Editing William the Silent (section)

===Imperial favourite===
Being a ward of Charles V and having received his education under the tutelage of the Emperor's sister Mary, William came under the particular attention of the imperial family, and became a favourite. He was appointed [[Captain (OF-2)|captain]] in the [[cavalry]] in 1551 and received rapid promotion thereafter, becoming commander of one of the Emperor's armies at the age of 22. This was in 1555, when Charles sent him to [[Bayonne]] with an army of 20,000 to take the city in a siege from the French. William was also made a member of the [[Council of State (Netherlands)#Habsburg Netherlands|Raad van State]], the highest political advisory council in the Netherlands.<ref>As of 1549, the Low Countries, also known as the "Seventeen Provinces" comprised the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of northern France and Western Germany.</ref> It was in November of the same year (1555) that the gout-afflicted Emperor Charles leaned on William's shoulder during the ceremony when he abdicated the Low Countries in favour of his son, [[Philip II of Spain]].<ref>J. Thorold Rogers, ''[[s:The Story of Nations - Holland/Chapter 7|The Story of Nations: Holland]]''. London, 1889; Romein, J., and Romein-Verschoor, A. ''[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/rome002erfl01_01/rome002erfl01_01_0006.htm Erflaters van onze beschaving]''. Amsterdam 1938–1940, p. 150. (Dutch, at [http://www.dbnl.org DBNL.org]).</ref> William was also selected to carry the insignia of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] to Charles's brother [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand]], when Charles resigned the imperial crown in 1556 and was one of the Spanish signatories for the April 1559 [[Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis]].{{sfn|Edmundson|1911|p=672}}

In 1559, Philip II appointed William [[stadtholder]] (governor) of the provinces of [[Holland]], [[Zeeland]] and [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]], thereby greatly increasing his political power.<ref>Wedgwood (1944) p. 34.</ref> A stadtholdership over [[Franche-Comté]] followed in 1561.