1568 Officially the start of the 80 Years War. William of Orange, who now has
officially taken the side of the revolters against Philip II of Spain, manages to raise
some mercenary armies, financed out of his own pocket. One of his armies invades the
Netherlands and wins a battle at Heiligerlee, in the province of Groningen. Other
campaigns remain unsuccessful, so William returns to Dillenburg where he tries to begin a
revolt in the Netherlands by sending out spies to maintain contact with other rebels and
to keep him informed of the situation.
1570 Huge flood. Friesland, Groningen, and also large parts of Holland, Zeeland,
Brabant and Flanders are all affected. About 25,000 inhabitants drown.
1571 First National Synod at Emden in East Frisia, Germany, of the Calvinist 'churches
under the Cross'. The Synod determines the organization of the future Reformed Church in
the Netherlands.
(Read more about the Synod at Emden, full text, by dr.Dr. Alastair Duke, Southampton
University)
1572 Up until this year, and from 1576-1579, the main point of resistance is
located in the Southern Netherlands. Then it changes to the Northern Netherlands when an
army of Protestants who had fled and Geuzen
(Sea-Beggars) (who live by privateering, but are legitimized by William of Orange)
capture den Briel, a harbor south of Rotterdam. Many towns in Zeeland and Holland follow
this example (voluntarily or forced) and associate themselves with the Uprising.
Representatives of twelve rebelling towns gather at the town of Dordrecht to attend the
first assembly of the States of Holland. They decide to recall William of Orange as their
Stadtholder and to promulgate religious liberty. William is reinstalled as a Stadtholder,
thus maintaining the fiction that Philip still is the king. As a matter of fact, Holland
and Zeeland now become the center of the Uprising, while a few provinces continue to
support the king. Another group of provinces change their loyalty; one year they back the
rebels, another year they make common cause with the king.
( Full text of the first assembly of the States of Holland, by Dr.
Alastair Duke, Southampton University)
More Calvinists are now entering Northern Netherlands.
Massacre of St.Bartholomew in Paris. Huguenots murdered. Help from France and support
from the Huguenots for the Dutch rebellion now is finally out of the question. This is a
huge blow to William and the Netherlands.
(See Massacre of
St.Bartholomew from a Catholic point of view)
Start of a period of severe floods, which will last almost 6 years. Especially
Friesland suffers severe damages due to these floods.
1573 William of Orange publicly joins the Calvinists. This is a political act.
In his heart William is a Lutheran and he dislikes the orthodoxy of the Calvinists, but he
knows that they are the most reliable allies in his fight against Philip II. States of
Holland prohibit the public exercise of the Catholic religion.
1574 First University in the Northern Netherlands founded in Leiden. (Probably
as a gift of William to this city, which lost almost one third of its population during a
siege by the Spanish in 1574). The University is mainly meant to educate Calvinist
clergymen. These schooled clergymen can be an important tool to lead the inhabitants of
the revolting provinces.
1575 William of Orange marries Charlotte de Bourbon, thus getting allied more
closely with the Huguenots.
1576 Holland now accepts William of Orange as' Head and Highest Authority'. Due
to looting bodies of Spanish soldiers and mercenaries in Spanish service in the Southern
Netherlands and violation of local privileges, the southern provinces decide to conclude a
pact with the rebels in Holland and Zeeland. The pact is called thePacification
of Ghent. At the
end of this year it looks like William finally manages to accomplish his goal: religious
liberty in the 'united' 17 provinces. This is a short success that will only last until
1579.
1577Union of Brussels: all provinces agree to fight Philip II under the
leadership of William of Orange.
Eeuwig
Edict (=Perpetual Edict): Don John, Philips' deputy
in the Netherlands, signs this Decree with the States-General in which he acknowledges the
Pacification of Ghent. There's however no guaranty for freedom of religion. The Decree
also denies the Provinces Zeeland and Holland to have control over the army.
1578 Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and son of former governess Margaretha,
comes to the Netherlands as governor. He's a gifted general and a born diplomat, and the
same year he arrived there he manages to regain the revolting provinces of Artois, Hainaut
and French Flanders.
1579 January 6: The States of Hainaut , Artois and the town of Douai, make peace
with Philip II (Treaty of Atrecht/Arras) and they acknowledge him as their leader.
The town of Maastricht is captured by Parma and soon after this even the town of
's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) and Mechlin join the Treaty of Atrecht.
January 23: Union of Utrecht (de Nadere Unie). Holland, Zeeland, Gelre,
Utrecht and Groningen agree to unite. In the months to come, some Flemish and Brabant
towns join the Union. They decide that the provinces will stay together forever as if they
are one province. Each province, however, will maintain their own special rights and
privileges, and settle religion as they see fit. But, nobody may be persecuted for the
sake of their religion.
Half of the population of the town of Louvain in Southern Netherlands die as a result
of the plague.
1580 Philip II offers 25,000 Golden Crowns reward plus elevation to the peerage
to anyone who kills William of Orange.
'Apology' of William of Orange at the States-General in
Antwerp. In this declaration, William of Orange formally denounces his loyalty to the
Spanish king. The States-General accepts his 'Apology', but they don't have the guts to
publish the declaration; it is published under the responsibility of the States of
Holland.
Groningen (town and Ommelanden) leaves the Union and comes back under Spanish ruling
due to treason of Rennenberg, Stadholder of Friesland and commander of Groningen.
(Groningen will be part of the Union again in 1594 by Maurits of Nassau)
Philip II captures Portugal. As a result, many Portuguese Jews flee to Amsterdam.
1581 The States-General, beginning their residence at The Hague, refuse further
obedience to the Spanish king in the ' Plakkaat van
Verlathinge' (Act of Abjuration). (second
link to the full text)
The text of this document will later be a source of inspiration to the American 'founding
fathers' when they frame their 'Declaration of Independence' in 1776.
1583 William of Orange remarries Louise de Colligny, daughter of a French
Huguenot leader
1584 Parma has almost captured entire Flanders.
William of Orange is murdered at the Prinsenhof in Delft by Balthazar Gerards, a
religious fanatic from the France-Comte, a countship of Philip II. The murderer is
arrested, tortured and decapitated at the Grote Markt in Delft. The 25,000 Crowns are
given to the mother of the murderer.
1585 Brussels and Antwerp captured by Parma. The fall of the town of Antwerp,
the richest stronghold of the Uprise in the Southern Netherlands, will contribute to the
rupture between the Spanish Southern Netherlands and the 7 provinces of the Northern
Netherlands. Almost 50,000 Calvinistic refugees - amongst them many artisans, scholars and
wealthy merchants - flee to the Netherlands.This is an enormous influx for several towns
in Holland and Zeeland, especially Amsterdam, Middelburg and Leiden.
Maurits of Orange (1567-1625), son of William, becomes
Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland, a position he will acquire later, too, in most of the
other Northern Netherlands provinces. Maurits soon becomes the most powerful and important
militairy leader in the revolting provinces.
Counter
Reformation now starts in the Spanish Netherlands. People there, still Calvinist,
decide to go to the Northern Netherlands.
Founding of the University of Franeker (in Friesland). Many Calvinists go there to
study theology and become clergymen.
1586 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547-1619) becomes the most powerful political
leader of the Northern Netherlands. Cooperation between Maurits of Orange and
Oldenbarnevelt works fine in the beginning, but the latter fears the monarchal character
traits of Maurits, and it will end dramatically in the near future. Oldenbarnevelt is the
undisputed political leader of the Northern Netherland. Maurits is the unchallenged
military strategist.
1588 The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships, is destroyed by the combination
of an English fleet plus a few ships from Zeeland and heavy tempests. A great threat for
the Northern Netherlands has been averted.
A period of military and political success for the Northern Netherlands lasts for a period
of 10 years, and many strategic towns in the Northern Netherlands are recaptured: Zutphen,
Deventer, Delfzijl, Hulst and Nijmegen (1591), Steenwijk and Coevorden (1592),
Geertruidenberg (1593) , Groningen (1594) and at least Oldenzaal and Grave in 1597.
1594 Town of Groningen and Ommelanden part of the Union again
1597 Some of the towns are recaptured again by the Spanish. It is not unusual
that some towns have been in Spanish or Dutch hands alternately several times!
1595 Portuguese power and presence in the East is declining. First Dutch fleet
of 4 ships leaves for Asia . In 1596, they reach Java, where they found their first
trading post. Cornelis de Houtman visits the Cape of Good Hope. August 1595. He stays
there for a short period. These pre-VOC traders (mainly from Zeeland and Amsterdam) do
sent 65 ships to the East.
1596 Triple Alliance against Spain is signed at the town of The Hague, by
England, France and Northern Netherlands. For the first time, Northern Netherlands is
considered to be a sovereign power by at least England and France.
1598 Philip II gives up the Netherlands. He hands it over to his daughter
Isabella who marries Albrecht of Austria. This couple rules the Southern Netherlands, but
has no power in the Northern Netherlands. With the strong aid of the Jesuits, they firmly take in
hand the Counter-Reformation of the Southern Netherlands.
Albrecht dies in 1621, so the territory again becomes Spanish property, governed by
Isabella until 1633.
It's about this time that it's getting more and more obvious that the Northern
Netherlands, now flourishing economically, will never return to obedience to king Philip
II or his governor again.
1600 Maurits of Orange undertakes a campaign in Flanders. First target is
Dunkirk, to wipe out the pirate's nest. Merchants from the Northern Netherlands and
Oldenbarnevelt want him to do this in order to protect their trade. The inhabitants of
Flanders don't support Maurits, but with heavy losses he manages to win a battle at
Nieuwpoort against the Spanish. He's forced to return to the Northern Netherlands soon
after.
First written Journals appear in the Netherlands.Trade connections between important
towns like Hamburg, Venice, Antwerp and Amsterdam ask for regular information.
Merchant-letters and the latest news are bundled and copied by groups clerks in so-called
'Correspondence-offices'.
1602 Founding of the 'Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie'‚ (VOC), or Dutch East India Company, which is a
limited liability company. Driving force behind this is Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt. The company gets a monopoly on trade and shipping east of the Cape
of Good Hope (at the southern tip of Africa) and for the territories which might be
reached by sailing through the Straits of Magellan (southern tip of South America). In a
way, the VOC can be considered as a 'State within a State'. The VOC has such rights as to
maintain a military force, to conclude treaties, to appoint governors and judges, and to
build fortresses.
1603 Religious dispute at the Leiden University is escalating. It is mainly
about predestination and is between two professors, the
orthodox Calvinist Gomarus and the liberal Arminius. It is going to divide the
whole Northern Netherlands. The religious and political impact is huge in the years to
come. The fight between the liberal followers of Arminius, called the 'Remonstrants', and
the adherents of the rigid, orthodox Gomarus, called 'Counter-Remonstrants'‚ almost
leads to a civil war. Politically, it can be considered as a fight of the States of
Holland to maintain power and control over religion. It's also a fight concerning the
political unity and the center of power in the Northern Netherlands. Will the States of
Holland be the center, or will the final power be in the hands of the States-General?
1608 Drainage, reclamation of the Beemster-lake in the province of
Noord-Holland by Jan Adriaensz. Leeghwater
1609 First discount bank opens in Amsterdam, which makes the exchange of foreign
coins more easy and reliable. A new monetary standard is created. These services modernize
international finance and make Amsterdam the financial center of Europe.
Founding of a trading post at Firando (Hirado, at the isle of Hirado, Japan), for trade
with Japan.
Dutch explore the coast of North America. Henry Hudson sails into the present Hudson
River up to what soon becomes known as Beverwyck, then later is renamed Albany.
Twelve Year Truce with Spain, after peace negotiations which start in 1608. Zeeland,
Amsterdam, many clergymen and refugees, and Maurits of Orange are against a truce, while
Oldenbarnevelt and many merchants are in favor of it.
War of Succession in Kleef, Gulik and the duchy of Berg (in the German Empire) which
will last until 1614. Maurits of Orange intervenes militarily because the Northern
Netherlands don't want a Catholic neighbor at the eastern border. Maurits turns over Gulik
to the two Protestant pretenders, the electors of Brandenburg and Neuborg. Spinola takes
Wezel for the elector of Neuborg (now Catholic), who is married to a Hapsburg princess. At
the Treaty of Xanten, it is decided that Gulik and Berg will come to Neuborg, and Kleef
will go to Brandenburg.
(See map of
the Netherlands, at the beginning of the Twelve Year Truce)
1610 Severe floods ravage the Frisian and Holland coast.
A serious dispute about predestination and the Church-State relation starts between
Arminius (Remonstrants)
and Gomarus (Counter-Remonstrants). It's going to be a severe conflict in
the Netherlands,causin serious political divisions.
1611 The Koopmansbeurs (Produce-Exchange) comes into use in Amsterdam. From that
moment on, the merchants have a centrally located building where they can do their trade.
1612 Beemster (lake in Noord-Holland) finally being drained by hydraulic
engineer Leeghwater.
1617 Maurits publicly attends a Counter Remonstrant service at a church in The
Hague. His mother, Louise de Coligny, and his half-brother Frederik Hendrik remain
faithful to the official court chaplain Johannes uyt den Bogaardt.
Van Oldenbarnevelt, government attorney and highest authority of the States of Holland,
and the States of Holland themselves, issue the 'Scherpe Resolutie', in which they declare
'that the States of Holland are allowed to regulate their own political and religious
matters'. At the same time, the States advise the local town-regents to enlist
'Waardgelders' (= local militiamen) to take the place of the regular troops which are
under the highest command of Maurits of Orange. These Waardgelders now will have to follow
the orders of the States of Holland and the local town-magistrates. Maurits of Orange is
invited to help in the maintaining of this resolution, but he refuses. The 'Scherpe
Resolutie' also rejects a national synod as a tool to settle the religious matter. Maurits
of Orange leaves nothing untried. With or without force, and wherever he can, he replaces
Remonstrants in high positions with Counter-Remonstrants. States-General decides to call a
national synod which has to settle the controversial issues. Holland, Utrecht and
Overijssel vote against the idea.
1617 Oldenbarnevelt arrested by Maurits of Orange, along with another group of
liberal Remonstrant clergymen and scholars (like Hugo Grotius and Johannes uyt den
Boogaardt).
Break out of the 30 Year War in the German Empire. It is a war between the emperor
and several Protestant electorates.
National
Synod at Dordrecht (Nov 1635-April 1619).
1618 The first printed Dutch Paper/Journal appears:"Die
Courante uyt Italien, duytschlant & c". (Probably published in Amsterdam,
edited by Caspar van Hilt(er)en from Amsterdam and printed by Joris Veseler) This original
first Dutch Journal is now to be seen in the Royal Library at Stockholm. In 1619 Broer
Jansz starts publishing the second Dutch Journal. (Mind that, throughout the 16th century,
thousands of printed pamflets -called "Nieuwe Tydinghen'- had appeared, though not on
a regulare basis). Amsterdam soon becomes the press-centre of the world.
1619 The National Synod throws out the Remonstrant delegation. The Synod draws
up texts for a rigid orthodox Calvinist confession of faith, which will apply to all
provinces. The Synod wants a completely new Dutch Bible translation from the original
Hebrew and Greek text. This 'Statenbijbel' (= Dutch authorized version of the Bible) will
be ready in 1637. The impact of this translation on Dutch culture, Dutch Protestantism and
the Dutch language will be vast.
On May 12, Oldenbarnevelt is sentenced to death by the court. He is charged with high
treason and the next morning he is decapitated. About 200 Remonstrant clergymen are
dismissed. About 80 of them go into exile where they found the 'Remonstrantse
Broederschap' (= Fraternity of Remonstrants). The Catholic religion is now really
beginning to lose followers in the Northern Netherlands, especially in the areas where the
usual Catholic spiritual care is dropping out: Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe and
parts of Gelderland and Overijssel. The majority of people in Twenthe, West-Friesland,
Northern-Brabant and Limburg remain Catholic in spite of the repression.
Jan Pietersz. Coen (governor of the V.O.C, the East-Indies Company) murders all of the
inhabitants of the Banda Islands (Indonesia) in order to more easily control the
cultivation of mace and nutmeg.
1620 Extreme rise of grain prices
1621 April 9 Formal end of the Twelve Years Truce between Spain and the
Netherlands.
Phillip III of Spain and Albrecht of Austria both die. Philip IV now becomes king of the
Netherlands. Isabella remains governess of the Southern Netherlands until her death in
1633.
Founding of the Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie (G.W.C.), aka Westindische
Compagnie (W.I.C), for trade on the coasts and countries of America and Africa between the
Tropic of Cancer, in the northern hemisphere, southward to Cape Horn in America and the
Cape of Good Hope in Africa. Second only to privateering, slave and sugar trading are the
main sources of income.
Founding of the town of Batavia. At the ruins of Jacarta (Java) cruel Jan Pietersz.
Coen is building this new town, to be the centre of the Dutch Colonial East Indies
Winterking Frederic of the Palatinate flees to The Hague, to the house of
Oldenbarnevelt's son-in-law.
1623 V.O.C. soldiers brutally murder the English on the Moluccan Island of
Ambon. Diplomatic difficulties with England.
1624 Treaty of the Northern Netherlands with France. In exchange for military
assistance against the Huguenots, France agrees to donate money to support the revolt of
the Northern Netherland against Spain.
The Dutch occupy Formosa as a base for their trade with China. San Salvador (Bahia) on
the Brazil coast is taken by a fleet under Piet Hein and Jacob Willekens.
1625 Dutch ships under Willem de Soete van Laecke Haulthain join the siege of
the Huguenot port of La Rochelle to fight their brothers-in-religion. At the same time,
Dutch civilians are collecting money for the French Protestants who are very popular
amongst the common people of the Northern Netherlands.
Maurits of Orange dies April 23. His half-brother Frederik
Hendrik succeeds him as Stadtholder in 5 of the 7 provinces. Frederik Hendrik
marries Amalia van Solms, a German countess and court-lady of the 'Winterking' Frederic,
king of the Palatinate. He is very talented in both politics and military tactics and is
the first Stadtholder who really starts to live like a king. Together with his nephew
Ernst Casimir, Stadtholder of Groningen and Friesland, Frederik Hendrik starts a series of
campaigns in which they add the northern part of Northern-Brabant and parts of Limburg and
Zeeuws-Vlaanderen to the Northern Netherlands. These territories are called
'Generaliteitslanden' (= territory of the States-General).
Wormer (a lake north of Zaandam) is being drained by Leeghwater; the other lakes and
pools like the Purmer and the Schermer will soon follow. The needed money comes from the
rich merchants who are looking for speculative investments. Leeghwater, by the way, also
drained wetlands in southern France, Holstein in northern Germany and Lorraine.
Oldenzaal is taken from the Spanish by Ernst Casimir. Frederik Hendrik takes Groenlo in
Gelderland.
1628 Commander Piet Hein, of a large privateering fleet, conquers the Spanish
silver fleet in the Bay of Matanzas. Ten percent of the booty (177,000 Dutch pounds of
silver) go to Frederik Hendrik. Piet Hein receives about 7000 Dutch guilders. He dies the
year after, in a fight against his Dunkirk colleagues.
1629 Frederik Hendrik and Ernst Casimir conquer the Spanish lands of the town of
's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) and the surrounding countryside, which is called the 'Meierij
van 's-Hertogenbosch'.
1632 Frederik Hendrik takes the towns of Venlo, Roermond, and, after a siege of
73 days, Maastricht. At this point, almost all important towns at the frontier are in the
hands of the Northern Netherlands. Venlo and Roermond, though, return to Spanish control a
few years later in 1637.
(See some good17th century detailed examples of Dutch fortifications)
1633 The Tulip bulb mania, or Tulipomania is becoming fanaticism. It lasts for
several years until a decree is issued April 27, 1637, declaring that the purchase and
sale of tulip bulbs was to be conducted in the same way as other business. By the time the
speculation ceases, many people are ruined.
[Note: The tulip originally came from Mongolia and Persia -where cultivation was
started over a thousand years earlier- to Turkey in the 16th century. At the Vienna
Botanical Garden, in the second half of the 16th century, the scholar Clusius (French
Flanders 1526-1609) introduced the tulip to Europe. In 1594, the tulip arrived in the
Netherlands when Clusius was laying out a botanical garden at Leiden University. Soon this
beautiful flower, in it‚s many variations, was to be found in the gardens of the
rich. It wasn't long before almost everyone wanted tulips in their own gardens. The tulip
became an object of great desire, especially the particularly attractive ones. However,
because of a limited knowledge of cross-fertilization and a complete lack of knowledge of
viruses, people were unaware that the desireable characteristics would be not retained in
future generations of the tulips. The Dutch - normally of a conservative nature - got
crazy, smelling big profits. While the bulbs still rested in the soil, they were sold on
paper, and these papers went from hand to hand, rising in value at each step. People
abandoned jobs, businesses, wives, homes and lovers to become tulip growers in order to
reap their share of the profits. And the profits were extremely high. For a single bulb of
the variety Vice-Roi, one Dutchman paid thirty-six bushels of wheat, seventy-two of rice,
four oxen, twelve sheep, eight pigs, two barrels of wine and four of beer, two tons of
butter, a thousands pounds of cheese, a bed, clothes, and a silver cup! Altogether, this
added up to a total value of 2,500 Dutch florins. Another man bartered twelve acres of
land, while still another gave a new carriage and twelve horses.
After April 1637, the craze ceased and their botanical prizes returned to their original
value of about a few stuivers a pound This brought many families to poverty's door, rich
and poor alike.
But to experience financial ruin, some people didn‚t have to wait for a decline in
bulb prices: at least one of the speculators was reduced to poverty after simply eating
his evening meal. His wife had prepared it using a half pound of onions. At least she
thought they were onions...]
1634 The Dutch on the Antilles. On July 29, 225 Dutch soldiers of the W.I.C. land
on the island of Curacao, a bit north of Venezuela. This isle will become a naval base for
the W.I.C. and soon becomes their slave depot. After Curacao, the Dutch take the isles of
Aruba and Bonaire in 1634 and 1636, respectively.
1635 'Treaty of Partition'‚ between Northern Netherland and France. The
partition pertains to the Southern Netherlands. France and the Northern Netherlands each
want to take half of these Spanish provinces. The division will be more or less along
linguistic lines. Both France and the Northern Netherlands have a silent hope that the
population of the Southern Netherlands will agree, being happy to rid themselves of the
Spanish. The plan is not successful, although from then on one could say that the Eighty
Years War was no longer a war of independence of the Northern Netherlands, nor a battle
between the Northern Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands. The war now is a part of a
huge anti-Hapsburg campaign, led by France. In reality, it means that the Southern
Netherlands now becomes the battleground for the Northern Netherlands and France; it is
not strange, therefore, that neither the French nor Frederik Hendrik are very popular in
the Southern Netherlands.
Statenbijbel
(Dutch Authorized Version of the Bible) ready
1636 Founding of the Utrecht University. Its theological faculty plays an
important role because there is a great demand for Calvinist clergymen.
1637 Frederik Hendrik takes Breda after a siege of two and a half months. Venlo
and Roermond are recaptured by the Spanish.
1639 A strong Spanish fleet of 67 galleons with 20,000 soldiers - the second
Armada - sets sail for the Northern Netherlands in a final Spanish attempt to destroy the
Dutch fleet and to deliver reinforcements to the coast of the Southern Netherlands. A
modest fleet from the Northern Netherlands, under admiral Maarten Harpertsz. Tromp, forces
the Spanish to flee to neutral, English territorial waters. Despite protests of the
English King Charles I, the States-General gives Tromp permission to attack them there. At
the Battle of the
Downs, Tromp and some extra ships which arrived
quickly, wreck the Spanish in the Strait of Dover.
1640 Portugal revolts against the Spanish and becomes independent.
1641 The Dutch get permission from the Japanese shogun to organize a small
trading post on Deshima, an isolated, artificial island in the Bay of Nagasaki (in
southern Honshu). Until the American Perry breaks the Japanese isolation, Japan solely
receives her information about the West European culture from the Dutch and foreigners in
Dutch service.
Prince Willem, son of Frederik Hendrik, marries Mary Stuart, daughter of King Charles I
of England. From this moment on, the politics of the princes of Orange, the Stadtholders,
and the English are bound together by common interests (for a while).
1644 Frederik Hendrik takes Sas van Ghent, a town in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. A year
later he captures Hulst, a town in the same region.
1646 The French take the port of Dunkirk, the town of Courtray and some villages
in the area.
Louise Henriette, daughter of Frederick Hendrik, marries Friedrich Wilhelm of
Hohenzollern, elector of Brandenburg: a number of Dutch farmers and craftsmen follow her
to bring land under cultivation and to build large farms
1647 Death of Frederik Hendrik, March 14. Willem II, his son, succeeds his
father.
1648 The 'Peace of Westphalia' is composed of both the Peace
of Muenster (May 15), which ends the Eighty Years War between Spain and the
Netherlands, and the Peace of Osnabrueck (October) which puts an end to the Thirty
Years War in the German Empire. Spain recognizes the 'Verenigde Nederlanden' (= the United
Netherlands) as 'free and sovereign countries', and the king of Spain will take care that
the German Empire also recognizes the independence of Northern Netherlands, now better
known as 'the Republic of the United Netherlands'.
The Southern Netherlands remains in Spanish hands and it is called 'the Spanish
Netherlands'. These territories don't benefit from the Peace of Muenster. It will remain
the battlefield of Europe, suffering severe economic losses in the ages to come.
The new borders of the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1648 do not differ very much
from the present Dutch border with Germany and Belgium, but there still are quite some
differences. In particular, the borders of the states of Gelderland and Limburg are quite
different from the present borders, and, to a much lesser extent, this applies to the
southeastern border of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant.
(See detailed map of Europe 1648, after the Peace of Westphalia)
Above article is from www.rabble.info/history.html
|
