Download Dutch Revolt

Dutch Revolt
1565 - 1648
I. Historical Background


As towns, “cities” like
Amsterdam and Antwerp
enjoyed historic liberties
(recall the Magna Carta).
The common bond of all
seventeen provinces was
simply that beginning
with the dukes of
Burgundy they had the
same ruler. Occasionally
the people of the Low
Countries were asked to
send delegates to an
estates general.
II. Charles V



The Hapsburgs as the dukes of Burgundy
(among many other titles) laid claim to the
Low Countries.
Charles V, as a native of the Netherlands,
understood the tedious nature of the
status-quo.
In the mid-sixteenth century neither a
Dutch nor Belgian nationality existed.
Hapsburg rule would change this.
III. The Division of the Empire


“Discuss/review the
significance of the
Fracken painting and
the G.R. Elton article.”
The history of Spain
involved a great
crusade. Philip II will
carry on this crusade,
with zeal unmatched,
against all heretics in
Europe – the Low
Countries were no
exception.
IV. Background: Economics, Politics, and Religion




Cities like Antwerp and Amsterdam were
fast becoming the most significant
financial centers in Europe.
As a crossroads Protestant ideas took
root very early. Calvin’s emphasis on
work done well was appealing the
merchants and commercial fisherman
who made Amsterdam what it was.
Overall politically – at one point over half
of the French nobility had converted to
Calvinism, many northern German princes
were Lutheran (peace of Augsburg 1555),
and the heretic queen ruled in England. It
seemed that the forces of Protestantism
were poised for victory.
Calvinism in the 1570s tended to
encourage opposition to “illegal” civil
authority.


France is pre-occupied with religious and civil war after the death of
Francois I.
France however, will play a part in the Dutch Revolt.
V. Philip II



With France in turmoil, the
balance of power had tilted
in favor of “universal
monarchy.”
In 1566 a league of
Protestant and Catholic lords
petitioned Phillip II not to
bring the Spanish Inquisition
to the Netherlands due to an
increased Spanish presence.
When Philip’s agents reject
this petition a mass revolt
broke out.
The Milch Cow

Elizabeth feeds the Low Countries hay, King Philip
rides and beats the Low Countries, William of Orange
milks it, and the French pull its tail.
Constitutional Monarchy under the
Dukes Orange