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HOLLAND, COUNTY AND PROVINCE OF
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See also: Among the records of the abbey of Egmont is a document by which the See also:emperor See also:Arnulf gave to a certain count Gerolf the same land " between Swithardeshage and Kinhem," afterwards held by Dirk I. It is generally assumed that this Gerolf was his See also:father, otherwise their See also:deed of gift would not have been Dlrkf(. preserved among the See also:family papers. Dirk II. was
the founder of the abbey of Egmont. His younger son Egbert became See also:archbishop of Trews. His See also:elder son Arnulf married Liutgardis, daughter of Siegfried of See also:Luxemburg and See also:sister-in-See also:law of the emperor See also: Dirk I((. But no sooner was he arrived at man's See also:estate than Dirk turned upon his enemies with. courage and vigour. He waged See also:war, successfully with Adelbold, the powerful See also:bishop of See also:Utrecht, and made himself See also:master not only of his ancestral possessions, but of the district on the Meuse known as the Bushland of Merweda (foresluni Merweda), hitherto subject tothe see of Utrecht. In the midst of this marshy See also:tract, at a point commanding the courses of the Meuse and the Waal, he built a See also:castle (about 1015) and began to See also:levy tolls. Around this castle sprang up the town of Thure- drecht or Dordrecht. The possession of this stronghold Dordrecht. 2:1r was so injurious to the See also:commerce of See also:Tiel, See also:Cologne and the Rhenish towns with See also:England that complaints were made by the bishop of Utrecht and the archbishop of Cologne to the emperor. Henry II. took the See also:part of the complainants and commissioned See also:Duke See also:Godfrey of See also:Lorraine to chastise the See also:young Frisian count. Duke Godfrey Godfrtyot invaded Dirk's lands with a large See also:army, but they were Lorraine. impeded by the swampy nature of the country and totally defeated with heavy loss (See also:July 29, 1018). The duke was himself taken prisoner. The result was that Dirk was not merely confirmed in his possession of Dordrecht and the Merweda Bushland (the later Holland) but also of the territory of a See also:vassal of the Utrecht see, Dirk Bavo by name, which he Beginning conquered. This victory of 1018 is often regarded as of the the true starting-point of the history of the county of county of Holland. Having thus established his rule in the Houaadsouth, Dirk next proceeded to bring into subjection the Frisians in the See also:north. He appointed his See also:brother Siegfrid or Sikka as See also:governor over them. In his later years Dirk went upon a See also:pilgrimage to the See also:Holy Land from which he returned in 1034; and ruled in See also:peace until his See also:death in 1039. His son, Dirk IV., was one of the most enterprising of his warlike and strenuous See also:race. He began the See also:long strife with the counts of See also:Flanders, as to the lordship over Walcheren Dirk Iv. and other islands of See also:Zeeland; the See also:quarrel was See also:im- portant, as dealing with the borderland between See also:French and See also:German overlordship. This strife, which lasted 400 years, did not at first break out into actual warfare, because both Dirk and See also:Baldwin V. of Flanders had a See also:common danger in Quarrel the emperor Henry III., who in 1046 occupied the with lands in dispute. Dirk allied himself with Godfrey Flanders the Bearded of Lorraine, who was at war with the about emperor, and his territory was invaded by a powerful Zeeland. imperial See also:fleet and army (1047). But Dirk entrenched himself in his stronghold at See also:Vlaardingen, and when See also:winter came on he surrounded and cut off with his See also:light boats a number of the enemy's See also:ships, and destroyed a large part of their army as they made their way amidst the See also:marches, which impeded their See also:retreat. He was able to recover what he had lost and to make peace on his own terms. Two years later he was again assailed by a See also:coalition headed by the archbishop of Cologne and the bishop of Utrecht. They availed themselves of a very hard winter to penetrate into the land over the frozen See also:water. Dirk offered a stout resistance, but, according to the most trustworthy See also:account, was enticed into an ambuscade and was killed in the fight (1049). He died unmarried and was succeeded by his brother See also:Floris I.
Floris, like his predecessors, was hard-fighting and tenacious-He gradually recovered possession of his ancestral lands. He found a formidable adversary in the able and warlike Rods See also: Among the possessions thus assigned to him is found comitatus omnis Arnulf. in Hollandt cum See also:omnibus ad bannum regalem pertinentibu.s. An examination of these documents shows the possessions of Dirk as in 1Vestfinge et circa oras Rheni, i.e. west of the See also:Vie and around the mouths of the See also:Rhine. Gertrude and her son appear to have withdrawn to the islands of Frisia (Zeeland), leaving William in undisturbed occupation of the disputed lands. In ro63 Gertrude contracted a See also:marriage with See also:Robert, the ' second son of Baldwin V. of Flanders, a man famous for his adventurous career (see FLANDERS). On his marriage his father invested him with Imperial Flanders, as an apanage ruler of all Frisia (Zeeland), and thus became known among his Flemish countrymen as Robert the Frisian. The death of his brother Baldwin VI. in 1070 led to See also:civil war in Flanders, the claim of Robert to the guardianship of his See also:nephew Arnulf being disputed by Richilde, the widow of Baldwin. The issue was decided by the decisive victory of Robert at See also:Cassel (See also:February 1071) when Arnulf was killed and Richilde taken prisoner (see FLANDERS). While Robert was thus engaged in Flanders, an effort was made to recover " the County of Holland " and other lands now held by William of Utrecht. The See also:people See also:rose in revolt, but by command of the emperor Henry IV. were speedily brought back under episcopal rule by an army under the command of Godfrey the Hunchback, Godfrey duke of See also:Lower Lorraine. Again in 1076, at the See also:request the Hunch- of the bishop, Duke Godfrey visited his domains in back of the Frisian borderland. At See also:Delft, of which town Lorraine tradition makes Godfrey the founder, the duke was conquers treacherously murdered (February 26, ro76)• William Holland. known as counts of Holland. Dirk V. died in 1091 and was succeeded by his son Floris II. the See also:Fat. This count had a peaceful and prosperous reign of See also:thirty-one years. Floris IL After his death (1122) his widow, Petronilla of Saxony, governed in the name of Dirk VI., who was a See also:minor. The See also:accession of her See also:half-brother, Lothaire of Saxony, to the imperial See also:throne on the death of Henry V. greatly strengthened Dirk Vi. her position. The See also:East Frisian districts, Oostergoo and Westergoo, were by Lothaire transferred from the rule of the bishops of Utrecht to that of the counts of Holland (1125). These Frisians proved very troublesome subjects to Dirk VI. In 1132 they rose in insurrection under the See also:leader-See also:ship of Dirk's own brother, Floris the See also:Black. The emperor See also:Conrad III. (1138), who was of the See also:rival See also:house of See also:Hohenstaufen, gave back these Frisian districts to the bishop; it was in truth somewhat of an empty gift. The Frisian peasants and See also:fisher folk loved their See also:independence, and were equally refractory to the rule of any distant overlord, whether count or bishop. Dirk VI. was succeeded in 1157 by Floris III. Floris III. reversed the traditional policy of his house by allying himself with the Hohenstaufens. He became a devoted FIoNs adherent and friend of See also:Frederick See also:Barbarossa. He had Ht. troubles with West See also:Friesland and See also:Groningen, and a war with the count of Flanders concerning their respective rights in West Zeeland, in which he was beaten. In 1170 a great See also:flood caused immense devastation in the north and helped to form the Zuider Zee. In 1189 Floris accompanied Frederick Barbarossa upon the third Crusade, of which he was a Dirk distinguished leader. He died in 1190 at See also:Antioch of pestilence. His son, Dirk VII., had a stormy, but on the whole successful reign. Contests with the Flemings in West Zeeland and with the West Frisians, stirred up to revolt by his brother William, ended in his favour. The See also:brothers were reconciled and William was made count of East Friesland. In 1202, however, Dirk was defeated and taken prisoner by the duke of See also:Brabant, and had to See also:purchase peace on humiliating terms. He only survived his defeat a See also:short time and died early in 1204, leaving as his only issue a daughter, Ada, 17 years of See also:age. The question of See also:female See also:succession thus raised was not likely to be accepted without a See also:challenge by William. It had been the intention of Dirk VII. to secure the recognition of his daughter's rights by appointing his brother her See also:guardian. His widow Alida, however, an ambitious woman of strong See also:character, as soon as her See also:husband was dead, hurried on a marriage between Ada and Count See also: His son Floris IV., being a minor, succeeded Floris IV. him under the guardianship of his maternal See also:uncle, See also:Gerard III. of See also:Gelderland. He maintained in later See also:life See also:close relations of friendship with Gerard,, and supported him in his quarrel with the bishop of Utrecht (1224-1226). Floris was murdered in 1235 at a See also:tournament at See also:Corbie in See also:Picardy by the count of Clermont. Another long minority followed his death, during which his brother Otto, bishop of Utrecht, acted as guardian to his nephew William II. William II. became a man of See also:mark. See also:Pope See also:Innocent IV., having deposed the emperor Frederick II., after several princes had refused to allow themselves to be nominated in the See also:place of the Hohenstaufen, caused the young count of Holland to be elected king of the See also:Romans (1247) by an See also:assembly composed chiefly of German ecclesiastics. William took Aachen in 1248 and was there crowned elected king; and after Frederick's death in 125o, he had a King of considerable party in See also:Germany. He brought a war the with See also:Margaret of Flanders (Black Margaret) to a Romans' successful conclusion (1253). He was on the point of proceeding to See also:Rome to be crowned emperor, when in an expedition against the West Frisians he perished, going down, See also:horse and See also:armour, through the See also:ice (1256). Like so many of his predecessors he See also:left his See also:inheritance to a child. Floris V. was but two years old on his father's death; and he was destined during a reign of See also:forty years to leave a deeper impress upon the history of Holland than any other of its counts. Floris was a man of chivalrous character and high capacity, and throughout his reign he proved himself an able and beneficent ruler. Alike in his troubles with his turbulent subjects and in the perennial disputes with his neighbours he pursued a strong, far-sighted and successful policy. But his active See also:interest in affairs was not limited to the See also:Netherlands. He allied himself closely with See also:Edward I. of England Alliance in his strife with See also:France, and secured from the See also:English with king great trading advantages for his people; the Edward I. See also:staple of See also:wool was placed at See also:Dort (Dordrecht) and ;in the Hollanders and Zeelanders got fishing rights on gland the English See also:coast. So intimate did their relations become that Floris sent his son John to be educated at the See also:court of Edward with a view to his marriage with an English princess. To thebeN including the islands of Frisia (Zeeland) west of the Frisian See also:Scheldt. He now became guardian to his stepson, guardian in whose inheritance lay the islands east of the Scheldt. to his Robert thus, in his own right and that of Dirk, was stepson. of Utrecht died on the 17th of the following April. Dirk V., now grown to man's estate, was not slow to take See also:advantage of the favourable juncture. With the help of Robert (his stepfather) he raised an army, besieged Conrad, The Bishop of the successor of William, in the castle of Ysselmonde Utrecht and took him prisoner. The bishop See also:purchased his surrenders See also:liberty by surrendering all claim to the disputed lands. it to Henceforth the Frisian counts became definitively Dirk V. William H. Floris V. See also:balance the power of the nobles he granted charters to many of the towns. Floris made himself master of Amstelland and First Gooiland; and See also:Amsterdam, destined to become the See also:Charter to See also:chief commercial town of Holland, counts him the Amster- founder of its greatness. Its earliest extant charter See also:dam. See also:dates from 1275. In 1296 Floris forsook the alliance of Edward I. for that of Philip IV. of France, probably because Edward had give._ support to See also:Guy, count of Flanders, in his dynastic dispute with John of See also:Avesnes, count of See also:Hainaut, Floris's nephew (see FLANDERS). The real motives of his policy will, however, never be known, for shortly afterwards a See also:conspiracy of disaffected nobles, headed by Gijsbrecht See also:van Amstel, Gerard van Velzen and Wolfert van Borselen, was in the castle of Muiden (See also:June 27, 1296). The tragic event has been immortalized in dramas from the pens of Holland's most famous writers (see See also:VONDEL, See also:HOOFT). The burghers and people, who knew him to be their best friend, took such vengeance on his slayers as permanently to reduce the power of the nobles. John I., his son, was in England when his father was murdered; he was but 15 years of age, feeble in See also:body and mind. He was /ohn married to Eleanor, daughter of Edward I. His reign was a struggle between John of Avesnes, the young count's guardian and next heir, and Wolfert van Borselen, who had a strong following in Zeeland. In 1299 van Borselen was killed, and a few months later John I. died. John of Avesnes was at once recognized as his successor by the Hollanders. Thus with John I. ended the first line of counts, after a rule of nearly 400 years. See also:Europe has perhaps never seen Extinc- an abler See also:series of princes than these fourteen lineal tlon of the first descendants of Dirk I. Excepting the last there line of is not a weak man among them. Physically handsome counts. and strong, See also:model knights of the days of See also:chivalry, Their charactier, hard fighters, See also:wise statesmen, they were See also:born leaders of men; always ready to advance the commerce of the country, they were the supporters of the growing towns, and likewise the pioneers in the task of converting a land of marshes and swamps into a fertile agricultural territory See also:rich in flocks and herds. As individuals they had their failings, but one and all were worthy members of a high-souled race. John of Avesnes, who took the title of John II., was the son of John of Avesnes, count of Hainaut, and Alida, sister of /ohn H. William II. of Holland. On his succession to the of the countship the Hollanders were willing to receive him, House of but the Zeelanders were hostile; and a long struggle Avesnes. ensued before his authority was generally recognized. In 1301 Bishop William of Utrecht invaded Amstelland, but was killed in battle. John made use of his victory to secure the See also:election of his brother Guy as bishop in his place. A war with the Flemings followed, in which the Flemings were at first victorious, but after a struggle of many vicissitudes they were at length driven out of Holland and Zeeland in 1304. John II. died in that year and was succeeded by his son William III., surnamed the See also:Good (1304–1337). In his reign the long-See also:standing quarrel with Flanders, which had during a century and a half caused so many See also:wars, was finally settled by the treaty of 1323, by which the full possession of West Zeeland was granted to William, who on his part renounced all claim in Imperial Flanders. The Amstelland with its See also:capital, Amsterdam, which had hitherto been held as a See also:fief of Utrecht, was by William, on the death of his uncle Bishop Guy, finally annexed to Holland. This count did much to encourage civic life and to develop the resources of the country. He had close relations through marriage with the three See also:principal See also:European dynasties of his time. His wife was Jeanne of See also:Valois, niece of the French king; in 1323 the emperor Louis the Bavarian wedded his daughter Margaret; and in 1328 his third daughter, Philippa of Hainaut, was married to Edward III. of England. By their alliance William III. occupied a position of much dignity and See also:influence, which he used to further the interests and increase the welfare Edward III., in his French wars. He was fond of adven- William Iv. See also:ture, and in 1343 made a See also:journey to the Holy Land in disguise, and on his way took part in an expedition of the knights of the See also:Teutonic See also:Order against the infidel See also:Wends and See also:Lithuanians. He was killed in battle against the Frisians in 1345. He left no See also:children, and the question as to the succession now brought on Holland a See also:period of violent civil commotions. His inheritance was claimed by his eldest sister, the empress Margaret, as well as by Philippa of Hainaut, or in other words, by Edward III. of England. Margaret came in See also:person and was duly recognized as countess in Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut; but returned to her husband after appointing her second son (the eldest, Louis, renounced his rights) Duke William of See also:Bavaria, as stadholder in her place. William was but sixteen, and disorder and confusion soon reigned in the land. The sudden death of the emperor in 1347 added to the difficulties of his position. In 1349 Margaret was induced to resign her See also:sovereignty, and the stadholder became count under the title of William wmiam V. V. This was the time of the formation of the famous of the parties in Holland, known as Kabbeljauws (Cods) House of and Hocks (Hooks); the former, the burgher party, Bavaria. were the supporters of William (possibly the name was derived from the light See also:blue, scaly looking Bavarian coat of arms), the latter the party of the disaffected nobles, who wanted to catch and devour the fat burgher See also:fish. In 1350 such was the disorder in the land that Margaret, at the request of the nobles, came to Holland to take into her own hands the reins of See also:government. The struggle between the nobles and the cities See also:broke out into civil war. Edward III. came to Margaret's aid, winning a See also:sea-fight off See also:Veere in 1351; a few See also:weeks later the Hooks and their English See also:allies were defeated by William and the Cods at Vlaardingen—an overthrow which ruined Margaret's cause. Edward III. shortly afterwards changed sides, and the empress saw herself compelled (1354) to come to an understanding with her son, he being recognized as count of Holland and Zeeland, she of Hainaut. Margaret died two years later, leaving William, who had married See also:Matilda of See also:Lancaster, in possession of the entire Holland-Hainaut inheritance (July 1356). His See also:tenure of power was, however, very brief. Before the close of 1357 he showed such marked signs of See also:insanity that his wife, with his own consent and the support of both parties, invited See also:Albert of Duke Albert of Bavaria, younger brother of William Bavaria. V., to be See also:regent, with the title of Ruward (1358). William lived in confinement for 31 years. Albert died in 1404, having ruled the land well and wisely for 46 years, first as Ruward, then as count. Despite outbreaks from time to time of the See also:Hook and See also:Cod troubles, he was able to make his authority respected, and to help forward in many ways the social progress of the country. The influence of the towns was steadily on the increase, and their government began to fall into the hands of the burgher patrician class, who formed the Cod party. Opposed to them were the See also:nobility and the lower classes, forming the Hook party. In Albert's latter years a fresh outbreak of civil war (1392–1395) was caused by the count's espousing the side of the Cods, while the Hooks had the support of his eldest son, William. Albert was afterwards reconciled to his son, who succeeded him as William VI. in 1404. On his accession to power William upheld the Hooks, William - vi. and secured their ascendancy. His reign was much troubled with civil discords, but he was a brave soldier, and was generally successful in his enterprises. He died in 1417, leaving an only child, a daughter, Jacqueline (or See also:Jacoba), who had in her early youth been married to John, Jacque-heir to the throne of France. At a gathering held at Baevaria. the See also:Hague (See also:August 15, 1416) the nobles and representatives of the cities of Holland and Zeeland had promised at William's request to support his daughter's claims to the succession. But John of France died (April 1417), and William VI. See also:Murder of formed against him. He was by them basely murdered Floris V. William See also:ill. of his hereditary lands. He was in all respects a great See also:prince and a wise and prudent statesman. He was succeeded by his son, William IV., who was the ally of his brother-in-law, The Empress Margaret. about a See also:month later, leaving the widowed Jacqueline at 17 years of age See also:face to face with a difficult situation. She was at first welcomed in Holland and Zeeland, but found her claims opposed by her uncle, John of Bavaria, supported by the Cod party. Every one from whom she might have expected help betrayed her in turn, her second husband John IV. of Brabant, her third husband See also:Humphrey of See also:Gloucester, her See also:cousin Philip the Good of See also:Burgundy, all behaved shamefully to her. Her romantic and sad life has rendered the courageous and accomplished Jacqueline the most picturesque figure in the whole history of Holland. She struggled long against her powerful kinsfolk, nor did she know happiness till near the end of her life, when she abandoned the unequal strife, and found repose with See also:Francis of Borselen, Ruward of Holland, her fourth husband. Him Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, craftily seized; and thereby in 1433 the Duchess Jacqueline was compelled to cede her rights over the counties of Holland and Hainaut. Consequently at her death in 1436, as she left no children, Philip succeeded to the full and undisputed possession of her lands. He had already acquired by inheritance, purchase or force almost all the other Netherland states; and now, with the extinction of the Bavarian line of counts, Holland ceased to have an See also:independent existence and became an outlying province of the growing Burgundian power (see BURGUNDY). During the years that followed the accession to the sovereignty part. It was governed by a stadholder, and but small respect was shown for its chartered rights and privileges. The quarrels between the Hook and Cod factions still continued, but the outbreaks of civil strife were quickly repressed by the strong See also:hand of Philip. Holland during this time contented herself with growing material prosperity. Her See also:herring See also:fishery, rendered more valuable by the curing See also:process discovered or introduced by Benkelszoon, brought her increasing See also:wealth, and her fishermen were already laying the See also:foundations of her future maritime greatness. It was in the days of Duke Philip that Lorenz See also:Koster of See also:Haarlem contributed his See also:share to the See also:discovery of See also:printing. During the reign of Charles the Bold (1467—3477) the Hollanders, like the other subjects of that warlike prince, suffered much from the See also:burden of See also:taxation. An outbreak at See also:Hoorn was by Charles sternly repressed. The Hollanders were much aggrieved by the See also:establishment of a high court of See also:justice for the entire Netherlands at Mechlin. (r474). This was regarded as a serious See also:breach of their privileges.
The succession of See also:Mary of Burgundy led to the See also: Their leaders. Francis of See also:Brederode and John of Naaldwijk, seized See also:Rotterdam and other places. Their overthrow finally ended the strife between Hooks and Cods. The " See also:Bread and See also:Cheese War," an uprising of the peasants in North Holland caused by See also:famine, is a See also:proof of the misery caused by civil discords and oppressive taxation. In 1494, Maximilian having been elected emperor, Philip was declared of age. His See also:assumption of the government was greeted with joy in Holland, and in his reign the province enjoyed See also:rest alll. 20and its See also:fisheries benefited from the commercial treaty concluded with England. The See also:story of Holland during The the long reign of his son and successor Charles III. Emperor (t5o6—1555), better known as the emperor Charles V., Charles V. belongs to the See also:general history of the Netherlands ltchitarles ). (see NETHERLANDS). On the See also:abdication of Charles, his son Philip II. of See also:Spain became Philip III., count of Holland, the ruler whose arbitrary rule in church and state brought about the revolt of the Netherlands. His See also:appointment of Philip III. William, prince of See also:Orange, as stadholder of Holland and See also:Zealand was destined to have momentous results to the future of those provinces (see WILLIAM THE SILENT). The capture of See also:Brill and of See also:Flushing in 1572 by the Sea- William Beggars led to the submission of the greater part of of orange Holland and Zeeland to the authority of the prince stadof Orange, who, as stadholder, summoned the states holder. of Holland to meet at Dordrecht. This See also:act was the beginning of Dutch independence. From this time forward William made Holland his home. It became the See also:bulwark of the The revolt See also:Protestant faith in the Netherlands, the See also:focus of the of the resistance to See also:Spanish tyranny. The sieges of Haarlem, Nether-See also:Alkmaar and Leiden saved Holland from being lands. overwhelmed by the armies of See also:Alva and See also:Requesens and stemmed the See also:tide of Spanish victory. The act of federation between Holland and Zeeland brought about by the influence of William was the germ of the larger See also:union of Utrecht Uutrechaioatof . between the seven See also:northern provinces in 1579. But within the larger union the inner and closer union between Holland and Zeeland continued to subsist. In 158o, when the sovereignty of the Netherlands was offered to the duke of See also:Anjou, the two maritime provinces refused to acquiesce, and forced William to accept the title of count of Holland and Zeeland. In the following year William in the name of the two provinces solemnly abjured the sovereignty of the Spanish king (July 24). After the assassination of William (1584) the title of count of Holland was never revived. In the long struggle of the See also:united provinces with Spain, which followed the death of Orange, the brunt of the conflict fell upon Holland. More than half the burden of the charges of the war fell upon this one province; and with Zeeland it furnished the fleets which formed the chief See also:defence of the country. Hence the importance attached to the See also:vote of Holland in the assembly of the States-General. That vote was given by deputies at the See also:head of whom was the See also:advocate (in later times called the See also:grand See also:pensionary) of Holland, and who were responsible to, and the spokesmen of, the provincial states. These states, which met at the Hague in the same See also:building as the States-General, consisted of representatives of the burgher oligarchies (regents) of the principal towns, together with representatives of the nobles, who possessed one vote only. The advocate was the paid See also:minister of the states. He presided over their meetings, kept their minutes and conducted all Govern- See also:correspondence, and, as stated above, was their See also:meat of Kollaad. spokesman in the States-General. The advocate (or grand pensionary) of Holland therefore, if an able man, had opportunities for exercising a very considerable influence, becoming in fact a See also:kind of minister of all affairs. It was this influence as exerted by the successive See also:advocates of Holland, See also:Paul See also:Buys and Johan van See also:Oldenbarneveldt, /ohan van which rendered abortive the well-meant efforts of the neenbarveldt. See also:earl of See also:Leicester to centralize the government of the United Provinces. After his departure (1587) the advocate of Holland, Oldenbarneveldt, became the indispensable statesman of the struggling See also:republic. The multiplicity of his functions gave to the advocate an almost unlimited authority in the details of See also:administration, and for thirty years the conduct of affairs remained in his hands (see OLDENtr.ARNEVELDT). This meant the undisputed See also:hegemony of Holland in the federation, in other words of the burgher oligarchies who controlled the town corporations of the province, and especially of Amsterdam. This authority of Holland was, however, more than counterbalanced (1 Accession of the Burgundian Dynasty. Phi QGoodlip the of Duke Philip, Holland plays but an insignificant Flourishing state of Holland. Charles the Bold. Maximilian of Austria. Philip Ii. the See also:Fair. See also:Abjuration of Philip's Sovereignty. by the extensive See also:powers with which the stadholder princes of Orange were invested; and the chief crises in the See also:internal history of the Dutch republic are to be found in the struggles for supremacy between two, in reality, different principles of government. On the one side the principle of provincial sovereignty which gave to the See also:voice of Holland a preponderating See also:weight that was decisive; on the other side the principle of See also:national sovereignty personified in the princes of Orange, to whom the States-General and the provincial states delegated executive powers that were little less than monarchical. The conclusion of the twelve years' truce in 1609 was a See also:triumph for Oldenbarneveldt and the province of Holland over the opposition of See also:Maurice, prince of Orange. In 1617 the outbreak of the religious dispute between the Remonstrant and Contra-remonstrant parties brought on a life and death struggle between the See also:sovereign province of Holland and the States-General of the union. The See also:sword of Maurice decided the issue in favour of the States-General. The claims of Holland were overthrown and the head of Oldenbarneveldt fell upon the See also:scaffold (1619). The stadholder, Frederick Henry of Orange, ruled with well-nigh Frederick monarchical authority (1625-1647), but even he at the Henry height of his power and popularity had always to Prince of reckon with the opposition of the states of Holland Orange. and of Amsterdam, and many of his plans of See also:campaign were thwarted by the refusal of the Hollanders to furnish supplies. His son William II. was but 21 years of age on succeeding to the stadholdership, and the states of Holland were the lower classes. The French See also:conquest swept away the old condition of things never to reappear; but See also:allegiance to the Orange dynasty survived, and in 1813 became the rallying point of a united Dutch people. At the same time the leading part played by the province of Holland in the history of the republic has not been unrecognized, for the country ruled over by the sovereigns of the house of Orange is always popularly, and often officially, known as Holland. The full title of the states of Holland in the 17th and 18th centuries was: de Edele See also:Groot Mogende See also:Heeren Staaten van Holland en Wesifriesland. After 16o8 this assembly See also:coma-consisted of nineteen members, one representing the tution nobility (ridderschap), and eighteen, the towns. The of the member for the nobles had See also:precedence and voted first. states of The interests of the country districts (het See also:Platte land) Holland. were the See also:peculiar charges of the member for the nobles. The nobles also retained the right of appointing representatives to sit in the See also:College of Deputed Councillors, in certain colleges of the See also:admiralty, and upon the See also:board of See also:directors of the East See also:India See also:Company, and to various public offices. The following eighteen towns sent representatives: See also:South See also:Quarter—(I) Dordrecht, (2) Haarlem, (3) Delft, (4) Leiden, (5) Amsterdam, (6) See also:Gouda, (7) Rotterdam, (8) See also:Gorinchem, (9) See also:Schiedam, (ro) Schoonhoven; (I1) Brill; North Quarter: (12) Alkmaar, (13) Hoorn, (14) See also:Enkhuizen, (15) See also:Edam, (16) See also:Monnikendam, (17) See also:Medemblik, (18) Purmerend. Each town (as did also the nobles) sent as many representatives as they pleased, but the nineteen members had only one vote each. Each town's deputation was headed by its pensionary, who was the spokesman on behalf of the representatives. Certain questions such as peace and war, voting of subsidies, See also:imposition of taxation, changes in the mode of government, &c., required unanimity of votes. The grand pensionary (Raad-Pensionaris) was at once the See also:president and chief administrative See also:Pension The Grand officer of the states. He presided over all meetings, ary. conducted the business, kept the minutes, and was charged with the See also:maintenance of the rights of the states, with the See also:execution of their resolutions and with the entire correspondence. Nor were his functions only provincial. He was the head and the spokesman of the deputation of the states to the States-General of the union; and in the stadholderless period the influence of such grand pensionaries of Holland as John de Witt and See also:Anthony See also:Heinsius enabled the complicated and intricate machinery of government in a confederacy of many sovereign and semi-sovereign authorities without any recognized head of the state, to See also:work with See also:comparative smoothness and a remark-able unity of policy. This was secured by the indisputable predominance in the union of the province of Holland. The policy of the' states of Holland swayed the policy of the generality, and See also:historical circumstances decreed that the policy of the states of Holland during long and See also:critical periods should be controlled by a succession of remarkable men filling the See also:office of grand pensionary. The states of Holland sat at the Hague in the months of March, July, See also:September and See also:November. During the periods of See also:prorogation the continuous oversight of the business and interests of the province was, however, never neglected. This See also:duty was confided to a body called the College college of of Deputed Councillors (het Kollegie der Gekommitteerde Deputed Raden), which was itself divided into two sections, See also:council-one for the south quarter, another for the north Tors. quarter. The more important—that for the south quarter —consisted of ten members, (1) the See also:senior member of 'the nobility, who sat for life, (2) representatives (for periods of three years) of the eight towns: Dordrecht, Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Gouda, Rotterdam and Gorinchem, with a tenth member (usually elected biennially) for the towns of Schiedam, Schoonhoven and Brill conjointly. The grand pensionary presided over the meetings of the college, which had the general See also:charge of the whole provincial administration, especially of See also:finance, the carrying out of the resolutions of the states, the maintenance of defences, and the upholding of the privileges and liberties of the land. With particular regard to this last- Contest between the Principles of National and Provincial Sove- reignty. Maurice Prince of Orange and John of Oldenbarneveldt. william sufficiently powerful to carry through the negotiations II. Prince of Orange. for the peace of See also:Munster (1648) in spite of his opposi- tion. A life and death conflict again ensued, and once more in 165o the prince of Orange by armed force crushed the opposition of the Hollanders. The sudden death of William in the hour of his triumph caused a See also:complete revolution in the government of the republic. He left no heir but a See also:posthumous infant, and the party of the burgher regents of Holland was once more in the ascendant. The office of stadholder Witt de was abolished, and John de Witt, the grand pensionary (Raad-Pensionaris) of Holland, for two decades held In his hands all the threads of administration, and occupied the same position of undisputed authority in the See also:councils of the land as Oldenbarneveldt had done at the beginning of the century. Amsterdam during this period was the centre and head of the United Provinces. The principle of provincial sovereignty was carried to its extreme point in the See also:separate treaty concluded with See also:Cromwell in 1654, in which the province of Holland agreed to exclude for ever the prince of Orange from the office of stad- holder of Holland or See also:captain-general of the union. In 1672 another revolution took place. John de Witt was wlmam murdered, and William III. was called to fill the office of orange. of dignity and authority which had been held by his ancestors of the house of Orange, and the stadholder- ship was declared to be hereditary in his family. But William died without issue (see WILLIAM III.) and a stadholderless period, during which the province of Holland was supreme in the union, followed till 1737. This See also:change was effected smoothly, for though William had many See also:differences with Amsterdam, he had in Anthony Heinsius (van der See also:Heim), who was grand pensionary of Holland from 1690 to his death in 1720, a statesman whom he thoroughly trusted, who worked with him in the furtherance of his policy during life and who continued to carry out that policy after his death. In 1737 there was once more a reversion to the stadholdership in the person of William IV., whose powers were strengthened and declared heredi- tary both in the male and female line in 1747. But until the final destruction of the federal republic by the French armies, the perennial struggle went on between the Holland or federal party (Staatsgesinden) centred at Amsterdam --out of which See also:grew the patriot party under William V.—and the Orange or unionist party (Oranjegesinden), which was strong in the smaller provinces and had much popular support among William IV. Prince of Orange. named duty the college deputed two of its members to attend all meetings of the states-general, to See also:watch the proceedings and See also:report at once any proposals which they held to be contrary to the interests or to infringe upon the rights of the province of Holland. The institution of the College of Deputed Councillors might thus be described as a vigilance See also:committee of the states in perpetual session. The existence of the college, with its many weighty and important functions, must never be lost sight of by students who See also:desire to have a clear understanding of the remarkable part played by the province of Holland in the history of the United Netherlands. (G. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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