OC Mag 01-22

| HISTORY
Empires, feuds
and war
The Netherlands had been a
country for hundreds of years, but
in the Middle Ages, it was part of
the extensive Holy Roman Empire,
which covered most of Europe for
more than 500 years.
William had a good relationship
with Emperor Charles V, who admired
his diplomatic touch. Charles
also was the king of Spain, archduke
of Austria and duke of Burgundy,
which made him lord of the Netherlands.
When he abdicated his title as
lord of the Netherlands, on Oct. 25,
1555, he did so before the States
General of the Netherlands. Crippled
by gout, he literally leaned on his close
advisor William the Silent during the
solemn ceremony.
“Charles V was kind of a bridge in
the Holy Roman Empire between Burgundian
and Habsburg rule,” Buntsma
said. “He was the emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire and spent considerable
time ruling from his royal quarters in
the larger Netherlands (mostly from
Brussels, now part of Belgium). Upon
his abdication he broke the empire in
half, giving the east half with Germany,
Austria and Italy lands to his brother
and the west to Philip II.”
At first, Philip and William had a
good relationship, as Philip named
him a member of the Council of State in
1555 and a knight of the Golden Fleece,
the Burgundian chivalric order, in 1556.
In 1559, Philip II named him stadholder
of Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht.
But the two leaders had a deep and
dangerous division over religion.
Philip, who ruled Catholic Spain,
sought to deny rights to Protestants in
the Low Countries of the Netherlands,
Belgium and Luxembourg. William,
born a Lutheran, had been required
to convert to Catholicism when he was
named prince of Orange.
But while he was deeply religious,
he was tolerant of other faiths. As the
Protestants were oppressed, he joined
their ranks, becoming a Calvinist.
By 1868, war broke out between
the Dutch and Spanish. It would be
known as the Eighty Years War. William,
frustrated by a lack of success and
squabbles among the people of the Low
Countries, led the seven northern provinces
in forming a new political union
in 1579.
France, England and Scotland all
recognized the country, which is remembered
as the forerunner of the
Dutch Republic. By 1581, after a series
of defeats, the Dutch patriots formed
the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
Battles ceased in the Fatherland,
but continued across the globe.
The Dutch had an extensive empire, as
did Spain in a union with Portugal.
Philip II declared William an outlaw
in 1580 and placed a reward of 25,000
crowns on his head, declaring him a
“pest on the whole of Christianity and
the enemy of the human race.” William
replied with “The Apology,” a bitterly
worded message criticizing Spanish
domination of the Low Countries.
The Dutch rebels issued the Act of
Abjuration, which renounced the oath
to King Philip II, in 1581. Francis, the
French duke of Alençon and Anjou was
invited by William to serve as a constitutional
sovereign in an effort to gain
French support.
However, Francis was responsible
for the French Fury, an attack on Antwerp
with French troops, as he sought
complete control of the country. It
failed, as William became the major
figure in the country.
William relocated to the Netherlands,
and announced his conversion to
Calvinism, the faith of the most fervent
revolutionaries, in 1575.
With a price on his head, he became
a target, but Buntsma said he remained
a public figure, moving freely and without
heavy guard. That almost cost him
his life, as he was nearly murdered on
March 18, 1582.
Jean Jaureguy, a Spanish accounting
assistant who was persuaded to
turn killer by a promise of wealth and,
amazingly, instant invisibility after the
assassination, shot William, who was
seriously wounded. But instead of disappearing,
Jaureguy was almost immediately
killed by members of William’s
retinue.
After a lengthy recovery that cost
his devoted wife’s life because she was
exhausted by caring for him, William
recovered. But his time was running
out.
William the Silent’s voice was stilled
on July 10, 1584, when a second assassin,
Balthasar Gérard shot him twice
while visiting William’s home. He was
the first head of state killed by a handgun.
Gérard was captured, sentenced
to torture and death and was beheaded
after four days of excruciating torture.
As he died, William’s sister knelt beside
him, asking him if committed his soul
to God, and if he had any final words.
Speaking in French, the language of
royalty in that era, he reportedly said,
“Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, ayez pitié de moi
et de ton pauvre peuple,” translated as
“My Lord, My Lord, have pity on me
and your poor people.”
In death, William the Silent became
an icon. Statues of him are located
across the Netherlands, and his story
SPRING 2022 | OC MAGAZINE 11