Historical
and Commemorative Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM III, PRINCE OF
ORANGE, AND PRINCESS MARY CHEVALIER, Nicholas: France, 1677, Silver, 42 mm William III of England (1650-1702), also known as William II of
Scotland and William III of Orange, was the son and only child
of William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal of England. A
Dutch aristocrat, born in The Netherlands, he was the Prince of Orange from
his birth, Stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic from
1672, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689, in each case
until his death. Early on, many Protestants heralded him as a champion of
their faith and hoped that he would be able to take the crown of England, as
they were intensely fearful of Catholicism and the papacy. They also hoped
to ally themselves with him against the French as he had a powerful army and
a fleet four times larger than the famed Spanish Armada. To strengthen the
position of The Netherlands against the French, William endeavored to marry
his first cousin Mary, the daughter of James, Duke of York. Mary II (1662-1694), Queen of England, Scotland and
Ireland was the elder daughter of James, Duke of York (later James II of
England), and Anne Hyde. Despite her father’s Catholicism, Mary was brought
up a Protestant. In 1677, at the age of 15, Mary was married to her cousin
William, the event commemorated by this medal. Although James would have
liked to see his daughter marry the Catholic heir to the King of France,
King Charles II (James’ brother) had insisted on making the match with their
Protestant nephew to mollify the Protestants, who were extremely concerned
about James' Catholicism. The marriage, ensuring that after James the crown
would return to Protestant hands, was tremendously popular in England. During the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689), Mary and her
husband William were invited to assume the English throne as joint monarchs,
which they did as William and Mary, with James fleeing to France. In 1701, in order to prevent a Catholic from ever
ascending to the throne, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement which
assured that the monarchy would be passed down only to Protestants.
Thus the act was responsible for the accession of George of Hanover,
to the throne. George, a German who spoke little English was the son
of Sophia, electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I. George
became King George I in 1714, even though there were 57 persons closer by
the rules of inheritance than Sophia and George.
LINK to
contemporary account of the marriage (from bbc.co) LINK to Act
of Settlement (from wikipedia)
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