Contemporary sources described the triumphal entry of William III as the most magnificent spectacle of the so-called Dutch Golden Age. Triumphal arches and firework displays were built to mark William’s first return to the Republic since the Glorious Revolution while numerous foreign princes and diplomats travelled from far to meet the new King of England. Seventeenth-century observers focused on William’s representation in the triumphal entry, its temporary architecture and the medals struck to commemorate this occasion, rather than subsequent depiction of these events in prints, which has been the focus of modern scholarship. This thesis defines the triumphal entry as a form of ritual involving people and objects in order to analyze the relation between the event and its cultural and political significance. It argues that its design, purpose and impact can only be understood in the context of the Glorious Revolution and William’s constant struggle against Louis XIV of France. As a successor state, the Anglo-Dutch monarchy required the fabrication of new traditions to sustain an appearance of legitimacy and negotiate the break with the past. But the claims of the triumphal entry were ambiguous and reactions across Europe ranged from exuberant praise to accusations of tyranny and usurpation. French critics pointed out that William’s portrayal as a Roman conqueror revealed the true nature of his ambitions and contradicted the conciliatory promises of his post-revolutionary reign. Collective identities and transnational networks in medieval and early modern Europe, 1000-180
