WILLIAM OF ORANGE. William, Prince of Orange, was the leader of the Dutch against Philip II. He had been trusted by Charles, Philip's father, who had leaned on his shoulder at the great ceremony held in Brussels when Charles gave up his throne to Philip. William was called the "Silent," because he was careful not to tell his plans to any except his nearest friends. When Philip returned to Spain, William was made governor or _stadtholder_ of three of the Dutch provinces--Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. Philip was angry because William and other great nobles in the Netherlands opposed his way of dealing with the heretics and of ruling the Netherlands. In this both the southern Netherlanders and the northern Netherlanders were united, although the southern Netherlanders remained faithful to the Roman Catholic religion. SPAIN AND ENGLAND. The English at first had no reason to quarrel with the king of Spain. They were friendly to the Netherlanders, who were his subjects. During the Middle Ages they sold great quantities of wool to the Netherland cities of Bruges, Brussels, and Ghent, and bought fine cloth woven in those towns. The friendship of the ruler of the Netherlands seemed necessary, if this trade was to prosper. It was the trouble about religion which finally made the English and the Spaniards enemies. HENRY VIII. During the reign of Henry VIII, King of England, the king, the parliament, and the clergy decided to refuse obedience to the pope. The king called himself the head of the Church in England. Lutheran views crept into the country as they had done into the Netherlands, but King Henry at first disliked the Lutherans quite as much as he grew to dislike the pope. THE ENGLISH CHURCH. So long as Henry lived not much change was made in the beliefs or the manner of worship in the Church. During the short reign of his son, the English Church became more like the Protestant Churches on the Continent, except that in England there were still archbishops and bishops, and the government of the Church went on much as before. When Henry's daughter Mary was made queen she tried to stop these changes, and for a few years her subjects were again obedient to the pope, but she died in 1558 and her half-sister, Elizabeth, became queen. [Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH] THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND THE CATHOLICS. In religious matters Queen Elizabeth did much as her father and her brother had done. All persons were forced to attend the religious services carried on in the manner ordered in the prayer-book. Roman Catholics could not hold any government office. They were punished if they tried to persuade others to remain faithful to the older Church. Philip did not like this, but for a time he preferred to be on friendly terms with the English. [Illustration: COSTUMES AT THE TIME OF ELIZABETH]