William I of the Netherlands
Encyclopedia
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
.
In Germany, he was ruler (as Fürst
Fürst
Fürst is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, who is referred to as Prinz...
) of the Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda
Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda
Nassau-Orange-Fulda was the name of a short-lived principality of the Holy Roman Empire, which was created for the Prince of Orange and existed only from 1803 to 1806....
from 1803 until 1806 and of the Principality of Orange-Nassau
Principality of Orange-Nassau
Orange-Nassau was a principality which was part of the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle within the Holy Roman Empire. It existed under this name between 1702 and 1815....
in the year 1806 and from 1813 till 1815. In 1813 he was named 'Sovereign Prince' of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and proclaimed himself King of the Netherlands and Duke of Luxembourg on 16 March 1815. In the same year on 9 June William I became also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and after 1839 he was furthermore the Duke of Limburg. After his abdication in 1840 he named himself King William Frederick, Count of Nassau.
Biography
King William I's parents were the last stadtholderStadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
William V, Prince of Orange
William V, Prince of Orange
William V , Prince of Orange-Nassau was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and between 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. He was succeeded by his son William I...
and his wife Wilhelmina of Prussia
Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange
Wilhelmina of Prussia, born Frederika Sophia Wilhelmina, , was the consort of William V of Orange and also the de facto leader of the dynastic party and contra revolution in the Netherlands...
. Until 1813, William was known as William VI, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, Prince of Orange. In Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on 1 October 1791, William married his first cousin (Frederica Louisa) Wilhelmina
Wilhelmine of Prussia (1774-1837)
Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia was the first wife of King William I of the Netherlands and so the first Queen of the Netherlands.-Biography:Princess Wilhelmine was born in Potsdam...
, born in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
. She was the daughter of King Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II was the King of Prussia, reigning from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.-Early life:...
. After Wilhelmina died in 1837, William married Countess Henriette d'Oultremont de Wégimont (Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, 28 February 1792 – Schloss Rahe, 26 October 1864), created Countess of Nassau, on 17 February 1841 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. This was a morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
. Two years later, William died.
Exile
William V was hereditary stadtholder when the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was invaded by the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Revolutionary armies in 1794. In January 1795 he fled with his son to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Unlike his father, who gave his people permission to collaborate with the French, William was a strong personality and he tried to regain the Republic.
In 1799, William landed in the current North Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
as part of an Anglo-Russian invasion. The local Dutch population was not pleased with the arrival of the prince. Some local Orangists were even executed. After several minor battles he was forced to leave the country again after the Convention of Alkmaar
Convention of Alkmaar
The Convention of Alkmaar was a 1799 agreement concluded between the commanders of the expeditionary forces of Great Britain and Russia on the one hand, and of those of the First French Republic and the Batavian Republic on the other, in Alkmaar, by which the British and Russians agreed to withdraw...
. Napoleon Bonaparte gave him some small German principalities as indemnities for the lost territories. These principalities were confiscated when Napoleon invaded Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1806) and William supported his Prussian relatives. He succeeded his father as prince of Orange later that year, after William V's death.
Return
After Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig (October, 1813), the French troops retreated to France. A provisional government was formed under the lead of some former Patriots who recalled William, in contrast to their 1785 rebellion. In their view, it was taken for granted that William would have to head any new regime, and it would be better in the long term for the Dutch to restore him themselves. The Dutch population was pleased with the departure of the French, who had ruined the Dutch economy, and this time welcomed the prince.After having been invited by the Driemanschap
Driemanschap
The Driemanschap of 1813 was formed after Charles-François Lebrun and the French troops suddenly left the area of the Netherlands.It consisted of Frans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam, Leopold of Limburg Stirum and Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp....
(Triumvirate) of 1813, on 30 November 1813 William disembarked HMS Warrior
HMS Warrior (1781)
HMS Warrior was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 October 1781 at Portsmouth.A year after her launch she took part in the Battle of the Saintes. In 1801, she was part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen, and so did not...
and landed at Scheveningen beach, only a few metres from the place where he had left the country with his father eighteen years previously, and on 6 December the provisional government offered him the title of King
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
. William refused, instead proclaiming himself "sovereign prince". He also wanted the rights of the people to be guaranteed by "a wise constitution".
The constitution offered William extensive (almost absolute) powers. Ministers were only responsible to him, while a two-chambered parliament (the States-General
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
) exercised only limited power. He was inaugurated as sovereign prince in the New Church
Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam)
The Nieuwe Kerk is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam, located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace.-History:The bishop of Utrecht gave the city of Amsterdam permission to use a second the parish church in 1408 because the Oude Kerk had grown too small for the growing population of the city....
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. In 1814 he gained sovereignty over the whole of the Low Countries.
King of the Netherlands
Feeling threatened by Napoleon, who had escaped from ElbaElba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
, William proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
on 16 March 1815 at the urging of the powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
. His son, the future king William II
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
, fought as a commander at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. After Napoleon had been sent into exile, William adopted a new constitution which included much of the old constitution, such as extensive royal power
Power (sociology)
Power is a measurement of an entity's ability to control its environment, including the behavior of other entities. The term authority is often used for power perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as endemic to...
s.
He was the 876th Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Order of the Golden Fleece
The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the 648th Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
in 1814.
Children
With his wife Wilhelmina, King William I had six children:- Willem Frederik George LodewijkWilliam II of the NetherlandsWilliam II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
(b. The Hague, 6 December 1792 – d. Tilburg, 17 March 1849) later King William II of the Netherlands from 1840. - Stillborn son (Hampton Court, Palace, Middlesex, 18 August 1795).
- Willem Frederik KarelPrince Frederick of the NetherlandsPrince Frederick of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau , was the second son of king William I of the Netherlands and his wife, Wilhelmine of Prussia....
(b. Berlin, 28 February 1797 – d. Wassenaar, 8 September 1881). - Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Pauline Charlotte (b. Berlin, 1 March 1800 – d. Freienwalde, 22 December 1806).
- Stillborn son (Berlin, 30 August 1806).
- Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Charlotte MariannePrincess Marianne of the NetherlandsPrincess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau , was a member of the House of Orange-Nassau, by birth Princess of the Kingdom of the United Netherlands and by marriage Princess of the Kingdom of Prussia.-Family:Born in Berlin, she was the youngest child and second daughter of King...
(b. Berlin, 9 May 1810 – d. Schloss Reinhartshausen bei Erbach, 29 May 1883), married on 14 September 1830 with Prince Albert of Prussia. They divorced in 1849.
Principal changes
The States-General was divided into two chambers. The Eerste Kamer (First Chamber or Senate or House of Lords) was appointed by the King. The Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber or House of Representatives or House of Commons) was elected by the Provincial States, which were in turn chosen by census suffrage. The 110 seats were divided equally between the North and the South (modern-day Belgium), although the population of the North (2 million) was significantly less than that of the South (3.5 million). The States-General's primary function was to approve the King's laws and decrees. The constitution contained many present-day Dutch political institutions; however, their functions and composition have changed greatly over the years.The constitution was accepted in the North, but not in the South. The under-representation of the South was one of the causes of the Belgian Revolution. Referendum turnout was low, in the Southern provinces, but William interpreted all abstentions to be yes votes. He prepared a lavish inauguration for himself in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, where he gave the people copper coins (leading to his first nickname, the Copper King).
The spearhead of King William's policies was economic progress. As he founded many trade institutions, his second nickname was the King-Merchant. In 1822, he founded the Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter Begunstiging van de Volksvlijt
Société Générale de Belgique
The Société Générale de Belgique was one of the largest companies that ever existed in Belgium. It was founded in 1822 by William I, and existed until 2003, when its then sole shareholder, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, merged it with Tractebel to form Suez-Tractebel.-History:As part of the terms of the...
, which would become one of the most important institutions of Belgium after its independence. Industry flourished, especially in the South. In 1817, he also founded three universities in the Southern provinces, such as a new University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
, the University of Ghent and the University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
. The Northern provinces, meanwhile, were the centre of trade. This, in combination with the colonies (Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
) created great wealth for the Kingdom. However, the money flowed into the hands of Dutch directors. Only a few Belgians managed to profit from the economic growth. Feelings of economic inequity were another cause of the Belgian uprising.
Officially, a separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
existed in the kingdom. However, William himself was a strong supporter of the Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. This led to resentment among the people in the South, who were Roman Catholic. William had also devised controversial language and school policies. Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
was imposed as the official language in (the Dutch-speaking region of) Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
; this angered French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-speaking aristocrats and industrial workers. Schools throughout the Kingdom were required to instruct students in the Reformed faith and the Dutch language. Many in the South feared that the King sought to exterminate Catholicism and the French language.
Belgian uprising
In August 1830 the opera La Muette de PorticiLa muette de Portici
La muette de Portici originally called Masaniello, ou La muette de Portici, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scribe...
, involving the repression of Neapolitan
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
s, was staged in Brussels. Performances of this show seemed to crystallise a sense of nationalism and "Hollandophobia" in Brussels, and spread to the rest of the South. Rioting ensued, chiefly aimed at the kingdom's unpopular justice minister, who lived in Brussels. An infuriated William responded by sending troops to repress the riots. However, the riots had spread to other Southern cities. The riots quickly became popular uprisings. Soon an independent state of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
was proclaimed.
The next year, William sent his sons to Belgium to repress this state. Although initially victorious, the Dutch army was forced to retreat after the threat of French intervention
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
. Some support for the Orange dynasty (chiefly among Flemings) persisted for years but the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
never regained control over Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. William nevertheless continued the war for eight years. His economic successes became overshadowed by a perceived mismanagement of the war effort. High costs of the war came to burden the Dutch economy, fueling public resentment. In 1839, William was forced to end the war. The United Kingdom of the Netherlands was dissolved and continued as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was not renamed, however, as the "United"-prefix had never been part of its name, but rather was retrospectively added by historians for descriptive purposes (cf. Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
).
Constitutional changes and abdication
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and William's intention to marry Henrietta d'Oultremont (scandalously both Belgian and Catholic) created desires about abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
. He fulfilled his desires on 7 October 1840 and his eldest son acceded to the throne as king William II
William II of the Netherlands
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...
. William died in 1843 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
at the age of 71.
Ancestry
External links
- King Willem I (1772–1843) at the Dutch Royal House website