Assassination of William I of Orange

Date: July 10, 1584 • Location: Delft, Netherlands

William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.

William the Silent or William the Taciturn, more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange and in the Dutch national anthem as William of Nassau, was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. Born into the House of Nassau, he became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the Orange-Nassau branch and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands.