William III of England

William III and II[a]
Portrait by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1690
King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (more...)
Reign	1689[b] – 8 March 1702
Coronation	11 April 1689
Predecessor	James II & VII
Successor	Anne
Co-monarch	Mary II (1689–1694)
Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel
Reign	4 July 1672 – 8 March 1702
Predecessor	First Stadtholderless Period
Successor	Second Stadtholderless Period
Prince of Orange
Reign	4 November 1650[c] – 8 March 1702
Predecessor	William II
Successor	John William Friso (disputed)[d]
Born	4 November 1650 [NS: 14 November 1650][c] Binnenhof, The Hague, Dutch Republic
Died	8 March 1702 (aged 51) [NS: 19 March 1702] Kensington Palace, Middlesex, England
Burial	12 April 1702 Westminster Abbey, England
Spouse	Mary II of England ​ ​ (m. 1677; died 1694)​
Names William Henry Dutch: Willem Hendrik
House	Orange-Nassau
Father	William II, Prince of Orange
Mother	Mary, Princess Royal
Religion	Protestantism
Signature
Military service
Battles/wars	Franco-Dutch War Siege of Naarden Siege of Bonn Battle of Seneffe Siege of Grave Siege of Maastricht Battle of Cassel Battle of Saint-Denis Nine Years' War Invasion of England Battle of the Boyne Siege of Limerick Battle of Steenkerque Battle of Landen Siege of Namur

William III (William Henry; Dutch: Willem Hendrik; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702),^[c] also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. He ruled Great Britain and Ireland with his wife, Queen Mary II, and their joint reign is known as that of William and Mary.

William was the only child of William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal, the daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His father died a week before his birth, making William III the prince of Orange from birth. In 1677, he married his first cousin Mary, the elder daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York, the younger brother and later successor of King Charles II.

A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic French ruler Louis XIV in coalition with both Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded William as a champion of their faith. In 1685, his Catholic uncle and father-in-law, James, became king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. James's reign was unpopular with Protestants in the British Isles, who opposed Catholic Emancipation. Supported by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, William invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. In 1688, he landed at the south-western English port of Brixham; James was deposed shortly afterward.

William's reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him and his wife to take power. During the early years of his reign, William was occupied abroad with the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), leaving Mary to govern Britain alone. She died in 1694. In 1696 the Jacobites, a faction loyal to the deposed James, plotted unsuccessfully to assassinate William and restore James to the throne. In Scotland, William's role in ordering the Massacre of Glencoe remains notorious. William's lack of children and the death in 1700 of his nephew the Duke of Gloucester, the son of his sister-in-law Anne, threatened the Protestant succession. The danger was averted by placing William and Mary's cousins, the Protestant Hanoverians, in line to the throne after Anne with the Act of Settlement 1701. Upon his death in 1702, William was succeeded in Britain by Anne and as titular Prince of Orange by his cousin John William Friso.

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