William 4 King of England. William IV, King of Great Britain - All Monarchies of the World
(see this word) and Henrietta Maria, daughter of Charles I of England, who became king of England as a result of the revolution of 1688. He was born on November 14, 1650. Everything came together, apparently, to destroy a child weak from birth: Cromwell pursued him as a Stuart (by mother), Louis XIV took the Principality of Orange from him, and already in 1661 his mother died. The Republican Party was hostile to him because his father (who died shortly before his birth) tried to make the titles of captain general and stadtholder hereditary in his family. Already in his early youth, the firm, serious character of the prince began to be revealed. During the turmoil that accompanied the invasion of Louis XIV in 1672, Holland and Zeeland elected the prince as stadtholder, and the Estates General as captain general and grand admiral of the republic. Wilhelm immediately aroused universal confidence; but the insignificance of his military means and the indecisive policy of the allies did not allow him to strike the enemy with strong blows. On April 11, 1676, he was defeated at Mont Cassel and was forced to lift the siege of Maastricht, Saint-Omer and Charleroi. Then V. began to fuss about how to arrange in their favor and in favor of the Dutch interests of England. In the autumn of 1677 he went to London and married there his cousin Mary, the eldest daughter of the future King James II. According to the peace concluded at Niemwegen in 1678, the Dutch Republic kept its territory intact and pledged to remain neutral in return. Since then, V. vigilantly followed the aggressive policy of Louis XIV. Indignant at the arbitrary captures of Louis, he achieved the conclusion of a defensive treaty at the Gague in 1683 and an alliance at Augsburg in 1686, by which it was supposed to put an end to French conquests. Since his father-in-law, James II, ascended the throne, V., as the wife of the future heir to the throne, has repeatedly rebelled against the violent measures of the king in church and political affairs. After the birth of the Prince of Wales (James III), whom the Protestants did not consider the son of the king, the Whigs and Torii united and asked V. for armed intervention in English affairs. In the summer of 1688, supported by the States General, V. took up arms and landed in England on November 5, 1688 (on his accession to the throne and on the fight against James II in Ireland, see Great Britain). In February 1691, he became the head of the allied forces in the Netherlands, but as a military commander he was not successful either in this or in the following campaigns. While the English fleet was victorious at sea, W. was defeated in August 1692 at Steenkerken, and in July 1693 at Neerwinden. Only in 1695 did he succeed in taking Namur. His strength was not in the talents of the commander, but in unshakable firmness, inspired by a deep faith in the rightness of the cause he defended. After the defeat, he was as calm as after the victory. The eight-year war with France ended in 1697 with the Peace of Ryswick, according to which the French government recognized the new order of things in England. When Louis XIV decided to make the Bourbons heirs to the Spanish throne, William first urged him to agree to the division of the Spanish possessions and concluded two agreements with him about this, in 1698 and 1700. After the death of Charles II, however, the grandson of Louis XIV came to the Spanish throne. V. persuaded Parliament to send troops to the Netherlands and concluded in The Hague a triple alliance between Austria and the maritime powers. Despite the fact that he would hardly have been able to persuade parliament in favor of war if Louis XIV had not offended the English nation by recognizing his son as king after the death of James II, under the name of James III. The new parliament, which opened in January 1702, declared this course of action a breach of the peace. The war was decided, but V., whose health had already been upset for a long time, was not allowed to wait for it to begin; after a short illness, he died on March 19, 1702. V.'s unsociable character, his secluded life in Hamptoncourt and Kensington, his cold attitude towards the Anglican Church, his predilection for the Dutch, his severity towards the Jacobites made him unpopular in Great Britain, while in the Netherlands he constantly enjoyed the greatest affection. He dearly loved his wife, Queen Mary, and long remained inconsolable after her loss. Deeply religious, he possessed, however, a quality so rare in his time - complete tolerance for other confessions. In the history of England, he left a deep mark; under him, the press was freed from censorship and the beginning of a truly parliamentary form of government was laid. The best characterization of V. belongs to Macaulay (in the "History of England"). Wed also: Trevor, "Life and times of William III" (London, 18 3 5-1836); Vernon, "Court and times of William III" (Lond. 1841); Traill, "William the third" (London, 1888).
King of Great Britain and Hanover from the Hanoverian dynasty, who ruled in 1830-1837. Son of George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg. Woman: since 1818 Adelaide, daughter of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Meninten (b. 1792, d. 1849). Genus. Aug 21 1765, d. June 20, 1837
From infancy, Wilhelm showed a passion for navigation, so his parents assigned him to the maritime department. At the age of fourteen, with the rank of midshipman, he began serving on the cannon ship Prince George, participated in many battles and showed exemplary courage. In 1785 he was promoted to lieutenant, in 1786 to captain, and in 1790 to rear admiral. This ended his naval career. Since 1789, as Duke of Clarence, William took a seat in the House of Lords, however, both in character and manners, he remained a sailor for life: he was military rude, unleashed and burst into terrible curses over every trifle. King George, amazed far from secular manners of his son, at one time kept him in Hanover, but this exile did not in the least contribute to his correction: the German nobility was shocked by Wilhelm's free behavior and his habit of saying what he thinks. The prince did not even try to adapt to the local society - he went to brothels and picked up a venereal disease there.
Returning to England, Wilhelm in 1790 became friends with the actress Dorothy Jordan, who for many years was his unmarried wife. From 1797, he received from his father an estate in Bushy Park and enthusiastically took up farming. By this time, Dorothy had given birth to two children for him. In 1807 there were already ten of them. Nevertheless, when the interests of the dynasty demanded that the Duke of Clarens enter into a legal marriage, Dorothy let him go without any objections, being satisfied with a significant monetary compensation. Soon Wilhelm married the twenty-four-year-old Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. She turned out to be a kind and understanding woman: she was not jealous of her husband for the first family, put his frustrated affairs in order, kept him from alcohol abuse and generally tried to ennoble his nature. Apart from the fact that they had no children, in all other respects their marriage was a happy one.
In 1827, George IV granted his brother the title of High Lord Admiral. But in this post, Wilhelm soon came into conflict with Prime Minister Wellington and had to resign. Having become king two years later, he hardly changed his way of life. His everydayness and ease were striking: at receptions, he applied his lips to the cheeks of beautiful ladies; walking along the embankment in Brighton in the morning, stopping and casually chatting with passers-by; sitting in the carriage, leaned out to spit on the ground. Meanwhile, Wilhelm came to power at a very tense time - a movement was growing throughout the country for the reform of the electoral system, which had not changed for several centuries. As a result, a significant part of the deputies of the House of Commons were elected in provincial depopulated boroughs (they were called "rotten boroughs"), while the large industrial cities did not have their representatives in Parliament. Although reluctant, the king sided with the Whigs, who argued for the need for change. As a result of the reform of 1832, 56 "rotten towns" lost the right to send deputies to parliament, and 143 vacant seats were distributed among the new districts. This was the most important event in the reign of William.
Wilhelm IV (English William IV, German Wilhelm IV; August 21, 1765 - June 20, 1837) - King of Great Britain and Hanover from June 26, 1830, admiral of the fleet (December 24, 1811). Wilhelm was the third son of George III and the younger brother of George IV. The last British king of the Hanoverian dynasty.
In his youth, the future king served in the navy, later bore the nickname "King Sailor". He served in North America, but practically did not participate in hostilities. Wilhelm inherited the throne after the death of two older brothers, who left no legitimate descendants, at the age of 64.
During the seven years of his reign, several important reforms were carried out: the legislation on the poor was revised, the democratization of municipalities was carried out, child labor was limited for the first time, and slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire.
William was the last British monarch to appoint a prime minister against the will of Parliament. He granted the Kingdom of Hanover a liberal constitution. Both legitimate children of William IV died in childhood, so his niece Victoria inherited the British throne, and his younger brother Ernst August became King of Hanover.
Wilhelm, the third child of King George III and Queen Charlotte, was born on the morning of 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House. He had two older brothers, George and Frederick, so Wilhelm was not considered heir to the throne. He was christened at St. James's Palace on 20 September 1765, his uncles the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Henry (later Duke of Cumberland) and his aunt, Princess Augusta, being his godparents.
Prince Wilhelm at the age of 13 and his younger brother Edward in 1778 Prince William spent most of his childhood in Richmond and Kew Palace, where he was educated by private teachers. At the age of thirteen, the prince entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman, in 1780 he was present at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. Although Wilhelm was accompanied on board by a mentor, his naval experience differed little from the service of other midshipmen, as he participated in cooking on an equal footing with everyone else and was even arrested along with other members of the team for a drunken fight in Gibraltar (although the prince was released immediately, as established his personality).
During the American Revolutionary War, the prince served in New York. The revolutionaries, with the approval of George Washington, planned to kidnap the prince while he was in America. However, the British became aware of these kidnapping plans, after which Wilhelm, who had previously been moving around New York unaccompanied, was assigned guards. Wilhelm was promoted to lieutenant in 1785 and a year later became captain of the frigate Pegasus. In late 1785, the prince was serving in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who spoke highly of Wilhelm's professional qualities.
Wilhelm and Nelson became good friends, they dined together almost every evening, the prince was a witness at Nelson's wedding. In 1788, Wilhelm became captain of the frigate Andromeda, and a year later, along with the rank of rear admiral, he received command of the battleship Valiant. William wanted a ducal title similar to those of his older brothers and, as a result, a seat in the House of Lords. However, King George III was in no hurry to make his third son a duke, fearing that he would join the parliamentary opposition. Then William threatened that he would be elected to the House of Commons from the district of Totnes in Devon. Under pressure, George surrendered, and on May 16, 1789, Wilhelm received the titles of Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews and Earl of Munster. William, like his older brothers, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, publicly supported the Whig party, which was in opposition to the king, but, like many politicians of that time, the political orientation of the prince was very changeable, so one cannot unambiguously attribute him to any one party. . In 1790 Wilhelm left the Navy.
When Great Britain entered the war with France in 1793, the prince was ready to serve his country and expected to take part in this war, but he was not provided with a ship. Perhaps the reason for this was the fall of a drunken prince from the stairs, as a result of which he broke his arm, as well as a speech before the House of Lords, in which William opposed the war. The following year, the prince spoke out in support of the war, but the Admiralty ignored his request to return to service. Wilhelm did not abandon attempts to take an active part in the war, but even the rank of admiral he received in 1798 was purely formal. During the Napoleonic Wars, the prince also failed to achieve a command position. In 1811 he received the honorary title of Admiral of the Fleet. In 1813, Wilhelm arrived on a visit to the location of British troops in the Southern Netherlands. Watching the bombing of Antwerp from the bell tower, the prince himself came under fire. The bullet pierced his uniform.
In the House of Lords, William opposed the abolition of slavery, which, although illegal in Britain, still existed in the British colonies. Traveling a lot, the prince saw that free people in the north of Scotland live worse than slaves in the West Indies, so he believed that freedom would not bring anything good to slaves. Many parliamentarians reckoned with the opinion of the prince, taking into account his experience of life in the West Indies. Speaking in the House of Lords, William declared that all adherents of the ideas of abolitionism, and in particular William Wilberforce, are either fanatics or hypocrites. In other matters, the prince most often took a more liberal position. William IV came to the throne at the age of almost 65 - he was the oldest British monarch at the time of accession.
Despite his venerable age and short reign, Wilhelm managed quite a lot. Under him, important reforms were undertaken: the legislation on the poor was revised, the democratization of municipalities was carried out, child labor was limited for the first time, and slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. In addition, under the act of 1832, the electoral system of Britain was changed. Wilhelm was the last king to appoint a prime minister against the will of parliament (1834).
With the death of William, the personal union of Great Britain and Hanover ended: as the British monarch, he was succeeded by his niece Victoria, the daughter of his younger brother Edward of Kent, who died in 1820, but she could not inherit the kingdom of Hanover, where the salic law was in force, and the next Hanoverian king was still one younger brother of Wilhelm, Duke of Cumberland Ernst August.
Wilhelm IV
| King of Great Britain and Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| June 26 - June 20 | ||
| King of Hanover | ||
|---|---|---|
| June 26 - June 20 | ||
London, Kingdom of Great Britain
Windsor Castle, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Battle by moonlight
In his youth, the future king served in the navy, later bore the nickname "King Sailor". He served in North America, but did not participate in much of the hostilities. Wilhelm inherited the throne after the death of two older brothers, who left no legitimate descendants, at the age of 64. During the seven years of his reign, several important reforms were carried out: the legislation on the poor was revised, the democratization of municipalities and slavery was carried out. William was the last British monarch to appoint a prime minister against the will of Parliament. He granted the Kingdom of Hanover a liberal constitution.
Both legitimate children of William IV died in childhood, so his niece Victoria inherited the British throne, and his younger brother Ernst August became King of Hanover.
early years
Prince Wilhelm spent most of his childhood in Richmond and Kew Palace, where he was educated by private teachers. At the age of thirteen, the prince entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman, in 1780 he was present at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. Although Wilhelm was accompanied on board by a mentor, his naval experience differed little from the service of other midshipmen, as he participated in cooking on an equal footing with everyone else and was even arrested along with other members of the team for a drunken fight in Gibraltar (although the prince was released immediately, as established his personality).
Wilhelm received the rank of lieutenant in 1785, and a year later became captain of the frigate Pegasus. In late 1785, the prince was serving in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who spoke highly of William's professional qualities. Wilhelm and Nelson became good friends, they dined together almost every evening, the prince was a witness at Nelson's wedding. In 1788, Wilhelm became the captain of a frigate. Andromeda, and a year later, together with the rank of rear admiral, he received command of the battleship Valiant .
Service and Policy
In 1790 Wilhelm left the Navy. When Great Britain entered the war with France in 1793, the prince was ready to serve his country and expected to take part in this war, but he was not provided with a ship. Perhaps the reason for this was the fall of a drunken prince from the stairs, as a result of which he broke his arm, as well as a speech before the House of Lords, in which William opposed the war. The following year, the prince spoke out in support of the war, but the Admiralty ignored his request to return to service. Wilhelm did not abandon attempts to take an active part in the war, but even the rank of admiral he received in 1798 was purely formal. During the Napoleonic Wars, the prince also failed to secure a command position. In 1811 he received the honorary title of Admiral of the Fleet. In 1813, Wilhelm arrived on a visit to the location of British troops in the Southern Netherlands. Watching the bombardment of Antwerp from the bell tower, the prince himself came under fire. The bullet pierced his uniform.
In the House of Lords, William opposed the abolition of slavery, which, although illegal in Britain, still existed in the British colonies. Traveling a lot, the prince saw that free people in the north of Scotland live worse than slaves in the West Indies, so he believed that freedom would not bring anything good to slaves. Many parliamentarians reckoned with the prince's opinion, taking into account his experiences in the West Indies. Speaking in the House of Lords, William declared that all adherents of the ideas of abolitionism, and in particular William Wilberforce, are either fanatics or hypocrites. In other matters, the prince most often took a more liberal position.
Governing body
William IV came to the throne at the age of almost 65 - he was the oldest British monarch at the time of accession.
Despite his venerable age and short reign, Wilhelm managed quite a lot. Under him, important reforms were undertaken: the legislation on the poor was revised, the democratization of municipalities was carried out, child labor was limited for the first time, and slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. In addition, under the act of 1832, the electoral system of Britain was changed. From now on, instead of numerous small towns, deputies from large industrial cities, such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, received the primacy in parliament. William was the last king to appoint a prime minister against the will of parliament ().
During the reign of William IV in Great Britain came a real railway boom. The roads under construction were supposed to facilitate the movement of people and goods, providing industrial enterprises with everything necessary.
With the death of William, the personal union of Great Britain and Hanover ended: as a British monarch, he was succeeded by his niece Victoria, the daughter of his younger brother Edward of Kent, who died in 1820, but she could not also inherit the kingdom of Hanover, where the salic law was in force, and the next Hanoverian king was still one younger brother of Wilhelm, Duke of Cumberland Ernst August.
Family
After the death of his niece, Princess Charlotte, in 1817, which jeopardized the future of the dynasty, like his other brothers, he hastily acquired a legitimate family, marrying on July 11, 1818
From a young age, Wilhelm was drawn to the sea. He began his service in the Navy at the age of 13 with the rank of midshipman. In 1780, William participated in the battle at Cape St. Vincent. In 1785 he became a captain and a year later a lieutenant. In 1789, Wilhelm received the title of Duke of Clarence, and a year later he retired with the rank of Rear Admiral. Although William took a seat in the House of Lords, he retained the manners and character of a sailor. He was loose, rude, and spoke terribly about every trifle. , struck by the far from secular manners of his son, even sent him to Hanover for a while, where he continued to lead a wild life.
In 1791, Wilhelm met the Irish actress Dorothy Bland, better known by her stage name Mrs. Jordan. Dorothy bore him 10 children, and only the need to enter into a legal marriage forced Wilhelm to break up with her. Dorothy let Wilhelm go without protest, satisfied with a decent monetary compensation. Wilhelm's wife, Adelaide, was half her husband's age. She was a kind, intelligent and understanding woman. She was not jealous of her husband for the first family, put his affairs in order, kept him from alcohol abuse as much as possible and tried to somehow ennoble his rough nature. If not for the absence of children (both daughters did not live even a year), the marriage of William and Adelaide could be called happy.
In 1818, Wilhelm received the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, and in 1827 he became Lord Admiral. He tried to be completely independent in the management of naval affairs, but a year later, at the request of the king, he resigned.
In 1830, after his death, Wilhelm became king, but he practically did not change his way of life. He could often be seen strolling along Brighton's waterfront or chatting with passers-by.
According to English law, after the death of the king, parliamentary elections were to be held. In 1830, the Whigs defeated them, and the government was headed by Earl Grey. He initiated a change in the electoral system, which has existed in its current form since the 15th century. Large cities such as Manchester or Birmingham had no representatives in parliament, while the borough of Old Sarum, with seven voters, sent two people to parliament. Such "rotten" or "pocket" places were often owned by some aristocrat, who in the same way had several of his representatives in parliament. The House of Commons rejected the reform proposal, and Lord Gray initiated the dissolution of Parliament. Wilhelm hesitated at first, but then took the side of his prime minister. In order to get a majority in the House of Lords, which was slowing down the bill, William was ready to introduce several new peerage titles, but this was not needed, and in 1832 the Reform Act was passed. As a result of the reform, 56 "rotten towns" lost the right to elect their representatives to parliament, and the vacated 143 seats were distributed among large cities. After that, Parliament began to discuss other important issues, such as the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire and the prohibition of forced labor, but William had nothing to do with the adoption of these laws.
Subsequently, Wilhelm intervened in politics only once - in 1834, when he became the last British monarch to appoint a prime minister against the will of parliament. They became Viscount Melbourne, who replaced the unpopular Earl Gray, but actually continued his policy.
Wilhelm died in 1837 at Windsor Castle, where he was buried. He had no heirs, and the crown of England passed to his 18-year-old niece, and the crown of Hanover to his brother, since under Salic law a woman could not govern Hanover.
