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TheAct of Seclusion was an Act of theStates of Holland, required by a secret annex in theTreaty of Westminster (1654) between theUnited Provinces and theCommonwealth of England in whichWilliam III, Prince of Orange, was excluded from the office ofStadtholder.[1]
Seclusion is defined as the state of being private and away from other people. TheFirst Stadtholderless Period had been heralded in January 1651 byStates PartyRegenten, among whom the republican-minded brothersCornelis andAndries de Graeff and their cousinsAndries andCornelis Bicker, during theGrote Vergadering (Great Assembly) inThe Hague, a meeting of representatives of the States of each of the United Provinces.[2] This meeting was convened after the death ofstadtholder William II on November 6, 1650, when theStates of Holland decided to leave the office of Stadtholder vacant in their province.
TheFirst Anglo-Dutch War had been a disaster for the Dutch.[3] The subsequent Treaty of Westminster which ended the war meant that the Dutch were forced to give a number of concessions to England. In addition,Johan de Witt,Grand Pensionary ofHolland, andOliver Cromwell ensured that theOrangist regent faction would be much weakened. This strengthenedDe Witt's party, while English Republicans no longer needed to fear that William III (four years of age at the time) could become a strong Dutch leader who could bring theStuarts to whom he was closely related through his motherMary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, back on the English throne[citation needed].
As the other provinces would have refused to sign the treaty if they had known of the secret clause, De Witt arranged that this clause would bind only the States of Holland. TheStates-General of the Netherlands were completely left in the dark, as was the Frisian plenipotentiary at the negotiations,Allart Pieter van Jongestall. Only the two Holland representatives (Hieronymus van Beverningh andWillem Nieupoort) were in on the secret. Consequently, the States-General ratified the treaty on April 22, 1654, without the secret annex.
The prime movers behind the Act of Seclusion, in whichWilliam III, Prince of Orange was excluded from the office of Stadtholder, were De Witt and his uncleCornelis de Graeff. Then, the States of Holland debated the Act and passed it on May 4, 1654, over the opposition of the Hollandridderschap (delegates of the nobility, who had one vote in the States) and six of the cities (with one vote each). Only then didOliver Cromwell, the English signatory to the treaty, ratify the treaty (including the secret clause), as had been agreed beforehand.[4]: 722–723
De Witt, managed to have the act ratified only with the greatest effort. TheGedeputeerde Staten (Delegated States) of Friesland (executive of theStates of Friesland) even demanded that the conduct of the Dutch plenipotentiaries be investigated.[4]: 725
When the Act of Seclusion shortly afterward was leaked by De Witt's clerk Van Messem, it was commonly assumed that De Witt masterminded it himself. In the 19th century, investigation of his secret correspondence appeared to show otherwise.[5] Nowadays, different positions are taken in this matter stemming from the suspicion that De Witt may have manipulated the writings out of fear that they might fall into the wrong hands.[6]
When theEnglish Restoration broughtCharles II to the throne of England, the States of Holland declared that the Act of Seclusion had thereby lost its validity since the Act had been concluded with the Commonwealth, which had ceased to exist.
In 1667, De Witt and his partisans permanently barred the House of Orange from influence by thePerpetual Edict. However, in 1672, the States of Holland revoked the Edict and made William of Orange Stadtholder.
Ironically, William III would later drive out the Stuart KingJames II during theGlorious Revolution and thereby end moves in England towardsabsolutism.