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 AND SECOND DECLARATIONS: 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". It seems that some had been printed, but politics in England had shifted and King James II had "begun to retract some of the arbitrary and despotick powers". So a second, shorter, Additional Declaration was added, dated 24 October. This Additional Declaration was signed off in exactly the same way.
The Declaration, and the Additional Declaration, were then printed together as a single pamphlet. It was a Europe-wide phenomenon, in at least five languages in various towns, which in total were the biggest print run Europe hd 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.
WHO DARES TO SPEKE OF '88?: But someone who was not impressed with William's Declaration was Hugh Speke – who decided to create a new, fake, "Third" one. He published it a large quantity in both in English and in Dutch.
More to follow...
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