Dutch Revolt

Prince Maurice at the Battle of Nieuwpoort byPauwels van Hillegaert. Oil on canvas.

Date 1566–1648

Location The Low Countries (present-dayBelgium, Luxembourg, and theNetherlands)Present-day Germany(Worldwide colonial warfare)

Result Treaty of MünsterIndependence of the DutchRepublicRecognition of Spanishsovereignty of SouthernNetherlands by the DutchRepublic

Belligerents United Provinces

Supported by: England (1585–

1648)

France (1635–

1648)

Spanish EmpireSupported by:

Holy RomanEmpire

Commanders and leaders William the Silent Maurice of

Nassau Frederick Henry Elizabeth I

Philip II of Spain Duke of Alba John of Austria Duke of Parma

Dutch Revolt

James VI and I Robert Dudley

Archduke Albert Ambrogio Spinola

The Dutch Revolt (1566–1648)[note 1] was the revolt in the Low Countries against the rule of the HabsburgKing Philip II of Spain, hereditary ruler of the provinces. The northern provinces (the Netherlands) eventuallyseparated from the southern provinces (present-day Belgium and Luxembourg), which continued underHabsburg Spain until 1714. The northern provinces adopted Calvinism and Republicanism whereas thesouthern provinces became wholly Catholic again due to the expulsion of Protestants and the efforts of theCounter-Reformation and remained under absolutist rule. The Dutch Revolt has been viewed as the seedbedof the great democratic revolutions from England, to America to France.[1]

The religious "clash of cultures" built up gradually but inexorably into outbursts of violence against theperceived repression of the Habsburg Crown. These tensions led to the formation of the independent DutchRepublic, whose first leader was William the Silent, followed by several of his descendants and relations. Thisrevolt was one of the first successful secessions in Europe, and led to one of the first European republics of themodern era, the United Provinces. Due to the nature of the conflict, the factions involved, and changingalliances, modern-day historians have put forward arguments that the Dutch Revolt was also a civil war.[2]

King Philip was initially successful in suppressing the rebellion. In 1572, however, the rebels captured Brielleand the rebellion resurged. The northern provinces became independent, first in 1581 de facto, and in 1648 dejure. During the revolt, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, better known as the Dutch Republic, rapidlygrew to become a world power through its merchant shipping and experienced a period of economic,scientific, and cultural growth. The Southern Netherlands (situated in modern-day: southern Netherlands,Belgium, Luxembourg, and northern France) remained under Spanish rule. The Dutch imposed a rigidblockade on the southern provinces that prevented Baltic grain from relieving famine in the southern towns,especially from 1587 to 1589. Despite achieving independence, from the end of the war in 1648 there wasconsiderable opposition to the Treaty of Münster within the States General of the Netherlands since it allowedSpain to retain the Southern Provinces and permitted religious toleration for Catholics.[3]

The first phase of the Eighty Years War can be considered the Dutch Revolt. The focus of the latter phase wasto gain official recognition of the already de facto independence of the United Provinces. This phase coincidedwith the rise of the Dutch Republic as a major power and the founding of the Dutch Empire.

BackgroundTaxationProtestantismCentralization

Initial stages (1555–1572)Prelude to the rebellion (1555–1568)Nobility in opposition1566 — Iconoclasm and repressionWilliam of Orange

Resurgence (1572–1585)Pacification of GhentUnions of Arras and UtrechtAct of Abjuration

Contents

The Seventeen Provinces of theNetherlands prior to the DutchRebellion

The Fall of Antwerp

De facto independence of the north (1585–1609)Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621)Final stages (1621–1648)

War recommencesColonial theaterFrom war to peacePeace

AftermathNature of the warEffect on the Low CountriesEffect on the Spanish EmpirePolitical implications in Europe

See alsoNotesReferencesFurther reading

Historiography

External links

In a series of marriages and conquests, a succession of dukes ofBurgundy expanded their original territory by adding to it a series offiefdoms, including the Seventeen Provinces.[4] Although the Duchyof Burgundy itself had been lost to France in 1477, the BurgundianNetherlands were still intact when Charles of Habsburg, heir to theNetherlands via his grandmother Mary, was born in Ghent in 1500.Charles was raised in the Netherlands and spoke fluent Dutch,French, and Spanish, along with some German.[5] In 1506, hebecame lord of the Netherlands. In 1516, he inherited the kingdoms ofSpain, which had become a worldwide empire with the Spanishcolonization of the Americas, and in 1519, he inherited theArchduchy of Austria. Finally, he was elected Holy Roman Emperorin 1530.[6] Although Friesland and Guelders offered prolongedresistance under Grutte Pier and Charles of Egmond respectively,virtually all of the Netherlands had been incorporated into theHabsburg domains by the early 1540s.

Flanders had long been a very wealthy region, coveted by French kings. The other regions of the Netherlandshad also grown wealthy and entrepreneurial.[7] Charles V's empire had become a worldwide empire with largeAmerican and European territories. The latter were, however, distributed throughout Europe. Control anddefense of these were hampered by the disparity of the territories and huge length of the empire's borders. This

Background

Taxation

European territories under the rule ofthe Philip II of Spain around 1580(the Spanish Netherlands in lightgreen) on a map showing modern-day state borders.

large realm was almost continuously at war with its neighbors in its European heartlands, most notably againstFrance in the Italian Wars and against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Sea. Further wars were foughtagainst Protestant princes in Germany. The Dutch paid heavy taxes to fund these wars,[8] but perceived themas unnecessary and sometimes downright harmful, because they were directed against their most importanttrading partners.

During the 16th century, Protestantism rapidly gained ground in northern Europe. Dutch Protestants, afterinitial repression, were tolerated by local authorities.[9] By the 1560s, the Protestant community had become asignificant influence in the Netherlands, although it clearly formed a minority then.[10] In a society dependenton trade, freedom and tolerance were considered essential. Nevertheless, Charles V, and from 1555 hissuccessor Philip II, felt it was their duty to defeat Protestantism,[6] which was considered a heresy by theCatholic Church and a threat to the stability of the whole hierarchical political system. On the other hand, theintensely moralistic Dutch Protestants insisted their theology, sincere piety and humble lifestyle were morallysuperior to the luxurious habits and superficial religiosity of the ecclesiastical nobility.[11] The harsh measuresof suppression led to increasing grievances in the Netherlands, where the local governments had embarked ona course of peaceful coexistence. In the second half of the century, the situation escalated. Philip sent troops tocrush the rebellion and make the Netherlands Catholic once again. Although failing in his attempts tointroduce the Spanish Inquisition directly, the Inquisition of the Netherlands (existed until 1566) wasnevertheless sufficiently harsh and arbitrary in nature to provoke fervent dislike.[12]

Part of the shifting balance of power in the late Middle Ages meantthat besides the local nobility, many of the Dutch administrators bynow were not traditional aristocrats but instead stemmed from non-noble families that had risen in status over previous centuries. By the15th century, Brussels had thus become the de facto capital of theSeventeen Provinces. Dating back to the Middle Ages, the districts ofthe Netherlands, represented by its nobility and the wealthy city-dwelling merchants, still had a large measure of autonomy inappointing its administrators. Charles V and Philip II set out toimprove the management of the empire by increasing the authority ofthe central government in matters like law and taxes,[13] a policywhich caused suspicion both among the nobility and the merchantclass. An example of this is the takeover of power in the city ofUtrecht in 1528, when Charles V supplanted the council of guildmasters governing the city by his own stadtholder, who took overworldly powers in the whole province of Utrecht from the archbishopof Utrecht. Charles ordered the construction of the heavily fortifiedcastle of Vredenburg for defence against the Duchy of Gelre and to control the citizens of Utrecht.[14]

Under the governorship of Mary of Hungary (1531–1555), traditional power had for a large part been takenaway both from the stadtholders of the provinces and from the high noblemen, who had been replaced byprofessional jurists in the Council of State.[15]

Protestantism

Centralization

Initial stages (1555–1572)

Philip II, King of Spain

Philip II of Spain beratingWilliam the Silent, Prince ofOrange by CornelisKruseman, painting from19th century. This scenepurportedly happened on thedock in Flushing when Philipdeparted theNetherlands.[16]

In 1556 Charles passed on his throne to his son Philip II of Spain.[6] Charles,despite his harsh actions, had been seen as a ruler empathetic to the needs ofthe Netherlands. Philip, on the other hand, was raised in Spain and spokeneither Dutch nor French. During Philip's reign, tensions flared in theNetherlands over heavy taxation, suppression of Protestantism, andcentralization efforts. The growing conflict would reach a boiling point andlead ultimately to the war of independence.

In an effort to build a stable and trustworthy government of the Netherlands,Philip appointed his half-sister Margaret of Parma as governor.[6] Hecontinued the policy of his father of appointing members of the high nobilityof the Netherlands to the Raad van State (Council of State), the governingbody of the seventeen provinces that advised the governor. He made hisconfidant Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle head of the council. However, in1558 the States of the provinces and the States-General of the Netherlandsalready started to contradict Philip's wishes by objecting to his tax proposals.They also demanded, with eventual success, the withdrawal of Spanishtroops, which had been left by Philip to guard the Southern Netherlands'borders with France, but which they saw as a threat to their ownindependence (1559–1561).[17] Subsequent reforms met with muchopposition, which was mainly directed at Granvelle. Petitions to King Philipby the high nobility went unanswered. Some of the most influential nobles,including Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Philip de Montmorency, Count ofHoorn, and William the Silent, withdrew from the Council of State until Philiprecalled Granvelle.[6]

In late 1564, the nobles had noticed the growing power of the reformation andurged Philip to come up with realistic measures to prevent violence. Philipanswered that sterner measures were the only answer. Subsequently, Egmont,Horne, and Orange withdrew once more from the council, and Bergen andMeghem resigned their Stadholdership. During the same period, the religiousprotests were increasing in spite of increased oppression. In 1566, a league ofabout 400 members of the nobility presented a petition to the governorMargaret of Parma to suspend persecution until the rest had returned. One ofMargaret's courtiers, Count Berlaymont, called the presentation of this petitionan act of "beggars" (French "gueux"), a name then taken up by the petitionersthemselves (they called themselves the Geuzen). The petition was sent on toPhilip for a final verdict.[6]

The atmosphere in the Netherlands was tense due to the rebellion, preachingof Calvinist leaders, hunger after the bad harvest of 1565, and economicdifficulties due to the Northern Seven Years' War. In early August 1566, amonastery church at Steenvoorde in Flanders (now in Northern France) wassacked by a mob led by the preacher Sebastian Matte.[19] This incident was followed by similar riots

Prelude to the rebellion (1555–1568)

Nobility in opposition

1566 — Iconoclasm and repression

Relief statues in the Cathedral ofSaint Martin, Utrecht, attacked inReformation iconoclasm in the 16thcentury.[18]

Iconoclasm: The organiseddestruction of Catholic images sweptthrough Netherlands' churches in1566.

elsewhere in Flanders, and before long the Netherlands had becomethe scene of the Beeldenstorm, a riotous iconoclastic movement byCalvinists, who stormed churches and other religious buildings todesecrate and destroy church art and all kinds of decorative fittingsover most of the country. The number of actual image-breakersappears to have been relatively small,[20] and the exact backgroundsof the movement are debated,[21] but in general local authorities didnot rein in the vandalism. The actions of the iconoclasts drove thenobility into two camps, with Orange and other grandees opposingthe movement and others, notably Henry of Brederode, supporting it.Even before he answered the petition by the nobles, Philip had lostcontrol in the troublesome Netherlands. He saw no other option thanto send an army to suppress the rebellion. On 22 August 1567,Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, marched intoBrussels at the head of 10,000 troops.[22]

Alba took harsh measuresand rapidly established aspecial court (Raad vanBeroerten or Council ofTroubles) to judge anyonewho opposed the King. Alba

considered himself the direct representative of Philip in theNetherlands and frequently bypassed Margaret of Parma, the king'shalf-sister who had been appointed governor of the Netherlands, andmade use of her to lure back some of the fugitive nobles, notably thecounts of Egmont and Horne, causing her to resign office inSeptember 1567.[23] Egmont and Horne were arrested for hightreason, condemned, and a year later beheaded on the Grand Place inBrussels. Egmont and Horne had been Catholic nobles, loyal to theKing of Spain until their deaths. The reason for their execution wasthat Alba considered they had been treasonous to the king in their tolerance to Protestantism. Their executions,ordered by a Spanish noble, provoked outrage. More than one thousand people were executed in the followingmonths.[5] The large number of executions led the court to be nicknamed the "Blood Court" in theNetherlands, and Alba to be called the "Iron Duke". Rather than pacifying the Netherlands, these measureshelped to fuel the unrest.

William I of Orange was stadtholder of the provinces Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht, and Burgrave ofAntwerp, and he was the most influential noble in the States General who had signed the petition. After thearrival of Alba, to avoid arrest as had happened to Egmont and Horne, he fled to the lands ruled by his father-in-law — the elector of Saxony. All his lands and titles in the Netherlands were forfeited to the Spanish king.

In 1568, William returned to try to drive the highly unpopular Duke of Alba from Brussels. William's nominalpurpose was to remove misguided ministers like Alba, end rebellion, and thus restore the proper authority ofKing Phillip. This view is reflected in today's Dutch national anthem, the Wilhelmus, in which the last lines ofthe first stanza read: den koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd (I have always honoured the King of Spain).In pamphlets and in his letters to allies in the Netherlands William also called attention to the right of subjectsto renounce their oaths of obedience if the sovereign would not respect their privileges.[24] William's forcesmoved into the Netherlands from four directions. Armies led by his brothers invaded from Germany while

William of Orange

William the Silent, Princeof Orange, Stadtholder ofthe Spanish Netherlandsand Leader of the DutchRevolt by AdriaenThomasz. Key, c. 1580.

Don Fernando Álvarezde Toledo, Duke of Alba"The Iron Duke"Governor of the SpanishNetherlands (1567–1573).

Spanish General DonCristóbal de Mondragón.

Crescent-shaped Geuzen medal,cast silver, tooled, about 1570, withthe slogan "Liever Turks dan Paaps"("Rather Turkish than Papist").

French Huguenots invaded from the south. The Spanish had won the Battle ofRheindalen near Roermond on 23 April, but the Battle of Heiligerlee, fought on23 May, is commonly regarded as the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, and itwas a victory for the rebel army. But the campaign ended in failure as Williamran out of money and his own army disintegrated, while those of his allies weredestroyed by the Duke of Alba. William remained at large and, as the onlygrandee still able to offer resistance, was from then on seen as the leader of therebellion.

When the revolt broke out once more in 1572, William moved his court back tothe Netherlands, to Delft in Holland, as the ancestral lands of Orange in Bredaremained occupied by the Spanish. Delft remained William's base of operationsuntil his assassination by Balthasar Gérard in 1584.

Spain was hampered because it was waging war on multiple frontssimultaneously. Its struggle against the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean Seaput serious limits on the military power it could deploy against the rebels in theNetherlands. France too was opposing Spain at every juncture. Furthermore,England, particularly English privateers, were harassing Spanish shipping and itscolonies in the Atlantic.

Already in 1566 William I of Orange had asked for Ottoman support. AsSuleiman the Magnificent claimed that he felt religiously close to the Protestants,("since they did not worship idols, believed in one God and fought against thePope and Emperor")[25][26] he supported the Dutch together with the French andthe English, as well as generally supporting Protestants and Calvinists,[25] as away to counter Habsburg attempts at supremacy in Europe.[25]

Even so, by 1570 the Spanish had more or less suppressed the rebellionthroughout the Netherlands. However, in March 1569, in an effort to finance histroops, Alba had proposed to the States that new taxes be introduced, amongthem the "Tenth Penny", a 1/10 levy on all sales other than landed property. Thisproposal was rejected by the States, and a compromise was subsequently agreedupon. Then, in 1571, Alba decided to press forward with the collection of the

Tenth Penny regardless of the States'opposition.[27] This aroused strongprotest from both Catholics andProtestants, and support for the rebelsgrew once more and was fanned by alarge group of refugees who had fled thecountry during Alba's rule.

On 1 March 1572, the English QueenElizabeth I ousted the Gueux, known asSea Beggars, from the English harborsin an attempt to appease the Spanishking. The Gueux under their leader

Lumey then unexpectedly captured the almost undefended town of Brill on 1

Resurgence (1572–1585)

Battle of Haarlemmermeer (1573), byHendrick Cornelisz, 1621. Vroom, oilon canvas

Don Alexander Farnese, Duke ofParma, commander of the Spanisharmy

April. In securing Brill, the rebels had gained a foothold, and more importantly a token victory in the north.This was a sign for Protestants all over the Low Countries to rebel once more.[5]

Most of the important cities in the provinces of Holland and Zeelanddeclared loyalty to the rebels. Notable exceptions were Amsterdamand Middelburg, which remained loyal to the Catholic cause until1578. William of Orange was put at the head of the revolt. He wasrecognized as Governor-General and Stadholder of Holland, Zeeland,Friesland, and Utrecht at a meeting in Dordrecht in July 1572. It wasagreed that power would be shared between Orange and theStates.[28] With the influence of the rebels rapidly growing in thenorthern provinces, the war entered a second and more decisivephase.

However, this also led to an increased discord amongst the Dutch. Onone side there was a militant Calvinist minority that wanted tocontinue fighting the Catholic Philip II and convert all Dutch citizensto Calvinism. On the other end was a mostly Catholic minority that wanted to remain loyal to the governor andhis administration in Brussels. In between was the large majority of (Catholic) Dutch that had no particularallegiance, but mostly wanted to restore Dutch privileges and the expulsion of the Spanish mercenary armies.William of Orange was the central figure who had to rally these groups to a common goal. In the end he wasforced to move more and more towards the radical Calvinist side fighting the Spanish. He converted toCalvinism himself in 1573.[29]

Alba was unable to deal with the rebellion and was replaced in 1573by Luis de Requesens, and a new policy of moderation wasattempted. Spain, however, had to declare bankruptcy in 1575.Requesens had not managed to broker a policy acceptable to both theSpanish King and the Netherlands when he died in early 1576.

The inability of the Spanish to pay their mercenary armies endured,leading to numerous mutinies, and in November troops sackedAntwerp at the cost of some 8,000 lives. This so-called "SpanishFury" strengthened the resolve of the rebels in the seventeenprovinces to take fate into their own hands.

The Netherlands negotiated an internal treaty, the Pacification ofGhent in 1576, in which the provinces agreed to religious toleranceand pledged to fight together against the mutinous Spanish forces. Forthe mostly Catholic provinces, the destruction by mutinous foreigntroops was the principal reason to join in an open revolt, but formallythe provinces still remained loyal to the sovereign Philip II. Somereligious hostilities continued, however, and Spain, aided byshipments of bullion from the New World, was able to send a new

army under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza.[5]

Pacification of Ghent

Unions of Arras and Utrecht

The Netherlands in 1579, indicatingthe Unions of Utrecht (blue) andAtrecht (yellow)

On 6 January 1579, prompted by the new Spanish governor Farnese,and upset by aggressive Calvinism, some of the Southern States(County of Artois, County of Hainaut, and the so-called WalloonFlanders located in what is now France and Wallonia) left the allianceagreed upon by the pacification of Ghent and signed the Union ofArras (Atrecht), expressing their loyalty to the Spanish king. Thismeant an early end to the goal of united independence for theseventeen provinces on the basis of religious tolerance, agreed upononly three years previously.

In response to the Union of Arras, William united the provinces ofHolland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Groningen in the Union ofUtrecht on 23 January; Brabant and Flanders joined a month later, inFebruary. Effectively, the seventeen provinces were now divided intoa southern group loyal to the Spanish king and a rebellious northerngroup.

In 16th-century Europe, most countries had a king or other noble as head of state. Having repudiated Philip,the States-General of the Netherlands tried to find a suitable replacement. The Protestant Queen of England,Elizabeth I, seemed the obvious choice to be protector of the Netherlands. Elizabeth, however, found the ideaabhorrent. Her intervention for the French Huguenots (see the Treaty of Hampton Court) had been a costlymistake, and she had resolved never again to involve herself in the domestic affairs of any of her fellowmonarchs. Not only would intervention provoke Philip, but it would set a dangerous precedent. If she couldinterfere in the affairs of other monarchs, they could return the favour. (Elizabeth did later provide aid to theDutch rebels in the Treaty of Nonsuch (1585), and as a consequence Philip aided Irish rebels in the NineYears' War.)

In 1581 the States-General invited François, Duke of Anjou (younger brother of King Henry III of France), tobe sovereign ruler. Anjou accepted on the condition that the Netherlands officially renounce any loyalty toPhilip. The States-General issued the Act of Abjuration, which declared that the King of Spain had not upheldhis responsibilities to the people of the Netherlands and therefore would no longer be accepted as the rightfulsovereign. Anjou arrived in February 1582. Though welcomed in some cities, he was rejected by Holland andZeeland. Most of the people distrusted him as a Catholic, and the States-General granted him very limitedpowers. He brought a small French army to the Netherlands, and then decided to seize control of Antwerp byforce in January 1583. This attempt failed disastrously, and Anjou left the Netherlands.

Elizabeth was now offered the sovereignty of the Netherlands, but she declined. All options for foreign royaltybeing exhausted, the States-General eventually decided to rule as a republican body instead.

Immediately after the Act of Abjuration, Spain sent a new army to recapture the United Provinces. Over thefollowing years, the Duke of Parma reconquered the major part of Flanders and Brabant, as well as large partsof the northeastern provinces. The Roman Catholic religion was restored in much of this area. In 1585,Antwerp — the largest city in the Low Countries at the time — fell to the Spanish, which led over half itspopulation to flee to the north. Between 1560 and 1590, the population of Antwerp plummeted from c.100,000 inhabitants to c. 42,000.[30]

Act of Abjuration

The Fall of Antwerp

The joyous entry of the Duke ofAnjou into Antwerp, February 19,1582, a year before his attempt totake the city by force.

Dutch ships ramming Spanish galleys inthe Battle of the Narrow Seas, October1602

Siege of Ostend (1601–1604). The ruinand devastation of the Siege led tonegotiations that produced a Twelve-YearTruce (1609–1621) between Spain and theUnited Provinces.

William of Orange, who had been declared an outlaw by Philip II inMarch 1580,[31] was assassinated by a supporter of the King on 10July 1584. He would be succeeded as leader of the rebellion by hisson Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange.

The Netherlands were split into an independent northern part and asouthern part that remained under Spanish control. Due to the almostuninterrupted rule of the Calvinist-dominated separatists, much of thepopulation of the northern provinces became converted toProtestantism over the next decades. The south, under Spanish rule,remained a Catholic stronghold; most of its Protestants fled to thenorth. Spain retained a large military presence in the south, where itcould also be used against France.

With the war going against them, the United Provinces hadsought help from the kingdoms of France and England and, inFebruary to May 1585, even offered each monarch sovereigntyover the Netherlands, but both had declined.[32]

While England had unofficially been supporting the Dutch foryears, Elizabeth had not officially supported the Dutch becauseshe was afraid it might aggravate Spain into a war. However, theyear before, the French Catholic League had signed a treaty withSpain to destroy the French Protestants. Afraid that France wouldfall under control of the Habsburgs, Elizabeth now decided toact. In 1585, under the Treaty of Nonsuch, Elizabeth I sent theEarl of Leicester to take the rule as lord-regent, with 5,000 to6,000 troops, including 1,000 cavalry. The Earl of Leicesterproved to be a poor commander, and also did not understand thesensitive trade arrangements between the Dutch regents and theSpanish. Moreover, Leicester sided with the radical Calvinists,earning him the distrust of the Catholics and moderates. Leicesteralso collided with many Dutch patricians when he tried tostrengthen his own power at the cost of the Provincial States.Within a year of his arrival, he had lost his public support.Leicester returned to England, after which the States-General,being unable to find any other suitable regent, appointed Mauriceof Orange (William's son), at the age of 20, to the position ofCaptain General of the Dutch army in 1587. On 7 September1589 Philip II ordered Parma to move all available forces southto prevent Henry of Navarre from becoming King of France.[33]

For Spain, the Netherlands had become a side show incomparison to the French Wars of Religion.

The borders of the present-day Netherlands were largely definedby the campaigns of Maurice of Orange. The Dutch successesowed not only to his tactical skill but also to the financial burden Spain incurred replacing ships lost in thedisastrous campaign of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the need to refit its navy to recover control of the sea

De facto independence of the north (1585–1609)

1607: Battle of Gibraltar the recentlyexpanded Dutch Navy engages a Spanishfleet at Gibraltar.

Territory of the United Provincesc. 1590 (in orange), at the heightof the Spanish Reconquest underthe Duke of Parma (Turquoise).

after the subsequent English counterattack. One of the most notable features of this war are the number ofmutinies by the troops in the Spanish army because of arrears of pay. At least 40 mutinies in the period 1570 to1607 are known.[34] In 1595, when Henry IV of France declared war against Spain, the Spanish governmentdeclared bankruptcy again. However, by regaining control of the sea, Spain was able to greatly increase itssupply of gold and silver from the Americas, which allowed it to increase military pressure on England andFrance.

Under financial and military pressure, in 1598, Philip ceded thethrones of the Netherlands to his elder daughter Isabella and herhusband (Philip's nephew) Albert following the conclusion of theTreaty of Vervins with France. They proved to be highlycompetent rulers. By that time Maurice was engaged inconquering important cities in the Netherlands. Starting with theimportant fortification of Bergen op Zoom (1588), Mauriceconquered Breda (1590), Zutphen, Deventer, Delfzijl, andNijmegen (1591), Steenwijk, Coevorden (1592) Geertruidenberg(1593), Groningen (1594), Grol, Enschede, Ootmarsum,Oldenzaal (1597), Rheinberg (1601), and Grave (1602).[35] Asthis campaign was restricted to the border areas of the currentNetherlands, the heartland of Holland remained at peace, duringwhich time it moved into its Golden age.

By now, it had become clear that Spanish control of the SouthernNetherlands was strong. However, control over Zeeland meant that theNorthern Netherlands could control and close the estuary of the Scheldt,the entry to the sea for the important port of Antwerp. The port ofAmsterdam benefited greatly from the blockade of the port of Antwerp,to the extent that merchants in the North began to question thedesirability of reconquering the South. A campaign to control theSouthern provinces' coast region was launched against Maurice's advicein 1600. Although portrayed as a liberation of the Southern Netherlands,the campaign was chiefly aimed at eliminating the threat to Dutch tradeposed by the Spanish-supported Dunkirkers. The Spaniards strengthenedtheir positions along the coast, leading to the Battle of Nieuwpoort.

Although the States-General army won great acclaim for itself and itscommander by inflicting a then-surprising defeat of a Spanish army inopen battle, Maurice halted the march on Dunkirk and returned to theNorthern Provinces. Maurice never forgave the regents, led by vanOldenbarneveld, for being sent on this mission. By now the division ofthe Netherlands into separate states had become almost inevitable. With the failure to eliminate the Dunkirkthreat to trade, the states decided to build up their navy to protect sea trade, which had greatly increasedthrough the creation of the Dutch East Indies Company in 1602. The strengthened Dutch fleets would prove tobe a formidable force, hampering Spain's naval ambitions thereafter.

In 1609, the United Provinces and the Spanish controlled southern states entered into a ceasefire, afterwardscalled the Twelve Years' Truce, mediated by France and England at The Hague. During the ceasefire theDutch made great efforts to build their navy, which was later to have a crucial bearing on the course of thewar.

Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621)

Maurice of Nassau wassovereign Prince of Orangefrom 1618, on the death ofhis eldest half brother, PhilipWilliam, Prince of Orange.

1625: The Surrender of Breda, by DiegoVelázquez, depicting the Dutch commandersyielding to Spanish commander Ambrogio Spinola

During the Truce, two factions emerged in the Dutch camp, along politicaland religious lines. On one side were the Remonstrants (Arminians), whoseprominent supporters included Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and HugoGrotius.[36] They tended to be well-to-do merchants who accepted a less strictinterpretation of the Bible than did classical Calvinists. They were opposed bythe more radical Gomarists, who had openly proclaimed their allegiance toPrince Maurice in 1610.[37] In 1617 the conflict escalated when republicanspushed the "Sharp Resolution", allowing the cities to take measures againstthe Gomarists. Prince Maurice accused van Oldenbarnevelt of treason, hadhim arrested, and in 1619, executed. Hugo Grotius fled the country afterescaping from imprisonment in Castle Loevestein.[36]

Negotiations for a permanent peace went on throughout the truce. Two majorissues could not be resolved. First, the Spanish demand for religious freedomof Catholics in Northern Netherlands was countered by aDutch demand for a similar religious freedom forProtestants in the Southern Netherlands. Second, therewas a growing disagreement over the trade routes to thedifferent colonies (in the Far East and the Americas). TheSpanish made one last effort to reconquer the North, andthe Dutch used their navy to enlarge their colonial traderoutes to the detriment of Spain (the Dutch mostlyconcentrated on capturing Phillip's possessions as Kingof Portugal, which had not signed the truce, in theDutch–Portuguese War). The war was on once more —and crucially, merging with the wider Thirty Years' War.

In 1622, a Spanish attack on the important fortress townof Bergen op Zoom was repelled. However, in 1625Maurice died while the Spanish laid siege to the city ofBreda. Ignoring orders, the Spanish commanderAmbrogio Spinola succeeded in conquering the city ofBreda. The war was now more focused on trade, muchof it in between the Dutch and the Dunkirkers, but also on Dutch attacks on Spanish convoys, and above allthe seizure of the undermanned Portuguese trading forts and ill-defended territories. Maurice's half-brotherFrederick Henry had succeeded his brother and taken command of the army. Frederick Henry conquered thepivotal fortified city of 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629. This town, largest in the northern part of Brabant, had beenconsidered impregnable to attack. Its loss was a serious blow to the Spanish.[38]

In 1632, Frederick Henry captured Venlo, Roermond, and Maastricht during his famous "March along theMeuse" in a pincer move to prepare for the conquest of the major cities of Flanders. Attempts in the next yearsto attack Antwerp and Brussels failed, however. The Dutch were disappointed by the lack of support theyreceived from the Flemish population. This was mainly because of the pillaging of Tienen and the newgeneration that had been raised in Flanders and Brabant, which had been thoroughly reconverted to RomanCatholicism and now distrusted the Calvinist Dutch even more than it loathed the Spanish occupants.

Final stages (1621–1648)

War recommences

1645: The Siege of Hulst, the last major siege ofthe war

As more European countries began to build theirempires, the war between the countries extended tocolonies as well. Battles for profitable colonies werefought as far away as Macau, East Indies, Ceylon,Formosa (Taiwan), the Philippines, Brazil, and others.The most important of these conflicts would becomeknown as the Dutch-Portuguese War. The Dutch carvedout a trading empire all over the world, using theirdominance at sea to great advantage. The Dutch EastIndia Company was founded to administer all Dutchtrade with the East, while the Dutch West IndiaCompany did the same for the West.

In the Western colonies, the Dutch States General mostlyrestricted itself to supporting privateering by theircaptains in the Caribbean to drain the Spanish coffers andfill their own. The most successful of these raids was the capture of the larger part of the Spanish treasure fleetby Piet Hein in 1628, which allowed Frederick Henry to finance the siege of 's-Hertogenbosch, and seriouslytroubled Spanish payments of troops. But attempts were also made to conquer existing colonies or found newones in Brazil, North America, and Africa. Most of these would be only briefly or partially successful.[39] Inthe East the activities led to the conquest of many profitable trading colonies, a major factor in bringing aboutthe Dutch Golden Age.[40]

In 1639, Spain sent an armada bound for Flanders, carrying 20,000 troops, to assist in a last large-scale attemptto defeat the northern rebels. The armada was decisively defeated by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp inthe Battle of the Downs. This victory had historic consequences far beyond the Eighty Years' War as it markedthe end of Spain as the dominant sea power.

An alliance with France changed the balance of power. The Republic could now hope to reconquer theSouthern Netherlands. However, this would not mean that they would become a part of the Netherlands, butthat they would be divided among the victors, resulting in a powerful French state bordering the Republic.Furthermore, it would mean that the port of Antwerp would most likely no longer be blockaded and mightbecome serious competition for Amsterdam. With the Thirty Years' War decided, there was also no longer anyneed to fight on to support fellow Protestant nations. As a result, the decision was made to end the war.[41]

On 30 January 1648, the war ended with the Treaty of Münster between Spain and the Netherlands. InMünster on 15 May, the parties exchanged ratified copies of the treaty. This treaty was part of the European-scale Peace of Westphalia that also ended the Thirty Years' War. In the treaty, the power balance in WesternEurope was readjusted to the actual geopolitical reality. This meant that de jure the Dutch Republic wasrecognized as an independent state, and that the long-existing separation of the Netherlands (and also the OldSwiss Confederacy) from the Holy Roman Empire was finally recognized. The Republic retained control overthe territories that were conquered in the later stages of the war.[42] The now officially recognized republic stillconsisted of the seven provinces that in 1579 concluded the Union of Utrecht: Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht,Gelderland, Overijssel, Friesland, and Groningen. Each province was governed by its sovereign States, suchas the States of Holland and West Friesland and States of Friesland, assisted by a stadtholder and by an

Colonial theater

From war to peace

Peace

Amsterdam citizens celebrating the Peace of Münster,1648 painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst

The aftermath of the plundering of the village ofWommelgem in 1589

executive council, variously calledGecommitteerde Raden or Gedeputeerde Staten(Delegated States). Each stadtholder wasappointed by the States of the province and alsosubordinate to the States-General. However, theprinces of Orange-Nassau, beginning withWilliam I of Orange, became de facto hereditarystadtholders in Holland and Zeeland. In practicethey usually became stadtholder of the otherprovinces as well (except for Friesland, wherethe cadet branch of Nassau-Dietz provided thestadtholders). A constant power struggle, whichalready had shown its precursor during the

Twelve Years' Truce, emerged between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Dutch StatesParty supporters.

The border states, parts of Flanders, Brabant, and Limburg that were conquered by the Dutch in the finalstages of the war, were to be federally governed by the States-General. These were the so-called GeneralityLands (Generaliteitslanden), which consisted of Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen(present Zeelandic Flanders), and Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht).

The peace would not be long-lived as the newly emerged world powers, the Republic of the Netherlands andthe Commonwealth of England, would start their first war in 1652, only four years after the peace was signed.

The Eighty Years' War began with a series of battlesmostly fought by mercenaries, as was typical of the time.While successes for both parties were limited, costs werehigh and continued to grow as the war progressed. Thestructural inability of the Spanish government to pay itssoldiers—it went bankrupt several times—led toperpetual large-scale mutinies among the Spanish army inthe Netherlands, which continually frustrated Spain'smilitary campaigns in multiple fronts while at the sametime defending a huge colonial empire. On the Dutchside the States of Holland, with its opulent capitalAmsterdam, bore the brunt of the costs of war and wereable to do so successfully as locals. The Spanish effort inthe Netherlands was also hampered by the war againstthe Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean during the 1570s, which demanded much of Spain's financial andhuman resources.

As the revolt and its suppression centered largely around issues of religious freedom and taxation, the conflictnecessarily involved not only soldiers, but also civilians at all levels of society. This may be one reason for theresolve and subsequent successes of the Dutch rebels in defending cities. Another factor was that theunpopularity of the Spanish army, which existed even before the start of the revolt,[43] was exacerbated whenin the early stage of the war a few cities were purposely sacked by the Spanish troops after havingsurrendered; this was done as a practice to intimidate the remaining rebel cities into surrender. Given the

Aftermath

Nature of the war

The Spanish Fury at Maastricht in1579

Aetas Ferrea. This engraving by Hans Collaertlikens the devastation caused by the war to theIron Age of Greek mythology.

involvement of all sectors of Dutch society in the conflict, a more-or-less organized, irregular army emerged alongside the regular forces.Among these were the geuzen (from the French word "gueux"meaning "beggars"), who waged a guerrilla war against Spanishinterests. Especially at sea, the 'watergeuzen' were effective agents ofthe Dutch cause.

Another aspect of warfare in the Netherlands was its relatively staticcharacter. There were very few pitched battles where armies met inthe field. Most military operations were sieges, as was typical of theera, resulting in protracted and expensive use of the military forcesavailable. The Dutch had fortified most of their cities and even manysmaller towns in accordance with the most modern views of the time,and these cities had to be subdued one by one. Sometimes sieges were

broken off when the enemy threatened to attack the besieging army, or, on the Spanish side, conquered citieswere given up immediately, or occasionally sold back to the Dutch, when the conquering army turnedmutinous.

In the later stages, Maurice raised a professional standing army that was even paid when no hostilities weretaking place, a radical innovation in that time and part of the Military Revolution.[44] This ensured him of loyalsoldiers, who were trained in co-operating among each other and were intimately familiar with the doctrines oftheir commanders and were capable of carrying out complicated manoeuvres.

In the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, Charles V establishedthe Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands as an entityseparate from France, Burgundy, or the Holy RomanEmpire. The Netherlands at this point was among thewealthiest regions in Europe, and an important center oftrade, finance, and art. The Eighty Years' War introduceda sharp breach in the region, with the Dutch Republic(the present-day Netherlands) growing into a worldpower (see Dutch Golden Age), and the SouthernNetherlands (more or less present-day Belgium) losingmuch of its economic and cultural significance forcenturies to come. The naval blockade during much ofthe Eighty Years' War of Antwerp, once the largestcommercial center of Europe, greatly contributed to therise of Amsterdam as the new center of European andworld trade.

Politically, a unique situation had emerged in the Netherlands where a republican body (the States General)ruled, but where a (increasingly hereditary) noble function of Stadtholder was occupied by the house ofOrange-Nassau. This division of power prevented large scale fighting between nobility and civilians ashappened in the English Civil War. The frictions between the civil and noble fractions, that already started inthe twelve years' truce, were numerous and would finally lead to an outburst with the French supportedBatavian Republic, where Dutch bourgeoisie hoped to get rid of the increasing self-esteem in the nobility onceand for all. However, in a dramatic resurgence of nobility after the Napoleonic era the republic would beabandoned in favour of the foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Thus, one of the oldestrepublics of Europe was turned into a monarchy, which it still is today.

Effect on the Low Countries

The Spanish empire and the republic in1648, after the Peace of Westphalia

The conquest of various American territories made Spain theleading European power of the 16th century, leading tocontinuous conflict with France and the emerging power ofEngland. In addition, the deeply religious monarchs Charles Vand Philip II saw a role for themselves as protectors of theCatholic faith against Islam in the Mediterranean, and againstProtestantism in northern Europe. This meant the Spanish Empirewas almost continuously at war. Of all these conflicts, the EightyYears' War was the most prolonged and had a major effect on theSpanish finances and the morale of the Spanish people, who sawtaxes increase and soldiers not returning, with little successes tobalance the scales. The Spanish government had to declareseveral bankruptcies. The Spanish population increasinglyquestioned the necessity of the war in the Netherlands. The lossof Portugal in 1640 and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, endingthe war, were the first signs that the role of the Spanish Empire inEurope was declining.

The Dutch revolt against their lawful sovereign, most obviously illustrated in the Act of Abjuration (1581),implied that a sovereign could be deposed by the population if there was agreement that he did not fulfill hisGod-given responsibility. This act by the Dutch challenged the concept of the divine right of kings andeventually led to the formation of the Dutch Republic. The acceptance of a non-monarchic country by theother European powers in 1648 spread across Europe, fueling resistance against the divine power of Kings.

Causes of the Dutch RevoltBattles of the Eighty Years' WarDutch-Portuguese WarEighty Years' WarEuropean wars of religionSynod of DordrechtUnion of DelftGallery of maps of the Eighty Years' War (in Dutch)

1. This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battlesbetween armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs. Catholic(establishment) unrest leading to the war, it is not easy to give an exact date when the revoltstarted. The first open violence that would lead to the war was the 1566 iconoclasm, andsometimes the first Spanish repressions of the riots (i.e. battle of Oosterweel, 1567) areconsidered the starting point. Most accounts cite the 1568 invasions of armies of mercenariespaid by William of Orange as the official start of the war; this article adopts that point of view.Alternatively, the start of the war is sometimes set at the capture of Brielle by the Gueux in1572.

Effect on the Spanish Empire

Political implications in Europe

See also

Notes

1. C. Holland: The Death that saved Europe, G.P. Putnams' Sons, 2001, page 1042. Woltjer, J.J. (1994): Tussen vrijheidsstrijd en burgeroorlog. Over de Nederlandse Opstand

1555-1580, Balans, p. 93. "The Treaty of Münster, 1648" (http://www1.umassd.edu/euro/resources/dutchrep/14.pdf)

(PDF). University of Massachusetts. Retrieved 29 January 2018.4. Huizinga, Johan (1997). The Autumn of the Middle Ages (Dutch edition—Herfsttij der

Middeleeuwen) (http://www.boekenwereld.com) (26th (1st—1919) ed.). Olympus. ISBN 90-254-1207-6.

5. Kamen, Henry (2005). Spain, 1469–1714: a society of conflict (https://archive.org/details/spain14691714soc00kame) (3rd ed.). Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education. ISBN 0-582-78464-6.

6. Geyl, Pieter (2001). History of the Dutch-Speaking peoples 1555–1648 (1sr (combines twovolumes from 1932 and 1936) ed.). Phoenix Press, London UK. ISBN 1-84212-225-8.

7. Jansen, H. P. H. (2002). Geschiedenis van de Middeleeuwen (in Dutch) (12th (1st—1978) ed.).Het Spectrum. ISBN 90-274-5377-2.

8. Israel, J. I. (1998). The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1st paperback(1st—1995) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 132–134. ISBN 0-19-820734-4.

9. Israel, J. I. (1998). The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1st paperback(1st—1995) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 0-19-820734-4.

10. R. Po-chia Hsia, ed. A Companion to the Reformation World (2006) pp 118–3411. R. Po-chia Hsia, ed. A Companion to the Reformation World (2006) pp 3–3612. Israel, J. I. (1998). The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1st paperback

(1st—1995) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 155. ISBN 0-19-820734-4.13. Israel, J. I. (1998). The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1st paperback

(1st—1995) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 127. ISBN 0-19-820734-4.14. de Bruin, R. E.; T. J. Hoekstra; A. Pietersma (1999). The city of Utrecht through twenty

centuries : a brief history (1st ed.). SPOU and the Utrecht Archief; Utrecht Nl. ISBN 90-5479-040-7.

15. Van Nierop, H., "Alva's Throne—making sense of the revolt of the Netherlands". In: Darby, G.(ed), The Origins and Development of the Dutch Revolt (Londen/New York 2001) pp. 29–47, 37

16. Motley, John Lothrop (1885). The Rise of the Dutch Republic (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4811/4811-h/4811-h.htm). vol. I. Harper Brothers. "As Philip was proceeding on board the shipwhich was to bear him forever from the Netherlands, his eyes lighted upon the Prince. Hisdispleasure could no longer be restrained. With angry face he turned upon him, and bitterlyreproached him for having thwarted all his plans by means of his secret intrigues. Williamreplied with humility that every thing which had taken place had been done through the regularand natural movements of the states. Upon this the King, boiling with rage, seized the Prince bythe wrist, and shaking it violently, exclaimed in Spanish, "No los estados, ma vos, vos, vos!—Not the estates, but you, you, you!" repeating thrice the word vos, which is as disrespectful anduncourteous in Spanish as "toi" in French."

17. G. Parker, The Dutch Revolt. Revised edition (1985), 46.18. "The birth and growth of Utrecht" (http://www.domkerk.nl/domchurch/history.html) Archived (http

s://www.webcitation.org/6Mfwe5Lhp?url=http://www.domkerk.nl/domchurch/history.html) 16January 2014 at WebCite

19. G. Parker, The Dutch Revolt. Revised edition (1985), pp. 74–75.20. Limm (1989) notes that "there were few cases of more than 200 people being involved at any

one time", even in the northern provinces, where large crowds often attended the iconoclasm(p. 25). In the case of the southern provinces, he speaks of a relatively small, orderly groupmoving along the country.

References

21. See Spaans (1999), 152 ff., where she argues that iconoclasm was actually organized by localelites for political reasons (Spaans, J. "Catholicism and Resistance to the Reformation in theNorthern Netherlands". In: Benedict, Ph., and others (eds), Reformation, Revolt and Civil Warin France and the Netherlands, 1555–1585 (Amsterdam 1999), pp. 149–163).

22. Van der Horst, Han (2000). Nederland, de vaderlandse geschiedenis van de prehistorie tot nu(in Dutch) (3rd ed.). Bert Bakker. ISBN 90-351-2722-6.

23. Limm, Peter (1989). The Dutch Revolt, 1559–1648 (1st ed.). London, UK: Longman. p. 30.24. Limm 1989, p. 32.25. The Ottoman state and its place in world history by Kemal H. Karpat p.53 [1] (https://books.goog

le.com/books?id=orEfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA53&hl=en)26. Muslims and the Gospel by Roland E. Miller p.208 (https://books.google.com/books?id=BjC7K

1j_AT8C&pg=PA208&hl=en)27. Limm 1989, pp. 34–35.28. Limm 1989, p. 4029. Limm 1989, p. 40.30. Marnef, G. "The towns and the revolt". In: Darby, G. (ed), The Origins and Development of the

Dutch Revolt (Londen/New York 2001) 84–106; 85 and 103.31. Limm 1989, pp. 53 and 55.32. Israel (1998), 21933. G.Parker 1972; 245 The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659 Cambridge

University Press34. listed in Appendix J in G.Parker 1972 The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659

Cambridge University Press35. Blokker, Jan (2006). Waar is de Tachtigjarige Oorlog gebleven? (in Dutch) (1st ed.). De

Harmonie. ISBN 90-6169-741-7.36. Motley, John L. (1874). The Life and Death of John of Barneveld (https://www.gutenberg.org/eb

ooks/4899). Project Gutenberg.37. Israel, J. I. (1998). The Dutch Republic Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806 (1st paperback

(1st—1995) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 431. ISBN 0-19-820734-4.38. According to Israel (1998, 507–508), the fall of 's-Hertogenbosch represented "a shattering

blow to Spanish prestige" and was 'epoch-making' for the fact that, for the first time in the war,the Dutch appeared to enjoy overall strategic superiority. The event caused Philip IV to overrulehis ministers and offer an unconditional truce, which was rejected (Israel 1998, 508).

39. Heijer, den, Henk J. (2002). De geschiedenis van de West-Indische Compagnie (http://www.walburgpers.nl) (2nd ed.). Zutphen, Netherlands: Walburg Pers. ISBN 90-6011-912-6.

40. Gaastra, Femme S. (1991). De geschiedenis van de VOC (http://www.walburgpers.nl) (2nded.). Zutphen, Netherlands: Walburg Pers. ISBN 90-6011-929-0.

41. Blom, J.C.H. (1993). Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden (http://www.uitgeverijnijghenvanditmar.nl) (2nd ed.). Rijswijk, Netherlands: Nijgh en Van Ditmar Universitair. ISBN 90-237-1164-5.

42. Osiander, Andreas (Spring 2001). "Sovereignty, International Relations, and the WestphalianMyth". International Organization. 55 (2): 251–287. doi:10.1162/00208180151140577 (https://doi.org/10.1162%2F00208180151140577).

43. Parker (1985, 46) cites Granvelle commenting that "people here universally display discontentwith any and all Spaniards in these provinces" in a letter to Philip II of 10 March 1563, andrefers to Margaret of Parma's objections to Alva's intention of billeting his "unpopular tercios"on loyal Flemish towns at his arrival in August 1568 (Parker 1985, 104).

44. This is argued by M. Roberts in "The Military Revolution, 1560–1660" (inaugural lecture,Belfast 1955).

The works of John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877) give an old but very detailed account of theDutch republic in this time; Motley championed the Protestant cause—Works by John LothropMotley (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1583) at Project Gutenberg (free E-texts)DUKE, ALASTAIR, (1992), Select documents for the Reformation and the Revolt of the LowCountries, 1555–1609 (https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/english/sources/Pages/default.aspx)GEYL, PIETER, (1932), The Revolt of the Netherlands, 1555–1609. Williams & Norgate, UK.GEYL, PIETER, (1936), The Netherlands Divided, 1609–1648. Williams & Norgate, UK.ISRAEL, JONATHAN I, (1998), The Dutch Republic. Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477–1806,Clarendon Press, Oxford, ISBN 0-19-820734-4.KOENIGSBERGER, H.G., (2007) [2001] Monarchies, States Generals and Parliaments. TheNetherlands in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Cambridge U.P., ISBN 978-0-521-04437-0paperbackKOSSMANN, E.H. & MELLINK, A.H., (1974) Texts concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands (http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/koss002text01_01/) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-200148PARKER, GEOFFREY, (1977), The Dutch revolt, Penguin books, LondonRODRÍGUEZ PÉREZ, YOLANDA, The Dutch Revolt through Spanish Eyes: Self and Other in historicaland literary texts of Golden Age Spain (c. 1548–1673) (Oxford etc., Peter Lang, 2008) (HispanicStudies: Culture and Ideas, 16).

MARNEF, GUIDO, "Belgian and Dutch Post-war Historiography on the Protestant and CatholicReformation in the Netherlands," Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte (2009) Vol. 100, pp 271–292.

De Bello Belgico (http://www.dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/english/Pages/default.aspx) – about theRevolt of the Netherlands, website of Leiden UniversityDe canon van Nederland (https://web.archive.org/web/20170729041509/http://www.entoen.nu/en) – about Dutch history, contains topics related to the Eighty Years' War, also in English(in Spanish) Las guerras de Flandes (http://bvpb.mcu.es/en/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=11000459&forma=&presentacion=pagina&forma=&posicion=1&accion_ir=Go) – about theFlanders' War

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