Dutch Golden Age

What was the Netherlands like in the 16th century?

King Philip:
-was the most powerful man in the 16th century
-He ruled Spain, colonies in Asia and America and parts in Europe (also the Netherlands)
-He believed God had chosen him to protect the Catholic Church (he was very religious)
-His armies were always on the march and he was always short of money
-Thought that he could find the money he needed in the Netherlands, but that was not easy, because the Netherlands were divided into 17 different provinces, each a small country itself.
-Philip was the official ruler, but each province had their own rights and laws. (This is called a personal union: a union of different, self-governing states, headed by one ruler)
-If Philip needed money, he had to wait long for this so he wanted centralisation. The leaders of the provinces were against this. They were afraid of losing their freedom and tired of paying high taxes. Willem van Oranje became leader of these dissidents and lead them against Spain.
-Philip faced other problems: Protestantism.

The Dutch Revolt:
-Around Antwerp and Ghent(the largest and richest cities of the Netherlands) the fighting started between the Dutch and the Spanish. During this time hundreds of churches were plundered (De beeldenstorm). Philip sent a Spanish army under the command of duke Alva and this was the beginning of the Dutch Revolt.
-The revolt spread from south to north and in 1609, after 40 years of fighting, there was a truce for 12 years. The 10 provinces in the south remained Spanish, but in 1588 the 10 others declared themselves independent. They named themselves the Dutch Republic and allowed each province their own rights and laws.
-17 provinces:
10 stick to Philip -> Unie van Atrecht
-7 become independent -> Unie van Utrecht

Who was in charge of the Dutch Republic?:
-The Regents/The grand Pensionary:
Most of them were merchants who had become rich in shipping and trading.
-The house of Oranje:
Under the lead of Willem v. Oranje. They had 7 “stadhouders”, each were member of prominent families. They had to command the army.
-The Staten-Generaal in The Hague:
The Regents of all 7 provinces.
-In order for a decision to be made the regents would have to make unanimous decision, Which was difficult. The problem was Holland, who provided more than half of the money in the Republic. Because of this, The Grand Pensionary wanted more influence in the Staten-Generaal. As a result leadership swung back and forth between the Grand Pensionary and the Regents of Holland on one hand and the Prince of Oranje and his supporters in the other six provinces on the other.

A very small and poor country?:
A Frenchman wrote, after visiting the northern provinces in 1952: A very small and poor country, with many dunes, marshes and lakes, divided by many rivers and canals. The land is only fit for pasture and this is their only wealth. The wheat they grow is not enough to feed a tenth of the population. This is why many people in the country maintain themselves by handicrafts and trades.
Before the revolt, the wealth of the Netherlands was concentrated in the south. The Dutch Republic had not much to offer. The size of the population was small, The ship building was important, but depended on the import of Scandinavian timber. To make bread for all, Dutch ships had to bring in wheat from Poland. Amsterdam, the largest city in the North, was much smaller than Antwerp and Ghent. The Republic had still fishing, milk, cheese and butter(to export to England, France and Spain and crops like Linen and Hop which were sold to tradesman for the fabrication of clothes and beer.

Extra information:

1567, Alfa goes to the Netherlands with an army to punish every Protestant.
“Ketters”, Geuzen (Who came back from England) and Hugenoten of Willem v. Oranje were brought to the “Council of blood” were they got a trial with often the stake or the gallows as result.

Problems in the Netherlands:

Beeldenstorm: Revolt of the Protestants against the Catholic Church.

Politics: Centralisation
Nobles -> Lost power

Unemployment: “Wolnijverheid”

10e penning : One tenth of “roerende goederen”