Eighty Years' War

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (c. 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

After the initial stages, Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Netherlands, deployed his armies and regained control over most of the rebel-held territories. However, widespread mutinies in the Spanish army caused a general uprising. Under the leadership of the exiled William the Silent, the Catholic and Protestant-dominated provinces sought to establish religious peace while jointly opposing the king's regime with the Pacification of Ghent, but the general rebellion failed to sustain itself.

Despite steady military and diplomatic successes by the Governor of Spanish Netherlands and General for Spain, the Duke of Parma, the Union of Utrecht continued their resistance, proclaiming their independence through the 1581 Act of Abjuration and establishing the Calvinist-dominated Dutch Republic in 1588. In the Ten Years thereafter, the Republic (whose heartland was no longer threatened) made conquests in the north and east and received diplomatic recognition from France and England in 1596. The Dutch colonial empire emerged, which began with Dutch attacks on Portugal's overseas territories.

Facing a stalemate, the two sides agreed to a Twelve Years' Truce in 1609; when it expired in 1621, fighting resumed as part of the broader Thirty Years' War. An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster when Spain retained the Southern Netherlands and recognised the Dutch Republic as an independent country.

War

Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621)

File:Synode van Dordrecht.jpg

The Synod of Dort.

The military upkeep and decreased trade had put both Spain and the Dutch Republic under financial strain. To alleviate conditions, a ceasefire was signed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609, marking the end of the Dutch Revolt and the beginning of the Twelve Years' Truce. The conclusion of this Truce was a major diplomatic coup for Holland's advocate Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, as Spain by concluding the Treaty, formally recognised the independence of the Republic. In Spain the truce was seen as a major humiliation – she had suffered a political, military and ideological defeat, and the affront to its prestige was immense. The closure of the river Scheldt to traffic in and out of Antwerp, and the acceptance of Dutch commercial operations in the Spanish and Portuguese colonial maritime lanes were just a few points that the Spanish found objectionable.

Although there was peace on an international level, political unrest took hold of Dutch domestic affairs. What had started as a theological quarrel resulted in riots between Remonstrants (Arminians) and Counter-Remonstrants (Gomarists). In general, regents would support the former and civilians the latter. Even the government got involved, with Oldenbarnevelt taking the side of the Remonstrants and stadtholder Maurice of Nassau their opponents. In the end, the Synod of Dort condemned the Remonstrants for heresy and excommunicated them from the national Public Church. Van Oldenbarnevelt was sentenced to death, together with his ally Gilles van Ledenberg, while two other Remonstrant allies, Rombout Hogerbeets and Hugo Grotius received life imprisonment.

Peace of Münster

File:Westfaelischer Friede in Muenster (Gerard Terborch 1648).jpg

Swearing of the Peace of Münster by Gerard ter Borch

File:Bartholomeus van der Helst, Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster.jpg

The Celebration of the Peace of Münster (1648) by Bartholomeus van der Helst

The negotiations between Spain and the Republic formally started in January 1646 as part of the more general peace negotiations between the warring parties in the Thirty Years' War. The States General sent eight delegates from several of the provinces as none trusted the others to represent them adequately. They were Willem van Ripperda (Overijssel), Frans van Donia (Friesland), Adriaen Clant tot Stedum (Groningen), Adriaan Pauw and Jan van Mathenesse (Holland), Barthold van Gent (Gelderland), Johan de Knuyt (Zeeland) and Godert van Reede (Utrecht). The Spanish delegation was led by Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Peñaranda. The negotiations were held in what is now the Haus der Niederlande in Münster.

The Dutch and Spanish delegations soon reached an agreement, based on the text of the Twelve Years' Truce. It therefore confirmed Spain's recognition of Dutch independence. The Dutch demands (closure of the Scheldt, cession of the Meierij, formal cession of Dutch conquests in the Indies and Americas, and lifting of the Spanish embargoes) were generally met. However, the general negotiations between the main parties dragged on, because France kept formulating new demands. Eventually it was decided therefore to split off the peace between the Republic and Spain from the general peace negotiations. This enabled the two parties to conclude what technically was a separate peace (to the annoyance of France, which maintained that this contravened the alliance treaty of 1635 with the Republic).

The text of the Treaty (in 79 articles) was fixed on 30 January 1648. It was then sent to the principals (King Philip IV of Spain and the States General) for ratification. Five provinces voted to ratify (against the advice of stadtholder William) on 4 April (Zeeland and Utrecht being opposed). Utrecht finally yielded to pressure by the other provinces, but Zeeland held out and refused to sign. It was eventually decided to ratify the peace without Zeeland's consent. The delegates to the peace conference affirmed the peace on oath on 15 May 1648 (though the delegate of Zeeland refused to attend, and the delegate of Utrecht suffered a possibly diplomatic illness).

In the broader context of the treaties between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire of 14 and 24 October 1648, which comprise the Peace of Westphalia, but which were not signed by the Republic, the Republic now also gained formal "independence" from the Holy Roman Empire, just like the Swiss Cantons. In both cases, this was just a formalisation of a situation that had long existed. France and Spain did not conclude a treaty and so remained at war until the peace of the Pyrenees of 1659. The peace was celebrated in the Republic with sumptuous festivities. It was solemnly promulgated on the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horne on 5 June 1648.

Gallery

• Philip II, King of Spain, Reproaches William I, Prince of Orange, in Vlissingen upon his Departure from the Netherlands in 1559. By Cornelis Kruseman.
  Philip II, King of Spain, Reproaches William I, Prince of Orange, in Vlissingen upon his Departure from the Netherlands in 1559. By Cornelis Kruseman.
• Siege of Alkmaar, by Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate.
  Siege of Alkmaar, by Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate.
• El milagro de Empel, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau.
  El milagro de Empel, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau.
• Battle of the Narrow Seas, by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom.
  Battle of the Narrow Seas, by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom.
• The Surrender of Breda by Diego Velázquez.
  The Surrender of Breda by Diego Velázquez.
• A cavalry battle, by Jan Martszen de Jonge.
  A cavalry battle, by Jan Martszen de Jonge.
• A battle scene from the Eighty Years' War by Jan Martszen de Jonge.
  A battle scene from the Eighty Years' War by Jan Martszen de Jonge.
• Before the Battle of the Downs by Reinier Nooms.
  Before the Battle of the Downs by Reinier Nooms.

Bibliography

• Beausobre, Isaac de (1733). Mémoires de Frederic Henri de Nassau Prince d'Orange (in French). Pierre Humbert.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
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• Fruin, Robert Jacobus (1899). Tien jaren uit den Tachtigjarigen Oorlog. 1588–1598. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. p. 386. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2022. (5th ed.; original published in 1857)
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• van Gelderen, M. (2002). The Political Thought of the Dutch Revolt 1555–1590. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521891639.
• Glete, Jan (2002). War and the State in Early Modern Europe: Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden as fiscal-military states, 1500–1660. Routledge. ISBN 0415226457.
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• Israel, Jonathan I. (1997). Conflicts of Empires: Spain, the Low Countries and the Struggle for World Supremacy, 1585–1713. Hambledon Press. ISBN 9780826435538.
• Koenigsberger, Helmut G. (2007). Monarchies, States Generals and Parliaments: The Netherlands in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521044370. [2001] paperback
• Marek y Villarino de Brugge, André (2020b). Alessandro Farnese: Prince of Parma: Governor-General of the Netherlands (1545–1592): v. II. Los Angeles: MJV Enterprises, ltd., inc. ISBN 979-8687563130.
• van der Lem, Anton (1995). De Opstand in de Nederlanden (1555–1648) (in Nederlands). Uitgeverij Kosmos / Leiden University. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2022 – via dutchrevolt.library.universiteitleiden.nl.
• van der Lem, Anton (2019). Revolt in the Netherlands: The Eighty Years War, 1568–1648. London: Reaktion Books. pp. 142–243. ISBN 978-1789140880. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
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• Parker, Geoffrey (2004). The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521543927. paperback
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• Scammel, G.V. (1989). The First Imperial Age: European Overseas Expansion c. 1400–1715. Routledge.
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• Collin de Pancy, Jacques Albin Simon (1836). Fastes militaires des Belges, ou Histoire des guerres, sièges, conquêtes, expéditions et faits d'armes qui ont illustré la Belgique depuis l'invasion de César jusqu'à nos jours (in français). Brussels: Au Bureau des fastes militaires.

Further reading

• Duke, Alastair (1992). "Select documents for the Reformation and the Revolt of the Low Countries, 1555-1609". Universiteit Leiden. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012.
• Geyl, Pieter (1932). The revolt of the Netherlands, 1555-1609. Williams & Norgate. LCCN 79053235. OL 16200585M.
• Geyl, Pieter (1936). The Netherlands Divided (1609-1648). Williams & Norgate. LCCN 37013853. OCLC 3546232.
• Mellink, Albert Fredrik; Kossmann, Ernst Heinrich (1974). Texts concerning the revolt of the Netherlands. Cambridge studies in the history and theory of politics. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20014-1.
• Marnef, Guido (January 2009). "Belgian and Dutch Post-war Historiography on the Protestant and Catholic Reformation in the Netherlands". Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte. 100 (1): 271–292. doi:10.14315/arg-2009-100-1-271. ISSN 2198-0489.
• Parker, Geoffrey (1977). The Dutch Revolt. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-1136-6.
• Rodríguez Pérez, Yolanda (2008). The Dutch revolt through Spanish eyes: self and other in historical and literary texts of Golden Age Spain, c. 1548-1673. Hispanic studies. Oxford: P. Lang. ISBN 978-3-03911-136-7.

External links

• De Bello Belgico Template:In lang – about the Revolt in the Netherlands, website of Leiden University
• Correspondence of William of Orange Template:In lang
• La Guerra de Flandes, desde la muerte del emperador Carlos V hasta la Tregua de los Doce Años Template:In lang
• Sabbe, M. (1933) "De Veldtocht van 1635–1636 – Inneming en Verlies van de Schencke-Schans – Het 'Raffelspel' om de Schans," in: Brabant in't verweer. Bijdrage tot de studie der Zuid-Nederlandsche strijdliteratuur in de eerste helft der 17e eeuw Template:In lang
• Template:In lang Poelhekke, J.J. (1978) Frederik Hendrik Prins van Oranje. Een biografisch drieluik