biography
| name: |
William III (of Great Britain),
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known as William of Orange
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1650–1702)
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| biography:
| Stadtholder of the United Provinces (1672–1702) and king of Great Britain (1689–1702), born in The Hague, W Netherlands, the son of William II of Orange by Mary, the eldest daughter of Charles I of England. Before he attained his majority, he was kept out of national politics by Johan de Witt, Raadpensionaris (Grand Pensionary) of the province of Holland. His later marriage (1677) to his cousin, Mary (1662–94), the daughter of James II by Anne Hyde, further increased his involvement in foreign politics. Once he reached 18 years of age, the States-General appointed him as commander for the duration of a single campaign, and he became stadtholder in 1672, initially only of Holland and Zeeland, but other provinces soon joined in appointing him. That year de Witt, who was William's principal antagonist, was executed following a plot. Afterwards William achieved military successes against Germany and France, thus increasing his power. Invited to redress the grievances of the English against King James II, William landed at Torbay in 1688 with an English and Dutch army, and forced James to flee. William and Mary were proclaimed joint rulers early the following year. He defeated James's supporters at Killiecrankie (1689) and at the Boyne (1690), then concentrated on the War of the League of Augsburg against France (1689–97), in which he was finally successful. In later years, he had to withstand much parliamentary opposition to his proposals, and there were many assassination plots. His political ambitions were European in scale, and tended to conflict with the interests of The Netherlands. He died in London, childless, the crown passing to Mary's sister, Anne. |
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