William III of England

William III and II (4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702) was King of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689 (as William III) and he was king of Scotland from 11 April 1689 (as William II). He remained king until his death on 8 March 1702.

William III and II
Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1680s
King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (more ...)
Reign	1689[a] – 8 March 1702
Coronation	11 April 1689
Predecessor	James II & VII
Successor	Anne
Co-monarch	Mary II
Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel
Reign	4 July 1672 – 8 March 1702
Predecessor	William II
Successor	Second Stadtholderless period
Prince of Orange
Reign	4 November 1650[b] – 8 March 1702
Predecessor	William II
Successor	John William Friso (titular)
Born	4 November 1650 [NS: 14 November 1650][b] Binnenhof, The Hague, Dutch Republic
Died	8 March 1702 (aged 51) [NS: 19 March 1702] Kensington Palace, Middlesex, Kingdom of England
Burial	12 April 1702 Westminster Abbey, London
Spouse	Mary II of England (m. 1677; died 1694)
House	Orange-Nassau Stuart
Father	William II, Prince of Orange
Mother	Mary, Princess Royal
Religion	Protestant
Signature

William was born in the Netherlands as Prince William Henry of Orange. His mother was Mary Stuart. Mary was the sister of the King of England, James II, so King James was William's uncle. William married King James's daughter Mary (his own first cousin) on 4 November 1677.

The Protestant majority in England did not like King James, and he was overthrown in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. William landed in England (at Brixham) with a Dutch army.When William landed, James's support melted away. James was allowed to leave for France, and William became the last person to successfully invade England by force. The events are known as the Glorious Revolution.

The English Parliament offered the English crown to William and Mary jointly (and when one died the other would be monarch), making them William III and Mary II. This later came to be known as the reign of William and Mary. Laws were passed which protected Parliament from unreasonable acts of the Sovereign, guaranteed religious toleration to Protestant nonconformists, but restricted the religious liberty of Roman Catholics and non-Christian faiths.

William summoned a Convention of the Estates of Scotland in 1689 and sent them a conciliatory (~friendly) letter, unlike James, who had tried to give them orders. On 11 April, the day of the English coronation, the Convention finally declared that James was no longer King of Scotland. William and Mary were offered the Scottish crown, and they accepted on 11 May. The Jacobites tried for over 50 years to have James and his heirs reinstalled.

William's enemy was the King of France, Louis XIV, who protected and supported James in his efforts to return. In Ireland, the majority Roman Catholics were reinforced by French forces led by Jacobites. William personally led his army to victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. James fled back to France.

There was next a Nine Years' War between a coalition led by William, and France. The Anglo-Dutch Alliance did well on sea and defeated a French fleet at La Hogue in 1692. On the other hand, the alliance lost Namur in 1692, and the Battle of Landen on land, in 1693.

Mary died on 12 December 1694 of smallpox, leaving William to rule alone. He was eventually succeeded by his sister-in-law, Queen Anne. One more fact is of great importance. In 1701 an Act of Parliament was passed which settled the succession of the thrones of England and Ireland on Protestants only. Scotland was not part of this arrangement until the parliamentary union of the two kingdoms in 1707.