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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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William III
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(1650–1702)
Prince of *Orange from birth and king of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 (jointly till 1694); posthumous son of William II of Orange and of Mary, daughter of Charles I (see the *royal house); married Mary, daughter of James II, in 1677.
William's early adult years were spent leading the Dutch resistance to joint English and French aggression in the *Anglo-Dutch war of 1672. But from then on France alone was the enemy, for he made peace with England in 1674 and cemented that alliance three years later by marrying his cousin *Mary.
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In 1685 his father-in-law, *James II, suceeded to the throne in Britain as a Roman Catholic; and in 1688 a Roman Catholic heir was born (James *Stuart). In the resulting crisis William and Mary, a Protestant couple, were invited to Britain to seize the crown in what became known as the *Revolution of 1688. William landed at Torbay in Devon in November and reached London unopposed. In January parliament offered the throne to William and Mary as joint sovereigns, accompanied by a Declaration of Right which later became the basis for the *Bill of Rights.
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William took all political decisions when ruling jointly with his wife; so her sudden death in 1694, though a great personal shock, made little difference in the affairs of state. He spent much of the 1690s campaigning in the Netherlands against the French in the War of the *Grand Alliance (1689–97). In the treaties concluding the war, signed at *Rijswijk, *Louis XIV acknowledged William as king of England and Scotland; but on the death of *James II in 1701 Louis reversed this commitment and proclaimed the young James *Stuart to be king, thus prolonging by half a century the *Jacobite cause. William was succeeded by his sister-in-law, *Anne.
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