William

1. known as William the Lion. ?1143--1214, king of Scotland (1165-- 1214)

2. Prince. born 1982, first son of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

William

the Conqueror (1027–1087) commanded Normans in conquest of Britain; victor at Hastings (1066). [Br. Hist.: Bishop, 42–46]

See: Conquerors

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

William

(Wilhelm). In Germany:

William I (Hohenzollern). Born Mar. 22, 1797, in Berlin; died there Mar. 9, 1888. King of Prussia from 1861 and German emperor from 1871. From 1858 to 1861, William was regent when King Frederick William IV became feeble-minded. In German nationalistic literature there were efforts to give William I the credit for forming a unified German monarchical state and to create the legend of “William the Great.” In fact, however, during William I’s reign Prussia and later the German Empire were ruled by Bismarck.

REFERENCES

Narochnitskaia, L. I. Rossiia i voiny Prussii v 60-kh gg. XIX v. za ob”edinenie Germanii “sverkhu.” Moscow, 1960.
Sybel, H. Die Begrundung des Deutschen Reiches durch Wilhelm I, 3rd. ed., vols. 1–7. Munich-Berlin, 1913.
William II. Born Jan. 27, 1859, in Potsdam; died June 4, 1941, Utrecht Province, the Netherlands. German emperor and Prussian king from 1888 to 1918, grandson of William I. A representative of aggressive German Junker-bourgeois imperialism, William II actively contributed to the unleashing of World War I. He was overthrown by revolution on Nov. 9, 1918, and fled to the Netherlands. On Nov. 28, 1918, William II abdicated.

WORKS

In Russian translation:
Perepiska Vil’gel’ma II s Nikolaem II , 1394-1914. Moscow-Petrograd [1923].
Memuary: Sobytiia i liudi. Moscow-Petrograd, 1923.

REFERENCES

Erusalimskii, A. S. Vneshniaia politika i diplomatiia germanskogo imperializma v kontse XIX v., 2nd ed. Moscow, 1951.
Schreiner, A. Zur Geschichte der deutschen Aussenpolitik 1871-1945 [2nd ed.], vol. 1. Berlin, 1955.

William

(Willem). In the Netherlands:

William I (Frederick). Born Aug. 24, 1772, at The Hague; died Dec. 12, 1843, in Berlin. Prince of Orange, count of Nassau, and king of the Netherlands from 1815 to 1840.

By the decision of the Congress of Vienna of 1814-15, William I was proclaimed king of the united Dutch and Belgian Kingdom of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg. He tried to suppress the Belgian Revolution of 1830, and until 1839 he refused to recognize the independence of Belgium. Popular discontent with his policies compelled him to abdicate in 1840 in favor of his son William.

William II (Frederick Georg Lodewijk). Born Dec. 12, 1792, at The Hague; died Mar. 17, 1849, in Tilburg. King from 1840 to 1849, grand duke of Luxembourg; son of William I.

In 1815, William II commanded the troops of the Nether-lands at the Battle of Waterloo. Under the pressure of the national liberation movement of the Belgian people he recognized Belgium’s independence in October 1830, which caused his father to remove him from his post as commander of the Netherlands armed forces. He was married to Anna Pavlovna, sister of the Russian emperor Alexander I. Under the influence of revolutionary events in a number of European countries in 1848, he introduced liberal reforms in the constitution, finances, and taxation.

William III (Alexander Paul Frederick Lodewijk). Born Feb. 19, 1817, in Brussels; died Nov. 23, 1890, at the Loo. King from 1849 to 1890, grand duke of Luxembourg; son of William II.

Alarmed by the European revolutions of 1848-49, William III was obliged to abide by the constitution and to leave the solution of a number of problems confronting the state to the parliament. Maneuvering between the conservatives and the liberals, he struggled against the latter and twice (1866 and 1867) prorogued the lower house.

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References in classic literature

I took pains to show William that I had forgotten his maunderings, but I observed the girl nightly, and once, instead of nodding, she shook her head, and that evening I could not get into a pocket.

I was pleased to find that William's troubles were near an end without my having to interfere in his behalf, and I then remembered that he would not be able to see the girl Irene from the library windows, which are at the back of the club.

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"A tedious foolery, rather," said Sir William Howe, with an air of indifference.

Sir William Howe and his guests stood at the doors of the contiguous apartments, watching the progress of this singular pageant, with various emotions of anger, contempt, or half-acknowledged fear, but still with an anxious curiosity.

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Now I may say that even I could not require William Price to excite a greater interest, or be followed by warmer wishes and higher commendation, than were most voluntarily bestowed by my uncle after the evening they had passed together."

He had communicated it to no creature: he had not breathed a syllable of it even to Mary; while uncertain of the issue, he could not have borne any participation of his feelings, but this had been his business; and he spoke with such a glow of what his solicitude had been, and used such strong expressions, was so abounding in the deepest interest, in twofold motives, in views and wishes more than could be told, that Fanny could not have remained insensible of his drift, had she been able to attend; but her heart was so full and her senses still so astonished, that she could listen but imperfectly even to what he told her of William, and saying only when he paused, "How kind!

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I wonder if you realize, William, that I've never read even Shakespeare?

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"Brother," said William, "how do I know what you may have done in the secret chambers of your heart, to give Satan an advantage over you?"

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James Williams sat a girl in a loose tan jacket and a straw hat adorned with grapes and roses.

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--"Williams, go down three more places, and write me out the lesson in Greek and English.

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When Roger Williams was banished, he appears to have given the chair to Mrs.

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In all of Winesburg there was but one person who knew the story of the thing that had made ugly the person and the character of Wash Williams. He once told the story to George Willard and the telling of the tale came about in this way:

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