Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (1649–1709) was the closest confidant of William III and arguably the most important politician in Williamite Britain. Beginning his career in 1664 as page to William of Orange, his fortunes gained momentum with the Prince's rise to power in The Netherlands and Britain, emerging as William's favourite at court from the 1670s onwards.
Taking a broadly chronological approach, the central concern of this book is not simply to provide a biographical account of Portland's life, but to explore wider political themes within a European context. By analysing Portland's role within William's government it shows how royal favourites could still wield considerable influence on European events and help shape royal policy, particularly with regard to foreign policy. By engaging with the question of why such a figure emerged, this study helps illuminate the workings of William's government and the central role of his foreign entourage.
Drawing from archival material in England, Scotland, France and The Netherlands, it ties the history of post-Revolution Britain with political events in the Netherlands. It also analyses Anglo-Dutch political relations during the crucial period of the Nine Years War, Britain's first major commitment to a continental war since the sixteenth century. In so doing it connects Dutch and British historiography and significantly contributes to our understanding of British politics during the 1690s, both domestically and within an international context.
Reviews: 'David Onnekink has made an extremely valuable contribution both to broadening and especially deepening our understanding of the impact of King William III’s statecraft. His is an excellent piece of often ground-breaking research, fully vindicating the business of patient work in widely dispersed archives. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–91 which William III master-minded together with his prime confidant, Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, operating to begin with from Holland, not only consolidated the British state but also fundamentally changed the political culture of the West, damaging and discrediting absolute monarchy everywhere and setting the stage for Britain's pre-eminence in the eighteenth century. The Glorious Revolution reorganized the governing institutions of Britain itself, as well as British power in Ireland and the Americas and also transformed Britain’s relationship to Europe and altered the balance of power throughout the Western world. Yet, over the decades historians have had great difficulty in properly coming to grips with this vast world-historical event perhaps especially owing to the large amount of widely dispersed but indispensable unpublished as well as published material a not inconsiderable proportion of which is in Dutch. David Onnekink’s book, based on archival research in Holland, Ireland and in Paris as well as Scotland and England, does much to fill the gap. He demonstrates convincingly that vastly important consequences flowed, rather paradoxically, from a court politics which had a number of thoroughly traditional as well as some ‘modern’ characteristics. Not the least of the former was the vigorous ‘re-emergence of the court-favourite’ in the shape of the mysterious, greedy, deeply unpopular and high-handed Portland. Onnekink’s is indeed the first detailed study ever to focus on, interpret and assess Bentinck’s wide-ranging and unparalleled coordinating role especially in the years 1689–99 in Scotland, Ireland, England, and France as well as The Netherlands .'
Jonathan I. Israel, Princeton, USA
‘… Dr Onnekink's study is an important contribution to the historiography of later seventeenth-century Europe. It integrates British and Dutch history effectively and will be essential reading for historians of late seventeenth-century Britain and of the United Provinces.’ H-Albion
‘… The Anglo-Dutch Favourite is an important book about an important man, and will be a welcome addition to our growing understanding of the age of William III.’ Renaissance Quarterly
‘… there has, until now, been little real exploration of [Hans Willem Bentinck's] role in William III's life or of his political career in Britain, the United Provinces, France and the Empire. David Onnekink's The Anglo-Dutch Favourite seeks to redress this in a full-scale political biography that draws upon Bentinck's considerable archive, and situates his career against the backdrop of late 17th-century European power politics and the political changes that took place in Britain after the revolution of 1688-9… The Anglo-Dutch Favourite presents a fresh, detailed, and widely-researched account of Bentinck, which should prove valuable to scholars of post-1689 polity and, in particular, the rule and kingship of William III.’ Parliamentary History
‘… a well-written, extremely competent study less of the life and career of Bentinck as such than of his role in the making of William III's career and major decisions, and as such is extremely welcome, filling a notorious gap in the literature and in our historical knowledge.’ Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden