(April 24, 1533–July 10, 1584), known as William the Silent, was the founder of Dutch independence. He became Prince of Orange (1544) and ruler of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht (1599). He had served Charles V, King of Spain, as Commander of the troops in France. When Charles died, Philip II became king. Philip not only hated William, but proceeded to stamp out the Protestants in Holland. William I could not permit this persecution and turned on the king, eventually gaining freedom from Spain and forming the Dutch Republic, becoming the first stadtholder of the independent Northern Province in 1579. In 1581, Philip offered a bounty for William’s death and three years later he was assassinated. William I’s last words were:
My God, have mercy on my soul and on my poor people.101