Prince William of Orange
The Silent Prince, The Father of the Netherlands.

 

Joan Schouten

It was 1566. An endless procession of noblemen, counts, earls, dukes and barons marched through the streets of Brussels. They were on their way to the Governess, Margaretha of Parma. They had dressed themselves shabbily with worn and torn clothes, as if they were beggars. What were they doing? They were presenting a petition to Margaretha on behalf of the people of Brussels and the Low Countries. The petition requested an end to the terrible persecution that was raging among the Protestant Christians.

The Spanish troops that Philip II of Spain, the son of Emperor Charles V, left behind when he sailed to Spain, were cruelly dragging people out of their homes, imprisoning them, torturing them and burning them at the stake to make them denounce their faith. Women were raped, children killed with the sword and, because the troops were unpaid, they also plundered wherever they could. It was a reign of terror.

Sometimes people were warned just in time to be able to flee. Who was behind these warnings? Who helped these people? William of Orange, who knew exactly what measures were to be taken, because he was a member of the Council, and an adviser to Margaretha of Parma. It was a dangerous thing to do of course, but William was convinced that obeying God was more important than obeying man even a king.

William was 33 years old, and his life had been quite exciting and carefree up till then. He was born in Dillenburg, Germany, on the 24th of April 1533, the eldest child of 17 children born to Juliana van Stolberg and William of Nassau.

The parents had become followers of Luther. Their household was one of love and peace, where prayers were raised daily to ask for protection from the dangers of persecution and death.

When William had just turned 11 a message came from Charles V, that William had to go to the Court of the Emperor in Brussels to be educated as faithful servant of the Catholic Church and of the Emperor. William had just inherited the Princedom of Orange-Nassau from his cousin Rene Chalon, who at the age of 31 had suddenly died without an heir. William was the nearest relative. Charles V was a fervent Catholic and wanted to stamp out Protestantism, which had grown out of hand in Germany. Therefore he ordered William to the Court to ensure he would become good vassal of the Emperor and thus save the Princedom of Orange and Nassau from becoming a Protestant stronghold.

Poor Juliana was very worried and sad to let her young 11-year old son go. She told him never to forget the song of Luther: “A mighty fortress is our God” “He will never fail you,” she added. “It is better to die for your faith, then lose your faith in God.”

“Lose your life for your faith in God?” wondered this young boy.

William was a quiet, very intelligent boy, and learned French and Dutch quickly, so very soon he could speak both languages quite fluently. He went to Mass as a good Catholic, and enjoyed life at the Court. He was the darling of the people, and girls vied for his favours. Charles also liked William very much and often asked William’s opinion. William was careful though. He never spoke out of line but observed and stored up in his mind what he saw. He saw the smoke of the burning stakes and he heard the cries of the poor people. He could not understand that for differences of opinion one had to be killed and his heart ached for the common people.

Big clouds were gathering on the horizon. Charles V abdicated in 1555. He was feeling old and tired, and he appointed his son, Philip of Spain, to succeed him. However in Germany they broke away from the empire. Many there had converted to the Lutheran religion and did not want to have a Catholic King ruling over them. So Philip became King of the Lower Countries only. He came to Brussels only once. He hated the cold, damp climate of the Low Lands and quickly appointed a Governess, Margaretha of Parma, giving her strict instructions to root out Protestantism once and for all, by any means possible.

William heard these words of Philip and was concerned. He had asked Philip for the withdrawal of the Spanish troops because they were mutineers, instead of defenders of the law. But Philip became very angry with William. Philip was convinced that the petition of 1566 was the work of William. As he left Brussels, he angrily shouted: “You, you are the one...! But we’ll see who is going to win!”

The petition was led by Louis, a brother of William. Margaretha was alarmed at the sight of all these men, Catholics and Protestants together, who wanted freedom of religion. That was William’s ideal: Freedom of religion. One of the bystanders of Margaretha said: “Don’t worry Madam, they are only beggars.” (Ce ne sont que des Gueux - French was the Court language in those days). Soon the Dutch shouted : “Vives les gueuses!” Long life to the “Geuzen”! A special branch of the “Beggars” were the Sea-beggars, the “Watergeuzen”.

Unfortunatey they were a disorganised lot, and did not listen to the more careful William. Nevertheless, the Protestants became stronger and stronger, in part due to the “Hedge Preachers”. These were itinerant preachers, who gathered crowds in open spaces and spoke loud and clear against the practises of the Roman Catholic Church of that day, the oppression of the poor and the Roman Catholic Church’s practise of keeping the masses ignorant. They wanted churches of their own.

Then a terrible thing happened! The people revolted, ran into the Churches, and started to destroy the images of saints and paintings of Biblical scenes of the Nativity, and other Bible stories. Treasures that were 100’s of years old were destroyed. It was 1566. This was called “the iconoclastic riot”

William didn’t agree at all with all this violence. He knew that retribution from Philip was sure to follow. In Antwerp the frenzied people wanted to kill the Papists and destroy everything that was Catholic. This could not be God’s will. William made a very brave move. He went to the city gate and met the angry crowd. He sat there on horseback calmly looking at the people. They began to shout, “Traitor!” thinking he was against them, and was taking sides with the Catholics. But William explained that their action was wrong, and if Philip would come with his army to quell the riots there would be a terrible bloodbath. He eventually restored peace to the city, but the grumblings and rumblings went on.

Philip sent an army under the command of the Duke of Alva, Alvarez de Toledo. Alva came to the Low Lands to bring order and stamp out the Protestant movement with all measures possible. Friends of William, and noblemen at the Court of Margaretha, Egmond and Hoorne were beheaded. William had warned them, but they could not believe that Alva would do this, they had been faithful servants of the king. This man was merciless and utterly cruel. Wherever he came with his army there was murder and terror. William knew that Alva had orders to kill him as well. He was no longer safe in Antwerp, or Breda, and had to flee for his life.

Alva declared: “I have fought a people of iron with my fist, shall I not conquer this people of butter?” But he had not counted on the Dutch perseverance and determination. They were not only a people of butter, they had an iron conviction that God was on their side.

Sadly and disheartened William went back to Dillenburg, to his mother and family. How could he help the people of the Lowlands in their struggle against Philip?

He could have had such a wonderful, carefree life, at the Court of king Philip, if only he had stayed faithful to the Catholic Church and not worried about the people in the street. But God had chosen him to rescue the Dutch from oppression and to fight the fight for freedom of religion. He was bereft of family, wife and children. His first wife, Anna Van Buren, had died early. His second marriage to Anna Van Saksen ended in divorce; she was mentally unstable. William’s eldest son Philip was taken prisoner and sent to Spain at the age of 15. William had become a fugitive. The Catholics called him a friend of the Protestants and did not trust him. The Protestants called him a traitor and friend of the Catholics. Margaretha thought: “He cares for the heretics, I don’t trust him any more!” William kept silent.

In Dillenburg, William thought all was lost, until one day some people came to the castle. To his surprise they were Netherlanders, and they asked him to return and help them in their fight against Philip of Spain. It was a difficult decision. William had lost all his possessions, and an army had to be formed.

William’s brothers, Louis, Adolph and Henry came to help. This was the beginning of an 80-year long struggle for freedom from Spanish oppression, lasting from 1568 till 1648. Sometimes it looked as if the fight would be lost, soldiers fled, and a new army had to be formed. Sometimes victories were won.

William’s brother Adolph was the first of the family to be killed in a fight near Groningen, in the North. Then Louis and Henry tried to cross the Maas in the South and engage with the army of Alva, near the valley of Mook. But they lost the battle, and their bodies were never found.

Juliana kept praying for the deliverance of the poor people in the Netherlands and strength and wisdom for William. Sometimes he wondered if the struggle was worth it. The Dutch themselves sometimes hesitated and did not act quickly enough. They were afraid of repercussions from Alva. William wrote in a letter to his mother: “I have given my life to the cause of freedom of religion and for the people of the Lower Lands. May God Almighty be with me.” William had become a Calvinist during this time.

By 1572, Alva was conquering cities, and murdering the people who opposed him. However a ray of light shone when the Sea Beggars, the “Geuzen”, driven by hunger, entered the harbour of Den Briel, a small town in Zeeland, and declared the city a stronghold for Orange. There is a song about that, which is still often sung with gusto! “In the name of Orange, open the gate, the geuzen are lying in wait”

They were actually pirates and William doubted whether they would hold out against Alva, but the Orange flag fluttered from the tower of St Catarijne, and the Spaniards were defeated.

Then Alva went from township to township, and spread terror everywhere. Naarden was taken, and totally annihilated. Haarlem fought courageously but in the end had to surrender. At Alkmaar the tide turned as the Dutch were able to turn the Spaniards away. However, Leiden was besieged by the Spaniards for 18 months. No food could get in and the people became desperate. Then the Prince thought of the water which has been such a great enemy of the Netherlands, but at times also a great ally. He decided to have holes put in the dykes, so the water could flood the lands around Leiden, but the wind came from the East and the waters did not rise. It seemed an endless waiting time and prayers went up to God to be merciful and turn the wind so Leiden could be saved. At last, on the 2nd of October 1574, all of a sudden the wind changed and the water started to rise. The flat-bottom boats of the Geuses reached the city. The Spaniards fled ahead of the rising waters and on the 3rd of October the city was liberated. The Geuses arrived with white bread and herrings, and pots of “hutspot” (a stew of potatoes, carrots and onions). This date is remembered every year in Leiden with the white bread and herring being shared out to the poor in the city. The Prince went straight away to the city, although the plague was going around there. He wanted to be with the people. He gave them a University for their endurance and courage.

Marnix of St.Aldegonde, a friend and ally of the Prince of Orange in the bitter struggle against oppression by the Spanish King, composed a poem for William. It is as if William himself speaks through these words. The poem was set to music, and soon the whole population of the Northern Provinces sang this poem. It became their battle song, their profession of faith in the justness of this fight against king Philip. This poem became the national anthem of the Netherlands. There are 15 stanzas, of which the first is always sung and the sixth follows a favourite second. The first letters of each stanza form the name: Willem van Nassau.

William of Nassau
I am of German blood
True to the fatherland
I remain until death
A prince of Orange
I am fearlessly free
The king of Spain
I have always honoured.

My shield and my reliance
Are you, oh, God, my Lord
On You shall I build
Leave me never more
That I may stay pious
Your servant ever more
And drive away the tyranny
that wounds me to the heart

So the struggle went on. Prince William was ruined. He had lost all his possessions and all the money went to armies that were fickle. He sought help from France, and England, but France betrayed the Huguenots, in the terrible night of St. Bartholemew, on the 24th of August 1573, when the De Guises murdered Admiral de Coligny, a staunch Huguenot, and many, many others with him. They were tortured and their bodies cut to pieces by the henchmen of De Guises, a relative of Catharina de Medici and a fanatical Catholic.

In 1580 King Philip sent a letter to the States of Holland and declared it was all the fault of the Prince of Orange, he was to blame for the slaughtering of children, men and women. He declared William an outlaw and the Catholic Church promised to pay anyone who killed William a hefty sum of money and give him an earldom. If the man was killed in action, no worries, the Church would say a mass for him and he would go straight to heaven for the good deed he had done. The States of Holland were furious, they hurled abuse at Philip, and declared they wanted nothing to do with this king anymore and appointed the Prince their leader, and “Stadholder”, leader of the 7 Northern Provinces, under the States General, the body that governed the land.

The Prince remained calm. His motto was “saevis tranquillus in undis”, (calm amidst the tempest). The emblem was a bird sitting on a rock in the midst of a raging sea. Prince William was not afraid to die, he knew himself to be in God’s hand and he also knew that nothing could separate him from the love of God. He said, “Je maintiendrai”, (I will maintain, preserve. persevere).

In the meantime Prince William had married Charlotte de Bourbon, a converted nun, and Calvinist from France. She was a wise woman and a source of strength for him. She was also very concerned about his safety and could not understand William’s calmness and lack of concern. He could walk amidst the people, shaking hands with them, and talking to them in such a reassuring way that everyone who met him was encouraged to keep on the good fight and keep their faith in the good cause of the struggle. They called him “Father William”.

Murderers were lurking everywhere too. One day Jean Jauregui saw his chance and ran in front of the Prince as he left the luncheon he had enjoyed with his family. The man fell on his knees before the Prince, as if to make a plea and then fired a pistol at the Prince’s face. Charlotte was stunned and fell unconscious to the floor. The Prince was bleeding profusely from his neck, but he was still alive. Months of caring love of Charlotte brought him back to health. But she paid the price of her care with her life.

The Prince missed his beloved wife enormously, but also had to think of his bigger family. He needed a wife beside him. Charlotte had asked him to remarry soon so that a stepmother could love her 6 daughters and the other children of William. William found in Louise de Coligny, the daughter of Admiral de Coligny, a worthy wife and mother and a staunch Calvinist.

By 1584 the Northern Provinces had signed a treaty with the Prince, and recognised him as their State leader, however the Southern provinces were still too Catholic and were hesitant to side with the Prince.

A man named Balthasar Gerards met the Prince a couple of times on the pretext of wanting to serve the Prince but needed shoes and clothing to go to France. The Prince gave him money to buy these items. However Gerards bought a pistol to kill the Prince. The next time Gerards met the Prince, he asked for a passport. The man was so nervous, and looked so strange that Louise cringed when she saw him and did not trust the man at all. She told William this, but he waved her concern aside. This all happened just before dinner. The Prince promised the man a pass after dinner.

As they came down the stairs out of the dining room with their guest, the burgomaster of Leeuwarden, suddenly Gerards appeared and fired three shots at the Prince, who fell down, mortally wounded. “Ayez pitie de mon ame et de ma pauvre peuple” William sighed. “Have mercy on my soul and on my poor people” were his last words. The prince was dead. It was the 11th of July 1584.

The people were saddened by the death of their beloved Prince and angered by this treacherous murder, they cooled their anger on Baltazar Gerards, when they captured him by torturing him and mutilating his body terribly.

The Prince’s work went on though, and the ongoing fight against the Spanish oppression was led by William’s son Maurits and later by a younger son, Frederick. In 1648 peace came at last, and the Treaty of Munster was signed. The Netherlands had gained independence and their Golden Age began.


Bibliography:
William of Orange, the Silent Prince, W.G.VanDerHulst.
De vrouwen van Willem van Oranje, Thea Coppens.



 

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