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Eighty Years' War

Eighty Years' War
Dutch Revolt
Part of the European wars of religion and the Thirty Years' War (1621–1648)

The Battle of Gibraltar, 1607
Date c. 1566/1568 – 30 January 1648[h]
Location

European theatre (c. 1566/1568):

Result

Peace of Münster

Belligerents

Dutch Republic Dutch Republic
(from 1588)[c]

Native overseas allies
(from the 1600s)

Spain Spanish Empire

European ally:
Portugal Portuguese Empire
(c.1580–1640)[f]

European co-belligerent:
Habsburg monarchy Holy Roman Empire
(1629, 1632, 1635)[g]

Native overseas allies
(from the 1600s)
Commanders and leaders
Casualties and losses
100,000 Dutch Protestants killed[14] (1568–1609) Unknown

The Eighty Years' War[i] or Dutch Revolt (Dutch: Nederlandse Opstand; c. 1566/1568–1648)[j] was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands[k] 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 Governor of Spanish Netherlands and General for Spain, the Duke of Parma's steady military and diplomatic successes, 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 (a treaty that was part of the Peace of Westphalia), when Spain retained the Southern Netherlands and recognised the Dutch Republic as an independent country.

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.[37] 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.[38] 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.[39]

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.[40]

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.[citation needed]

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).[48]

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).[49]

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 already existed for a long time. 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.[o]

  1. ^ With the Pacification of Ghent on 8 November 1576, the States General of the Seventeen Provinces, except Luxemburg, managed to articulate a joint Catholic-Protestant political and military rebellion against the Spanish imperial government.[1] But various political, religious and military circumstances caused this union to collapse in 1579, the year in which the Netherlands was divided in two, with the Catholic provinces of the south joining in the Union of Arras on 6 January and the Protestant provinces of the north (in general terms) at the Union of Utrecht of 23 January. The southern provinces would once again be under the orbit of the Spanish government, while the northern provinces would reaffirm their political and military alliance against Spain.[2][3]
  2. ^ The rebellious provinces of the Netherlands managed to form a joint political and military rebellion against Spain after the Pacification of Ghent on 8 November 1576.[1]
  3. ^ The nascent political organization reached by the rebellious northern provinces with the Union of Utrecht on 23 January 1579, Groenveld 2009, pp. 16–17 Groenveld 2009, pp. 10–11 would be followed by the Act of Abjuration on 26 July 1581, declaring de facto independence from Spain, Groenveld 2009, pp. 18–19 to finally become a republic by approving the Deduction of Vrancken on 12 April 1588.[4]
  4. ^ In 1576, the States General called, at the suggestion of William the Silent, Francis, Duke of Anjou, to request his protection. In 1578 Anjou intervened with an army of French in the south of the Netherlands, but did not achieve the expected results and withdrew. In the following years he again invaded the southern Netherlands, and on 23 January 1581 the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours was ratified between Anjou and the States General to agree to his reign in the region. His intervention in the Netherlands ended in 1583 after several defeats of his forces.[5][6]
  5. ^ After the outbreak of the Portuguese rebellion in 1640, on 12 June 1641, to the detriment of Spain, a truce and alliance agreement was reached between the Dutch Republic and Portugal with the Treaty of The Hague.[7] But this agreement was only limited to Europe, thus continuing the struggle between the Dutch and Portuguese in the colonies.[8]
  6. ^ After the dynastic union with Spain in the 1580s, Portugal became involved in its conflicts with England, France and the Dutch Republic, countries that were also beginning to expand overseas.[9]
  7. ^ During the Thirty Years' War, the Holy Roman Empire supported Spain with Imperial forces on the Low Countries front in 1629, 1632, and 1635, although it never directly waged war against the Dutch Republic.[10]
  8. ^ The war ended with the Peace of Münster, signed on 30 January 1648, ratified by the States General on 15 May 1648.[11]
  9. ^ Dutch: Tachtigjarige Oorlog; Spanish: Guerra de los Ochenta Años or Guerra de Flandes, literally "War of Flanders"
  10. ^ There is disagreement about name and periodisation of the war, see Historiography of the Eighty Years' War § Name and periodisation.
  11. ^ The Habsburg Netherlands were at the time also known as the Seventeen Provinces, today roughly covering the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of northern France, but excluding areas such as the Principality of Liège.
  12. ^ Constitutionally, the Crowns of Castile and Aragon would not be united into the Kingdom of Spain until the 1707–1716 Nueva Planta decrees, and Charles formally reigned as Charles I of Castile and Aragon (sometimes informally called "Spain"). But in historiography, he is more commonly known as Emperor Charles V.
  13. ^ Unless otherwise indicated, "Netherlands" and "Netherlandish" refer here to the entire area of the Habsburg Netherlands and its inhabitants (including modern Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of northern France, but excluding areas such as the Principality of Liège), whereas "Dutch Republic" and "Dutch" will refer to the country, currently known as the Netherlands, and its inhabitants.
  14. ^ "...the starting phase of the Revolt in Zeeland. We label the 1566–1572 period as the strike up to the Revolt: years in which the resistance against central authority, grown out to a rebellion, began to powerfully manifest itself."[17]
  15. ^ The Dutch States General, for dramatic effect, decided to promulgate the ratification of the Peace of Münster (which was actually ratified by them on 15 May 1648) on the 80th anniversary of the execution of the Counts of Egmont and Horne, 5 June 1648.[50]
  1. ^ a b c d van der Lem 1995, p. Chapter IV.
  2. ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020b, v. II pp. 95–124.
  3. ^ a b van der Lem 1995, p. Chapter V.
  4. ^ a b Groenveld 2009, p. 21.
  5. ^ Gallegos Vázquez, Federico (2014). "La dimensión internacional de la guerra de los Países Bajos". Guerra, derecho y política: Aproximaciones a una interacción inevitable (in Spanish). España: 45–64. ISBN 978-84-617-1675-3. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Francisco de Alençon". Diccionario Biográfico Español (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1900). Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón (in Spanish). Vol. IV. Madrid, España: Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval. p. 269. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b Aleixandre Tena, Francisca (1967). "La revolución portuguesa de 1640". Saitabi: Revista de la Facultat de Geografia i Història (in Spanish) (17). Valencia, España: 95–96. ISSN 0210-9980. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  9. ^ Anderson, James Maxwell (2000). The History of Portugal. Greenwood. p. 105. ISBN 0-313-31106-4.
  10. ^ van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010). The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588–1688. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. pp. 217–234, 247–248. ISBN 978-1-84383-575-2.
  11. ^ Groenveld 2009, p. 146.
  12. ^ a b Tarver, H. Micheal; Slape, Emily (2016). The Spanish Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 71.
  13. ^ Martínez Shaw, Carlos (1999). "El imperio colonial español y la República Holandesa tras la Paz de Münster". Pedralbes: Revista d'historia moderna (in Spanish) (19). Barcelona, Spain: 117–120. ISSN 0211-9587.
  14. ^ Halley's Bible Handbook, 24th ed. 1965.
  15. ^ "Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
  16. ^ "Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
  17. ^ Rooze-Stouthamer 2009, p. 11–12.
  18. ^ "Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
  19. ^ Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, p. 117–118.
  20. ^ a b c d Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, p. 120.
  21. ^ Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, p. 120–121.
  22. ^ Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, p. 121.
  23. ^ Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, p. 121–122.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g van der Lem 1995.
  25. ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020b, v. II pp. 95-124.
  26. ^ Marek y Villarino de Brugge 2020b, v. II p. 124.
  27. ^ Groenveld 2009, p. 16.
  28. ^ Groenveld 2009, p. 16–17.
  29. ^ Groenveld 2009, p. 10–11.
  30. ^ a b c Groenveld 2009, p. 18–19.
  31. ^ a b c Groenveld 2009, p. 22.
  32. ^ van der Lem 2019, p. 142–143.
  33. ^ Gelderblom 2000, p. 77–78.
  34. ^ Fruin 1899, p. 3.
  35. ^ Blokker, Jan (2006). Waar is de Tachtigjarige Oorlog gebleven? (in Dutch) (1st ed.). De Harmonie. ISBN 90-6169-741-7.
  36. ^ a b Groenveld 2009, p. 90.
  37. ^ Israel 1995, pp. 399–405.
  38. ^ Lynch, John (1969). Spain Under the Habsburgs: Spain and America, 1598–1700 Volume 2 of Spain Under the Habsburgs. B. Blackwell. p. 42.
  39. ^ Lindquist, Thea L (2001). The Politics of Diplomacy: The Palatinate and Anglo-Imperial Relations in the Thirty Years' War. University of Wisconsin. pp. 98–99.
  40. ^ Israel 1995, pp. 458–459.
  41. ^ Israel 1995, pp. 407–408.
  42. ^ "Twaalfjarig Bestand". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.
  43. ^ a b c Groenveld 2009, p. 25.
  44. ^ a b Groenveld 2009, p. 26.
  45. ^ Lesaffer 2006, pp. 2–4.
  46. ^ Parker, Geoffrey (1972). The Army of Flanders and the Spanish Road 1567–1659: The Logistics of Spanish Victory and Defeat in the Low Countries' Wars (2004 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0521543927.
  47. ^ Groenveld 2009, p. 142.
  48. ^ Groenveld 2009, pp. 144–146.
  49. ^ Israel 1995, pp. 596–597.
  50. ^ Maanen, Hans van (2002), Encyclopedie van misvattingen, Boom, p. 68. ISBN 9053528342.
  51. ^ Mulder, Doedens & Kortlever 2008, pp. 143–144.
  52. ^ Runa Hellinga (27 September 2019). "Die eeuw van goud ging aan Brabant en Limburg voorbij". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  53. ^ a b c d e f "Tachtigjarige Oorlog §1. Historische problematiek". Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (in Dutch). Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. 1993–2002.