William the Silent, Father of the Netherlands

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 October 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What encouraged a young man who had spent most of his formative years being raised by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, to bite the hand that feeds him and become one of the Empire's greatest enemies? Why risk his life spending most of his adult years leading a revolt when he could have enjoyed the pomp and pleasures of being a prince? And when did the revolt he led become the foundations of an entire nation? The man in question is William the Silent, also known as William, Prince of Orange.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Nick Ridley to find out more about William the Silent’s rise as a nationalist leader that led to the founding of the Netherlands.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg and edited by Joseph Knight.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Imagine sweeping through green fields, floating five feet above ground, sun on your face as you slide by on track to your destination, not a car in the world, as you simply lean back.
0:17.0	And before you know it, you're there.
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0:30.0	Have you ever wondered what beautiful British edifice overtook the Great Pyramid as the world's tallest building?
0:38.0	Or what's talented before he became leader of the Soviet Union?
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1:04.0	What encouraged a young man who had spent most of his formative years being raised by the Holy Roman Emperor, the Habsburg Charles V, to bite the hand that feeds him, and become one of the Empire's greatest enemies?
1:19.0	Why risk his life, spending most of his adult years leading a revolt when he could have enjoyed the pomp and pleasure of being a prince?
1:27.0	And when did the revolt he led become meaningful, something that even he recognised at the time as building a nation?
1:35.0	The man in question is William the Silent, aka William Prince of Orange.
1:42.0	Born in 1533 who led the Dutch revolt or the 80 years war against the Spanish, the Habsburgs and the Portuguese beginning in the 1560s, his is a fascinating life indeed.
1:55.0	So in today's podcast we begin our adventure by touching on one fraction of it, his time as what our guest calls a nationalist leader.
2:05.0	Dr. Nick Ridley is honorary visiting research fellow in the School of Justice Studies at Liverpool John Moore's University.
2:12.0	He's the author of books on terrorism and insurgency, and today we'll be discussing his work William the Silent and the Dutch Revolt.
2:26.0	Dr. Ridley, welcome to not just the tutors.
2:28.0	Thank you very much, Professor Susanna, I'm very happy and privileged to be on.
2:34.0	Well, I'm delighted that we have a chance to talk about this figure who of course is famous in the Netherlands, but perhaps ought to be a little better known in Anglophone countries, William the Silent.
2:46.0	Could you introduce him to us?
2:49.0	We know that he was born in 1533 into a noble family.
	...

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