24 April 1533 A.D. Birth: William 1 “The Silent:” Calvinistic Defender of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands from the Persecutorial, Inquisitorial, Spanish and Romanist King Philip
24 April 1533 A.D. Birth: William 1 “The Silent:” Calvinistic Defender of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands from the Persecutorial, Inquisitorial, Spanish and Romanist King Philip Jongkees, Adriaan G. “William I.” N.d. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/644041/William-I . Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed 23 Apr 2015. William I, in full William, prince of Orange, count of Nassau, byname William the Silent, Dutch Willem, prins van Oranje, graaf van Nassau , or Willem de Zwijger (born April 24, 1533, Dillenburg, Nassau—died July 10, 1584, Delft , Holland ), first of the hereditary stadtholders (1572–84) of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and leader of the revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish rule and the Catholic religion. Family and inheritance William, the eldest son of William, count of Nassau-Dillenburg, grew up in a cultivated Lutheran environment. Far richer than his father’s ancestral possessions...