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680. The Netherlands: The Revolt that Made The Modern World (Part 4)
Where this was said
The Paradox at the Heart of the Wilhelmus
At 11:04 · chapter starts 10:20
The first verse of the Wilhelmus, translated from the Dutch Royal House website, announces itself as a song narrated by William of Nassau — yet its closing lines pledge a lifelong loyalty to the King of Spain. [1] — Tom Holland "To the King of Spain I've granted a lifelong loyalty." 11:04 Dominic and Tom are jointly baffled: William is the George Washington of Dutch independence, the man leading the revolt against Philip II. To have him pledge loyalty to the enemy king in the national anthem is, as Tom says, as though the Americans had an anthem featuring George Washington pledging allegiance to George III. [2] — Tom Holland "It's as though the Americans had a national anthem and featured in its first verse George Washington pledging allegiance to George III." 11:56 This paradox — a rebel song that proclaims loyalty to the rebel's enemy — becomes the central thread of the entire episode, driving the inquiry back into the circumstances of the revolt and the biography of its unlikely hero.
The Dutch national anthem's first verse has its hero — William the Silent, the George Washington of Dutch independence — pledging lifelong loyalty to the King of Spain, the very monarch he was fighting. It's the strangest opening verse of any national anthem on earth.
