William III was William Henry of Orange, the Dutch Republic, who became one-half of the “William and Mary†team to rule over Great Britain, and endow the College of William and Mary in the Colonies. It was William who defeated the Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, winning the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. As a staunch Protestant, William was welcomed by many in England who feared a restoration of the power of Catholicism. He was the son of the daughter Charles I of England, Mary Stuart, and William of Orange-Nassau, the most powerful family of The Netherlands; it was his father’s line that influenced him most. His main concern was keeping Louis XIV of France from overrunning Europe. It was in 1672 that William was reappointed the coveted “stadhoudership†of The Netherlands, allowing him the means of waging war against Louis. Allying with Spain and Austria, he prevailed upon his uncle, James I, to agree to William’s marrying his daughter, another Mary Stuart, his first cousin. And don’t forget, this is the uncle whom he deposed a few years later. Because he put his Continental concerns first, William worked easily with Parliament, not imposing the powers of the sovereign upon the British Isles, and making for a more peaceful rule than they had seen in decades. Mary died of smallpox in 1694; William mourned her deeply, and died of pneumonia in 1702, without their having had any heirs (probably a good idea, with that close familial relationship), and also bringing an end to the Dutch House of Orange.
