenstein, Huygens & his
friend for life - Bentinck.
On this visit William was paid part of
his mother’s dowry and he was acknowledged successor to the throne of England
after James, Duke of York and his two girls Mary, now eight, & Anne.
William was unimpressed by the debauchery of the Stuart court and in return was
found to be priggish by his uncles, who got him badly drunk at one dinner. It
took William several days to get over his hangover, for which he never seemed
to forgive his uncle.
In 1672 the French preparations for war
were fast becoming apparent. The supporters of the House of Orange renewed
their demands for William to be made Captain General, to enable him to use his influence
to keep England out of the war. De Witt and his party were determined to keep
William out of power – they feared that he intended to make the Republic a
monarchy and also felt he was his uncle’s pawn – a gross misreading of William’s
character. William was unaware of the provisions of the Treaty of Dover and
believed that he could persuade Protestant England to make common cause with
the Protestant Dutch. In the spring William was made Captain General of the
Dutch army.
The campaigning season began in April as
Louis’s army marched against the tiny republic. Garrison after garrison fell
before the colossus. In May de Witt ordered the breaching of the dikes and
William’s tiny army of nine thousand withdrew behind this waterline. Peace
negotiations were commenced, but Louis was convinced that the Dutch were in an
impossible situation and kept raising the stakes. Eventually on 26th
June the Dutch broke off the talks.
On the 4th July 1672, in view
of the disasters staring the Dutch in the face, the States of Holland made
William Stadtholder at last. At the age of twenty-one he had finally been given
the honour that had been his father’s, with full voting powers, despite de Witt’s
attempts to have William’s role limited to that of an adviser. On the 10th
Charles’ envoys offered to make William sovereign prince of Holland if the
Dutch capitulated. William told the English that he would defend Dutch soil to
the last ditch. On the 17th Zeeland offered to make William their
Stadtholder. William’s fight with his French and English enemies were now fully
joined.
William was now a man in both age and
temperament. The seeds of all his future successes and failings had been laid
down during the sad childhood of this lonely man, who had few close confidants
of his own age. The progression of this war, so vital to the future of the
Netherlands, was now in William’s hands.
Bibliography
The Later Stuarts
1660-1744 – Sir George Clark, Oxford University Press 1985
William and Mary – John
van der Kiste, Sutton Publishing 2003
The Shorter Pepys – ed.
Robert Latham, Penguin 1987
William and Mary – John
Miller, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1974
The Life & Times of
Charles II – Christopher Falkus, George Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1972
www.en.wikipedia.org
[i]
Until the Act of Union in 1707 the Scots were, in theory, able to choose their
own king. In practise they chose the new king or queen of England.
[ii]
The English Act of Seclusion
[iii] Without
modern immunisation measles can kill or leave serious complications, especially
for children with ill-health or chest problems, as William suffered from &
Mary must have known this.
[iv] A
contra-Remonstrant theologian
[v]
Samuel Pepys 14-15th May 1660
[vi]
William and Mary – John
van der Kiste, Sutton Publishing 2003
[vii]
William and Mary – John
Miller, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1974
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