The Netherlands - William of Orange (Dutch Defence)

William I, Prince of Orange (24 April 1533 – 10 July 1584), also widely known as William the Silent or more commonly known as William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. A wealthy nobleman, William originally served the Habsburgs but unhappy with the centralisation of political power away from the local estates and with the Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants, William joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard in Delft in 1584.