The Protestant Revolt of the Netherlands

Netherlands vs. Spain

And Phillip II

Abdication of Charles V HRE

• CV stepped down in 1556 after the Peace of Augsburg

• Relinquished all titles, including HRE, King of Spain, the 17 provinces of the Netherlands and the Free County of Burgundy

Ferdinand I, brother of CV

• CV left Austria, Bohemia and Hungary to his brother Ferdinand I

• Subsequently Ferdinand was elected Holy Roman Emperor

Phillip II, son of CV

• Inherited Spain, 17 provinces of the Netherlands, and Free County of Burgundy

• Reigned from 1556-1598

The Ambition of Phillip II

• Phillip was first and foremost a Catholic• His Palace, the Escorial was built in the shape of

a grill in honor of St. Lawrence who had been martyred in that fashion.

• He took it upon himself to head up a Catholic counter offensive to the Protestant Reformation

• Spain could fund such an attack with the riches from the new world; Potosi, Peru.

Thoughtful Question• Why did the Netherlands revolt against Phillip II

and not his father Charles V?• Charles V was from Flanders, which is in the

region of the Netherlands-he was one of them.• Phillip was thought of as a foreign King, a Spaniard

who lived in Spain. • After 1560 Spanish officials and troops were seen

more frequently in the Netherlands• Also after 1560 many Calvinists fled to the

Netherlands to escape the religious wars in France.

Political and religious revolt

• The revolt began n 1566 when 200 nobles of the various 17 provinces founded a league to check the “foreign” influence in the Netherlands.

• The league consisted of both Catholics AND Calvinists-they asked Phillip not to send the inquisition to the Netherlands

• Phillips agents refused the petition

Revolt begins 1566

• With the petition denied a mass revolt broke out

• The Calvinist faction destroyed some 400 Catholic Churches

• Many of the Nobles that had signed the original petition were disgusted with the violence

Council of Troubles (blood)

• Phillip II, appalled by sacrilege sent in the inquisition, Spanish troops and the Duke of Alva

• Alva’s Council sentenced thousands to death, confiscated Nobles estates-both Catholic and Calvinist

Duke of Alva

By 1576, representatives of all 17 provinces formed a union to drive out the Spanish

What error did the Spanish make that led to this Netherland wide revolt?

Do you think the English will get involved? If so, why?

Yes, England did get involved

• English feared the Spanish movement into the Netherlands-”the pistol pointed at the heart of England”

• England’s involvement was evolutionary

Elizabeth I

• QEI had lent money to the Netherlands from the very beginning-but secretly

• She did not want to provoke war with Spain• QEI had problems at home and she was not

event sure if her own subjects would support her– Duke of Norfolk– Mary, Queen of Scots

• The security of Elizabethan Protestant England rested on the outcome of the fighting in the Netherlands

The Prince of Parma

• IN 1578 Alexander Farnese, the Prince of Parma became the Spanish General of the Netherlands

• Rallied the southern 10 provinces to his side

• The 7 northern provinces, led by Holland, formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579

Spain to Antwerp

• When Parma moved his troops onto Antwerp, QEI openly entered the war

• Spain now believed that the Netherlands could only be subdued by defeating England

• The Queen of the “heretics” must be dethroned

• Phillip II prepared to invade England

Spanish Armada 1588

• As Phillip prepared to invade the English Parliament called for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots

• The Spanish Armada was unsuccessful

• English led by Sir Francis Drake

• The Protestant wind

Results of the Struggle

• English assured their national independence• They became more solidly Protestant• With the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the

English were more free to take to the sea• 17 provinces officially broken into Spanish

Netherlands and the Dutch Netherlands (Holland)