William III (1650-1702), also known as William of Orange, became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland in 1689. William was stadholder (governor) of the Netherlands when prominent English leaders became dissatisfied with King James II of England and invited William to intervene. William then invaded England and, without bloodshed, gained control of the country in what became popularly known as the Glorious Revolution. William also helped lead European opposition to King Louis XIV of France.
William was born on Nov. 14, 1650, in The Hague, the Netherlands. He was the son of a Dutch nobleman, William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, the oldest daughter of King Charles I of England. In 1672, after France had invaded the Netherlands, William was elected governor of the Netherlands for life and entrusted with its defense. His efforts to block French aggression became a lifelong task.
In 1677, William married his cousin Mary Stuart. Her father became King James II of England in 1685. William hoped to persuade England to side with him against France. However, James II, a Roman Catholic, remained friendly to Louis XIV, who was also a Catholic. William and Mary were Protestants.
In 1688, James II had a son whom he planned to raise as a Roman Catholic. Key English political leaders who opposed James realized that England would remain under Catholic rule after James’s death. Most people in England and Scotland were Protestants. Several English political and religious leaders then invited William to invade England. Later that year, William landed in England and permitted James II to flee to France.
In 1689, William and Mary became king and queen and accepted what became known as the Bill of Rights. This document guaranteed the people certain basic rights and limited the power of the monarchy. William never became popular with his English, Scottish, or Irish subjects, but he presided over the stabilization of England’s society and economy. He also permitted development of England’s parliamentary system of government and made the nation’s law courts independent of the monarch. Near the end of his life, William played a leading role in the creation of the coalition of European powers that opposed France in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). He died on March 19, 1702.
See also Bill of Rights; Glorious Revolution; Mary II.
