William III

This is a political biography of William III (1650–1702): prince of Orange; stadhouder in the Netherlands from 1672; and (in a novel joint monarchy with his wife, Mary), king of England, Scotland, and Ireland after the revolution of 1688–9.

William III explains how William overcame huge disadvantages at his birth to regain his family’s traditional dominance of Dutch politics; how he dedicated his life to the defeat of Louis XIV of France; how this brought him to the Stuart thrones in Britain and Ireland; and how he managed a war from 1689 which shifted the balance of Europe. William achieved these remarkable successes by being a new kind of ‘hybrid’ ruler. He befitted the traditional roles of aristocratic leadership and royalty: acting as a war leader, displaying personal and court magnificence, manipulating dynastic ties, and performing an authoritative masculinity. Yet he was also a master of an emerging public politics in which the opinions of others, and even wide populations, mattered. He persuaded his countries to fight Louis XIV of France with a brilliant mixture of mass print propaganda; skills of persuasion, compromise, and consent-building; a strong partnership with his popular wife; and a presentation of himself as his people’s servant. For all this significance, and innovation, he deserves to be far better known than he has been among anyone interested in the origins of modern Europe.

This book will appeal to scholars and students alike studying the life and rule of William III, as well as more general audiences interested in the history of early modern England, Scotland, and Ireland within the political landscape of Western Europe.