The swearing-in and investiture of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander took place on Tuesday 30
KING WILLEM ALEXANDER OF THE NETHERLANDS
ENSCHEDE, THE NETHERLANDS – APR 02, 2005: Royal highness Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands talking to people at an official visit to the University of Twente
QUEEN BEATRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS
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| Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images |
QUEEN JULIANA OF THE NETHERLANDS
QUEEN WILHELMINA OF THE NETHERLANDS
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William photographed by Maria Hille, c. 1887
KING WILLIAM III OF THE NETHERLANDS
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1842 portrait by Jan Adam Kruseman
KING WILLIAM II OF THE NETHERLANDS
William in ceremonial robes, by Joseph Paelinck, 1819
William in ceremonial robes, by Joseph Paelinck, 1819
King of the Netherlands
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
KING WILLIAM I OF THE NETHERLANDS, THE FIRST DUTCH KING
THE DUTCH MONARCHY IN A BIRD’S EYE VIEW/FOUNDED BY
THREE ARISTOCRATIC GENTLEMEN…….
Readers who follow me know, that I mostly write about the British Medieval
Monarchy [and sometimes make a trip to the Present Times….]
See also
But Today I like to write something about the Dutch Monarchy, which is unique,
because it was in fact founded by three aristocratic Gentlemen in the 19th Century
Read on and I will travel with you from the present King, Willem Alexander,
to a fascinating period in Dutch history, when the first King was sworn in….
A SHORT REVIEW
Before the present king, king Willem Alexander [1], his mother
[Queen Beatrix], his grandmother [Queen Juliana] and his
greatgrandmother [Queen Wilhelmina, who was in England during the WO II] ruled. [2]
Although the Dutch monarchy is not so grand as the English monarchy [3], yet it is worth to give it a close look.
But with regard to the British monarchy
What fascinates me about the British monarchy [and more old
monarchies] is the long line of kings from which the Plantagenet
kings and their predecessors the conqueror, William the Conqueror,his son king William II and his [William II’s] brother
king Henry I [father of Empress Maud and by her, grandfather of
king Henry II, who was the father of the kings Richard Lionheart, Crusader king and king John I, Lackland, from whom all English kings descend], were most fascinating to me.
But also my great interest is for the kings before William
the Conqueror, the old Saxon kings [4]
THE DUTCH MONARCHY
The Dutch monarchy, however, has other and not that old roots.In fact, the Dutch monarchs came to power on themoment that in Europe the monarchy already had beenquestionedKings by the Grace of God [the official title of theDutch and other European monarchs, don’t know that much,alas, of non European, very old, kingdoms too, but I amdetermined to investigate them too] was notbelieved anymore in wider circles of European society, certainly not after the French Revolution, which costpoor king Louis XVI his throne and head……
In fact, the Dutch monarchy was founded by three Dutch aristocratic gentlemen, Leopold Karel ofLimburg Stirum, Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp andFrans Adam van der Duyn van Maasdam. [5]The three of them formed the socalled ”triumvirate of 1813” [6],
which formed the provisional government of the Netherlands after
Napoleon was defeated
And that triumvirate invited Prince William Frederick of Orange Nassau,
son of the last Stadtholder [steward] of the Dutch Republic, William V, Prince
of Orange, to come back to the Netherlands [his father had taken
refuge to England in 1795 after the Netherlands was invaded by French
troops and became temporarily the Batavian Republic [7]
To cut a long story short, that triumvirate made Prince William Frederick to the first Dutch king, king William I [8]
He became King in 1815 [9]From the Eighty Years War [10], the great Dutch Revolt against theSpanish-Burgundian rule, the Dutch Republic was born and therewere the descendants of William of Orange [11] being stadtholders,who shared the power with the States General of the Netherlands[12] from which the Dutch Parliament descends.
EPILOGUE
I admit itIt is a very short, short Story about the Dutch Monarchy and ofcourse there is much more to say about this Fascinating Story
Because….what exactly was BEFORE the Dutch Monarchy?Who and what Powers ruled the Netherlands before that Great Year,1815, when King William became the first King?
The smart readers among you have already noticed something aboutformer rulers before 1815, which I mentioned.Read the text well
But to understand the Netherlands, especially the way the Netherlands were formed, you must further travel in History.Perhaps I will travel with you another time to the time before1815
And show you, how the Netherlands were formed……
ASTRID ESSED
NOTES
SEE FOR NOTES 1 T/M 12