William of Orange

William of Orange

William of Orange (& Mary)

A Protestant Dutch aristocrat, William came to rule Britain along with his wife Mary after his father in law King James II was deposed in the Glorious Revolution.

William and Mary’s succession to the throne was to mark one of the greatest upheavals in the history of the British Monarchy, bringing about the gradual demise of the Stuart Dynasty and establishing historic tensions that’s still survive today in Northern Ireland.

William was born at The Hague in 1650 and came to control one of the most powerful armies and navies of the day, fighting in many wars against the powerful Catholic King of France Louis XIV. William’s maternal uncles were King Charles II and James II of England and he was married to James’ daughter Mary.

He succeeded to the throne James II, who was a devout Catholic, and who was deeply despised by the British Parliament. When James's second marriage to a Catholic Queen produced an heir, Parliament revolted against him, inviting his daughter and son in law, William and Mary to rule instead. This revolt of 1688 is known in England as the Glorious Revolution, a bloodless coup, deposing the Catholic King James and returning the nation to Protestant rule.

This coup was not quite so bloodless in Scotland and Ireland and although much of England accepted William as king, the large catholic populations of these two countries still heralded James as their true king. War in Ireland continued, with the exiled James amassing an army of Aconites along with French support. They laid siege to the important town of Derry in 1688, the subsequent Siege of Derry lasting a year, was the longest siege in British history and was ended with a relief of the town by William’s Navy. Afterwards the Battle of the Boyne on 12th July 1690 and the Battle of Aughrim a year to the day later, eventually brought about victory to William of Orange and the defeated James returned to exile in France. These events are commemorated in Northern Ireland with marches by Protestant Orangemen on the 12th July each year.

William ruled Britain and Ireland alongside Mary from 1688 to 1694 and alone after the death of Mary, until his own death in 1702. William of Orange was succeeded to the throne by his daughter Queen Anne and when she died childless, the throne passed to her German second cousin, George I of the House of Hanover.