William of Orange

William of Orange, also known as William the Silent, was the prince of Orange during the 16^th century. He was a great leader in the revolt against the Spanish by the Dutch, and the things he did led to the Dutch independence and The Eighty Years War. Born in 1522 in modern day Germany, William was the oldest of 12 children and was raised as a Lutheran, and by the time he was only 11 he inherited the great position of the Prince of Orange from his cousin René of Chalon under the condition that he received a Catholic education. In the year of 1551, William became the captain of cavalry and was married to Anna of Egmond. At the young age of just 22 he was a commander of the Emperors armies after being given the position by Charles V, who was impressed with William. By 1559, he was made governor of the provinces of Holland, Utrecht, and Zeeland. William began to oppose Spain, because he and his group claimed that it was over controlling, and they wanted to see it fall. Another reason that he disliked Spain, was because they were practicing religious persecution and he believed in religious freedom. In several revolts, William was financially involved. Before long the Spanish called a council for criminals to be punished, they expected William to show up, but he never came. At this, the Spanish named him an outlaw, and they took away all of his property. He prepared an army to fight the Spanish, and normally, an outlaw would be fleeing the country, not gathering an army, but William was no ordinary outlaw. Because of his political honor and respect, he was able to gather many men to fight for him. This began the “80 Years War,” and it lasted all the way until 1648, when the Dutch finally gained their independence from the Spanish. As for what happened to William, he was still an outlaw and there was a bounty on his head, and in July 1584, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gerard, a Catholic Frenchmen supporting Spain. William of Orange was man who fought to free the Dutch from the Spanish and even though he never saw the result of what he started, his actions beneficially affected many Dutch people in great ways.

Information gathered from: Wikipedia and The Ron Paul curriculum 7^th grade history class.