# Orange versus the Sun King · The 1672 Disaster Year and the duel of William III & Louis XIV

> Interactive animated map on Moving Polygons by chrisjager, 14 Nov 1650 – 1 Sep 1715: 67 keyframes, 26 layers, 41 events.

- Map: https://www.movingpolygons.com/map/chrisjager/orange-versus-the-sun-king-the-1672-disaster-year-and-the-duel-of-william-iii-louis-xiv
- Embed: `<iframe src="https://www.movingpolygons.com/embed/chrisjager/orange-versus-the-sun-king-the-1672-disaster-year-and-the-duel-of-william-iii-louis-xiv" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>`
- Last updated: 2026-10-24

## About this map

The Disaster Year (Rampjaar) of 1672 and the forty-year struggle it started between William III of Orange and Louis XIV — from William's birth in 1650 to Louis's death in 1715. The arc follows Luc Panhuysen's 'Oranje tegen de Zonnekoning' (2016): Louis's personal rule and the War of Devolution, the joint French, English, Münster and Cologne attack of 1672, the flooded Water Line and the murder of the De Witts, the coalition wars, the Glorious Revolution that made William king of England, Scotland and Ireland, the Nine Years' War and the Spanish succession.

How to read it: dark blue = France as it stood in 1661, mid blue = Louis XIV's lasting conquests, pale blue = towns and lands France took but had to give back (drawn over the occupied country); orange = the Dutch Republic; red-orange = the Stuart kingdoms under William III (1689–1702); greyish blue = territory occupied by France (Lorraine, the principality of Orange). The light blue band in Holland is the inundated Water Line of 1672–74 (white when it froze). The grey disc is the Brandenburg army of the Great Elector on campaign. Large pins pause playback; small dots show detail on hover.

Borders are approximate, built from modern provinces with hand-drawn historical cuts; small enclaves are omitted and the Zuiderzee (now Flevoland) is left as water. Dates are New Style; English events also give the Old Style date where it is the familiar one. Sources: L. Panhuysen, Oranje tegen de Zonnekoning (2016); J. Israel, The Dutch Republic (1995); J. Lynn, The Wars of Louis XIV (1999); Natural Earth boundaries.

## Timeline

The map animates between these keyframes.

| Date | What the map shows |
| --- | --- |
| 14 Nov 1650 | 1650 · Birth of William III |
| 7 Nov 1659 | 1659 · Peace of the Pyrenees |
| 9 Mar 1661 | 1661 · Louis XIV begins his personal rule |
| 27 Oct 1662 | 1662 · Charles II sells Dunkirk to France |
| 4 Mar 1665 | 1665 · Second Anglo-Dutch War |
| 1 Oct 1665 | Autumn 1665 · Münster invades the Republic |
| 18 Apr 1666 | 1666 · Peace of Cleves: Münster withdraws |
| 24 May 1667 | May 1667 · War of Devolution begins |
| 1 Sep 1667 | Sep 1667 · Lille falls; Peace of Breda |
| 19 Feb 1668 | Feb 1668 · Condé overruns Franche-Comté |
| 2 May 1668 | May 1668 · Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle |
| 1 Sep 1670 | 1670 · Treaty of Dover; Lorraine seized |
| 6 Apr 1672 | Apr 1672 · France declares war: the Rampjaar |
| 12 Jun 1672 | 12 Jun 1672 · Louis crosses the Rhine |
| 1 Jul 1672 | Jul 1672 · Republic overrun, Holland flooded |
| 28 Aug 1672 | Aug 1672 · De Witts murdered; Groningen holds |
| 20 Oct 1672 | Oct 1672 · Great Elector marches to the Rhine |
| 28 Dec 1672 | Dec 1672 · Luxembourg strikes over the ice |
| 1 Feb 1673 | Winter 1672–73 · Frozen Water Line; Coevorden |
| 30 Jun 1673 | Jun 1673 · Maastricht falls; Vossem |
| 13 Sep 1673 | Sep 1673 · Texel won, Naarden retaken |
| 23 Nov 1673 | Nov 1673 · Bonn falls; French leave Utrecht |
| 19 Feb 1674 | Feb 1674 · Peace of Westminster |
| 11 May 1674 | May 1674 · Münster and Cologne make peace |
| 11 Aug 1674 | Aug 1674 · Seneffe; Franche-Comté conquered |
| 14 Oct 1674 | Oct 1674 · Brandenburgers reach Alsace |
| 5 Jan 1675 | Jan 1675 · Turckheim: Turenne clears Alsace |
| 15 Mar 1675 | 1675 · Swedes invade Brandenburg |
| 28 Jun 1675 | Jun 1675 · Fehrbellin |
| 13 Aug 1676 | 1676 · De Ruyter killed; Bremen-Verden overrun |
| 11 Apr 1677 | Apr 1677 · William defeated at Cassel |
| 14 Nov 1677 | Nov 1677 · William marries Mary Stuart |
| 25 Mar 1678 | Mar 1678 · Ghent and Ypres fall |
| 10 Aug 1678 | Aug 1678 · Peace of Nijmegen |
| 15 Nov 1678 | Nov 1678 · Brandenburg takes Swedish Pomerania |
| 25 Jan 1679 | Jan 1679 · The Great Sleigh Drive |
| 29 Jun 1679 | Jun 1679 · Peace of Saint-Germain |
| 30 Sep 1681 | Sep 1681 · Réunions; Strasbourg annexed |
| 6 May 1682 | 1682 · Versailles; Orange seized again |
| 7 Jun 1684 | Jun 1684 · Luxembourg falls to Vauban |
| 18 Oct 1685 | Oct 1685 · Edict of Nantes revoked |
| 30 Oct 1688 | Oct 1688 · Louis invades the Palatinate |
| 15 Nov 1688 | Nov 1688 · William lands at Torbay |
| 23 Feb 1689 | Feb 1689 · William & Mary take the crown |
| 21 Apr 1689 | Apr 1689 · Coronation; Siege of Derry |
| 1 Sep 1689 | Sep 1689 · Palatinate burned; Schomberg lands |
| 11 Jul 1690 | Jul 1690 · Battle of the Boyne |
| 15 Oct 1690 | Oct 1690 · Marlborough takes Cork |
| 8 Apr 1691 | Apr 1691 · Mons falls |
| 22 Jul 1691 | Jul 1691 · Aughrim |
| 13 Oct 1691 | Oct 1691 · Treaty of Limerick |
| 30 Jun 1692 | Jun 1692 · Namur falls; La Hogue |
| 29 Jul 1693 | Jul 1693 · Landen |
| 7 Jan 1695 | Jan 1695 · Death of Queen Mary II |
| 5 Sep 1695 | Sep 1695 · William retakes Namur |
| 20 Sep 1697 | Sep 1697 · Peace of Ryswick |
| 1 Nov 1700 | Nov 1700 · Carlos II dies; Philip V king |
| 6 Feb 1701 | Feb 1701 · French troops enter the barrier |
| 16 Sep 1701 | Sep 1701 · Louis recognises 'James III' |
| 19 Mar 1702 | Mar 1702 · Death of William III |
| 13 Aug 1704 | Aug 1704 · Blenheim |
| 23 May 1706 | May 1706 · Ramillies |
| 1 May 1707 | May 1707 · Union of England and Scotland |
| 9 Dec 1708 | Dec 1708 · Allies take Lille |
| 11 Sep 1709 | Sep 1709 · Malplaquet; Tournai and Mons |
| 11 Apr 1713 | Apr 1713 · Peace of Utrecht |
| 1 Sep 1715 | Sep 1715 · Death of Louis XIV |

## Layers

| Layer | First shown | Last keyframe |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Holy Roman Empire (other German states) | 14 Nov 1650 | 30 Sep 1681 |
| Habsburg Monarchy (Emperor Leopold I) | 14 Nov 1650 | 14 Nov 1650 |
| Spain (Habsburg, Bourbon from 1700) | 14 Nov 1650 | 6 Feb 1701 |
| Spanish Netherlands (Austrian from 1713) | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| Anglo-Dutch condominium (1706–13) | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| Kingdom of France (Louis XIV) | 14 Nov 1650 | 7 Nov 1659 |
| Louis XIV's lasting conquests | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| Franche-Comté (Spanish) | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Aug 1674 |
| Duchy of Lorraine | 14 Nov 1650 | 20 Sep 1697 |
| Principality of Orange (House of Orange) | 14 Nov 1650 | 1 Sep 1715 |
| Dutch Republic (United Provinces) | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| French-held, later given back | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| Prince-Bishopric of Liège | 14 Nov 1650 | 14 Nov 1650 |
| Electorate of Cologne | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 May 1674 |
| Prince-Bishopric of Münster | 14 Nov 1650 | 29 Jun 1679 |
| Brandenburg-Prussia | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Apr 1713 |
| Swedish Empire | 14 Nov 1650 | 7 Nov 1659 |
| Swedish possessions in Germany | 14 Nov 1650 | 29 Jun 1679 |
| Denmark-Norway | 14 Nov 1650 | 1 Sep 1667 |
| Norway (Danish crown) | 14 Nov 1650 | 14 Nov 1650 |
| Kingdom of England (Great Britain from 1707) | 14 Nov 1650 | 1 May 1707 |
| Kingdom of Scotland | 14 Nov 1650 | 1 May 1707 |
| Kingdom of Ireland (Williamite from 1689) | 14 Nov 1650 | 19 Mar 1702 |
| Jacobite Ireland (James II) | 14 Nov 1650 | 13 Oct 1691 |
| Inundations of the Holland Water Line (1672–74) | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 May 1674 |
| Brandenburg army of the Great Elector | 14 Nov 1650 | 11 Jul 1690 |

## Events

- **14 Nov 1650, Birth of William III**: Born at the Binnenhof eight days after his father William II died of smallpox. Holland leaves the stadtholderate vacant: the First Stadtholderless Period begins, soon led by Johan de Witt.
- **7 Nov 1659, Peace of the Pyrenees**: France and Spain end 24 years of war on the Isle of Pheasants. France gains Artois and Roussillon; Louis is to marry the Infanta Maria Theresa.
- **9 Mar 1661, Mazarin dies: Louis rules alone**: After Cardinal Mazarin's death the 22-year-old Louis announces he will govern without a first minister.
- **19 Jun 1667, Raid on the Medway**: De Ruyter and Cornelis de Witt break the chain at Chatham, burn English warships and tow away the flagship Royal Charles.
- **23 Jan 1668, Triple Alliance**: The Republic, England and Sweden force Louis to stop his conquests. Louis never forgives the Dutch 'merchants' for it.
- **1 Jun 1670, Secret Treaty of Dover**: Charles II secretly sells his alliance to Louis XIV: England will join a war to destroy the Republic.
- **6 Apr 1672, Louis XIV declares war**: From Saint-Germain Louis declares war on the Republic. With England, Münster and Cologne he attacks with about 120,000 men: the Rampjaar begins.
- **7 Jun 1672, Battle of Solebay**: De Ruyter surprises the Anglo-French fleet off Southwold; the allied landing on the Dutch coast never happens.
- **12 Jun 1672, Crossing of the Rhine at Lobith**: Louis's army fords the Rhine at the Tolhuis and outflanks the IJssel line; William falls back to Utrecht and then Holland.
- **22 Jun 1672, Holland floods the Water Line**: Sluices and dikes are opened from Muiden to Gorinchem. The polders fill too slowly at first, but the water stops the French at the gates of Holland.
- **23 Jun 1672, Utrecht surrenders**: The city opens its gates without a fight; the cathedral is returned to Catholic worship while the French stay.
- **4 Jul 1672, William made stadtholder**: After riots in Dordrecht and elsewhere the States of Holland repeal the Perpetual Edict and appoint William stadtholder.
- **9 Jul 1672, Siege of Groningen**: Münster and Cologne besiege Groningen; Carl von Rabenhaupt holds the city. Relieved on 28 August, still celebrated as Gronings Ontzet.
- **20 Aug 1672, Murder of the De Witt brothers**: Johan and Cornelis de Witt are lynched by a mob at the Gevangenpoort. William punishes no one.
- **28 Dec 1672, Bodegraven and Zwammerdam**: Luxembourg's troops cross the frozen Water Line and burn the two villages; the thaw forces them back. Dutch pamphlets make it a symbol of French cruelty.
- **30 Jun 1673, Siege of Maastricht**: Vauban's trenches take the Maas fortress in thirteen days; d'Artagnan of the Musketeers is killed on 25 June.
- **21 Aug 1673, Battle of Texel (Kijkduin)**: De Ruyter's last great victory off the Dutch coast ends all invasion plans.
- **12 Nov 1673, Bonn taken**: William and Montecuccoli take Bonn, cutting the French supply line down the Rhine. Louis evacuates most of the Republic.
- **11 Aug 1674, Battle of Seneffe**: Condé and William fight a bloody, drawn battle; both claim victory.
- **28 Jun 1675, Battle of Fehrbellin**: The Great Elector beats the Swedish army that invaded Brandenburg on France's behalf.
- **11 Apr 1677, Battle of Cassel**: Louis's brother Philippe d'Orléans defeats William trying to relieve Saint-Omer; Valenciennes and Cambrai have already fallen.
- **14 Nov 1677, William marries Mary Stuart**: At St James's Palace (4 Nov O.S.) William weds his cousin Mary, daughter of the Catholic Duke of York — a dynastic link that will later bring him the crown.
- **10 Aug 1678, Peace of Nijmegen**: The Republic loses nothing — Maastricht is returned. Spain pays: France gains Franche-Comté, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Ypres and more. Louis is at the height of his power.
- **30 Sep 1681, Strasbourg annexed**: French troops occupy the free imperial city in peacetime.
- **18 Oct 1685, Edict of Nantes revoked**: The Edict of Fontainebleau bans Protestantism in France. Some 50,000 Huguenots flee to the Republic, turning Dutch and English opinion against Louis.
- **15 Nov 1688, William lands at Torbay**: William lands at Brixham (5 Nov O.S.) and marches on London; James's army melts away.
- **23 Feb 1689, William & Mary offered the crown**: At the Banqueting House (13 Feb O.S.) Parliament offers the crown jointly to William and Mary, with the Declaration of Right.
- **2 Mar 1689, Burning of the Palatinate**: Louis orders the Palatinate laid waste: Heidelberg, Mannheim, Speyer and Worms are burned.
- **21 Apr 1689, Coronation of William III and Mary II**: Crowned in Westminster Abbey (11 Apr O.S.). The same day the Scottish Convention proclaims them king and queen of Scots. The stadtholder of Holland is now king of three kingdoms.
- **28 Apr 1689, Siege of Derry**: Protestant Derry holds out for 105 days until relieved by ships breaking the boom (28 Jul O.S.).
- **11 Jul 1690, Battle of the Boyne**: William defeats James (1 Jul O.S.); James flees to France and Dublin falls.
- **1 Jun 1692, Barfleur and La Hogue**: The Anglo-Dutch fleet defeats Tourville and burns his ships at La Hogue; the French invasion of England is called off.
- **7 Jan 1695, Death of Mary II**: Mary dies of smallpox at Kensington (28 Dec 1694 O.S.); William rules alone.
- **5 Sep 1695, William retakes Namur**: William's greatest success in the field: Namur's citadel surrenders.
- **20 Sep 1697, Peace of Ryswick**: Signed at Huis ter Nieuwburg. Louis recognises William as king, returns Lorraine, Luxembourg and his réunions outside Alsace, but keeps Strasbourg.
- **1 Nov 1700, Death of Carlos II**: The last Spanish Habsburg leaves everything to Louis's grandson, Philip of Anjou. Louis accepts the will.
- **16 Sep 1701, Louis recognises 'James III'**: As James II dies at Saint-Germain, Louis recognises his son as king of England — an insult that unites England behind William's new Grand Alliance.
- **19 Mar 1702, Death of William III**: After a fall from his horse — his mount stumbled on a molehill — William dies at Kensington (8 Mar O.S.). Holland enters its Second Stadtholderless Period; Anne succeeds in England.
- **13 Aug 1704, Battle of Blenheim**: Marlborough and Prince Eugene destroy a Franco-Bavarian army: Louis's first great defeat.
- **11 Apr 1713, Peace of Utrecht**: Philip V keeps Spain but renounces France; the Southern Netherlands pass to Austria with a Dutch barrier; France recovers Lille; Orange becomes French.
- **1 Sep 1715, Death of Louis XIV**: After 72 years on the throne the Sun King dies at Versailles, having outlived his rival by thirteen years.
- Plus 86 smaller events, shown as dots on the map.