William I (full name: William van Oranje, Dutch: Willem van Oranje; April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584) was a famous patriotic nobleman in the Netherlands, a political activist in the Dutch Revolution, the first ruler of the Dutch Republic, and the "father" of the Netherlands. [1] When listening to King Philip II of Spain's plan to drive Protestants out of the Netherlands, he was shocked and remained silent, earning him the nickname "Silent.".

When he was young, William van Orenzi served as the secretary of King Carlos I of Spain and later served as the acting ruler of the Dutch, Zeeland, and Utrecht provinces under King Philip II of Spain.
In 1565, he became a core member of the "aristocratic alliance" opposing Spanish rule policies.
In 1566, a demonstration was launched, and the Netherland Revolution broke out.
In 1567, after Governor Alfred suppressed the revolution, William went into exile in Germany.
In 1568, he led 30000 mercenaries to attack Netherland but failed. After multiple attempts to organize mercenary attacks, they all failed.
In 1572, the revolution broke out again, and provinces such as the Northern Netherlands elected him as governor.
In 1577, William came to the south and became the leader of the revolution, attracting French and German troops to fight against the Spanish army, resulting in a division between the north and south in a chaotic situation.
In 1581, the Northern Republic was established and William was elected as the first ruler.
In 1584, William was assassinated at home by the assassin Gerald sent by Philip II. William was a great politician with outstanding organizational skills, wit, and patience. He persevered and made a comeback after each failure, ultimately achieving success.

William was born on April 25, 1533 in Dyrenburg, Nassau, Germany, and his ancestors served as Count of Nassau.
At the end of the 13th century, Adolf, the ancestor of the William family, was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor of Germany (1292-1298).
In the 15th century, this family owned large territories in the Flender, Brabant, Netherlands, and Luxembourg regions of the Netherlands due to their marital relationships.
At the beginning of the 16th century, William Orange's uncle Henry inherited the territory in the Netherlands and was appointed as the Governor General of the Netherlands by Emperor Charles V of Germany. His father inherited the title of Count of Nassau. Henry married the daughter of the Duke of Orange.
In 1530, Henry's son Rene was appointed as the grandson of the Duke of Orange and also served as the Governor General of the Netherlands.
In 1544, Ren é was ordered by Charles V to lead his army to attack France and died in battle.
In the same year, at the age of 11, William was granted special permission by Charles V to inherit the title and property of his cousin Rene. From then on, this young man who had never been to Orange became the Prince of Orange. Orange is a small independent duchy located near Avignon in southern France, with an area of less than 40000 acres and a population of 12000. It was later incorporated into France at Louis XIV (1713).
Starting from 1544, William followed his father's orders to Brussels and received education in the court of the Netherlands for a total of nine years. William's parents are both Lutheran, but his mentor was Cardinal Perrinot, who instilled in him the same things as Catholicism. William was intelligent and able to speak French, German, Spanish, Flemish, and Latin. He was highly regarded by Charles V and was kept as a servant beside him, often accompanying foreign guests and attending state meetings.
In July 1551, with Charles V as the mediator, William married Anne of Egmont, the heiress of the Grand Noble of Netherland and the Earl of Buren. As a result of this marriage, he gained several territories in the Netherlands. William lived in Netherland for a long time, and due to his family background, he has a deep affection for Netherland. As he later stated in his defense (1581), he was not a foreigner in the Netherlands, and the Netherlands was also his homeland.
In the following years, William served in the German army and led troops several times to navigate the French border in the Netherlands, making great contributions to Charles V.
In October 1555, Charles V attended the abdication ceremony in Brussels supported by William. This is William's special honor. After Charles abdicated, his brother Ferdinand I succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor, and his son Philip II inherited the Spanish throne and ruled over the Netherlands. At the beginning of Philip's reign, William still had a prosperous official career. In 1555, William, along with several prominent figures such as Granville and the Earl of Egmont, were appointed as members of the Council of State.

In January of the following year, Philip personally awarded him the highest Spanish medal, the Golden Fleece; William became the highest ranking Knight of the Golden Fleece Order.
In August 1556, William led his troops to a great defeat against the French army at Saint Quentin near Paris.
Shortly thereafter (1559), William was appointed as the governor of the Netherlands, Zealand, and Utrecht. Around the same time, his father died, and William inherited the Count of Nassau as his eldest son. The favor William was invited to receive from the Spanish rulers can be seen from the proclamation later issued by Philip II when he stripped William of his citizenship: "Everyone knows how our father, the late Emperor Charles V, favored William of Nassau in inheriting his cousin Prince Orange, and how William was promoted from a very young age. After knowing the late Emperor's passing, we continue to favor him, appointing him as the governor of the Netherlands, Zealand, Utrecht, and Burgundy, summoning him to our state council, and bestowing him with a great deal of honor and reward." These are all facts. However, William's preciousness lies in his high-ranking official standing on the side of the Netherlandic nation with great righteousness in the face of major issues concerning national independence. He fought tirelessly against the Spanish reactionary rule represented by Philip II and became a respected and famous patriotic aristocrat.

The capitalist relations in the Netherlands were already quite developed in the 16th century. Since the 1920s, Luther's works have been translated into Dutch. In the late 1950s, Calvinism became widely popular. Among the working masses, there has long been a tradition of baptism. Charles V was tyrannical and tyrannical towards the Netherlands.
After the Worms Conference in 1521, Charles V began burning Lutherans in Brussels. Later, persecution escalated repeatedly.
The bloody edict issued in 1550 to punish "heretics" punished those who had slight contact with Lutheranism and Calvinism, and even those who read and explained the Bible, as traitors and those who disrupted social order. If they persist in not changing, they will all be burned to death and their property will be confiscated. Those who shield "heretics" may only be suspected and guilty of the same crime.
After Philip II came to power, he confirmed and strictly enforced the Edict of 1550. In this way, class contradictions, especially ethnic contradictions, are rapidly intensifying. The vast masses of people in the Netherlands bravely fought fearlessly in the face of the Spanish massacre.
In 1557, the Venetian ambassador to the Netherlands wrote: "Although the cold climate made the residents timid, when sentenced to death, they all showed rare courage to defy fate, which is a noteworthy thing." Driven by the struggle of the people, William finally embarked on the path of resisting the reactionary rule of Spain.
In March 1559, William, as one of the representatives of Spain, went to France for negotiations and signed the Treaty of Cato Cambrazzi. In order to ensure the implementation of the peace treaty, William was sent to Paris as a hostage in the summer of the same year. The original treaty had a secret clause that stipulated mutual support between the two countries in suppressing Protestants. William remained silent for two to three days after learning about this matter during his contact with King Henry II of France. Later, he went to Brussels under the guise of personal matters and informed his family and friends of the secret terms. From then on, he was known as the "Silent William". William's silence was a silent protest against Spanish rule, demonstrating his love for the struggling Netherlands country and nation. He said, "I deeply sympathize with my country and people." Since then, I have been determined to do my utmost to expel the Spanish rioters from the Netherlands. I have no regrets about this and firmly believe that I, my comrades, and all those who support us feel immensely honored to accomplish a meaningful cause. "
On August 7, 1559, Philip II convened the Third Council of the Netherlands in Ghent. William contacted Count Egmont and others to propose suggestions such as reducing taxes, withdrawing foreign troops, and prohibiting foreigners from serving as officials in the Netherlands. William and the Earl of Egmont also prohibited the persecution of Protestantism in the provinces of the Netherlands, Zealand, Utrecht, Flanders, and Adova under their jurisdiction. Philip was greatly surprised by this and hurriedly set off for Frixingen in order to take a boat back to Spain. Philip also ordered William to eliminate several aristocrats and bourgeois elements who sympathized with Protestantism. William refused to execute and said it was a matter of the national government. Philip angrily grabbed his arm and shouted, "No, that's not the government's business, but what you, only you, should do." The struggle continued.
In July 1563, William, Count Egmont, and General Horne demanded the removal of the Grand Noble Granville, who had manipulated the Council of State.
The following year, Philip was forced by the situation to recall Granville.

At the end of 1565, several patriotic nobles established the "Noble Alliance" in Breda. Soon, over 2000 nobles signed a secret agreement, unanimously condemning the brutality of a small group of foreigners, condemning the edicts and religious courts that suppressed heretics. William secretly supports this matter.
In April 1566, members of the aristocratic alliance dressed in beggar clothes and tied begging bags, petitioned the female governor Margaret de Palma to stop persecution and immediately convened a third level meeting to discuss the domestic political situation. The governor refused, and some even called them beggars. This further aroused the national sentiment of the Netherlanders, and a massive uprising finally erupted like a volcano. Angry crowds rushed into Catholic churches and monasteries, destroying icons and destroying the decorations inside the church. This is the famous "iconoclastic movement", which swept across 12 out of 17 provinces in the Netherlands. At this time, William, although persecuting revolutionary masses, refused to collude with the Spanish authorities. In October, William held a secret meeting in Telmond to discuss countermeasures. Some people advocate for an immediate uprising, while others oppose it; William believed that the uprising was reasonable, but suggested further observation of the government's movements.
In August of the following year, Duke Fernando Alvares de Toledo of Alva led a large number of Spanish troops into Brussels. Count Egmont, Count Horne, and others defected and surrendered to the enemy. William returned to Germany with a group of confidants and continued his struggle using foreign Protestant forces.
In January 1568, Alfa tried William in absentia on charges of treason and arrested his eldest son. Despite these, William continued to run in various directions and organized his army to attack the Netherlands from the south (Adova), east (Lingborg), and north (Groningen). Due to the long front line, it is difficult to support each other. The southern and eastern routes were defeated first, with only the northern route temporarily taking effect. Soon, Alfa's reinforcements arrived, and the northern route was also completely recaptured by the entire army.
On April 1, 1572, the maritime guerrillas occupied the city of Brier in Zealand, marking the climax of the Northern Revolution. In July, except for Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Zealand, and the entire northern Netherlands were liberated from Spanish rule. At this time, William, who was far away in Germany, took advantage of his prestige and dramatically used his position as Governor General of the Netherlands and Zealand. On the one hand, he issued a statement supporting the uprising, and on the other hand, he sent his confidants to various northern regions to serve as the leaders of the uprising and control the regime. On July 15 of the same year, the Dutch Provincial Assembly, which was meeting in Dorrecht, decided to continue recognizing William as the Governor General of the Netherlands and Zealand, granting him the highest military and political authority, and recommended that all provinces jointly elect him as the Regent of the Netherlands.

Due to class limitations, William had little interest in the revolutionary north. He complained that the Northern Revolution occurred too early, which hindered the main measures he was preparing to take. He was busy seeking help from England and France, fantasizing that these two countries, which had deep conflicts with Spain, could support the Netherlands Revolution.
In May 1572, William's brother Louis, with the support of the Huguenot faction in France, captured the capital of Henot, Mons. In July, William personally led over 20000 people to set out from Dusseldorf to occupy Rulmont. At the end of August, they crossed the Maes River and occupied Luwen and Mecklin, and were expected to reunite not far from Mons. On August 24th, the Saint Bartholomew Massacre occurred in Paris, and Admiral Colini, who promised to assist William in his weapon horse battle, died. This pair of William was like a bolt from the blue, their morale wavering. On the night of September 11th, the Spanish army launched a surprise attack on William's headquarters. William escaped alone and was killed by everyone. William had no choice but to cross the Rhine east, leaving the road easy to ignore. On September 19th, Louis surrendered and Mons fell. William, who was desperate, finally went to the north of Netherlands and lived in Delft, Netherlands. On October 21st, he was officially appointed as the Governor General.
After William went to the north, he did many things that were beneficial to the revolution. At the end of 1572, Alfa launched a wedge attack between the Netherlands and Zealand, attempting to separate the two provinces and then break them down one by one. After the Spanish army captured Sutfen and Natton, they surrounded the city of Harlem. The residents of the city resisted stubbornly under extremely difficult conditions of running out of ammunition and food. William encouraged the citizens to hold on, while sending people to seek help from his German relatives and sending several troops to rescue them. After the fall of Harlem, the enemy surrounded Leiden again. Leiden is six miles away from the sea, and the terrain is below sea level.
At the most difficult time, on August 3, 1574, William personally commanded the excavation of 16 seawalls, turning the suburbs of Leiden into the land of Ze. The enemy suffered heavy losses and had to withdraw. On the second day of breaking free, William made a special trip to congratulate.

In November 1574, the Delft Parliament granted William the title of Governor General with the highest military and political power, but major matters such as taxation and government changes should be negotiated with the Parliament.
In September 1576, Brussels held an uprising to overthrow the Spanish reactionary authorities, marking the climax of the Southern Revolution. At this time, the nobles led by William attempted to halt the revolution. Therefore, under William's manipulation, a three-level meeting was held in Ghent with representatives from all 17 provinces of the Netherlands. Although he did not attend the meeting himself, he kept writing letters, providing suggestions, and sending memos to the meeting. In his letter to the meeting, he said, "You only hope to submit a common official document to the King of Spain, telling him that you are determined to uphold the ancient rights of your country, free from the intolerable tyranny of the Spanish, but still remain subjects of His Majesty's legitimate monarchy.". The "Ghent Reconciliation Agreement" passed at the meeting on November 18th is a product of this spirit. The agreement announced the abolition of the decree of the Alfa government, and worked together to expel the Spanish, but there was no action plan, let alone the issue of independence. Representatives from the Netherlands and Zealand proposed to abolish Catholicism, but did not receive a response; The final agreement stipulates that it will be resolved after the establishment of a government in the future to maintain the status quo. The agreement did not mention the issue of eliminating feudal land ownership at all, and declared the restoration of church property except for the Netherlands and Zealand, which also required payment of pensions to the original property owners in those two provinces. The agreement specifically stipulates the protection of William's title, privileges, and property from infringement.
The uprising in the south was spontaneous, scattered, and lacked unified leadership. William seized the opportunity to seize power.
In September 1577, he arrived in Brussels amidst cheers; Not long after, he was appointed as the person in charge of the non Laben. He established his headquarters in Antwerp by the sea. At this time, except for a few remote provinces in the south, William's power extended to all of Netherland.
The political and economic development in the north and south of the Netherlands is extremely uneven, and the reactionary aristocrats and Catholics in the south still actively support Spain. The representative composition within the third level meeting is also very complex.
Under the influence of conservative forces, in February 1577, the Third Council signed a "permanent edict" with the new governor of Spain, Don Juan, recognizing his legal identity. The reactionary aristocracy also colluded with German Emperor Rudolf II in an attempt to bring his 19-year-old brother, Archduke Albrecht VII, into the Netherlands as governor. In November, the third level meeting recognized this. So, Brussels and the cities of Brabant and Flanders, with William's support, opposed it one after another. William's policy was to neither coexist with the enemy nor to mobilize the masses to deepen the revolution.

Implementing such policies in the revolutionary camp was equivalent to cutting off the revolution. In January 1578, Spain took the opportunity to launch an attack. Alexander Farnese led his army to a great defeat of the Third Council Army at Zambulu. William turned to foreign countries for help again, and his secret envoys appeared in London and Paris. The government of Queen Elizabeth I of England was afraid of public conflict with Spain and convinced the German Protestant Count of Palatinate, Casimir, to send troops. From May to August of the same year, Pufalz and the French army appeared again in the Netherlands, but they were unable to salvage the situation.

The matter has finally reached the point of a public showdown. In January 1579, the reactionary aristocratic organization of Adova and Henot, the Alas League, openly undermined the Ghent Agreement and surrendered to Spain. The situation in the Netherlands has undergone significant changes, and Spain has regained a foothold in the south. On January 23rd, representatives of the six northern provinces (Gelderland, Sutfen, Netherlands, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland) and Protestants from Brabant and Flanders reached an agreement in Utrecht, declaring a "closer alliance" and never splitting. From then on, the foundation of the Dutch Republic was laid (in 1594, Groningen Province joined, with a total of seven provinces), known as the Federal Republic of the Netherlands. William was the mastermind behind the establishment of the Confederate State, and he did not appear on his own. He worked on the front desk through his brother John. On May 3rd of the same year, William signed the treaty.
In June 1580, Philip II issued an order to strip William of his citizenship, declaring him a "principal offender of social peace" and a "public enemy of humanity", and offering a bounty for his arrest. In February 1581, William published a defense in multiple languages, stating that such shameless behavior "can only make me happy.".
On July 26, 1581, William announced at the Hague Conference that he would depose Philip II and officially become independent. This is the famous "Act of severing ties". In the preface of the decree, it is said: "Everyone knows that God commands a ruler to cherish his subjects, just like a shepherd guarding a flock of sheep. When a ruler fails to fulfill this duty, when he oppresses his subjects, tramples on their rights and freedoms, and treats them like slaves, then he is not a ruler but a tyrant. In this way, the Third Council should lawfully abolish him and replace him with others." William took office as the first ruler of the new country.
The Spanish authorities have long planned a conspiracy to assassinate William.
In March 1582, William was shot by a young man employed in Spain, but he survived. In the following two years, there were as many as five conspiracies to assassinate William.
On July 10, 1584, William passed away after being shot three times by the Spanish assassin Gerald who had infiltrated his home, and was buried in Delft. Section
In two years, William's son, Prince Morris, who was 18 years old, succeeded to the throne.