Spanish Netherlands | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1556–1714 | |||||||||||
| Motto: Plus Ultra "Further Beyond" | |||||||||||
Burgundian Cross | |||||||||||
 Spanish Netherlands (grey) in 1700 | |||||||||||
| Status | Personal union ofImperialfiefs withinEmpire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism (State religion) Protestantism (popular) | ||||||||||
| Government | Governorate | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1556–1559 | Emmanuel Philibert (first) | ||||||||||
• 1692–1706 | Maximilian Emanuel (last) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Early Modern period | ||||||||||
• Habsburg Spain gainedHabsburg Netherlands | 1556 | ||||||||||
| 1568–1648 | |||||||||||
| 30 January 1648 | |||||||||||
| 1683–1684 | |||||||||||
| 15 August 1684 | |||||||||||
| 1688–1697 | |||||||||||
| 1701–1714 | |||||||||||
| 7 March 1714 | |||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| 1560 | 70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| 1600 | 46,000 km2 (18,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1560 | 1,794,000[3] | ||||||||||
| Currency | Gulden,Spanish reales | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | |||||||||||
TheSpanish Netherlands (Spanish:Países Bajos Españoles;Dutch:Spaanse Nederlanden;French:Pays-Bas espagnols;German:Spanische Niederlande; historically in Spanish:Flandes, the name "Flanders" was used as apars pro toto)[4] were a collection ofStates of theHoly Roman Empire in theLow Countries, held inpersonal union by theSpanish Habsburgs, but not annexed to theSpanish Crown, thus encompassing the second period in history of theHabsburg Netherlands, that lasted from 1556 to 1714. This region comprised most of the modern states ofBelgium andLuxembourg, as well as parts of northernFrance, the southernNetherlands, and westernGermany, with the capital beingBrussels. TheArmy of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.
The Imperial fiefs in the formerBurgundian Netherlands had been inherited by theHouse of Habsburg from the extinctHouse of Valois-Burgundy upon the death ofMary of Burgundy in 1482. TheSeventeen Provinces formed the core of theHabsburg Netherlands, which passed to the Spanish Habsburgs upon the abdication of EmperorCharles V in 1556. Spanish hegemony in Netherlands was solidified following their victory in theFall of Antwerp during theEighty Years' War. When part of the Netherlands separated to form the autonomousDutch Republic in 1581, the remainder of the area stayed under Spanish rule until theWar of the Spanish Succession.
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A common administration of fiefs in the Low Countries, centered in theDuchy of Brabant, already existed under the rule of the Burgundian DukePhilip the Good with the implementation of astadtholder and the first convocation of theStates General of the Netherlands in 1464.[5] His granddaughter Mary had confirmed a number of privileges to the States by theGreat Privilege signed in 1477.[6] After the government takeover by her husband ArchdukeMaximilian I of Austria, the States insisted on their privileges, culminating in aHook rebellion inHolland andFlemish revolts. Maximilian prevailed with the support of DukeAlbert III of Saxony and his sonPhilip the Handsome, husband ofJoanna of Castile, could assume the rule over the Habsburg Netherlands in 1493.[7][8]
Philip as well as his son and successorCharles V retained the title of a "Duke of Burgundy" referring to their Burgundian inheritance, but not having theDuchy of Burgundy in their possession, since it was taken by the French already in 1477. Only theFree County of Burgundy, in the Holy Roman Empire, remained in Habsburg rule, since 1493. The Habsburgs often used the termBurgundy to refer to their hereditary lands both in historical Burgundy and the Low Countries (e.g. in the name of the ImperialBurgundian Circle established in 1512), actually until 1795, when theAustrian Netherlands were lost to theFrench Republic. TheGovernor-general of the Netherlands was responsible for the administration of the Habsburg lands in the Low Countries. Charles V was born and raised in the Low Countries and often stayed at thePalace of Coudenberg in Brussels.
By thePragmatic Sanction of 1549, Charles V declared the Seventeen Provinces a united and indivisible Habsburg dominion. Between 1555 and 1556, the House of Habsburg split into an Austrian and a Spanish branch as a consequence of Charles's abdications: the Netherlands were left to his sonPhilip II of Spain, while his brother KingFerdinand I succeeded him asHoly Roman Emperor. The Seventeen Provinces,de jure still fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, from that time onde facto were ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs.
Philip's sternCounter-Reformation measures sparked theDutch Revolt in the mainlyCalvinist Netherlandish provinces, which led to the outbreak of theEighty Years' War in 1568. In January 1579 the seven northern provinces formed the ProtestantUnion of Utrecht, which declared independence from the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs as theRepublic of the Seven United Netherlands by the 1581Act of Abjuration. The Spanish branch of the Habsburgs could retain the rule only over the partly CatholicSouthern Netherlands, completed after theFall of Antwerp in 1585.
Better times came, when in 1598 the Spanish Netherlands passed to Philip's daughterIsabella Clara Eugenia and her husband ArchdukeAlbert VII of Austria. The couple's rule brought a period of much-needed peace and stability to the economy, which stimulated the growth of a separate South Netherlandish identity and consolidated the authority of the House of Habsburg reconciling previous anti-Spanish sentiments. In the early 17th century, there was a flourishing court atBrussels. Among the artists who emerged from the court of the "Archdukes", as they were known, wasPeter Paul Rubens. Under Isabella and Albert, the Spanish Netherlands actually had formal independence from Spain, but always remained unofficially within the Spanish sphere of influence. With Albert's death in 1621 they returned to formal Spanish control, although the childless Isabella remained on as governor until her death in 1633.
The failing wars intended to regain the 'heretical' northern Netherlands meant significant loss of (still mainly Catholic) territories in the north, which was consolidated in 1648 in thePeace of Westphalia, and given the peculiar inferior status ofGenerality Lands (jointly ruled by the United Republic, not admitted as member provinces):Zeelandic Flanders (south of the RiverScheldt), the present Dutch province ofNorth Brabant andMaastricht (in the present-day Dutch province ofLimburg).
As the power of the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs waned in the latter decades of the 17th century, the territory of the Netherlands under Habsburg rule was repeatedly invaded by the French and an increasing portion of the territory came under French control in successive wars. By theTreaty of the Pyrenees of 1659 the French annexed most ofArtois, andDunkirk was ceded to the English. By theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (ending theWar of Devolution in 1668) andNijmegen (ending theFranco-Dutch War in 1678), further territory up to the current Franco-Belgian border was ceded, includingCambrai,Walloon Flanders, as well ashalf of the County of Hainaut (includingValenciennes), and further to the south Spanish Habsburgs also lost theFree County of Burgundy.[9] Later, in theWar of the Reunions and theNine Years' War, France annexed other parts of the region that were restored to Spain by theTreaty of Rijswijk 1697.
During theWar of the Spanish Succession, in 1706 the Habsburg Netherlands became an Anglo-Dutchcondominium for the remainder of the conflict.[10] By the peace treaties ofUtrecht andRastatt in 1713/14 ending the war, the Southern Netherlands returned to the AustrianHabsburg monarchy forming theAustrian Netherlands.
From 1581 the Habsburg Netherlands consisted of the following territories, all part of modern Belgium unless otherwise stated:
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