Monday 11 July 2011

The Assassination of William the Silent


Author Stephanie A. Mann takes a look at the notorious assassination of Prince William "the Silent" of Orange in 1584, by Balthasar Gerard, and the reaction in Protestant England where it fuelled Queen Elizabeth's fears that she was next.

The fate of the prince's murderer is not for the faint-hearted!

3 comments:

  1. Didn't the assassins of Henri III and Henry IV of France die in similarly painful ways?

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  2. Yes, Stephanie. As did the attempted assassin of Louis XV.

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  3. Years ago I borrowed a book about William the Silent from my local library mistakenly thinking he was the William of Orange who was James II's son in law (who was on my A level syllabus). I was intrigued by the fact he was moved by the pleas of a certain Mrs Rubens to spare her husband (who had committed adultery with William's then wife). He must have been a man with compassion...and Mr and Mrs Rubens went on to have at least one more child, a certain Peter Paul who was handy with a paint brush.

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