William of Orange 1650-1702

For William's Geneology click here! Posthumous son of William II of Orange ruler of the United Netherlands. Married Mary daughter of James duke of York 1677

Short, asthmatic,s tooped bad teeth and beaked nose. His family :Nassau was unhealthy and suffered from mysterious fevers of a tubercular nature. Wiilliam was always weak and had a constant consumptive cough. His face was sullen and bloodless and scored with the deep lines which were the product of fighting ceaseles pain. He could not handle a horse or sword until full grown. His success in life came from the care he took to eat simply,drink little and obtain plenty of sleep. None the less he overcame all of these physical setbacks to present a dashing and inspiring figure on horseback in the thick of the fight.

William II was obsessed with the  destruction of Imperial France and the salvation of the Netherlands.

As King William III of England he accomplished far more for the welfare of the English people than had most of his native-born predecessors. He removed the tyranny of games and reformed the nations political and financial institutions. His reign marked the transition from the personal government of the Stuarts to the parliamentary rule of the Hanoverians-control of the army was transferred to Parliament, a better system of finance was introduced and the Bank of England was established. The constitutioal rights of the people were set on a firmer basis.

No matter what country was to deal with England they would deal with a constitutional monarchy after 1689 (for example Ireland-It was hard enough to win freedom from a constitutional monarchy for a republic-under the tyranny of an absolutist this would have been much more difficult as found the French who were forced to accomplish this with their bloody revolution)

William was throughout his reign A Dedicated advocate of tolerance.

Sets sail November 1 with 225 vessels army of 15,000 men-portable bridge,mobile smithy,printing press,mould for new coinage,four tons tobacco,1,600 hogsheads of beer,10,000 pairs boots ,coach and horses.

The “Protestant Wind”.

Property ownership proving far more important than religion-the gentry sided with William-James II fled to France dropping the great seal of England in the Thames.

In 1689 William and Mary were recognized as joint monarchs and parliament moved a great step closer to limiting the tyranny of absolute monarchs.

William fell off of his horse and died in 1702. As a foreigner William was not as successful in his dealings with Parliament as he might have been. As a result the Parliament pursued a course which at times (especially in regard to the Penal laws) was not that selected by William who favored tolerance. While the Parliament resisted reform until well into the 19th century ,under William Parliament emerged in the form of an institution which the Irish delegation could eventually use in the time of O'Connell and Parnell to bring about change in Ireland. Had the tyranny of absolutism prevailed this would have been impossible.

If I had a penny

Do you know what I would do?

I would buy a rope

And hang the pope

And let King Billy through! 

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