William I of Orange
(1533–1584)
A Dutch noble who founded the dynasty
of Orange-Nassau and led the revolt in the
Netherlands against rule by Spain. Born in
Nassau, a small principality in northern
Germany, he was the son of Count Will-
iam of Nassau, who had converted to
Lutheranism. At the age of eleven he in-
herited the title of Prince of Orange. Al-
though he now owned extensive proper-
ties in the Low Countries, he was too
young to exercise any authority, and his
domain was governed by the Habsburg
emperor Charles V as regent. He trained
as a cavalry officer and at a young age was
given command of a unit in the Habsburg
armies. On the abdication of Charles V, he
was made governor of Holland and Bur-
gundy by Philip II.
William’s reluctance to speak out on
the brewing political and religious turmoil
in the Low Countries earned him the nick-
name of “William the Silent.” Nevertheless,
he strongly opposed Habsburg domina-
tion of the nobility and favored the free
exercise of religion for Protestants as well
as Catholics. He eventually emerged as a
leading opponent of Spain’s brutal occu-
pation. He retreated to his native Nassau,
joined the revolt against the Spanish, and
organized naval and ground forces to carry
out commando raids on Spanish outposts.
William won several victories against the
Spanish armies, and his personal flag was
adopted by the Dutch as the banner of
their resistance movement.
After a key victory in 1572, the rebels
organized a parliament and declared Will-
iam theirstadtholder, or governor. In 1579
several northern provinces declared the
Union of Utrecht, and in 1581 the union
officially declared its independence from
the king of Spain. In 1584 he was assassi-
nated by a Catholic partisan, Balthasar
Gerard, in the town of Delft.SEEALSO: Netherlands; Philip IIwitchcraft.........................................
In the Middle Ages, any practice of magic
outside the realm of Christian doctrine
was seen as the work of the Devil and pun-
ished as witchcraft. Heretics and witches
were routinely tried and tortured in order
to force their confessions. A common me-
dieval practice was to bind suspects with
ropes and throw them into lakes and riv-
ers. If they floated to the surface, they were
considered “rejected” by the water and thus
guilty as charged. If they remained sub-
merged or drowned, they were declared
innocent of witchcraft. Those found guilty
were burned at the stake by civil authori-
ties working at the behest of religious
courts and inquisitions.
During the sixteenth century, the per-
secution of witches reached its peak in Eu-
rope. The Renaissance wave of witch trials
began with a bull issued by Pope Innocent
VIII in 1484, which acknowledged the
presence of witchcraft, contrary to previ-
ous church doctrine. According to the
church, witches regularly consorted with
the devil and conspired to undermine