KingPhilip II of Spain, in his capacity as sovereign ofHabsburg Netherlands, continued the anti-heresy and centralisation policies of his father Charles V. Resistance grew among the moderate nobility and population (both Catholic and dissenting) of the Netherlands.[l] This mood first led to peaceful protests (as from theCompromise of Nobles), but the summer of 1566 erupted in violent protests byCalvinists, known as theiconoclastic fury, or (Dutch:Beeldenstorm) across the Netherlands. The Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands,Margaret of Parma, as well as lower authorities, feared insurrection and made further concessions to the Calvinists (such as designation of churches for Calvinist worship), but in December 1566 and early 1567 the first actual battles between Calvinist rebels and Habsburg governmental forces took place, in what would become known as theEighty Years' War.[14]
TheBeeldenstorm orIconoclastic Fury was a more or less organised destruction of Catholic sacred objects which swept through the Habsburg Netherlands' churches in 1566. 1630 painting byDirck van Delen
The period between the start of theBeeldenstorm in August 1566 until early 1572 (before theCapture of Brielle on 1 April 1572) contained the first events of a series that would later be known as the Eighty Years' War between theSpanish Empire and disparate groups of rebels in theHabsburg Netherlands.[m] Some of the first pitched battles and sieges between radicalCalvinists and Habsburg governmental forces took place in the years 1566–1567, followed by the arrival and government takeover byFernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (simply known as "Alba" or "Alva") with an army of 10,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers. Next, an ill-fated invasion by the most powerful nobleman of the Low Countries, the exiled but still-CatholicWilliam "the Silent" of Orange, failed to inspire a general anti-government revolt. Although the war seemed over before it got underway, in the years 1569–1571, Alba's repression grew severe, and opposition against his regime mounted to new heights and became susceptible to rebellion.
Although virtually all historians place the start of the war somewhere in this period, there is nohistorical consensus on which exact event should be considered to have begun the war. Consequently, there is no agreement whether the war really lasted exactly eighty years. For this and other reasons, some historians have endeavoured to replace the name "Eighty Years' War" with "Dutch Revolt", but there is also no consensus either to which period the term "Dutch Revolt" should apply (be it the prelude to the war, the initial stage(s) of the war, or the entire war).[16]
AfterWatergeuzen (in English known as "Sea Beggars") seized several poorly defended towns and cities in Holland and Zeeland in April 1572, the exiledstadtholderWilliam "the Silent" of Orange launched his second invasion of the Netherlands from the east in another attempt to generate a general uprising against the repressive regime of Spanish General-GovernorFernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. Acting on orders ofPhilip II of Spain, Alba sought to exterminate all manifestations ofProtestantism and disobedience through inquisition and public executions, as well as abolishing several privileges of the Netherlandish nobility and autonomy of cities, and introducing more stringent taxes.[17]
William's second invasion in 1572 had mixed results, and Alba's sonDon Fadrique went on a lightning campaign to retake all towns occupied byOrangist and Geuzen troops in October 1572. Several towns (includingMechelen,Zutphen andNaarden[18]) which refused to surrender were brutally sacked by Fadrique's forces in an attempt to intimidate others into resubmitting themselves to the royal government, culminating in the seven-month-longSiege of Haarlem before it was conquered and sacked in July 1573.[18] By this point, the rebel territory had been reduced to most towns in Holland (notably excluding royalistAmsterdam) and Zeeland, and two towns in Guelders; knowing that violent repression would result from resistance, these cities resolved to fight to the bitter end, while the others capitulated. The Spanish offensive stalled after Haarlem, with the Dutch rebelscapturing Geertruidenberg, winning theSiege of Alkmaar andBattle of Delft, and achieving naval superiority. Citing ill health, Alba resigned and returned to Spain in December 1573.[18]
His successorRequesens was more conciliatory,[18] but was unable to force or persuade many places back into governmental control, losing theSiege of Leiden (1573–1574).[19] After his death in March 1576, exacerbated by Spain's state bankruptcy in November 1575,mutinies amongst the unpaid Spanish soldiers started spreading into what became known as the "Spanish Fury", plundering many towns and villages even in loyal territories of the Netherlands.[20] Faced with the mutineer atrocities, particularly theSack of Antwerp, all the provinces except Luxembourg made an alliance known as thePacification of Ghent, rising in revolt in November 1576 to demand that Philip II withdraw all foreign troops from the Netherlands, suspend the persecution of Protestants, and consult the States-General in matters of local governance rather than rule by unilateral autocratic action.[21]
From Pacification of Ghent to Union of Utrecht (1576–1579)
Union of Brussels: the 16 rebel provinces that concluded the 1576Pacification of Ghent, and demanded the departure of all foreign Spanish troops from the Netherlands
Luxemburg, the only province to remain fully loyal to the Spanish government. Most Spanish troops withdrawing from the other provinces were temporarily stationed here from late 1576 to mid-1577
The period between thePacification of Ghent (8 November 1576), and the Unions ofArras (6 January 1579) andUtrecht (23 January 1579) constituted a crucial phase of the Eighty Years' War (c. 1568–1648) between theSpanish Empire and the rebelling United Provinces, which would become the independentDutch Republic. Sometimes known as the "general revolt", the period marked the only time of the war where theStates–General of allSeventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands, exceptLuxemburg, were in joint active political and military rebellion against the Spanish Imperial government through thePacification of Ghent.[1] The Pacification formulated several agreements amongst the rebellious provinces themselves, and laid down their demands – including the immediate withdrawal of foreign (mostly Spanish, Italian and German) troops from the Netherlands, restitution of old rights and privileges, and self-rule – to kingPhilip II of Spain.[1]
From 8 November 1576 until 23 July 1577, the new Spanish Governor-General of the NetherlandsJohn of Austria (known to history as "Don Juan") engaged in peace negotiations with the States-General. The FirstUnion of Brussels (9 January 1577) confirmed the Pacification, adding that the States would uphold the Catholic religion in their provinces. By signing theEdict of 1577 on 12 February 1577 atMarche-en-Famenne, Don Juan nominally accepted all demands of the Pacification.[22] Most foreign troops withdrew to the territory of Luxemburg, which had not joined the Pacification. Although a few sieges of cities with Spanish garrisons that refused to withdraw took place, these were mostly resolved quickly by paying them off; in general, the situation had potential for putting an end to the war if agreements could be reached and respected between the parties.[22]
From 24 July 1577 until 6 January 1579, starting with the capture of theCitadel of Namur, Don Juan and his second-in-command and successorAlexander Farnese, Duke of Parma launched a military offensive against the United Provinces, while seeking to reconcile provinces that were willing to subject themselves back under the Spanish royal government under certain conditions.[22] In response, the States-General's Second Union of Brussels (10 December 1577) showed a more fierce and determined opposition to the Spanish government, now demanding (and themselves guaranteeing) equal protection for Catholics and Protestants in all provinces of the Netherlands.William "the Silent" of Orange became thede facto political leader of the United Provinces, whileMatthias of Austria was brought in to replace Don Juan as Governor-General.[22]
TheBattle of Gembloux (31 January 1578) was a devastating defeat for the rebels, however, and many began to talk about surrender. Moreover, radical Calvinists had seized power in various cities in Flanders and Brabant, most notably the so-calledCalvinist Republic of Ghent, persecuting Catholics and alienating many Catholic allies which had up until that point supported the rebellion, but now became known as theMalcontents.[22] Parma was able to successfully exert his diplomatic skills on some of these Malcontents, negotiating with several Catholic noblemen and regents in various southern provinces with promises of respecting their interests in return for abandoning the revolt.[22] Finally, the united front of the States-General collapsed on 6 January 1579 when theCounty of Artois, theCounty of Hainaut and the city ofDouai signed theUnion of Arras, seeking to revert to Catholicism and the Spanish government under more moderate demands than the Pacification.[23] On 17 May 1579, they signed a separate peace treaty with the king. In response, most of the other provinces and cities (virtually only in the Dutch-speaking parts of the Low Countries) sought to reaffirm their commitment to the Pacification, as well as the Second Union of Brussels, and forging an even closer political and military alliance by concluding theUnion of Utrecht on 23 January 1579.[3]
In response, most of the remaining rebel provinces and cities would forge or later accede to the Union of Utrecht,[26] a closer military alliance treaty that would go on to become the most importantfundamental law of the United Provinces,[27] who on 26 July 1581 proclaimed theAct of Abjuration, ade factodeclaration of independence from Spain.[28] While the nascent polity was struggling to find a new sovereign head of state, includingMatthias of Austria,Francis of Anjou,William "the Silent" of Orange andRobert of Leicester,[28] before giving up and deciding to become theDutch Republic by theinstruction of 12 April 1588,[8] the Duke of Parma continued his successful military and diplomatic offensive, bringing ever more provinces and cities in the southern, eastern and northeastern parts of the Netherlands back into royalist hands.[28]
The military upkeep and decreased trade had put both Spain and the Dutch Republic under financial strain. To alleviate conditions, a ceasefire was signed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609, marking the end of the Dutch Revolt and the beginning of theTwelve Years' Truce. The conclusion of this Truce was a major diplomatic coup forHolland's advocateJohan van Oldenbarnevelt, as Spain by concluding the Treaty, formally recognised the independence of the Republic.[35] In Spain the truce was seen as a major humiliation – she had suffered a political, military and ideological defeat, and the affront to its prestige was immense.[36] The closure of the river Scheldt to traffic in and out of Antwerp, and the acceptance of Dutch commercial operations in the Spanish and Portuguese colonial maritime lanes were just a few points that the Spanish found objectionable.[37]
Although there was peace on an international level, political unrest took hold of Dutch domestic affairs. What had started as atheological quarrel resulted in riots betweenRemonstrants (Arminians) andCounter-Remonstrants (Gomarists). In general, regents would support the former and civilians the latter. Even the government got involved, with Oldenbarnevelt taking the side of the Remonstrants andstadtholderMaurice of Nassau their opponents. In the end, theSynod of Dort condemned the Remonstrants for heresy and excommunicated them from the national Public Church. Van Oldenbarnevelt was sentenced to death, together with his allyGilles van Ledenberg, while two other Remonstrant allies,Rombout Hogerbeets andHugo Grotius received life imprisonment.[38]
Nevertheless, peace talks in 1629–1630 came to nothing. More ambitious plans to conquer Brussels in 1632–1633 with the help of anti-Spanish nobility in the Southern Netherlands never came to fruition. Several attempted Northern republican surprises and sieges of Antwerp were parried by the SpanishArmy of Flanders.[42]
Nor did the Franco-Dutch alliance bring significant changes to the situation on the ground. It began with a disastrousFranco-Dutch invasion of the southern Netherlands in 1635. This in fact made matters worse for the Dutch when French and Dutch troops sacked the city ofTienen, which cost them the sympathies of the southern Netherlands population.[43]
However, French intervention and internal discontent at the costs of the war in the Low Countries led to a change in Spain's 'Netherlands First' policy. Instead Spain focused on suppressing the French-backedReapers' War inCatalonia.[44] The resulting stalemate and financial troubles, plus Spanish military exhaustion and Dutch desire for formal political recognition, eventually convinced both sides in the mid-1640s to hold peace talks.[42]
The outcome was the 1648 Peace of Münster, which confirmed most agreements already reached with the Truce of 1609.[45]
The negotiations between Spain and the Republic formally started in January 1646 as part of the more general peace negotiations between the warring parties in the Thirty Years' War. The States General sent eight delegates from several of the provinces as none trusted the others to represent them adequately. They were Willem van Ripperda (Overijssel), Frans van Donia (Friesland), Adriaen Clant tot Stedum (Groningen),Adriaan Pauw and Jan van Mathenesse (Holland), Barthold van Gent (Gelderland), Johan de Knuyt (Zeeland) and Godert van Reede (Utrecht). The Spanish delegation was led byGaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda. The negotiations were held in what is now the Haus der Niederlande in Münster.
The Dutch and Spanish delegations soon reached an agreement, based on the text of the Twelve Years' Truce. It therefore confirmed Spain's recognition of Dutch independence. The Dutch demands (closure of the Scheldt, cession of the Meierij, formal cession of Dutch conquests in the Indies and Americas, and lifting of the Spanish embargoes) were generally met. However, the general negotiations between the main parties dragged on, because France kept formulating new demands. Eventually it was decided therefore to split off the peace between the Republic and Spain from the general peace negotiations. This enabled the two parties to conclude what technically was a separate peace (to the annoyance of France, which maintained that this contravened the alliance treaty of 1635 with the Republic).[46]
The text of the Treaty (in 79 articles) was fixed on 30 January 1648. It was then sent to the principals (King Philip IV of Spain and the States General) for ratification. Five provinces voted to ratify (against the advice of stadtholder William) on 4 April (Zeeland and Utrecht being opposed). Utrecht finally yielded to pressure by the other provinces, but Zeeland held out and refused to sign. It was eventually decided to ratify the peace without Zeeland's consent. The delegates to the peace conference affirmed the peace on oath on 15 May 1648 (though the delegate of Zeeland refused to attend, and the delegate of Utrecht suffered a possiblydiplomatic illness).[47]
In the broader context of the treaties between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire of 14 and 24 October 1648, which comprise thePeace of Westphalia, but which were not signed by the Republic, the Republic now also gained formal "independence" from the Holy Roman Empire, just like the Swiss Cantons. In both cases this was just a formalisation of a situation that had already existed for a long time. France and Spain did not conclude a treaty and so remained at war until thepeace of the Pyrenees of 1659. The peace was celebrated in the Republic with sumptuous festivities. It was solemnly promulgated on the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horne on 5 June 1648.[n]
Theaftermath of the Eighty Years' War (c. 1568–1648) had far-reaching military, political, socio-economic, religious, and cultural effects on the Low Countries, theSpanish Empire, theHoly Roman Empire, as well as other regions of Europe and European colonies overseas. By thePeace of Münster (15 May 1648), theHabsburg Netherlands were split in two, with the northern Protestant-dominated Netherlands becoming theDutch Republic, independent of the Spanish and Holy Roman Empires, while the southern Catholic-dominatedSpanish Netherlands remained under Spanish Habsburg sovereignty. Whereas the Spanish Empire and the Southern Netherlands along with it were financially and demographically ruined, declining politically and economically, the Dutch Republic became a globalcommercial power and achieved a high level of prosperity for its upper and middle classes known as theDutch Golden Age, despite continued great socio-economic, geographic and religious inequalities and problems, as well as internal and external political, military and religious conflicts.[49][50]
The Eighty Years' War has given rise to more historical controversies than any other topic from the history of theNederlanden [Low Countries] whatsoever.
^With thePacification of Ghent on 8 November 1576, the States General of theSeventeen Provinces, exceptLuxemburg, managed to articulate a joint Catholic-Protestant political and military rebellion against the Spanish imperial government.[1] But various political, religious and military circumstances caused this union to collapse in 1579, the year in which the Netherlands was divided in two, with the Catholic provinces of the south joining in theUnion of Arras on 6 January and the Protestant provinces of the north (in general terms) at theUnion of Utrecht of 23 January. The southern provinces would once again be under the orbit of the Spanish government, while the northern provinces would reaffirm their political and military alliance against Spain.[2][3]
^The rebellious provinces of the Netherlands managed to form a joint political and military rebellion against Spain after thePacification of Ghent on 8 November 1576.[1]
^In 1576, the States General called, at the suggestion of William the Silent,Francis, Duke of Anjou, to request his protection. In 1578 Anjou intervened with an army of French in the south of the Netherlands, but did not achieve the expected results and withdrew. In the following years he again invaded the southern Netherlands, and on 23 January 1581 theTreaty of Plessis-les-Tours was ratified between Anjou and the States General to agree to his reign in the region. His intervention in the Netherlands ended in 1583 after several defeats of his forces.[4][5]
^After the outbreak of the Portuguese rebellion in 1640, on 12 June 1641, to the detriment of Spain, a truce and alliance agreement was reached between the Dutch Republic and Portugal with theTreaty of The Hague.[6] But this agreement was only limited to Europe, thus continuing the struggle between the Dutch and Portuguese in the colonies.[7]
^During theThirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire supported Spain with Imperial forces on the Low Countries front in 1629, 1632, and 1635, although it never directly waged war against the Dutch Republic.[9]
^Constitutionally, theCrowns of Castile andAragon would not be united into the Kingdom of Spain until the 1707–1716Nueva Planta decrees, and Charles formally reigned as Charles I of Castile and Aragon (sometimes informally called "Spain"). But in historiography, he is more commonly known as Emperor Charles V.
^Unless otherwise indicated, "Netherlands" and "Netherlandish" refer here to the entire area of the Habsburg Netherlands and its inhabitants (including modernBelgium,Luxembourg and parts of northern France, but excluding areas such as thePrincipality of Liège), whereas "Dutch Republic" and "Dutch" will refer to the country, currently known as theNetherlands, and its inhabitants.
^"...the starting phase of the Revolt in Zeeland. We label the 1566–1572 period as thestrike up to the Revolt: years in which the resistance against central authority, grown out to a rebellion, began to powerfully manifest itself."[15]
^The Dutch States General, for dramatic effect, decided to promulgate the ratification of the Peace of Münster (which was actually ratified by them on 15 May 1648) on the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horne, 5 June 1648.[48]
^"Francisco de Alençon".Diccionario Biográfico Español (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved10 October 2023.
^Aleixandre Tena, Francisca (1967)."La revolución portuguesa de 1640".Saitabi: Revista de la Facultat de Geografia i Història (in Spanish) (17). Valencia, España:95–96.ISSN0210-9980.Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved10 October 2023.
^van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010).The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588–1688. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. pp. 217–234,247–248.ISBN978-1-84383-575-2.
^Jan Glete. "War and the State in Early Modern Europe: Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden as Fiscal-Military States (Warfare and History)." Routledge: November 8, 2001. Page 33.
^"Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek".Encarta EncyclopedieWinkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
^"Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek".Encarta EncyclopedieWinkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
^Parker, Geoffrey (1972).The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659: The Logistics of Spanish Victory and Defeat in the Low Countries' Wars (2004 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 221.ISBN978-0521543927.
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