William III of England

William III was born in November 1650, at Binnenhof, The Hague, in the Dutch Republic, which is now part of the Netherlands. His father, William II, the prince of Orange and the stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic, died of small pox at the age of 24, only eight days before William’s birth. Thus, William III became the sovereign prince of Orange soon after his birth.

His mother, Mary, Princess Royal, was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England (sister of King Charles II and King James II). William was the only child of his parents. His paternal grandmother insisted on baptizing him as “William” to help enhance his chances of becoming a stadtholder. His guardianship was shared among his mother, Mary; his paternal grandmother, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels; and Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William, who was also the husband of William’s father’s eldest sister, Louise Henriette of Nassau. William had an impressive royal ancestry on both his paternal and his maternal sides.

Tutors were appointed for his studies, and he was also educated by Dutch governesses and Lady Anna Mackenzie, a Scottish noble-woman. He was groomed to carry the responsibilities of the ‘House of Orange-Nassau.’ William attended the ‘University of Leiden’ between 1659 and 1666. He, however, did not enroll as a student there. His mother died of small pox on December 23, 1660, while she was on a visit to London to meet her brother, King Charles II.

William was taught about the ‘Reformed Church’ and the theology of John Calvin. In her will, his mother had asked her brother, King Charles II, to take care of William. This created friction between the Dutch officials and the royalty of England. Johan de Witt, the grand pensionary of the Dutch court, took control of his education and taught him about state matters.

William joined the ‘Council of State of the Dutch Provinces’ in 1667. In 1672, he became the stadtholder of the ‘United Provinces,’ (or the main provinces of the Dutch Republic), a post that had become almost hereditary in his family. That year was considered as a “Rampjaar,” or “disaster year,” by the Dutch Republic, because that same year, King Louis XIV of France had invaded the ‘United Provinces,’ resulting in a war between the French and the Dutch. William headed the Dutch army and drove away the invading forces of Catholic King Louis XIV. The French army gradually withdrew after 1673.

On November 4, 1677, William married his first cousin, Mary, the eldest-surviving daughter of James, the duke of York, who later became King James II of England (and James VII of Scotland). It was a political marriage, as William wanted to form an Anglo–Dutch alliance against his nemesis, the French monarch Louis XIV. William wished that his uncle, King Charles II of England, should withdraw his support from the Catholic French king or change his pro-French policies.

Mary was 12 years younger, so the 27–year-old William married his 15-year-old reluctant bride at ‘St. James’s Palace,’ London. Mary became pregnant in 1678 but suffered a miscarriage. Reportedly, she miscarried two more times. She could not conceive again, and the couple remained childless. Other monarchs, such as his uncles Charles II and James II, had many mistresses, but William had only one mistress, Elizabeth Villiers.

King Charles II of England died in 1685. He had no legitimate children. James, Mary’s father and brother of Charles II, succeeded to the throne as King James II. He had converted to Roman Catholicism while marrying a princess from Italy, Maria Beatrice of Modena, also known as “Mary of Modena.” Since the majority of Britain was Protestant, they were concerned that James II would establish a Catholic dynasty.

In June 1688, when the Catholic wife of King James II gave birth to a son, James Francis Edward Stuart, the fears of the Protestants were confirmed. The leaders of the Protestants and the opponents of James II secretly contacted William and suggested that he should invade England.