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NETHERLANDS . The See also:geographical features of the countries formerly known collectively as the Netherlands or See also:Low Countries are, dealt with under the See also:modern See also:English names of See also: Beyond these were found the See also:Frisians (q.v.), a See also:people of See also:German origin, who gave their name to the territory between the Rhine and the See also:Ems. Of the other tribes the best known are the Caninefates, Chauci, Usipetes, Sicambri, Eburones, Menapii, Morini and Aduatici. Julius Caesar, after a severe struggle with the Nervii and their confederates, was successful in bringing the Belgic tribes into subjection to See also:Rome. Under See also:Augustus, 15 B.e., the conquered territory was formed into an imperial See also:province, Gallia Belgica, and the frontier line, the Rhine, was strongly held by a See also:series of fortified camps. With regard to the region north of the Rhine we first obtain See also:information from the accounts of the campaigns of See also:Nero, See also:Claudius, See also:Drusus and Tiberius. The Batavians were first brought under See also:Roman See also:rule in the governorship of Drusus, A.D. 13. They were not incorporated in the See also:empire, but were ranked as See also:allies, socii or auxilia. Their See also:land became a recruiting ground for the Roman armies, and a See also:base for expeditions across the Rhine. The Batavians served with fidelity and distinction in all parts of the empire, and from the days of Augustus onwards formed a considerable See also:part of the Praetorian guard. The Frisians struggled against Roman over-lordship somewhat longer, and it was not until A.D. 47 that they finally submitted to the victorious arms of Domitius See also:Corbulo. The Frisian auxiliaries were likewise regarded as excellent troops. In the confusion of the disputed See also:succession to the imperial See also:throne after the See also:death of Nero, the Batavians (A.D. 69-70) under the See also:influence of a great See also:leader, known only by his Roman name, Claudius See also:Civilis, See also:rose in revolt. Civilis The revolt of Civltls. had seen much service in the Roman armies, and was a See also:man of statesmanlike ability. In revenge for his own imprisonment, and the death of his See also:brother by order of Nero, he took See also:advantage of the disorder in the empire not only to stir up his See also:fellow-countrymen to take up arms for See also:independence, but to persuade a large number of German and Belgic tribes to join forces with them. A narrative of the revolt is given in detail by Tacitus. At first success attended Civilis and the Romans were driven out of the greater part of the Belgic province. Even the great fortress of Castra Vetera (Xanten) was starved into submission and the See also:garrison massacred. But dissensions arose between the German and Celtic elements of Civilis's following. The Romans, under an able general, See also:Cerealis, took advantage of this, and Civilis, beaten in fight, retired to the See also:island of the Batavians. But both sides were exhausted, and it was arranged that Cerealis and Civilis should meet on a broken See also:bridge over the Nabalia (Yssel) to discuss terms of See also:peace. At this point the narrative of Tacitus breaks off, but it would appear that easy conditions were offered, for the Batavians returned to their position of socii, and were henceforth faithful in their steady See also:allegiance to Rome. The insula Batavorum, lined with forts, became for a See also:long period the See also:bulwark of the empire against the inroads of the Germans from the north.
Of this period scarcely any See also:record remains, but when at the end of the 3rd century the See also:Franks (q.v.) began to swarm over the Rhine into the Roman lands, the names of the old tribes had disappeared. The peoples within the frontier had been transformed into Romanized See also:pro-
vincials; outside, the various tribes had become merged in the See also:common appellation of Frisians. The See also:branch of the Franks—who were a confederacy, not a people—which gradually over-spread Gallia Belgica, bore the name of the Salian Franks. Nominally they were taken under the See also:protection of the empire, in reality they were its masters and defenders. In the days of their great See also: The Franks.
though a See also: In 879 East Francia acquired the whole; from 912 to 924 it formed part of West Francia. Finally in 924 Lorraine passed in the reign of See also: In 834
vasions Utrecht and Dorestad were sacked, and a few years
of the later all Holland and See also:Friesland was in their hands. Northmsn. See also:Year after year the raids went on under a succession of leaders—Heriold, Roruk, Rolf, Godfrey—and far and wide
there was pillaging, burning, See also:murder and See also:slavery. In 873 Rolf seized Walcheren, and became the See also:scourge of the surrounding districts. In 88o the invaders took See also:Nijmwegen, erected a permanent See also:camp at Elsloo and pushed on to the Rhine. Liege, See also:Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne and See also:Bonn See also:fell into their hands. The emperor, See also: Nowhere was the See also:call responded to with greater zeal than in the Netherlands, and nowhere had the spirit of See also:adventure and the stimulus to enterprise, which was one of the chief fruits of the crusades, more permanent effects for See also:good. The foremost heroes of the first crusade were Netherlanders. Godfrey of See also:Bouillon, the leader of the expedition and the first king of See also:Jerusalem, was See also:duke of Lower Lorraine, and the names of his See also:brothers See also:Baldwin of See also:Edessa and Eustace of See also:Boulogne, and of See also:Count See also:Robert II. of Flanders are only less famous. The third crusade numbered among its chiefs See also:Floris III. of Holland, See also: The the cities charters were of the nature of a treaty between the in the Nether See also:city and its feudal lord, and they differed much in lands. See also:character according to the importance of the place and the pressure it was able to put upon its sovereign. The extent of the rights which the charter conceded determined whether the town was a free town (vr'ije stadt—See also:villa franca) or a See also:commune (gemeente—communia). In the See also:case of a commune the concessions included generally the right of See also:inheritance, See also:justice, See also:taxation, use of See also:wood, See also:water, &c. The lord's representative, entitled " See also:justiciary " (se/tout) of " See also:bailiff " (baljuw), presided over the See also:administration of justice and took the command of the town levies in war. The gemeente—consisting only of those See also:bound by the communal See also:oath for mutual help and See also:defence—elected their own magistrates. These See also:electors were often a small proportion of the whole body of inhabitants: sometimes a few influential families alone had the right, and it became hereditary. This governing See also:oligarchy was known as " the See also:patricians." The magistrates bore the name of scabini (schepenen or echevins), and at their head was the seigneurial See also:official—the se/tout or baljuw. These schepenen appointed in their turn from the citizens to assist them a body of sworn councillors (gezworenen or :lure's), whose presidents, styled " burgomasters," had the supervision of the communal finances. Thus See also:grew up a number of municipalities—practically self-governing republics—semiindependent feudatories in the feudal state. The most powerful and flourishing of all were those of Flanders —See also:Ghent, See also:Bruges and See also:Ypres. In the 13th century these towns The had become the seat of large See also:industrial populations Flemish (varying according to different estimates from roo,000 See also:corn - to 200,000 inhabitants), employed upon the See also:weaving munes. of See also:cloth with its dependent See also:industries, and closely bound up by See also:trade interests with See also:England, from whence they obtained the See also:wool for their looms. Bruges, at that time connected with the sea by the river Zwijn and with Sluis as its See also:port, was the central mart and See also:exchange of the See also:world's commerce. In these Flemish cities the See also:early oligarchic See also:form of municipal government speedily gave way to a democratic. The great See also:mass of the townsmen organized in trade See also:gilds — weavers, fullers, dyers, smiths, See also:leather-workers, brewers, butchers, bakers and others, of which by far the most powerful was that of the weavers—as soon as they became conscious of their strength rebelled against the exclusive privileges of the patricians and succeeded in ousting them from power. The patricians (hence called leliaerts) relied upon the support of the French crown, but the fatal See also:battle of Courtrai (1302), in which the handicraftsmen (clauwaerts) laid low the See also:chivalry of France, secured the See also:triumph of the See also:democracy. The power of the Flemish cities rose to its height during the ascendancy of Jacques See also:van See also:Artevelde (1285-1345), the famous See also:citizen-statesman of Ghent, but after his downfall the mutual jealousies of the cities undermined their strength, and with the crushing defeat of Roosebeke (1382) in which Philip van Artevelde perished, the political greatness of the municipalities had entered upon its decline. In Brabant—See also:Antwerp, See also:Louvain, See also:Brussels, See also:Malines(Mechlin)—and in the episcopal territory of Liege—Liege, Huy; See also:Dinant- other there was a feebler repetition of the Flemish conditions. Nether- Flourishing communities were likewise to be found in land Hainault, See also:Namur, Cambrai and the other southern munici- districts of the Netherlands, but nowhere else the pallties. vigorous independence of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, nor the splendour of their civic life. In the north also the 13th century was See also:rich in municipal charters. See also:Dordrecht, See also:Leiden, See also:Haarlem, See also:Delft, Vlaardigen, See also:Rotterdam in Holland, and Middle-See also:burg and Zierikzee in See also:Zeeland, repeated with modifications the characteristics of the communes of Flanders and Brabant. But the growth and development of the northern communal See also:movement, though strong and See also:instinct with life, was slower and less tempestuous than the Flemish. In the bishopric of Utrecht, in Gelderland and Friesland, the privileges accorded to Utrecht, See also:Groningen, See also:Zutphen, Stavoren, See also:Leeuwarden followed rather on the See also:model of those of the Rhenish " free cities " than of the Franco-Flemish commune. In the northern Netherlands generally up to the end of the 14th century the towns had no great political See also:weight; their importance depended upon their river commerce and their markets. Thus at the close of the 14th century, despite the See also:constant wars between the feudal sovereigns who held sway in the Netherlands, the vigorous municipal life had fostered See also:industry and commerce, and had caused Flanders in particular to become the richest possession in the world. It was precisely at this time that Flanders, and gradually the other feudal states of the Netherlands, by marriage, See also:purchase, treachery or force, fell under the dominion of the The See also:Bur- See also:house of See also:Burgundy. The See also:foundation of the Burgundian do inion. rule in the Netherlands was laid by the succession of Philip the Bold to the counties of Flanders and See also:Artois in 1384 in right of his wife See also:Margaret de Male. In 1404 Antony, Philip's second son (killed at See also:Agincourt 1415), became duke of Brabant by See also:bequest of his great-aunt See also:Joan. The consolidation of the Burgundian power was effected by Philip the Good, See also:grandson of Philip the Bold, in his long and successful reign of 48 years, 1419-1467. He inherited Flanders and Artois, See also:purchased the See also:county of Namur (1427) and compelled his See also:cousin Jacqueline,the heiress of Holland, Zeeland, Hainault and Friesland, to surrender her possessions to him, 1428. On the death in 1430 of his cousin Philip, duke of Brabant, he took possession of Brabant and Limburg; the duchy of Luxemburg he acquired by purchase, 1443. He made his See also:bastard son See also:David bishop of Utrecht, and from 1456 onwards that see continued under Burgundian influence. Two other bastards were placed on the episcopal throne of Liege, an illegitimate brother on that of Cambrai. Philip did not live to see Gelderland and Liege pass definitively under his rule; it was reserved for his son, Charles the Bold, to crush the independence of Liege (1468) and to incorporate Gelderland in his dominions (1473)• This See also:extension of dominion on the part of the See also:dukes of Burgundy implied the See also:establishment of a strong monarchical authority. They had united under their sway a number phlilp the of provinces with different histories and institutions Good. and speaking different See also:languages, and their aim was to centralize the government. The See also:nobility and See also:clergy were on the See also:side of the ducal authority; its opponents were the municipalities, especially those of Flanders. Their strength had been seriously weakened by the overthrow of Roosebeke, but Philip on his See also:accession found them once more advancing rapidly in power and prosperity. He was quite aware that the industrial See also:wealth of the great Flemish communes was financially the main-stay of his power, but their very prosperity made them the chief obstacle to his schemes of unifying into a solid dominion the loose aggregate of states over which he was the ruler. On this See also:matter Philip would See also:brook no opposition. Bruges was forced after strenuous resistance to submit to the loss of its most cherished privileges in 1438, and the revolt of Ghent was quenched in the " red sea " (as it was styled) of Gavre in 1453. The splendour and luxury of the See also:court of Philip surpassed that of any contemporary sovereign. A permanent memorial of it remains in the famous Order of the See also:Golden Fleece, which was instituted by the duke at Bruges in 1430 on the occasion of his marriage with See also:Isabel of See also:Portugal, a descendant of See also: His ambition, however, was boundless, and he set himself to realize the See also:dream of his father—a Burgundian kingdom stretching from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. At first all went well with him. By his ruthless suppression of revolts at Dinant and Liege he made his authority undisputed throughout the Netherlands. His campaigns against the French king were conducted with success. His creation of a formidable See also:standing army, the first of its See also:kind in that See also:age of transition from feudal conditions, gave to the Burgundian power all the outward semblance of stability and permanence. But Charles, though a brave soldier and good military organizer, was neither a capable statesman nor a skilful general. He squandered the resources left to him by his father, and made himself hateful to all classes of his subjects by his exactions and tyranny. When at the very height of power, all his schemes of aggrandisement came to sudden ruin through a succession of disastrous defeats at the hands of the Swiss at Grandson (See also: Deputies See also:Austria. representing Flanders, Brabant, Hainault and Holland met at Ghent, where Mary was detained almost as a prisoner, and compelled her (See also:February to, 1477) to sign the " Great See also:Privilege." This charter provided that no war could be declared nor marriage concluded by the sovereign, nor taxes raised without the assent of the states, that natives were alone eligible for high See also:office, and that the See also:national language should be used in public documents. The central court of justice at Malines was abolished, but the Grand Council was reorganized and made thoroughly representative. The Great Privilege was supplemented by provincial charters, the Flemish Privilege granted (February 10), the Great Privilege of Holland and Zeeland (February 17), the Great Privilege of Namur and the Joyeuse Entree of Brabant, both in May, thus largely curtailing the sovereign's power of interference with local liberties. On these conditions Mary obtained the hearty support of the states against France, but her humiliations were not yet at an end; two of her privy councillors, accused of traitorous intercourse with the enemy, were, despite her entreaties, seized, tried and beheaded (See also:April 3). Her marriage four months later to See also:Maximilian of Austria was the beginning of the long domination of the house of See also:Habsburg. The next fifteen years were for Maximilian a stormy and difficult period. The duchess Mary died from the effects of a fall from her See also:horse (March 1482), and Maximilian became See also:regent (mambourg) for his son. The peace of Arras with France (March 1483) freed him to See also:deal with the discords in the Netherland provinces, and more especially with the turbulent opposition in the Flemish cities. With the submission of Ghent (June 1485) the contest was decided in favour of the Philip and archduke, who in 1494, on his See also:election as emperor, See also:Joanna. was able to See also:hand over the country to his son Philip in a comparatively tranquil and secure state. Philip, surnamed the See also:Fair, was fifteen years of age, and his accession was welcomed by the Netherlanders with whom Maximilian had never been popular. Gelderland, however, which had revolted after Nancy, had Charles of See also:Egmont for its duke, and the two bishoprics of Liege and Utrecht were no longer subject to Burgundian authority. In 1496 Philip married Joanna of See also:Aragon, who in 1 soo became heiress apparent to See also:Castile and Aragon. That same year she gave See also:birth at Ghent to a son, afterwards the emperor Charles V. Philip's reign in the Nether-lands was chiefly noteworthy for his efforts for the revival of trade with England. On the death of See also:Queen Isabel, Philip and Joanna succeeded to the crown of Castile and took up their See also:residence in their new kingdom (January 1506). A few months later Philip unexpectedly died at See also:Burgos (See also:September 25th). His Burgundian lands passed without opposition to his son Charles, then six years of age.
The claim of the emperor Maximilian to be regent during
the minority of his grandson was recognized by the states-general.
Margaret Maximilian nominated his daughter Margaret, widow
of Austria. of Philibert, duke of See also:Savoy, to See also:act as See also:governor-general,
and she filled the difficult See also:post for eight years with
great ability, courage and tact; and when Charles at the age
of fifteen assumed the government he found the Netherlands
thriving and prosperous. In the following year, by the death
of See also: The duties of this minister were of special importance, for it was to the Netherlands that Charles looked for much of the resources wherewith to carry on his many wars. During this time Charles consolidated his dominion over the Netherlands. In 1524 he became lord of Friesland by purchase, and in 1528 he acquired the temporalities of Utrecht. He now ruled over seventeen provinces—i.e. four duchies, Brabant, Gelderland, Limburg and Luxemburg; seven counties, Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zeeland, Namur and Zutphen; the margravia,te of Antwerp; and, five lordships—Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen with its dependent districts. After the death of Margaret, Charles appointed his See also:sister Mary, the widowed queen of See also:Hungary, to the regency, and for twenty years she retained her post, until the See also:abdication Mary of in fact of Charles V. in 1555. She too governed ably, Hungary. though in entire subservience to her See also:nephew, but was not in such intimate See also:touch with the national peculiarities of the Netherlanders as her predecessor. At the time of her accession to office Charles changed the form of administration by the creation of three separate See also:councils, those of State, of See also:Finance, and the Privy Council. The regent was See also:president of the council of state, of which the knights of the Golden Fleece were members. The policy of Charles towards the Netherlands was for many years one of studied moderation. He redressed many grievances, regulated the administration of justice, encouraged commerce, reformed the coinage, but as time went on he was compelled to demand larger subsidies and to take severer See also:measures against heretical opinions. Mary was forced to impose taxation which met with violent resistance, especially in 1539 from the stiff-necked town of Ghent. The emperor himself was obliged to intervene. On the 14th of February 1J40 he entered Ghent at the head of a large army and visited the city with severe See also:punishment. All its charters were annulled, its privileges and those of its gilds swept away, and a heavy See also:fine imposed. It was a See also:lesson intended to See also:teach the Netherlanders the utter futility of opposition to the will of their lord. The struggle, however, with the See also:Protestant princes of Germany not only led to continual demands of Charles for men and money from his Netherland dominions, but to his determination to prevent the spread of Protestant opinions; and a series of edicts was passed, the most severe of which (that of 1550) WAS carried out with extreme rigour. Its See also:preamble stated that its See also:object was " to exterminate the See also:root and ground of this pest." By its enactments, men holding heretical opinions were condemned to the stake, See also:women to be buried alive. Yet despite the efforts of the government the See also:Reformation made progress in the land. In 1548 Charles laid before the states a See also:scheme for making the Netherlands an integral part of the empire under the name of the Circle of Burgundy; but the refusal of the German Electors to make his only son Philip king of the Romans led him to abandon the project, which was never renewed. Already the emperor was beginning to feel weary of the heavy burdens which the government of so many realms had imposed upon him, and in 1549 he presented Philip to the states of the Netherlands, that they might take the oath of allegiance to him, and Philip swore to maintain all See also:ancient rights, privileges and customs.
The abdication of Charles V. took place on the 25th of See also:October 1555 in the great See also: His proposal to impose a tax of 1% on real See also:property and of 2% on movable property was rejected by all the larger provinces. As a thorough Spaniard who did not even understand the language of his Netherland subjects Philip was from the first distrusted and his acts regarded with suspicion. He himself never See also:felt at See also:home at Brussels, and in August 1559 he set See also:sail for See also:Spain, never again to revisit the Netherlands. He appointed as regent, Margaret, duchess of See also:Parma, a natural daughter of Charles V. by a Flemish mother, and like the other women of the House a strong and capable ruler. Farms. She was nominally assisted by the members of the three councils—the Council of State, the Privy Council and the Council of Finance, but in reality all power had been placed by Philip in the hands of three confidential councillors styled the Consulta—Barlaymont, president of the Council of Finance, See also:Viglius, president of the Privy Council, and Antony Perrenot, bishop of Arras, better known by his later title as See also:Cardinal Granvelle. This extremely able man, a Burgundian by birth, was the son of one of Charles V.'s most trusted councillors, and it was largely to him that the government of the Netherlands was confided. Two burning questions at the outset confronted Margaret and Granvelle—the question of the new bishoprics and the question of the presence in the Netherlands of a number of See also:Spanish troops. The proposal to reorganize the bishoprics of the Netherlands was not a new one, but was the carrying out of a long-planned project of Charles V. In 1555 there were but three dioceses in the Netherlands—those of Tournay, Arras and Utrecht,—all of unwieldy See also:size and under the See also:jurisdiction of See also:foreign metropolitans. It was proposed now to establish a more numerous See also:hierarchy, self-contained within the limits of Burgundian rule, with three archbishops and fifteen diocesans. The primatial see was placed at Malines (Mechlin), having under it Antwerp, Hertogenbosch, See also:Roermond, Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres constituting the Flemish province; the second archbishopric was at Cambray, with Tournay, Arras, St Omer, and Namur,—the Walloon province; the third at Utrecht, with Haarlem, Middleburg, Leeuwarden, Groningen and See also:Deventer,—the northern (Dutch) province. All these with the exception of Cambray and St Omer were within the boundaries of the Netherlands. The scheme aroused almost universal distrust and opposition. It was believed that its object was the introduction of the dreaded form of the See also:Inquisition established in Spain, and in any case more systematic and stringent measures for the stamping out of See also:heresy. It excited also the animosity of the nobles jealous of their privileges, and of the monasteries, which were called upon to furnish the revenues for the new See also:sees. ' Granvelle was made first archbishop of Malines, and all the odium attaching to the increase of the episcopate was laid at his See also:door, though he was in reality opposed to it. The continued presence of the Spanish troops caused also great dissatisfaction. The Netherlanders detested the Spaniards and everything Spanish, and this foreign See also:mercenary force, together with the new bishops, was looked upon as part of a general See also:plan for the See also:gradual overthrow of their rights and liberties. So loud was the outcry that Margaret and Granvelle on their own responsibility sent away the Spanish regiments from the country (January 1561). The most serious difficulty with which Margaret had to deal arose from the attitude of the great nobles, and among these especially of William (the" Silent ") of See also:Nassau, See also:prince of See also:Orange, Lamoral, count of Egmont, and Philip de See also:Montmorency, count of See also:Hoorn. These great magnates, all of them Knights of the Fleece and men of See also:peculiar weight and authority in the country, were disgusted to find that, though nominally councillors of state, their See also:advice was never asked, and that all power was placed in the hands of the Consulta. They began to be alarmed by the severity with which the edicts against heresy were being 'ix. iacarried out, and by the rising indignation among the populace. William, Egmont, and Hoorn therefore placed themselves at the head of a See also:league of nobles against Granvelle (who had become cardinal in 1561) with the object of undermining, his influence and See also:driving him from power. They resigned their positions as councillors of state, and expressed their grievances personally. to Margaret and by See also:letter to the king in See also:Madrid, asking for the dismissal of Granvelle. The duchess, herself aggrieved by the dictatorial See also:manners of the cardinal, likewise urged upon her brother the See also:necessity of the retirement of, the unpopular minister. At last Philip, unwillingly gave way,, and he secretly suggested to the cardinal that he should ask per-See also:mission from the regent to visit his mother at See also:Besancon. Granvelle left Brussels on the 13th of March 1564, never to return. But the king was only temporizing; he had no intention of changing his policy. He did but bide his time. The Council of See also:Trent had recently brought its long labours to a close (See also:December 4, 1563), and Philip resolved to enforce its decrees throughout his dominions. He issued an order to that effect (August 18, 1564), and it was sent Trtasattne to the duchess of Parma for publication. The nobles decrees. protested, and Egmont was deputed to go to Madrid and try to obtain from the king a mitigation of the edicts and redress of grievances. Philip was inexorable. The activity of the Inquisition was redoubled, and persecution raged throughout the Netherlands. Everywhere intense indignation was aroused by the cruel tortures and executions. In the presence of the rising See also:storm the duchess was bewildered, seeing clearly the folly of the policy she was obliged to carry out no less than its difficulty. Following the example of William of Orange, Hoorn, Berghen and other See also:governors, the magistrates generally declined to enforce the edicts, and offered to resign rather than he the See also:instruments for burning and maltreating their fellow-countrymen. It was at this time that the lesser nobility, foremost among whom were Louis of Nassau (brother of William), Philip de Marnix, lord of Sainte Aldegonde, and Henry, count of See also:Brederode, began to organize resistance, and in 1566 a confederacy. the promise. se. was formed, all the members of which signed a docu- ment called "The See also:Compromise," by which they bound themselves to help and protect one another against persecution, and to extirpate the Inquisition from the land. The signatories See also:drew up a See also:petition, known as the " See also:Request," which was presented by the confederates to the regent (April 5, 1566) in the council chamber at Brussels. As they approached, Barlaymontha"d been heard to say to Margaret, "What, Madam, is your See also:Highness afraid of these beggars (See also:gueux)?" See also:Bee Beggars. The phrase was seized upon and made a party name, and it became the See also:fashion for patriots to See also:wear See also:beggar's garb and a See also:medal See also:round the See also:neck, bearing Philip's See also:image on one side and a wallet on the other, with two hands crossed, and the See also:legend Fideles au roi jusqu'd la besace. William of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn were alarmed at the violent passions that had been aroused, and held aloof at first from Brederode and his companions. At their instance, and carrying with them instructions from the regent and the council, the See also:marquis of Berghen and Hoorn's brother (the lord of Montigny) were persuaded to go to Spain and See also:lay before Philip the serious character of the crisis. Philip received them courteously, but took care that neither of them should return home. Mean-while in the Netherlands the sectaries had been making rapid headway in spite of the persecution. Open-See also:air conventicles were held in all parts of the provinces, and the fierce Calvinist preachers raised the religious excitement of their hearers to such a piThe tch itch that it found vent in a furious outburst cr18Rts. S. o- of iconoclasm. During the See also:month of August bands of fanatical rioters in various parts of the country made havoc in the churches and religious houses, wrecking the altars, smashing the images and pictures, and carrying off the sacred vessels and other treasures on which they could lay their hands. These acts of See also:wild and sacrilegious destruction reached their See also:climax at Antwerp (August 16 and 17), where a small body of rioters forced their way into the See also:cathedral and were permitted without ri any interference on the part of the magistracy to wreak their will upon its spendid and priceless contents. The effect of the outbreak was in every way disastrous. The regent was alienated from the popular leaders, and was no longer disposed to help William of Orange, Egmont, and Hoorn to secure a mitigation of religious persecution; and the See also:heart of Philip was hardened in its resolve to exterminate heresy in the Nether-lands. He dissembled until such time as he could despatch his greatest general, the duke of See also:Alva, to Brussels at the head of a picked force to crush all opposition. William of Orange was not deceived by the specious temporizing of the king. He foresaw the coming storm, and he did his See also:Plight of utmost to induce Egmont, Hoorn and other prominent orange. members of the patriotic party to unite with him in taking measures for See also:meeting the approaching danger. Egmont and Hoorn refused to do anything that might be construed into disloyalty; in these circumstances William felt that the time had come to provide for his See also:personal safety. He with-drew (April 1567) first to his residence at See also:Breda, and then to the ancestral seat of his See also:family at Dillenburg in Nassau. Margaret of Parma meanwhile, with the aid of a considerable body of German mercenaries, had inflicted exemplary punish-Punish- ment upon the See also:iconoclasts and Calvinist sectaries. ment of A body of some 2000 men See also:drawn principally from the See also:sect- Antwerp were cut to pieces at Austruweel (March 13, arks. 1567), and their leader John de Marnix, lord of Thouseule, slain. See also:Valenciennes, the chief centre of disturbance in the south, was besieged and taken by Philip de Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, who inflicted a See also:savage vengeance (April 1567). The regent therefore represented to her brother that the disorders were entirely put down and that the time had come to show See also:mercy. But Philip's preparations were now complete, and Alva set out from Italy at the head of a force of some ro,000 See also:veteran troops, Spaniards and Italians, afterwards increased by a body of Germans, with which, after marching through Burgundy, Lorraine and Luxemburg, he reached the Netherlands (August 8), and made his entry into Brussels a fortnight later. The See also:powers conferred on Alva were those of military See also:dictator. The title of regent was left to the duchess Margaret, but she speedily sent in her resignation, which was accepted The (October 6). Before this took place events had been Council ofBlood. moving fast. On the 9th of September Egmont and aB/oo Hoorn were arrested as they left a council at the duke's residence and were confined in the See also:castle of Ghent. At the same time Orange's friend, the powerful burgomaster of Antwerp, See also:Anthony van Stralen, was seized. The next step of Alva was to create a special tribunal which was officially known as the " Council of Troubles," but was popularly branded with the name of the " Council of Blood," and as such it has passed down to history. As a tribunal it had no legal status. The duke himself was president and all sentences were submitted to him. Two
members only, Vargas and del Rio, both Spaniards, had votes.
A swarm of commissioners ransacked the provinces in See also:search of
delinquents, and the council sat daily for See also:hours, condemning the
accused, almost without a See also:hearing, in batches together. The
executioners were ceaselessly at See also:work with stake, See also:sword and
gibbet. Crowds of fugitives crossed the frontier to
Orange
outlawed. seek See also:refuge in Germany and England. The prince of
Orange was publicly declared an outlaw and his
property confiscated (January 24, 1568). A few See also:weeks later his
eldest son, Philip William, count of Buren, a student at the
university of Louvain, was kidnapped and carried off to Madrid.
William had meanwhile succeeded in raising a force in Germany
with which his brother Louis invaded Friesland. He gained a
victory at Heiligerlee (May 23) over a Spanish force under Count
See also:Aremberg. Aremberg himself was killed, as was See also:Adolphus of
Nassau, a younger brother of William and Louis. But Alva
himself took the See also: Execauon On the 6th of June they were beheaded before the andHoornfdgmont a. Broodhuis at Brussels. A few months after the disaster of Jemmingen, Orange, who had now become a Lutheran, himself led a large army into Brabant. He was met by Alva with cautious See also:tactics. The Spaniards skilfully avoided a battle, and in Alva November the invaders were compelled elled to withdraw See also:ant. triumph- across the French frontier through lack of resources, and were disbanded. Alva was triumphant; but though Alva's master had supplied him with an invincible army, he was unable to furnish him with the funds to pay for it. Money had to be raised by taxation, and at a meeting of the states-general (March 20, 1569) the governor-general proposed (r) an immediate tax of 1% on all property, (2) a tax of 5% on all transfers of real See also:estate, (3) a tax of ro % on the See also:sale of all articles of commerce, the last two taxes to be granted in See also:perpetuity. Everywhere the proposal met with uncompromising resistance. After a pro-longed struggle, Alva succeeded in obtaining a See also:subsidy of 2,000,000 fl. for two years only. All this time the brutal work of the Blood Council went on, as did the See also:exodus of thousands upon thousands of industrious and well-to-do citizens, and with each year the detestation felt for Alva and his rule steadily increased. All this time William and Louis were indefatigably making preparations for a new campaign, and striving by their agents to rouse the people to active resistance. The first successes were however to be not on land, but on the The sea- Beggars. sea. In 1569 William in his capacity as sovereign prince of Orange issued letters-of-marque to a number of vessels to See also:prey upon the Spanish commerce in the narrow seas. These corsairs, for such they were, were known by the name of Sea-Beggars (Gueux-de-Mer). Under the command of the lord of Lumbres, the lord of Treslong, and William de la Marck (lord of Lumey) they spread terror and alarm along the coast, seized much See also:plunder, and in revenge for Alva's cruelty committed acts of terrible barbarity upon the priests and monks and See also:catholic officials, as well as upon the crews of the vessels that fell into their hands. Their difficulty lay in the lack of ports in which to take refuge. At last by a sudden See also:assault the Sea-Beggars seized the town of See also:Brill at the mouth of Capture of the See also:Maas (April 1, 1572). Encouraged by this success Brlttand Ftushing. they next attacked and took See also:Flushing, the port of Zeeland, which commanded the approach to Antwerp; and the inhabitants were compelled to take the oath to the prince of Orange, as See also:stadtholder of the king. They next mastered Delfshaven and See also:Schiedam. These striking successes caused a See also:wave of revolt to spread through Holland, Zeeland, Gelderland, Revolt Utrecht and Friesland. The See also:principal towns gave in in the their submission to the prince of Orange, and acknow- northers ledged him as their lawful stadtholder. Within three provinces. months of the capture of Brill, See also:Amsterdam was the only town is Holland in the hands of the Spaniards. This revolt of the northern provinces was facilitated by the fact that Alva had withdrawn many of the garrisons, and was moving to oppose an invasion from the south. Louis of Nassau, with a small force raised in France with the The connivance of Charles IX., :army: made a sudden dash into campa/ga Hainault (May 1572) and captured Valenciennes and See also:Mons. Here he was shut in by a See also:superior force of Spaniards, and made preparations to defend himself until relieved by the army which Orange was See also:collecting on the eastern frontier. On the 9th of July William crossed the Rhine, and captured Malines, See also:Termonde and Oudenarde, and was advancing southwards when the See also:news reached him of the See also:massacre of St See also:Bartholomew, which deprived him of the promised aid of See also:Coligny and his army of 12,000 men. He made an attempt, however, to relieve Mons, but his camp at Harmignies was surprised by a See also:night attack, and William himself narrowly escaped capture. The next See also:morning he retreated, and six days later Mons surrendered. Death of Requesent. NETHERLANDS 419 sudden death of See also:Requesens (March 1576). The stadtholder summoned a meeting of the states of Holland and Zeeland to Delft, and on the 25th of April an act of federation between the two provinces was executed. By this compact the prince was invested with all the prerogatives belonging to the sovereign. He was made See also:commander-in-chief of both the military and See also:naval forces with supreme authority, and in his hands was placed the final appointment to all political and judicial posts and to vacant city magistracies. He was required to maintain the Protestant reformed See also:religion and to suppress " all religion at variance with the See also:gospel." He also had authority to confer the See also:protectorate of the federated provinces upon a foreign prince. In June 1576 the long siege of Zierikzee, the See also:capital of Schouwen, ended in its surrender to the Spanish general Mon-See also:dragon, after the failure of a gallant attempt by See also:Admiral Boisot to break the leaguer, in which he lost The great his life. Things looked See also:ill for the patriots, and Zeeland nfatmy. would have been at the mercy of the conqueror had not the success been followed by a great See also:mutiny of the Spanish and Walloon troops, to whom long arrears of pay were due. They See also:chose their leader (See also:delta), marched into Brabant, and established themselves at See also:Alost, where they were joined by other bands of mutineers. The principal fortresses of the country were in the hands of Spanish garrisons, who refused obedience to the council. William seized his opportunity, and with a body of picked troops advanced into Flanders, occupied Ghent, and entered into negotiations with the leader of the states- general at Brussels, for a See also:union of all the provinces on spaniah the basis of exclusion of foreigners and non-interference pray ,, with religious belief. The overtures were favourably received, the council at Brussels was forcibly dissolved, and a See also:congress met at Ghent on the 19th of October to consider what measures must be taken for the pacification of the country. In the midst of their deliberations the news arrived that the mutineers had marched from Alost on Antwerp, overpowered the troops of Champagney, and sacked the town with terrible barbarities (Nov. 3). This tragedy, known as " the Spanish Fury," silenced all disputes and See also:differences among the representatives of the provinces. A treaty establishing a See also:firm alliance between the provinces, represented by the states-general, assembled at Brussels on the one part, and on the other by the prince of Orange, and the states of Holland and Zeeland, was agreed upon and ratified under the title The Paci- of the " Pacification of Ghent." It was received with are, of heaf. great enthusiasm The provinces agreed first to eject the foreigner, then to meet in states-general and regulate all matters of religion and defence. It was stipulated that there was to be See also:toleration for both Catholics and Protestants; that the Spanish king should be recognized as de jure sovereign, and the prince of Orange as governor with full powers in Holland and Zeeland.
Meanwhile Philip had appointed his natural brother, See also:Don John of Austria, to be governor-general in the place of Requesens. After many delays he reached Luxemburg on the 4th Don John of November (the date of the Spanish Fury at Ant- of Austria werp) and notified his arrival to the council of state. becomes His letter met with a See also:cold reception. On the advice Qovernm+' of the prince of Orange the states-general refused to General. receive him as governor-general unless he accepted the " Pacification of Ghent." Negotiations were entered into, but a dead-See also:lock ensued. At this crisis the hands of Orange and the patriotic party were greatly strengthened by a new compact entitled " The Union of Brussels," which was extensively .,u ioa of signed, especially in the southern Netherlands. This Brassela.^ document (See also:Jan. 1577) engaged all its signatories to
help in ejecting the foreign soldiery, in carrying out the " Pacification," in recognizing Philip's See also:sovereignty, and at the same time in maintaining the charters and constitutions which that king on his accession had sworn to observe. The popular support given to the Union of Brussels forced Don John to yield.
Orange however did not despair, and resolved to throw in his See also:lot for good and all with the See also:rebel province of the north.
Already at his See also:summons the states of Holland had
Orange
takes up met at See also:Dort (July 15) under the See also:presidency of Philip
his rest- de Marnix, lord of Sainte Aldegonde, and they had dente at unanimously recognized William as their lawful stadt- DeiB holder and had voted a large See also: Malines, which had surrendered to William, was given over for three days to the mercy of a brutal soldiery. Then the army under Alva's son, Don See also:Frederick of See also:Toledo, marched northwards, and the See also:sack of Zutphen and the inhuman butchery of Naarden are among the blackest records of history. But the very horrors of Don Frederick's advance roused a spirit of indomitable resistance in Holland. The famous defence of Haarlem, lasting through the See also:winter of 1572 to July 1593, cost the besiegers 12,000 lives, and gave siege of the insurgent provinces time to breathe. The example Haarlem of Haarlem was followed by See also:Alkmaar, and with better and success. The assault of the Spaniards was repulsed, Alkmaar the dykes were cut, and Don Frederick, fearing for his communications, See also:beat a hasty See also:retreat (August). A few weeks later (Oct. i1) the See also:fleet of Alva on the Zuyder Zee was completely defeated by the Sea-Beggars and its admiral taken prisoner. Disgusted by these reverses, in See also:bad odour with the king, and with his soldiers mutinying for lack of pay, the governor-general resigned. On the 18th of December 1573 Alva, who to the end had persisted in his policy of pitiless severity, left Brussels, carrying with him the curses of the people over whom he had tyrannized for six terrible years of misery and oppression. Philip sent the grand commander, Don Luis Requesens, as governor-general in his place, and after some futile attempts Don Luis at negotiation the war went on. The prince of Orange, Requesens, who had now formally entered the Calvinist communion, governor- was inexorable in laying down three conditions as general indispensable: (r) Freedom of See also:worship and See also:liberty to preach the gospel according to the Word of See also:God; (2) the restoration and See also:maintenance of all the ancient charters, privileges, and liberties of the land; (3) the removal of all Spaniards and other foreigners from all posts and employments See also:civil and military. In February 1574 the Spaniards by the fall of Middleburg lost their last hold upon Walcheren and Zeeland. This triumph was however far more than counterbalanced by the complete defeat of the army, led by Count Louis of Nassau, at Mookerheide near Nijmwegen (14th March). The gallant Louis and his younger brother Henry both lost their lives. This was a grievous See also:blow to William, but his courage did not fail. The Spaniards laid siege to Leiden, and though stricken down by a See also:fever at Delft the prince spared no exertion to save the town. The The siege dykes were cut, the land flooded, but again and again and See also:relief ofLeiden. a relieving force was baulked in its attempts to reach of the place, which for more than four months bravely defended itself. But when at the very last extremity through See also:famine, a tempestuous See also:flood enabled the vessels of Orange to reach Leiden, and the investing force was driven to retreat (October 3, 1574). This was the turning-point of the first See also:stage in the struggle for Dutch independence. In See also:honour of this great deliverance, the state of Holland founded the university, which was speedily to make the name of Leiden illustrious throughout Europe. In the See also:spring of 1575 conferences with a view to peace were held at Breda, and on their failure Orange, in the See also:face of Spanish successes in Zeeland, was forced to seek foreign succour. He sought at first in vain. The sovereignty of Holland and Zeeland was offered to the queen of England, but she, though promising See also:secret support, declined. The situation was, however, relieved through the Act of Federation between Holland and Zeeland. He promised to accept the " Pacification of Ghent," and finally an agreement was drawn up, styled the "Perpetual See also:Edict," which was signed by Don John (February 12th) and ..Per' ratified by Philip a few weeks later. The states- ed'turtal. general undertook to accept Don John as governor- general and to uphold the Catholic religion, while Don John, in the name of the king, agreed to carry out the provisions of the " Pacification." The authority conferred upon Orange as stadtholder by the provinces of Holland and Zeeland was thus ratified, but that astute statesman had no confidence that Philip intended to observe the treaty any longer than it suited his convenience. He therefore refused, with the approval of the representatives of these provinces, to allow the publication of the " Perpetual Edict " in Holland and Zeeland. As events were to prove, he was in the right. Don John made his state entry into Brussels on the 1st of May, but only to find that he had no real authority. " The prince of orange at Orange," he informed the king, " has bewitched tht Brussels. minds of all men. They keep him informed of every- thing, and take no See also:resolution without consulting him." In vain the fiery See also:young soldier strove to break loose from the shackles which hampered him. He was, to quote the words of a contemporary, " like an apprentice defying his master." Irritated and alarmed, the governor suddenly left Brussels in the month of July with some Walloon troops and went to Namur. It was a virtual act of abdication. The eyes of all men turned to the prince of Orange. Through his exertions the Spanish troops had not only been expelled from Holland and Zeeland, but also from the citadels of Antwerp and Ghent, which were now in the hands of the patriots. He was invited to come to Brussels, and after some hesitation, and not without having first obtained the approval of the states of Holland and Zeeland, he assented. William made his triumphal entry into the capital (September 23), which he had quitted as an outlawed fugitive ten years before. In a brief period he was the acclaimed leader of the entire Netherland people.
But it was not to last. The See also:jealousy of Catholic against Protestant, of south against north, was too deeply rooted. Archduke Two distinctive nationalities, Belgian and Dutch, were See also:Matthias. already in course of formation, and not even the
tactful and conciliatory policy of the most consummate statesman of his time could unite those whom the whole trend of events was year by year putting farther asunder. On the 6th of October, at the secret invitation of the Catholic nobles headed by the duke of Aerschot, the archduke Matthias, brother of the emperor, arrived in Brussels to assume the sovereignty of the Netherlands. He was but twenty years of age, and his sudden intrusion was as embarrassing to the prince of Orange as to Don John. William, however, whose position had been strengthened by his nomination to the post of ruwaard of Brabant, determined to welcome Matthias and use him for his own purposes. Matthias was to be the nominal ruler, he himself with the title of See also:lieutenant-general to hold the reins of power.
But Philip had now become thoroughly alarmed, and he despatched See also: The " malcontent " Catholics now turned for help from Matthias to the duke of Anjou, who had invaded the Netherlands with a French army and seized Mons. At the same time John Casimir, brother of the elector See also:palatine, at the invitation of the Calvinist party and with the secret financial aid of Queen See also: Alexander Ghent had fallen into the hands of John Casimir, Parnese and under his armed protection a fierce and intolerant governor-Calvinism reigned supreme in that important city. genera'. To the " Malcontents " (as the Catholic party was styled) the domination of heretical sectaries appeared less tolerable than the evils attendant upon See also:alien rule. This feeling was widespread throughout the Walloon provinces, and found See also:express League at See also:sion in the League of Arras (5th of January 1579). Arras. By this See also:instrument the deputies of Hainault, Artois and Douay formed themselves into a league for the defence of the Catholic religion, and, subject to his observance of the political stipulations of the Union of Brussels, professed loyal allegiance to the king. The Protestant response was not long in coming. The Union of Utrecht was signed on the 29th of January by the representatives of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelder union of land and Zutphen. By it the northern provinces utreait bound themselves together " as if they were one province " to maintain their rights and liberties " with life-blood and goods" against foreign tyranny; and to grant complete freedom of worship and of religious See also:opinion throughout the confederacy. This famous compact was the work of John of Nassau, at that time governor of Gelderland, and did not at first commend itself to his brother. William was still struggling to carry out that larger scheme of a union of all the seventeen provinces, which at thetime of the " Pacification of Ghent " had seemed a possibility. But his efforts were already doomed to certain failure. The die was See also:cast, which decreed that from 1579 onwards the northern and southern Netherlands were to pursue separate destinies. For their later history see HOLLAND and BELGIUM. O. See also:Bierstadt and R. See also:Putnam), vols. i. and ii. (1898-1900). For the Burgundian period—A. B. de Burante, Histoire des ducs de Burgogne (1364-1477), (13 vols., 1824–1826); L. Vanderkindere, Le Sikcle des Artevelde (1879) ; J. F. See also:Kirk, History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (3vols., 1863-1868). For the Habsburg period to 1555—Th. Juste, Charles Quint et See also:Marguerite d'Autriche (1858); A. Le Glay, Maximilian I. et Marguerite d'Autriche (1839) ; A. Henne, Histoire du rbgne de Charles V. en Belgique (10 vols., 1858-186o). The Revolt of the Netherlands: Contemporary authorities: P. C. See also:Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II. sur See also:les affaires des Pays-Bas (5 vols., 1848-1879); Correspondance de See also:Guillaume le taciturne (6 vols., 1847-1857) ; G. Groen van Prinsterer, Archives ou correspondance inedite de la maison d'Orange, leserie (9 vols., 1841-1861) ; Poullet et Piot, Correspondance du cardinal Granvelle (12 vols., 1879-1899) ; J. M. B. C. Kervyn de Lettenhove, Relations politiques des Pays-Bas et de l'Angleterre sous le rbgne de Philippe II. (5 vols., 882-1886); Collection de memoires sur l'histoire de Belgique au X VI', X VII', et X VIII' siecles (47 vols., 1858-1875) (chiefly dealing with the period of the Revolt) P. Bor., Oorspronck, begin ende aenwang der Nederlandscher oorlogen, beroerten ende borgelijcke oneenicheyden (1595); J. Ghysius, Oorsprong en voortgang der nederlandscher beroerten (1626); See also:Hugo See also:Grotius, Annales et histoire de See also:rebus belgicis (1657); P. C. See also:Hooft, Nederlandscher historien, I555-1587 (1656) ; E. V. Reyd, Voornaenste gheschiedennissen in de Nederlanden, 1566 r6or (1626) ; A. Carnero,' Historia de See also:las guerras civiles qua ha avido en los estados de Flandres des del See also:anno r55p hasta el de 1609, y las causas de la rebelion de los dichos estados (1625) ; B. Mendo9a, Commentaires memorables des guerres de Flandres et Pays-Bas, avec une sonzmaire description des Pays-Bas 1567—1577 (1591); F. Strada, De bello Belgico decades duae (1640—1647) ; L. Guicciardzni, Descrittione di tutti i Paesi See also:Bassi (1588). Later works: R. Fruin, Het voorspel van den tachtigjariger ocrlog (1866); J. M. B. C. Kervyn de Lettenhove, Les See also:Huguenots et les Gueux 1560-1585 (6 vols., 1883-1885); Th. Juste, Histoire de la revolution des Pays-Bas sous Philippe II., 1555-1577 (4 vols., 1855-1867) ; W. J. Nuyens, Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche berverten (2 vols., 1889) ; E. See also:Marx, Studien zur Geschichte des niederlandischen Aufstandes (1902); W. H. See also:Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II. 1555-1568 (1855) J. L. See also:Motley, Rise of the Dutch See also:Republic 1555-1584 (3 vols., 1856); See also:Cambridge Modern History, vol. i., c. xiii. (1902), and vol. iii., cc. vi. and vii. (1904). (See also:Bibliographies, vol. i. pp. 761-769, vol. iii. pp. 798-809). (G. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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