WILLIAM III

THE POWERFUL SOLDIER-KING WHO OVERTHREW JAMES II AND FOUGHT LOUIS XIV 1650-1702 ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND AND DUTCH REPUBLIC

William III was the decisive figure during the War of the Grand Alliance, which in many ways was his own personal crusade against Louis XIV of France. Born as the prince of Orange, William was Dutch by upbringing and identity. He came to prominence in 1672 when he was appointed to command the Dutch federal army against a French invasion.

His successes led him to develop a lifelong obsession to save the Dutch from Louis XIV’S expansionist policies. He managed to drive the French from Dutch soil, but his ambitions went further.

As a staunch Protestant, William was effectively invited to invade England by the English

Parliament to overthrow his Catholic father-inlaw James II in 1688.

The invasion (which became known as the

‘Glorious Revolution’) was successful and the Dutch prince became king in a unique political marriage and reign with James’s daughter Mary II. William also automatically became king of Scotland and Ireland, and he used his new power as the monarch of three kingdoms to further his war against Louis.

The Glorious Revolution was one of the indirect matches that sparked the 1688-97 war. A coalition of the three British kingdoms, Austria, Spain and the Dutch Republic gathered to fight the French, but Louis XIV deployed the exiled James II to Ireland in 1689 to undermine William’s rule. The conflict in Ireland was a sideshow for William, but it resulted in his most remembered victory at the Boyne in 1690. Once James was finally defeated, William personally led Allied forces in the Spanish Netherlands. Although he was sometimes defeated, William achieved great victories, including at the Siege of Namur in 1695.

Although he could never totally defeat France, William’s successes forced Louis XIV to negotiate on unfavourable terms at the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. The treaty ended the war and was a personal success for William, who obtained military security for the Dutch and was officially recognised as king of England, Scotland and Ireland by Louis.

William III reputedly died after his horse threw him as it stumbled over a molehill in 1702. His enemies would later toast the mole as the “little gentleman in black velvet”