WILLIAM II. 526 WILLIAM IV. franc's death, but, soon recoverinjr, he fell back into his evil ways. From this time he was in constant strife with Anselm, and in 1099 was threatened by the Pope with excommunication. When he was buried at Winchester no religious services were held. The English chronicle says "he was loathsome to well-nigh all his people, and abominable to God." For full details and references consult: Freeman. History of the Xor- man Conquest, vol. v. (Oxford, 1876); id., 'Wil- liam liufus (2 vols., Oxford, 1882). WILLIAM HI. (1650-1702). King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1689 to 1702. He was the posthumous and only son of William II. of Orange, Stadtholder of the United Xetherlands. His mother was llary, eldest daughter of Charles I. of England. He was born on November U (old style, Xovember 4), 1650. The ambitions of the elder William to increase the power of the Stadtholder had aroused an aristocratic reaction under -Jan De Witt which created much trouble for the young prince. The alliance of his family with the Stuarts excited the jealousy of Oliver Cromwell, by whose influ- ence William and his descendants were excluded, in 1G54, from the Stadtholdership. The restora- tion of the Stuarts to the English throne, how- ever, caused the revocation of this act, and on the invasion of Holland by Louis XIV. of France in 1672 William was elected Stadtholder, Captain- General, and Admiral. A few weeks later (Au- gust. 1072) some partisans murdered his great opponent .Jan De Witt (q.v.), in a riot. By the wisdom and determination of the young Stadtholder the contest with France was brought to a close by the Treaty of Ximeguen in 1678, which left the United Xetherlands unimpaired. As their ruin had seemed inevitable. William's unexpected success made him famous throughout Europe. Before the close of the war he had mar- ried his cousin, the Princess ^Mary, eldest daugh- ter of the Duke of York, who became King James II. (q.v.) of England in 1G85. As the tyranny of .James soon began to estrange the affections of every class of his subjects, the eyes of all were turned toward the Stadtliolder as their only hope. Accepting an invitation signed by seven repre- sentative leaders of the two English parties. Wil- liam with an army of 15.000 English and Dutch landed at Torbay, Xovember 5, 1688. His success was rapid and bloodless, and on December 18th he entered London as a national deliverer. On Feb- ruary 1.3, 1689, William and Mary, after accept- ing the Declaration of Rights, were proclaimed King and Queen of England. The adherents of James held out for some time in Scotland and Ireland. The death of Dundee (see Graham, John) in 1689 ended their resistance in the for- mer country, but in the latter they kept up a vigorous contest until the battle of the Boyne (July, 1690) broke the power of tlie .Jacobites. William was now able to combat Louis XTV. with the united forces of England and Holland. He himself took the field in the Belgian Xetherlands, but was unable to cope with Marshal Luxem- bourg, who defeated him at Steenkerke in 1692 and at Xecrwindcn in 109.'?. Reluctantly he signed the Peace of Ryswick (1697), which, how- ever, proved highly popular. In spite of his sterling qualities, and of the debt which they owed him, the English never really liked William in. The death in 1094 of his wife, on whom the crown had been conferred jointly with him- self, materially injured his position. His schemes were thwarted by Parliament and continual plots for his assassination were hatched by the adhe- rents of .James. The succession of Philip of An- jou to the throne of Spain on the death of Charles II. in 1700, tending to the aggrandizement of France, was a blow to William's policy. He per- severed with unflagging vigor in his determina- tion to unite Europe against France, and he left England at the head of the 'Grand Alliance.' (See SVCCES.SIOX Wabs.) He died on March 19 (old style, March 8), 1702, in consequence of a fall from his horse. The massacre of the Macdon- alds of Glencoe (q.v.) is a blot on. William's reputation which his most thoroughgoing apolo- gists have been unable to efface. His services, however, both to England and to his native coun- try can hardly be overrated. In his reign the Bank of England was founded, the modern system of finance introduced, ministerial responsibility recognized, and the liberty of the press secured. William's manner was wholly Dutch, and even his countrymen thought him blunt. "In his in- tercourse with the world in general." says Macau- lay, "he appeared ignorant or negligent of those arts which double the value of a favor, and take away the sting of a refusal." Consult: Grimblot, Letters of William III. and Louis XIV. (London, 1848) ; Traill, William the Third (ib., 1888) : Hippold, William III., Prinz von Oranien, Erbstatthnlter von Holland, Konig fon England (Berlin, 1900) : Klopp. Der Fall des Hausts S^tuart, i.-ix. (Vienna, 1875-78), critical and exhaustive; Burnet, History of His Oun Time (6 vols., Oxford, 18.33) : Ranke, His- tory of England (6 vols., Oxford, 1875). See Fraxce ; Xetheblaxds. WILLIAM IV. (1765-1837). King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1830 to 1837. He was the third son of George III., and was born on August 21, 1765. At the age of fourteen, after receiving an elementary education, he entered the na^T;' as an 'able seaman' on board the Prince (Jvorge. After seeing considerable service. Prince William was made lieutenant in 1785, and in the year following he received his commis- sion as captain. In 1789 he was created Duke of Clarence and of Saint Andrews, and Earl of Munstcr. At this time he abandoned active naval service, but was formally promoted through the successive ranks until he was made admiral of the fleet in 1811. Although as a naval officer he had won the eulogy of the great Nelson, no one can believe that he was really efficient. His utter inability to imderstand the fitness of things and his incoherence of thought gained for him the name of 'Silly Billy.' For many years he lived with Mrs. .Jordan (q.v.). a celebrated ac- tress, by whom he had a family of five sons and five daughters, who became known by the sur- name FitzClarence. and were raised to titular dignities. In 1818 he married .delaide, eldest daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. The issue of this marriage was two daughters, both of whom died in infancy. By the death of his brother, the Duke of York, in 1827. the Duke of Clarence became heir presumptive to the throne, to which he succeeded on the death of George IV., on June 20, 1830. He was mentally incapacl-
