Fake news is nothing new.
It all seemed so plausible and convincing. Closing with "Given under our Hand and Seal at our Headquarters at Sherburn Castle, the 28th day of November, 1688" it claimed to have been written by "William Henry, Prince of Orange" and signed off by his secretary "By his Highnesses special command, C. Huygens". It had all the hallmarks of authenticity. But it was a hoax.
Entitled "The Prince of Orange, His Third Declaration" it purported to be the latest in a series which had begun in the Netherlands around six weeks before.
The first Declaration of William Henry Prince of Orange had been finished in the Netherlands on 10 October 1688, and was also signed off by "William Henry, Prince of Orange – By his Highnesses special command, C. Huygens". Before it went to the printing presses – for almost 100,000 copies to be produced in multiple languages – a second, shorter, Additional Declaration was added, almost as a PS at the end. And it was signed off in exactly the same way.
The Declaration was a Europe-wide phenomenon, with the biggest print run ever known. I have plenty on this blog about it which I'll not repeat here now. The Declaration was pretty conciliatory, and, in places, not at all what people today might expect. It may also have been a template for the American Declaration of Independence almost 100 years later.
But someone who was not impressed with William's Declaration was Hugh Speke – who decided to create a new, fake, one – and published it both in English and in Dutch, entitled De Derde Declaratie, Van Sijne Hoogheyd Wilhem Hendrick, Prince van Orangie.
More to follow...
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