William I

William I, 1797-1888, emperor of Germany (1871-88) and king of Prussia (1861-88), second son of the future King Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg. Essentially conservative, William fled to England during the revolutionary uprisings of 1848 in Prussia, and upon his return (1849) he commanded the troops that crushed the republican insurrection in Baden. When his brother King Frederick William IV was declared insane, William became (1858) regent, and on Frederick William's death William became king of Prussia. William immediately set about reorganizing and strengthening the army, and when he met the opposition of the legislature, he appointed Otto von Bismarck his prime minister in 1862. From then until the emperor's death, Bismarck guided the destiny of Prussia and Germany. Opposition to the king's and Bismarck's military program was suppressed, and in 1864 Prussia began its career of military conquest in the war with Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein. This led to the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, from which Prussia emerged the leading German power. William I commanded in person in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, received the surrender of Napoleon III at Sedan, and was proclaimed (Jan. 18, 1871) emperor of Germany in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles (see Germany). Although William often disagreed with Bismarck's policies, he ultimately was always persuaded by his chancellor. William did not favor the Kulturkampf (Bismarck's struggle against the Roman Catholic Church) but gave it his tacit consent. As a symbol of reborn German unity he was popular, but his militarism and belief in his divine right to rule drew upon him the hatred of the radical elements. Two attempts on William's life (1878) enabled Bismarck to pass severe legislation against the socialists. William's reign was crucial in European history, for it saw Germany's rise to power on the continent. His son Frederick III succeeded him.

William I or William the Conqueror, 1027?-1087, king of England (1066-87). Earnest and resourceful, William was not only one of the greatest of English monarchs but a pivotal figure in European history as well.

Duke of Normandy

The illegitimate son of Robert I, duke of Normandy, and Arletta, daughter of a tanner, he is sometimes called William the Bastard. He succeeded to the dukedom on his father's death in 1035. William and his guardians were hard pressed to keep down recurrent rebellions during his minority, and at least once the young duke barely escaped death.

In 1047, with the aid of Henry I of France, he solidly established his power. William is said to have visited England in 1051 or 1052, when his cousin Edward the Confessor probably promised that William would succeed him as king of England. Despite a papal prohibition, William married Matilda, daughter of Baldwin, count of Flanders, in 1053. The union, which greatly increased the duke's prestige, did not receive papal dispensation until 1059.

William's growing power brought him into conflict with King Henry of France, whose invading armies he defeated in 1054 and 1058. The accession (1060) of the child Philip I of France, whose guardian was William's father-in-law, improved his position, and in 1063 William conquered the county of Maine. Soon afterward Harold, then earl of Wessex, was shipwrecked on the French coast and was turned over to William, who apparently extracted Harold's oath to support the duke's interests in England.

King of England

The Norman Conquest

Upon hearing that Harold had been crowned (1066) king of England, William secured the sanction of the pope, raised an army and transport fleet, sailed for England, and defeated and slew Harold at the battle of Hastings (1066). Overcoming what little resistance remained in SE England, he led his army to London, received the city's submission, and was crowned king on Christmas Day.

Although William immediately began to build and garrison castles around the country, he apparently hoped to maintain continuity of rule; many of the English nobility had fallen at Hastings, but most of those who survived were permitted to keep their lands for the time being. The English, however, did not so readily accept him as their king.

A series of rebellions broke out, and William suppressed them harshly, ravaging great sections of the country. Titles to the lands of the now decimated native nobility were called in and redistributed on a strictly feudal basis (see feudalism), to the king's Norman followers. By 1072 the adherents of Edgar Atheling and their Scottish and Danish allies had been defeated and the military part of the Norman Conquest virtually completed. In the only major rebellion that came thereafter (1075), the chief rebels were Normans.

Later Reign

William undertook church reform, appointed Lanfranc archbishop of Canterbury, substituted foreign prelates for many of the English bishops, took command over the administration of church affairs, and established (1076) separate ecclesiastical courts. In 1085-86 at his orders a survey of England was taken, the results of which were embodied in the Domesday Book. By the Oath of Salisbury in 1086, William established the important precedent that loyalty to the king is superior to loyalty to any subordinate feudal lord of the kingdom. William fought with his factious son Robert II, duke of Normandy, in 1079 and quarreled intermittently with France from 1080 until his death. He invaded the French Vexin in 1087, was fatally injured in a riding accident, and died at Rouen, directing that his son Robert should succeed him in Normandy and his son William (William II) in England.

William I, 1772-1843, first king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1815-40), son of Prince William V of Orange, last stadtholder of the Netherlands. He commanded (1793-95) the Dutch army in the French Revolutionary Wars, and after the French occupation of the Netherlands he entered the Prussian and later the Austrian service. He returned to the Netherlands in 1813, and the Congress of Vienna gave him (1815) the title king of the Netherlands. His kingdom comprised present Belgium as well as the Netherlands, and he was awarded the grand duchy of Luxembourg in compensation for his family holdings in Germany, which he ceded to Prussia. William soon alienated his Belgian subjects by attempting to make Dutch the official language, by granting disproportionate influence to the northern provinces, and by encroaching on the freedom of the Roman Catholic Church. Political unrest in Belgium led to the revolution of 1830, which he stubbornly sought to suppress despite the intervention of England and France (see London Conference). Belgium won its independence, but final recognition by William came only in 1839. When his Dutch subjects forced him to liberalize the constitution in 1840, he abdicated in favor of his son William II. Through his rule as an enlightened despot, William fostered the development of Dutch agriculture, commerce, and industry.

William I, 1781-1864, king of Württemberg (1816-64), son and successor of Frederick I. Before his accession he fought (1812) with the French emperor Napoleon I in Russia and later, when Frederick I had broken his alliance with France, William served with the anti-French forces (1814-15). As king, William granted a constitution in 1819, strove to protect the rights of the smaller German states against both Austria and Prussia, and promoted the Zollverein, the German customs union.

William I, prince of Orange: see William the Silent.

known as William the Conqueror

(born circa 1028, Falaise, Normandy—died Sept. 9, 1087, Rouen) Duke of Normandy (1035–87) and king of England (1066–87). Though born out of wedlock, he succeeded his father as duke of Normandy, subduing rebellions and becoming the mightiest noble in France. In 1051 Edward the Confessor promised to make him heir to the English throne, but on Edward's death in 1066, Harold Godwineson, earl of Wessex (Harold II), was accepted as king. Determined to assert his right to the throne, William sailed from Normandy with an invasion force, defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned king. The Norman Conquest was thus completed, though English rebellions continued until 1071. To secure England's frontiers, William invaded Scotland (1072) and Wales (1081). In 1086 he ordered the survey summarized in the Domesday Book. He divided his lands between his sons, giving Normandy and Maine to Robert II and England to William II.

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German Friedrich Wilhelm

(born Aug. 15, 1688, Berlin—died May 31, 1740, Potsdam, Prussia) King of Prussia (1713–40). The son of Frederick I, he received valuable military experience in the War of the Spanish Succession. Realizing that Prussia's military and financial weakness made it dependent on the relations between the great powers, he built up an army that became a strong military presence on the Continent, instituted economic and financial reforms, centralized his administration, encouraged industry and manufacture, mandated compulsory primary education (1717), and freed the serfs on his own domains (1719). He was succeeded by his son, Frederick II.

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Frederick William I (Friedrich Wilhelm I) (August 14, 1688 – May 31, 1740) of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg (as Frederick William II) from 1713 until his death. He is popularly known as "the Soldier-King" (der Soldatenkönig).

The King acquired a reputation for his fondness for military display, leading to his special efforts to hire the tallest men he could find in all of Europe for a special regiment nicknamed the Potsdam Giants.

Reign

He was born in Berlin to Frederick I of Prussia and Sophia Charlotte of Hanover. His father had successfully acquired the title King for the margraves of Brandenburg.

Frederick William's contributions to the state of Prussia primarily consisted of civil service reforms, developing the international reputation of the Prussian military, and increasing the overall efficiency and discipline of his military, which in turn placed Prussia as an entity on a par with Early Modern France, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and other politically dominant states in Europe during the 18th century.

During his reign, Frederick William I did much to centralize and improve Prussia. He replaced mandatory military service among the middle class with an annual tax, established primary schools, and resettled East Prussia (which had been devastated by the plague in 1709).

Frederick William was an extremely able administrator. He opposed all superfluous spending, so long as it did not concern his army. Frederick William paid the consumer tax he himself had imposed, and no candles were left burning at court. He lived frugally and worked hard and tirelessly for the welfare of his people. He encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times. He dictated the manual of Regulations for State Officials, containing 35 chapters and 297 paragraphs in which every public servant in Prussia could find his duties precisely set out. A minister or councillor failing to attend a committee meeting would lose six months' pay. If he absented himself a second time, he would be discharged from the Royal service.

In short, Frederick William was extremely concerned by every little aspect of his country so that it suited the needs of his army. His rule was absolutist and he was a firm autocrat. He practiced rigid economy, and at his death there was a large surplus in the treasury which was kept rather bizarrely in his basement. The Prussian army was made an efficient instrument of war. Although Frederick William built up one of the most powerful armies in Europe and loved military pomp, he was essentially a peaceful man. He intervened briefly in the Great Northern War, but gained little territory.

Relationship with Frederick II

Though he was peaceful, he was by no means gentle. His eldest surviving son was Frederick II (Fritz), born in 1712. Frederick William wanted him to become a fine soldier. As a little child Fritz was awakened each morning by the firing of a cannon. At the age of 6 he was given his own regiment of children to drill as cadets and a year later he was given a miniature arsenal. Fritz was beaten for being thrown off a bolting horse and for wearing gloves in cold weather. Frederick William would frequently mistreat Fritz (he preferred his younger sibling August William). After the prince attempted to flee to England, the father had one of the prince's closest friends, Hans Hermann von Katte executed before the eyes of the prince, who himself was court-martialed. The court declared itself not competent in this case. Whether it was the king's intention to have his son executed as well (as Voltaire claims), is not clear. However, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI intervened claiming that a prince could only be tried by the Reichstag itself. Frederick was imprisoned in the Fortress of Küstrin from 2nd September to 19th November 1731 and exiled from court until February 1732.

Frederick William and wife Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (the daughter of his uncle King George I of Great Britain and Sophia Dorothea of Celle) had fourteen children, including these:

• Wilhelmine, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709–1758), married Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth
• King Frederick "the Great" (Friedrich II of Prussia) (1712–1786)
• Friederike Luise, Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1714–1784), married Karl Wilhelm Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
• Philippine Charlotte, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1716–1801), married Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
• Sophia Dorothea, Margravine of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1719–1765), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt
• Luise Ulrike, Queen of Sweden (1720–1782), married Adolf Fredrik, King of Sweden
• August Wilhelm (1722–1758)
• Anna Amalie (1723–1787)
• Heinrich (1726–1802)
• August Ferdinand (1730–1813)

Titles from birth

• His Serene Highness Duke Frederick of Prussia
• His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia
• His Majesty King Frederick William I in Prussia

Ancestry

Frederick William I's ancestors in three generations

Frederick William I of Prussia	Father: Frederick I of Prussia	Paternal Grandfather: Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg	Paternal Great-grandfather: George William, Elector of Brandenburg
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
		Paternal Grandmother: Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau	Paternal Great-grandfather: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
			Paternal Great-grandmother: Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
	Mother: Sophia Charlotte of Hanover	Maternal Grandfather: Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg	Maternal Great-grandfather: George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
		Maternal Grandmother: Sophia of Hanover	Maternal Great-grandfather: Frederick V, Elector Palatine
			Maternal Great-grandmother: Elizabeth of Bohemia

References

External links

• Biography of Frederick William I