Willem van Oranje (Civ4)/Civilopedia

Willem van Oranje, also known as "William the Silent," was born in 1533 into the House of Nassau, a prominent noble family in what is today modern Germany. In 1544, the young Count of Nassau, but 11 years old, became the Prince of Orange through an inheritance, with new holdings in the Netherlands waiting for young Willem to come of age.
Oranje was raised in the lap of luxury, his family a favorite of the Spanish monarch in control of the Netherlands, Charles V. Oranje received his education in France at the behest of the Spanish King and proved to be both a precocious student and a charismatic leader. With the completion of his education, Oranje took control of his estates in the Netherlands. Thanks in part to his calm demeanor, which was a welcome change during an age of rising tensions, Oranje was appointed to a number of important posts within the Dutch government, eventually reaching the position of stadtholder, the highest rank open to a Dutchman. His selection to this auspicious rank came thanks to Phillip II, Charles' son and the new King.
By 1559, enforcement of the law of Placaten, which made Protestantism not only a religious crime, but a civil one as well, increased bloodshed between Protestants and Catholics throughout the Netherlands. Oranje, taking a stance against the persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands, gradually found himself on the wrong side of the Catholic Spanish monarchs. Catching word of an imminent assassination attempt, Oranje was forced to retreat to his castle in Nassau, hoping to keep himself alive and free of the growing Dutch rebellion.
When Phillip II sent Fernando de Toledo, the Duke of Alva, to deal with the uprising and arrest its leaders, Oranje was included in the list of outlaws. After failing to defeat Alva with his meager army, Oranje again fled, fortifying himself in the states of Holland. The Prince of Oranje, universally recognized for his ability and cunning, now found himself embroiled in the heart of the sweeping Dutch rebellion, which would continue to grow in size and scope into what became known as the Eighty Years' War.
Due to sudden changes in Spanish leadership within the region, a number of provinces, taking advantage of the ensuing havoc, allied themselves with Oranje and the rebellion. With the signing of the Union of Utrecht in 1579, the five northern provinces of the Netherlands, along with much of Flanders and Brabant, previously separate, united in their opposition to Spain.
To support the insufficient Dutch forces, Oranje had sought foreign aid and in 1581 received word from Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother of the French king, that if the struggling provinces declared independence from Spain and appointed Francis their sovereign, he would aid them in defeating their Spanish foe. So, on July 26, 1581, the United Provinces declared their independence from Spain.
Oranje, unfortunately, was unable to enjoy his country's new independence for long. Unhappy with the restrictions the Dutch nobles had placed on his powers, the Duke of Anjou turned against Oranje and his peers. And while Anjou was defeated not long after, an assassin hired by King Phillip gunned down Willem van Oranje in 1584, bringing to an end the leader's grand struggle for Dutch freedom.
While Oranje had passed on, the want for an independent Netherlands did not. Struggles would continue with the Spanish, but in 1648, the Treaty of Münster would end the Eighty Years' War and finally grant the country the self-determination that Willem van Oranje had died trying to institute.