Who was the best & worse king of the netherlands?

Answer 1

There are too many to choose!

Philip the Good was one great Dutch leader. During his reign Burgundy and Holland reached new heights of prosperity and prestige and became leading centers of the arts. Philip is known in history for his administrative reforms, and his patronage of Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck. He is credited with instituting the Northern Renaissance.

You should include William the Silent. He was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1648.

Another great Dutch leader was William the Silent's great-grandson, William III of Orange. He deposed his father-in-law James II of England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and ruled Great Britain as the first constitutional monarch alongside his wife, Mary II.

Probably the worst monarch to rule the Netherlands was Philip II of Hapsburg. He was King of Spain and all the Hapsburg territories in Europe and the Americas that were not controlled by the Austrian Hapsburg family. He governed the Netherlands as just another Spanish territory, and favoured it only as a means to raise funds to fight his various wars in the counter reformation. It was Philip's bad governing which eventually lead to the rise in popularity of William the Silent and the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule.

Hope this helps,
Peace!

Answer 2

As a sovereign nation, the Netherlands did not exist until 1588 when the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was formed to oppose Spanish rule. Being a republic, there were of course no monarchs, but the fledgling country was governed by stewards of the House of Orange Nassau. The most notable of which was William (the Silent) of Orange I.

After the Napoleonic wars, a descendent of the House of Orange, William Frederick adopted the title of King (not steward) William I of The Netherlands. His grandson, King William III (1817-1890) is generally considered to be the worst king, the Netherlands has ever had. He was prone to violent outbursts and irrational acts, and in later years it was rumoured that because of syphilis he couldn't procreate. He acquired the nickname King Gorilla. During the last years of his reign, the ravages of syphilis made him mad, and he began to sign legal documents with fantasy names.

Paradoxically, the most revered monarch in The Netherlands is Queen Wilhelmina, daughter of the aforementioned William III and grandmother of our current queen, Beatrix. Whether William III was indeed her real father remains a matter of discussion. Queen Wilhelmina reigned the Netherlands from 1890 until 1948. She personally played a significant role in matters of state during the unruly years of war and revolution that characterized the first half of the 20th century. She was deeply concerned with social matters such as poverty, and regularly abandoned royal protocol when she found it too restrictring when communicating with her people. During the second world war she was exiled, but she and her war cabinet remained in London at great personal risk continuing to organize the Dutch war effort and resistance, while her children were sent to Canada.
Queen Wilhelmina is generally considered the most socially involved Dutch monarch, and a political renovator.