according to the statesmanship of the age, the most
accomplished and versatile statesman. He had no designs beyond
those of Philip, and during his long career in the
Netherlands, from October, 1578, to December, 1592, he served
the King of Spain as faithfully and with as few scruples as
Philip could have desired. … Parma was religious, but he had
no morality whatever. … He had no scruple in deceiving,
lying, assassinating, and even less scruple in saying or
swearing that he had done none of these things. … He had an
excellent judgment of men, and indeed he had experience of the
two extremes, of the exceeding baseness of the Flemish nobles,
and of the lofty and pure patriotism of the Dutch patriots.
Nothing indeed was more unfortunate for the Dutch than the
belief which they entertained, that the Flemings who had been
dragooned into uniformity, could be possibly stirred to
patriotism. Alva had done his work thoroughly. It is possible
to extirpate a reformation. But the success of the process is
the moral ruin of those who are the subjects of the
experiment. Fortunately for Parma, there was a suitor for the
Netherland sovereignty, in the person of the very worst prince
of the very worst royal family that ever existed in Europe,
i. e., the Duke of Anjou, of the house of Valois.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1577-1578.
{2269}
This person was favoured by Orange, probably because he had
detected Philip's designs on France, and thought that national
jealousy would induce the French government, which was
Catherine of Medici, to favour the low countries. Besides,
Parma had a faction in every Flemish town, who were known as
the Malcontents, who were the party of the greedy and
unscrupulous nobles. And, besides Anjou, there was the party
of another pretender, John Casimir, of Poland. He, however,
soon left them. Parma quickly found in such dissensions plenty
of men whom he could usefully bribe. He made his first
purchases in the Walloon district, and secured them. The
provinces here were Artois, Hainault, Lille, Douay, and
Orchies. They were soon permanently reunited to Spain. On
January 20, 1570, the Union of Utrecht, which was virtually
the Constitution of the Dutch Republic, was agreed to. It was
greater in extent on the Flemish side than the Dutch Republic
finally remained, less on that of Friesland [comprising
Holland, Zeland, Gelderland, Zutphen, Utrecht, and the Frisian
provinces]. Orange still had hopes of including most of the
Netherland seaboard, and he still kept up the form of
allegiance to Philip. The principal event of the year was the
siege and capture of Maestricht [with the slaughter of almost
its entire population of 34,000]. … Mechlin also was
betrayed by its commander, De Bours, who reconciled himself to
Romanism, and received the pay for his treason from Parma at
the same time. In March, 1580, a similar act of treason was
committed by Count Renneberg, the governor of Friesland, who
betrayed its chief city, Groningen. … In the same year,
1580, was published the ban of Philip. This instrument, drawn
up by Cardinal Granvelle, declared Orange to be a traitor and
miscreant, made him an outlaw, put a heavy price on his head
(25,000 gold crowns), offered the assassin the pardon of any
crime, however heinous, and nobility, whatever be his rank.
… William answered the ban by a vigorous appeal to the
civilized world. … Renneberg, the traitor, laid siege to
Steenwyk, the principal fortress of Drenthe, at the beginning
of 1581. … In February, John Norris, the English general,
… relieved the town. Renneberg raised the siege, was
defeated in July by the same Norris, and died, full of
remorse, a few days afterwards. But the most important event
in 1581 was the declaration of Dutch Independence formally
issued at the Hague on the 26th of July. By this instrument,
Orange, though most unwillingly, felt himself obliged to
accept the sovereignty over Holland and Zeland, and whatever
else of the seven provinces was in the hands of the patriots.
The Netherlands were now divided into three portions. The
Walloon provinces in the south were reconciled to Philip and
Parma. The middle provinces were under the almost nominal
sovereignty of Anjou, the northern were under William. …
Philip's name was now discarded from public documents … ;
his seal was broken, and William was thereafter to conduct the
government in his own name. The instrument was styled an 'Act
of Abjuration.'"
J. E. T. Rogers,
The Story of Holland,
chapters 11-12.
ALSO IN:
J. L. Motley,
The Rise of the Dutch Republic,
part 5, chapters 4-5,
and part 6, chapters 1-4.
Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell,
Don John of Austria,
volume 2, chapters 8-10.
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1581-1584.
Refusal of the sovereignty of the United Provinces by Orange.
Its bestowal upon the Duke of Anjou.
Base treachery of Anjou.
The "French Fury" at Antwerp.
Assassination of the Prince of Orange.
"What, then, was the condition of the nation, after this great
step [the Act of Abjuration] had been taken? It stood, as it
were, with its sovereignty in its hand, dividing it into two
portions, and offering it, thus separated, to two distinct
individuals. The sovereignty of Holland and Zealand had been
reluctantly accepted by Orange. The sovereignty of the United
Provinces had been offered to Anjou, but the terms of
agreement with that Duke had not yet been ratified. The
movement was therefore triple, consisting of an abjuration and
of two separate elections of hereditary chiefs; these two
elections being accomplished in the same manner by the
representative bodies respectively of the united provinces and
of Holland and Zealand. … Without a direct intention on the
part of the people or its leaders to establish a republic, the
Republic established itself. Providence did not permit the
whole country, so full of wealth, intelligence, healthy
political action—so stocked with powerful cities and an
energetic population, to be combined into one free and
prosperous commonwealth. The factious ambition of a few
grandees, the cynical venality of many nobles, the frenzy of
the Ghent democracy, the spirit of religious intolerance, the
consummate military and political genius of Alexander Farnese,
the exaggerated self-abnegation and the tragic fate of Orange,
all united to dissever this group of flourishing and kindred
provinces. The want of personal ambition on the part of
William the Silent inflicted, perhaps, a serious damage upon
his country. He believed a single chief requisite for the
united states; he might have been, but always refused to
become that chief; and yet he has been held up for centuries
by many writers as a conspirator and a self-seeking intriguer.
… 'These provinces,' said John of Nassau, 'are coming very
unwillingly into the arrangement with the Duke of Alençon
[soon afterwards made Duke of Anjou]. The majority feel much
more inclined to elect the Prince, who is daily, and without
intermission, implored to give his consent. … He refuses
only on this account—that it may not be thought that,
instead of religious freedom for the country, he has been
seeking a kingdom for himself and his own private advancement.
Moreover, he believes that the connexion with France will be
of more benefit to the country and to Christianity.' … The
unfortunate negotiations with Anjou, to which no man was more
opposed than Count John, proceeded therefore. In the meantime,
the sovereignty over the united provinces was provisionally
held by the national council, and, at the urgent solicitation
of the states-general, by the Prince. The Archduke Matthias,
whose functions were most unceremoniously brought to an end by
the transactions which we have been recording, took his leave
of the states, and departed in the month of October. … Thus
it was arranged that, for the present, at least, the Prince
should exercise sovereignty over Holland and Zealand; although
he had himself used his utmost exertions to induce those
provinces to join the rest of the United Netherlands in the
proposed election of Anjou.
{2270}
This, however, they sternly refused to do. There was also a
great disinclination felt by many in the other states to this
hazardous offer of their allegiance, and it was the personal
influence of Orange that eventually carried the measure
through. … By midsummer [1581] the Duke of Anjou made his
appearance in the western part of the Netherlands. The Prince
of Parma had recently come before Cambray with the intention
of reducing that important city. On the arrival of Anjou,
however, … Alexander raised the siege precipitately and
retired towards Tournay," to which he presently laid siege,
and which was surrendered to him in November.
J. L. Motley,
The Rise of the Dutch Republic,
part 6, chapters 4-5 (volume 3).
Meantime, the Duke of Anjou had visited England, paying court
to Queen Elizabeth, whom he hoped to marry, but who declined
the alliance after making the acquaintance of her suitor.
"Elizabeth made all the reparation in her power, by the
honours paid him on his dismissal. She accompanied him as far
as Canterbury, and sent him away under the convoy of the earl
of Leicester, her chief favourite; and with a brilliant suite
and a fleet of fifteen sail. Anjou was received at Antwerp
with equal distinction; and was inaugurated there on the 19th
of February [1582] as Duke of Brabant, Lothier, Limbourg, and
Guelders, with many other titles, of which he soon proved
himself unworthy. … During the rejoicings which followed
this inauspicious ceremony, Philip's proscription against the
Prince of Orange put forth its first fruits. The latter gave a
grand dinner in the chateau of Antwerp, which he occupied, on
the 18th of March, the birth-day of the duke of Anjou." As he
quitted the dining hall, he was shot in the cheek by a young
man who approached him with the pretence of offering a
petition, and who proved to be the tool of a Spanish merchant
at Antwerp, with whom Philip of Spain had contracted for the
procurement of the assassination. The wound inflicted was
severe but not fatal. "Within three months, William was able
to accompany the duke of Anjou in his visits to Ghent, Bruges,
and the other chief towns of Flanders; in each of which the
ceremony of inauguration was repeated. Several military
exploits now took place [the most important of them being the
capture of Oudenarde, after a protracted siege, by the Prince
of Parma]. … The duke of Anjou, intemperate, inconstant, and
unprincipled, saw that his authority was but the shadow of
power. … The French officers, who formed his suite and
possessed all his confidence, had no difficulty in raising his
discontent into treason against the people with whom he had
made a solemn compact. The result of their councils was a
deep-laid plot against Flemish liberty; and its execution was
ere-long attempted. He sent secret orders to the governors of
Dunkirk, Bruges, Termonde, and other towns, to seize on and
hold them in his name; reserving for himself the infamy of the
enterprise against Antwerp. To prepare for its execution, he
caused his numerous army of French and Swiss to approach the
city." Then, on the 17th of January, 1583, with his body guard
of 200 horse, he suddenly attacked and slew the Flemish guards
at one of the gates and admitted the troops waiting outside.
"The astonished but intrepid citizens, recovering from their
confusion, instantly flew to arms. All differences in religion
or politics were forgotten in the common danger to their
freedom. … The ancient spirit of Flanders seemed to animate
all. Workmen, armed with the instruments of their various
trades, started from their shops and flung themselves upon the
enemy. … The French were driven successively from the
streets and ramparts. … The duke of Anjou saved himself by
flight, and reached Termonde. His loss in this base enterprise
[known as the French Fury] amounted to 1,500; while that of
the citizens did not exceed 80 men. The attempts
simultaneously made on the other towns succeeded at Dunkirk
and Termonde; but all the others failed. The character of the
Prince of Orange never appeared so thoroughly great as at this
crisis. With wisdom and magnanimity rarely equalled and never
surpassed, he threw himself and his authority between the
indignation of the country and the guilt of Anjou; saving the
former from excess and the latter from execration. The
disgraced and discomfited duke proffered to the states excuses
as mean as they were hypocritical. … A new treaty was
negotiated, confirming Anjou in his former station, with
renewed security against any future treachery on his part. He
in the mean time retired to France," where he died, June 10,
1584. Exactly one month afterwards (July 10), Prince William
was murdered, in his house, at Delft, by Balthazar Gerard, one
of the many assassins whom Philip II. and Parma had so
persistently sent against him. He was shot as he placed his
foot upon the first step of the great stair in his house,
after dining in a lower apartment, and he died in a few
moments.
T. C. Grattan,
History of the Netherlands,
chapter 13.
ALSO IN:
J. A. Froude,
History of England: Reign of Elizabeth,
chapters 26, 29, 31-32 (volume 5-6).
D. Campbell,
The Puritan in Holland, England, and America,
chapter 4 (volume 1).
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.
Limits of the United Provinces and the Spanish Provinces.
The Republican constitution of the United Provinces,
and the organization of their government.
Disgraceful surrender of Ghent.
Practical recovery of Flanders and Brabant by the Spanish king.
At the time of the assassination of the Prince of Orange, "the
limit of the Spanish or 'obedient' Provinces, on the one hand,
and of the United Provinces on the other, cannot … be
briefly and distinctly stated. The memorable treason—or, as
it was called, the 'reconciliation' of the Walloon Provinces
in the year 1583-4—had placed the Provinces of Hainault,
Arthois, Douay, with the flourishing cities, Arras,
Valenciennes, Lille, Tournay, and others—all Celtic
Flanders, in short—in the grasp of Spain. Cambray was still
held by the French governor, Seigneur de Balagny, who had
taken advantage of the Duke of Anjou's treachery to the
States, to establish himself in an unrecognized but practical
petty sovereignty, in defiance both of France and Spain; while
East Flanders and South Brabant still remained a disputed
territory, and the immediate field of contest. With these
limitations, it may be assumed, for general purposes, that the
territory of the United States was that of the modern Kingdom
of the Netherlands, while the obedient Provinces occupied what
is now the territory of Belgium. …
{2271}
What now was the political position of the United Provinces at
this juncture? The sovereignty which had been held by the
Estates, ready to be conferred respectively upon Anjou and
Orange, remained in the hands of the Estates. There was no
opposition to this theory. … The people, as such, claimed no
sovereignty. … What were the Estates? … The great
characteristic of the Netherland government was the
municipality. Each Province contained a large number of
cities, which were governed by a board of magistrates, varying
in number from 20 to 40. This college, called the Vroedschap
(Assembly of Sages), consisted of the most notable citizens,
and was a self-electing body—a close corporation—the members
being appointed for life, from the citizens at large. Whenever
vacancies occurred from death or loss of citizenship, the
college chose new members—sometimes immediately, sometimes by
means of a double or triple selection of names, the choice of
one from among which was offered to the stadtholder [governor,
or sovereign's deputy] of the province. This functionary was
appointed by the Count, as he was called, whether Duke of
Bavaria or of Burgundy, Emperor, or King. After the abjuration
of Philip [1581], the governors were appointed by the Estates
of each Province. The Sage-Men chose annually a board of
senators, or schepens, whose functions were mainly judicial;
and there were generally two, and sometimes three,
burgomasters, appointed in the same way. This was the popular
branch of the Estates. But, besides this body of
representatives, were the nobles, men of ancient lineage and
large possessions, who had exercised, according to the general
feudal law of Europe, high, low, and intermediate jurisdiction
upon their estates, and had long been recognized as an
integral part of the body politic, having the right to appear,
through delegates of their order, in the provincial and in the
general assemblies. Regarded as a machine for bringing the
most decided political capacities into the administration of
public affairs, and for organizing the most practical
opposition to the system of religious tyranny, the Netherland
constitution was a healthy, and, for the age, an enlightened
one. … Thus constituted was the commonwealth upon the death
of William the Silent. The gloom produced by that event was
tragical. Never in human history was a more poignant and
universal sorrow for the death of any individual. The despair
was, for a brief season, absolute; but it was soon succeeded
by more lofty sentiments. … Even on the very day of the
murder, the Estates of Holland, then sitting at Delft, passed
a resolution 'to maintain the good cause, with God's help, to
the uttermost, without sparing gold or blood.' … The next
movement, after the last solemn obsequies had been rendered to
the Prince, was to provide for the immediate wants of his
family. For the man who had gone into the revolt with almost
royal revenues, left his estate so embarrassed that his
carpets, tapestries, household linen—nay, even his silver
spoons, and the very clothes of his wardrobe—were disposed of
at auction for the benefit of his creditors. He left eleven
children—a son and daughter by the first wife, a son and
daughter by Anna of Saxony, six daughters by Charlotte of
Bourbon, and an infant, Frederic Henry, born six months before
his death. The eldest son, Philip William, had been a captive
in Spain for seventeen years, having been kidnapped from
school, in Leyden, in the year 1567. He had already become …
thoroughly Hispaniolized under the masterly treatment of the
King and the Jesuits. … The next son was Maurice, then 17
years of age. … Grandson of Maurice of Saxony, whom he
resembled in visage and character, he was summoned by every
drop of blood in his veins to do life-long battle with the
spirit of Spanish absolutism, and he was already girding
himself for his life's work. … Very soon afterwards the
States General established a State Council, as a provisional
executive board, for the term of three months, for the
Provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, and such
parts of Flanders and Brabant as still remained in the Union.
At the head of this body was placed young Maurice, who
accepted the responsible position, after three days'
deliberation. … The Council consisted of three members from
Brabant, two from Flanders, four from Holland, three from
Zeeland, two from Utrecht, one from Mechlin, and three from
Friesland—eighteen in all. They were empowered and enjoined
to levy troops by land and sea, and to appoint naval and
military officers; to establish courts of admiralty, to expend
the moneys voted by the States, to maintain the ancient
privileges of the country, and to see that all troops in
service of the Provinces made oath of fidelity to the Union.
Diplomatic relations, questions of peace and war, the
treaty-making power, were not entrusted to the Council,
without the knowledge and consent of the States General, which
body was to be convoked twice a year by the State Council. …
Alexander of Parma … was swift to take advantage of the
calamity which had now befallen the rebellious Provinces. …
In Holland and Zeeland the Prince's blandishments were of no
avail. … In Flanders and Brabant the spirit was less noble.
Those provinces were nearly lost already. Bruges [which had
made terms with the King early in 1584] seconded Parma's
efforts to induce its sister-city Ghent to imitate its own
baseness in surrendering without a struggle; and that
powerful, turbulent, but most anarchical little commonwealth
was but too ready to listen to the voice of the tempter. …
Upon the 17th August [1584] Dendermonde surrendered. … Upon
the 7th September Vilvoorde capitulated, by which event the
water-communication between Brussels and Antwerp was cut off,
Ghent, now thoroughly disheartened, treated with Parma
likewise; and upon the 17th September made its reconciliation
with the King. The surrender of so strong and important a
place was as disastrous to the cause of the patriots as it was
disgraceful to the citizens themselves. It was, however, the
result of an intrigue which had been long spinning. … The
noble city of Ghent—then as large as Paris, thoroughly
surrounded with moats, and fortified with bulwarks, ravelins,
and counterscarps, constructed of earth, during the previous
two years, at great expense, and provided with bread and meat,
powder and shot, enough to last a year—was ignominiously
surrendered. The population, already a very reduced and
slender one for the great extent of the place and its former
importance, had been estimated at 70,000.
{2272}
The number of houses was 35,000, so that, as the inhabitants
were soon farther reduced to one-half, there remained but one
individual to each house. On the other hand, the 25
monasteries and convents in the town were repeopled. … The
fall of Brussels was deferred till March, and that of Mechlin
(19th July, 1585), and of Antwerp [see below] (19th August,
1585), till Midsummer of the following year; but the surrender
of Ghent foreshadowed the fate of Flanders and Brabant. Ostend
and Sluys, however, were still in the hands of the patriots,
and with them the control of the whole Flemish coast. The
command of the sea was destined to remain for centuries with
the new republic."
J. L. Motley,
History of the United Netherlands,
chapter 1 (volume 1).
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.
The Siege and surrender of Antwerp.
Decay of the city.
"After the fall of Ghent, Farnese applied himself earnestly to
the siege of Antwerp, one of the most memorable recorded in
history. The citizens were animated in their defence by the
valour and talent of Ste Aldegonde. It would be impossible to
detail with minuteness in this general history the various
contrivances resorted to on either side for the attack and the
defence; and we must therefore content ourselves with briefly
adverting to that stupendous monument of Farnese's military
genius, the bridge which he carried across the Scheldt, below
Antwerp, in order to cut off the communication of the city
with the sea and the maritime provinces. From the depth and
wideness of the river, the difficulty of finding the requisite
materials, and of transporting them to the place selected in
the face of an enemy that was superior on the water, the
project was loudly denounced by Farnese's officers as
visionary and impracticable; yet in spite of all these
discouragements and difficulties, as the place seemed
unapproachable in the usual way, he steadily persevered, and
at last succeeded in an undertaking which, had he failed,
would have covered him with perpetual ridicule. The spot fixed
upon for the bridge was between Ordam and Kalloo, where the
river is both shallower and narrower than at other parts. The
bridge consisted of piles driven into the water to such
distance as its depth would allow; which was 200 feet on the
Flanders side and 900 feet on that of Brabant. The interval
between the piles, which was 12 feet broad, was covered with
planking; but at the extremities towards the centre of the
river the breadth was extended to 40 feet, thus forming two
forts, or platforms, mounted with cannon. There was still,
however, an interstice in the middle of between 1,000 and
1,100 feet, through which the ships of the enemy, favoured by
the wind and tide, or by the night, could manage to pass
without any considerable loss, and which it therefore became
necessary to fill up. This was accomplished by mooring across
it the hulls of 32 vessels, at intervals of about 20 feet
apart, and connecting them together with planks. Each vessel
was planted with artillery and garrisoned by about 30 men;
while the bridge was protected by a flota of vessels moored on
each side, above and below, at a distance of about 200 feet.
During the construction of the bridge, which lasted half a
year, the citizens of Antwerp viewed with dismay the progress
of a work that was not only to deprive them of their maritime
commerce, but also of the supplies necessary for their
subsistence and defence. At length they adopted a plan
suggested by Gianbelli, an Italian engineer, and resolved to
destroy the bridge by means of fire-ships, which seem to have
been first used on this occasion. Several such vessels were
sent down the river with a favourable tide and wind, of which
two were charged with 6,000 or 7,000 lbs. of gunpowder each,
packed in solid masonry, with various destructive missiles.
One of these vessels went ashore before reaching its
destination; the other arrived at the bridge and exploded with
terrible effect. Curiosity to behold so novel a spectacle had
attracted vast numbers of the Spaniards, who lined the shores
as well as the bridge. Of these 800 were killed by the
explosion, and by the implements of destruction discharged
with the powder; a still greater number were maimed and
wounded, and the bridge itself was considerably damaged.
Farnese himself was thrown to the earth and lay for a time
insensible. The besieged, however, did not follow up their
plan with vigour. They allowed Farnese time to repair the
damage, and the Spaniards, being now on the alert, either
diverted the course of the fire-ships that were subsequently
sent against them, or suffered them to pass the bridge through
openings made for the purpose. In spite of the bridge,
however, the beleaguered citizens might still have secured a
transit down the river by breaking through the dykes between
Antwerp and Lillo, and sailing over the plains thus laid under
water, for which purpose it was necessary to obtain possession
of the counter-dyke of Kowenstyn; but after a partial success,
too quickly abandoned by Hohenlohe and Ste Aldegonde, they
were defeated in a bloody battle which they fought upon the
dyke. Antwerp was now obliged to capitulate; and as Farnese
was anxious to put an end to so long a siege, it obtained more
favourable terms than could have been anticipated (August 17th
1585). The prosperity of this great commercial city received,
however, a severe blow from its capture by the Spaniards. A
great number of the citizens, as well as of the inhabitants of
Brabant and Flanders, removed to Amsterdam and Middelburg."
T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 3, chapter 9 (volume 2).
The downfall of the prosperity of the great capital "was
instantaneous. The merchants and industrious citizens all
wandered away from the place which had been the seat of a
world-wide traffic. Civilization and commerce departed, and in
their stead were the citadel and the Jesuits."
J. L. Motley,
History of the United Netherlands,
chapter 5 (volume 1).
ALSO IN:
F. Schiller,
Siege of Antwerp.
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1585-1586.
Proffered sovereignty of the United Provinces
declined by France and England.
Delusive English succors.
The queen's treachery and Leicester's incompetency.
Useless battle at Zutphen.
"It was natural that so small a State, wasted by its
protracted struggles, should desire, more earnestly than ever,
an alliance with some stronger power; and it was from among
States supposed to have sympathies with Protestants, that such
an alliance was sought. From the Protestant countries of
Germany there was no promise of help; and the eyes of the
Dutch diplomatists were therefore turned towards France and
England. In France, the Huguenots, having recovered from St.
Bartholomew, now enjoyed toleration; and were a rising and
hopeful party, under the patronage of Henry of Navarre.
{2273}
If the king of France would protect Holland from Philip, and
extend to its people the same toleration which he allowed his
own subjects, Holland offered him the sovereignty of the
united provinces. This tempting offer was declined: for a new
policy was now to be declared, which united France and Spain
in a bigoted crusade against the Protestant faith. The League,
under the Duke de Guise, gained a fatal ascendency over the
weak and frivolous king, Henry III., and held dominion in
France. … Nor was the baneful influence of the League
confined to France: it formed a close alliance with Philip and
the Pope, with whom it was plotting the overthrow of
Protestant England, the subjection of the revolted provinces
of Spain, and the general extirpation of heresy throughout
Europe. … The only hope of the Netherlands was now in
England, which was threatened by a common danger; and envoys
were sent to Elizabeth with offers of the sovereignty, which
had been declined by France. So little did the Dutch statesmen
as yet contemplate a republic, that they offered their country
to any sovereign, in return for protection. Had bolder
counsels prevailed, Elizabeth might, at once, have saved the
Netherlands, and placed herself at the head of the Protestants
of Europe. She saw her own danger, if Philip should recover
the provinces: but she held her purse-strings with the grasp
of a miser: she dreaded an open rupture with Spain; and she
was unwilling to provoke her own Catholic subjects. Sympathy
with the Protestant cause, she had none. … She desired to
afford as much assistance as would protect her own realm
against Philip, at the least possible cost, without
precipitating a war with Spain. She agreed to send men and
money: but required Flushing, Brill, and Rammekens to be held
as a security for her loans. She refused the sovereignty of
the States: but she despatched troops to the Netherlands, and
sent her favourite, the Earl of Leicester, to command them. As
she had taken the rebellious subjects of Spain under her
protection, Philip retaliated by the seizure of British ships.
Spanish vengeance was not averted, while the Netherlands
profited little by her aid."
Sir T. E. May,
Democracy in Europe,
chapter 11 (volume 2).
Leicester sailed for the Hague in the middle of December,
1585, having been preceded by 8,000 English troops, eager to
prevent or revenge the fall of Antwerp. "Had there been good
faith and resolution, and had Lord Grey, or Sir Richard
Bingham, or Sir John Norris been in command, 20,000 Dutch and
English troops might have taken the field in perfect
condition. The States would have spent their last dollar to
find them in everything which soldiers could need. They would
have had at their backs the enthusiastic sympathy of the
population, while the enemy was as universally abhorred; and
Parma, exhausted by his efforts in the great siege, with his
chest empty, and his ranks thinned almost to extinction, could
not have encountered them with a third of their numbers. A
lost battle would have been followed by a renewed revolt of
the reconciled Provinces, and Elizabeth, if she found peace so
necessary to her, might have dictated her own conditions." But
months passed and nothing was done, while Queen Elizabeth was
treacherously negotiating with agents of Spain. In the summer
of 1586, "half and more than half of the brave men who had
come over in the past September were dead. Their places were
taken by new levies gathered in haste upon the highways, or by
mutinous regiments of Irish kernes, confessed Catholics, and
led by a man [Sir William Stanley] who was only watching an
opportunity to betray his sovereign. … Gone was now the
enthusiasm which had welcomed the landing of Leicester. In the
place of it was suspicion and misgiving, distracted councils,
and divided purposes. Elizabeth while she was diplomatising
held her army idle. Parma, short-handed as he was, treated
with his hand upon his sword, and was for ever carving slice
on slice from the receding frontiers of the States. At the
time of Leicester's installation he was acting on the Meuse.
He held the river as far as Venloo. Venloo and Grave were in
the hands of the patriots, both of them strong fortresses, the
latter especially. … After the fall of Antwerp these two
towns were Parma's next object. The siege of Grave was formed
in January. In April Colonel Norris and Count Hohenlohe forced
the Spanish lines and threw in supplies; but Elizabeth's
orders prevented further effort. Parma came before the town in
person in June, and after a bombardment which produced little
or no effect, Grave, to the surprise of everyone, surrendered.
Count Hemart, the governor, was said to have been corrupted,
by his mistress. Leicester hanged him; but Hemart's gallows
did not recover Grave or save Venloo, which surrendered also
three weeks later. The Earl, conscious of the disgrace, yet
seeing no way to mend it, … was willing at last to play into
his mistress's hands. He understood her [Queen Elizabeth] at
last, and saw what she was aiming at. 'As the cause is now
followed,' he wrote to her on the 27th of June, 'it is not
worth the cost or the danger. … They [the Netherlanders]
would rather have lived with bread and drink under your
Majesty's protection than with all their possessions under the
King of Spain. It has almost broken their hearts to think your
Majesty should not care any more for them. But if you mean
soon to leave them they will be gone almost before you hear of
it. I will do my best, therefore, to get into my hands three
or four most principal places in North Holland, so as you
shall rule these men, and make war and peace as you list. Part
not with Brill for anything. With these places you can have
what peace you will in an hour, and have your debts and
charges readily answered. But your Majesty must deal
graciously with them at present, and if you mean to leave them
keep it to yourself.' … No palliation can be suggested, of
the intentions to which Leicester saw that she was still
clinging, and which he was willing to further in spite of his
oath to be loyal to the States. … The incapacity of
Leicester … was growing evident. He had been used as a lay
figure to dazzle the eyes of the Provinces, while both he and
they were mocked by the secret treaty. The treaty was hanging
fire. … The Queen had … so far opened her eyes as to see
that she was not improving her position by keeping her army
idle; and Leicester, that he might not part with his
government in entire disgrace, having done absolutely nothing,
took the field for a short campaign in the middle of August
[1586].
{2274}
Parma had established himself in Gelderland, at Zutphen, and
Duesberg. The States held Deventer, further down the Issel;
but Deventer would probably fall as Grave and Venloo had
fallen if the Spaniards kept their hold upon the river;
Leicester therefore proposed to attempt to recover Zutphen.
Everyone was delighted to be moving. … The Earl of Essex,
Sir William Russell, Lord Willoughby, and others who held no
special commands, attached themselves to Leicester's staff;
Sir Philip Sidney obtained leave of absence from Flushing; Sir
John Norris and his brother brought the English contingent of
the States army; Sir William Stanley had arrived with his
Irishmen; and with these cavaliers glittering about him, and
9,000 men, Leicester entered Gelderland. Duesberg surrendered
to him without a blow; Norris surprised a fort outside
Zutphen, which commanded the river and straitened the
communications of the town." Parma made an attempt, on the
morning of September 22, to throw supplies into the town, and
Leicester's knights and gentlemen, forewarned of this project
by a spy, "Volunteered for an ambuscade to cut off the convoy.
… Parma brought with him every man that he could spare, and
the ambuscade party were preparing unconsciously to encounter
4,000 of the best troops in the world. They were in all about
500. … The morning was misty. The waggons were heard coming,
but nothing could be seen till a party of horse appeared at
the head of the train where the ambuscade was lying. Down
charged the 500, much as in these late years 600 English
lancers charged elsewhere, as magnificently and as uselessly.
… Never had been a more brilliant action seen or heard of,
never one more absurd and profitless. For the ranks of the
Spanish infantry were unbroken, the English could not touch
them, could not even approach them, and behind the line of
their muskets the waggons passed steadily to the town. … A
few, not many, had been killed; but among those whose lives
had been flung away so wildly was Philip Sidney. He was struck
by a musket ball on his exposed thigh, as he was returning
from his last charge," and died a few weeks later. "Parma
immediately afterwards entered Zutphen unmolested. …
Leicester's presence was found necessary in England. With the
natural sympathy of one worthless person for another, he had
taken a fancy to Stanley, and chose to give him an independent
command; and leaving the government to the Council of the
States, and the army again without a chief, he sailed in
November for London."
J. A. Froude,
History of England: The Reign of Elizabeth,
chapter 33 (volume 6).
ALSO IN:
Correspondence of Leicester during his
Government of the Low Countries
(Camden Society 27).
W. Gray,
Life and Times of Sir Philip Sidney,
chapter 10.
C. R. Markham,
The Fighting Veres,
chapters 7-8.
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1587-1588.
The ruin of the Spanish Provinces.
Great prosperity of the United Provinces.
Siege and capture of Sluys.
The last of Leicester.
"Though the United Provinces were distracted by domestic
dissensions and enfeebled by mutual distrust, their condition,
compared with that portion of the Netherlands reduced under
the yoke of Spain, was such as to afford matter of deep
gratulation and thankfulness. The miseries of war had visited
the latter unhappy country in the fullest measure; multitudes
of its inhabitants had fled in despair; and the sword, famine,
and pestilence, vied with each other in destroying the
remainder. … The rich and smiling pastures, once the
admiration and envy of the less favoured countries of Europe,
were now no more; woods, roads, and fields, were confounded in
one tangled mass of copse and brier. In the formerly busy and
wealthy towns of Flanders and Brabant, Ghent, Antwerp, and
Bruges, members of noble families were seen to creep from
their wretched abodes in the darkness of night to beg their
bread, or to search the streets for bones and offal. A
striking and cheering contrast is the picture presented by the
United Provinces. The crops had, indeed, failed there also,
but the entire command of the sea which they preserved, and
the free importation of corn, secured plentiful supplies. …
They continued to carry on, under Spanish colours, a lucrative
half-smuggling traffic, which the government of that nation
found it its interest to connive at and encourage. The war,
therefore, instead of being, as usual, an hindrance to
commerce, rather gave it a new stimulus; the ports were
crowded with vessels. … Holland and Zealand had now for more
than ten years been delivered from the enemy. … The security
they thus offered, combined with the freedom of religion, and
the activity of trade and commerce, drew vast multitudes to
their shores; the merchants and artisans expelled, on account
of their religion, from the Spanish Netherlands, transferred
thither the advantages of their enterprise and skill. … The
population of the towns became so overflowing that it was
found impossible to build houses fast enough to contain it.
… The miserable condition of the Spanish Netherlands, and
the difficulty of finding supplies for his troops, caused the
Duke of Parma to delay taking the field until late in the
summer [1587]; when, making a feint attack upon Ostend, he
afterwards … commenced a vigorous siege of Sluys. In order
to draw him off from this undertaking, Maurice, with the Count
of Hohenlohe, marched towards Bois-le-Duc. … The danger of
Sluys hastened the return of the Earl of Leicester to the
Netherlands, who arrived in Ostend with 7,000 foot and 500
horse. … Sluys had been besieged seven weeks, and the
garrison was reduced from 1,600 men to scarcely half that
number, when Leicester made an attempt to master the fort of
Blankenburg, in the neighbourhood of the enemy's camp; but on
intelligence that Parma was approaching to give him battle, he
hastily retreated to Ostend," and Sluys was surrendered. "The
loss of Sluys exasperated the dissensions between Leicester
and the States into undisguised and irreconcilable hostility."
He was soon afterwards recalled to England, and early in the
following year the queen required him to resign his command
and governorship in the Netherlands. In the meantime, the
English queen had reopened negotiations with Parma, who
occupied her attention while his master, Philip II. of Spain,
was preparing the formidable Armada which he launched against
England the next year
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1588.
C. M. Davies,
History of Holland,
part 3, chapters 2-3 (volume 2).
{2275}
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1588-1593.
Successes of Prince Maurice.
Departure of Parma to France.
His death.
Appointment of Archduke Albert to the Government.
"The destruction of the great Spanish Armada by the English in
1588 infused new hopes into all the enemies of Spain, and
animated the Dutch with such courage, that Maurice led his
army against that of the Duke of Parma, and forced him to
raise the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, at that time garrisoned by
a portion of Leicester's army under the command of Sir Francis
Vere. … The young Stadtholder was induced by this success to
surprise the Castle of Blyenbeck, which was yielded to his
arms in 1589; and the following year [March 1] he got
possession of Breda by a 'ruse de guerre,'"—having introduced
70 men into the town by concealing them in a boat laden with
turf. "The Duke of Parma was now recalled from the Low
Countries into France [see FRANCE: A. D. 1590], and the old
Peter Ernest, Count de Mansfeld, succeeded to the government
of the Low Countries. … Maurice defeated the Spanish army in
the open field at Caervorden, and took Nimeguen [October 21,
1591] and Zutphen [May 30, 1591; also, Deventer, June 10, of
the same year]. … These successes added greatly to the
reputation of Count Maurice, who now made considerable
progress, so that in the year 1591 the Dutch saw their
frontiers extended, and had well-grounded hopes of driving the
Spaniards out of Friesland in another campaign. … The death
of the Prince of Parma [which occurred December 3, 1592]
delivered the Confederates from a formidable adversary; but
old Count Mansfeld, at the head of an army of 30,000 men, took
the field against them. Maurice, however, in 1593,
notwithstanding this covering force, sat down before
Gertruydenberg, advantageously situated on the frontier of
Brabant." The siege was regarded as a masterpiece of the
military art of the day, and the city was brought to surrender
at the end of three months. "With the useful aid of Sir
Francis Vere and the English, Maurice afterwards took
Gronenburg and Grave, which formed part of his own patrimony.
The Duke of Parma was succeeded in the government of the
Netherlands by the Archduke Albert, a younger son of the
Emperor Maximilian, who was married to Isabella, daughter of
King Philip."
Sir E. Cust,
Lives of the Warriors of the Thirty Years' War:
Maurice of Orange-Nassau,
pages 25-28.
ALSO IN:
C. R. Markham,
The Fighting Veres,
part 1, chapters 10-15.
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1597.
Spanish operations in Northern France.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1593-1598.
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1609.
Steady decline of Spanish power.
Sovereignty of the provinces made over to the Infanta
Isabella and the Archduke, her husband.
Death of Philip II.
Negotiations for peace.
A twelve years' truce agreed upon.
Acknowledgment of the independence of the republic.
"Philip's French enterprise had failed. The dashing and
unscrupulous Henry of Navarre had won his crown, by conforming
to the Catholic faith. …
See FRANCE: A. D. 1591-1593.
Great was the shock given by his politic apostacy to the
religious sentiments of Europe: but it was fatal to the
ambition of Philip; and again the Netherlands could count upon
the friendship of a king of France. Their own needs were
great: but the gallant little republic still found means to
assist the Protestant champion against their common enemy, the
king of Spain. In the Netherlands the Spanish power was
declining. The feeble successors of Parma were no match for
Maurice of Nassau and the republican leaders: the Spanish
troops were starving and mutinous: the provinces under Spanish
rule were reduced to wretchedness and beggary. Cities and
fortresses fell, one after another, into the hands of the
stadtholder. The Dutch fleet joined that of England in a raid
upon Spain itself, captured and sacked Cadiz [see SPAIN: A. D.
1596], raised the flag of the republic on the battlements of
that famous city; and left the Spanish fleet burning in the
harbour. Other events followed, deeply affecting the fortunes
of the republic. Philip at length made peace with Henry of
Navarre, and was again free to coerce his revolted provinces.
But his accursed rule was drawing to a close. In 1598 he made
over the sovereignty of the Netherlands to the Infanta
Isabella and her affianced husband, the Archduke Albert, who
had cast aside his cardinal's hat, his archbishopric, and his
priestly vows of celibacy, for a consort so endowed. Philip
had ceased to reign in the Netherlands; and a few months
afterwards [September 13, 1598] he closed his evil life, in
the odour of sanctity. … The tyrant was dead: the little
republic, which he had scourged so cruelly, was living and
prosperous. … Far different was the lot of the ill-fated
provinces still in the grasp of the tyrant. The land lay waste
and desolate: its inhabitants had tied to England or Holland,
or were reduced to want and beggary. … That the republic
should have outlived its chief oppressor was an event of happy
augury: but years of trial and danger were still to be passed
through. The victory of Nieuport [gained July 2, 1600, by an
army of Dutch and English over the superior forces of the
Archduke Albert] raised Prince Maurice's fame, as a soldier,
to its highest point; and the gallant defence of Ostend, for
upwards of three years [against a siege, conducted by the
Spanish general Spinola, to which its garrison finally
succumbed in 1604, when the town was a heap of ruins, and
after 100,000 men are said to have been sacrificed on both
sides] … proved that the courage and endurance of his
soldiers had not declined during the protracted war [while
Sluys was taken by the Prince the same year]. At sea the Dutch
fleets won new victories over the Spaniards and Portuguese;
and privateers made constant ravages upon the enemy's
commerce. But there were also failures and reverses, on the
side of the republic, dissensions among its leaders, and
anxieties concerning the attitude of foreign States. And thus,
with varied fortunes, this momentous war had now continued for
upwards of forty years. … On both sides there was a desire
for peace. The Dutch would accept nothing short of
unconditional independence: the Spaniards almost despaired of
reducing them to subjection, while they dreaded more
republican victories at sea, and the extension of Dutch
maritime enterprise in the East. Overtures for peace were
first made cautiously and secretly by the archdukes ['this was
the title of the archduke and archduchess'], and received by
the States with grave distrust. Jealous and haughty was the
bearing of the republic, in the negotiations which ensued. The
states-general, in full session, represented Holland, and
received the Spanish envoys. The independence of the States
was accepted, on both sides, as the basis of any treaty: but,
as a preliminary to the negotiations, the republic insisted
upon its formal recognition, as a free and equal State, in
words dictated by itself. …
{2276}
At length an armistice was signed, in order to arrange the
terms of a treaty of peace. It was a welcome breathing time:
but peace was still beset with difficulties and obstacles. The
Spaniards were insincere: they could not bring themselves to
treat seriously, and in good faith, with heretics and rebels:
they desired the re-establishment of the Church of Rome; and
they claimed the exclusive right of trading with the East and
West Indies. The councils of the republic were also divided.
Barneveldt, the civilian, was bent upon peace: Prince Maurice,
the soldier, was burning for the renewal of the war. But
Barneveldt and the peace party prevailed, and negotiations
were continued. Again and again, the armistice was renewed:
but a treaty of peace seemed as remote as ever. At length
[April 9, 1609], after infinite disputes, a truce for twelve
years was agreed upon. In form it was a truce, and not a
treaty of peace: but otherwise the republic gained every point
upon which it had insisted. Its freedom and independence were
unconditionally recognised: it accepted no conditions
concerning religion: it made no concessions in regard to its
trade with the Indies. The great battle for freedom was won:
the republic was free: its troubles and perils were at an end.
Its oppressors had been the first to sue for peace: their
commissioners had treated with the states-general at the
Hague; and they had yielded every point for which they had
been waging war for nearly half a century."
Sir T. E. May,
Democracy in Europe,
chapter 11 (volume 2).
ALSO IN:
C. M. Davies,
History of Holland,
part 3, chapters 3-4 (volume 2).
J. L. Motley,
History of the United Netherlands,
chapters 30-52 (volumes 3-4).
Douglas Campbell,
The Puritan in Holland England, and America,
chapter 18 (volume 2).
NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1594-1620.
Rise and growth of Eastern trade.
Formation of the Dutch East India Company.
"Previous to their assertion of national independence, the
commerce of the Dutch did not extend beyond the confines of
Europe. But new regions of traffic were now to open to their
dauntless enterprise. It was in 1594 that Cornelius Houtman,
the son of It brewer at Gouda, returned from Lisbon, where,
having passed the preceding year, he had seen the gorgeous
produce of the East piled on the quays of the Tagus. His
descriptions fired the emulation of his friends at Amsterdam,
nine of whom agreed to join stock and equip a little flotilla
for a voyage round the Cape of Good Hope; Houtman undertook
the command, and thus the marvellous commerce of the Dutch in
India began. The influence which their trade with India and
their settlements there exerted in maturing and extending the
greatness of the Dutch, has often been overrated. It was a
source, indeed, of infinite pride, and for a time of rapid and
glittering profit; but it was attended with serious drawbacks,
both of national expenditure and national danger. … From the
outset they were forced to go armed. The four ships that
sailed on the first voyage of speculation from Amsterdam, in
1595, were fitted out for either war or merchandise. They were
about to sail into hitherto interdicted waters; they knew that
the Portuguese were already established in the Spice Islands,
whither they were bound; and Portugal was then a dependency of
Spain. On their arrival at Java, they had, consequently, to
encounter open hostility both from Europeans and the natives
whom the former influenced against them. At Bali, however,
they were better received; and, in 1597, they reached home
with a rich cargo of spices and Indian wares. It was a proud
and joyous day in Amsterdam when their return was known. …
From various ports of Zealand and Holland 80 vessels sailed
the following year to America, Africa, and India. Vainly the
Portuguese colonists laboured to convince the native princes
of the East that the Dutch were a mere horde of pirates with
whom no dealings were safe. Their businesslike and punctilious
demeanour, and probably, likewise, the judiciously selected
cargoes with which they freighted their ships outwards,
whereby they were enabled to offer better terms for the silk,
indigo, and spice they wished to buy, rapidly disarmed the
suspicion of several of the chiefs. … In 1602 the celebrated
East India Company was formed under charter granted by the
States-General,—the original capital being 6,000,000
guilders, subscribed by the merchants of Delft, Rotterdam,
Hoorn, Enkhuysen, Middleberg, but above all Amsterdam. They
established factories at many places, both on the continent of
India and in the islands; but their chief depot was fixed at
Bantam," until, dissatisfied with certain taxes imposed on
them by the lord of Bantam, they looked elsewhere for a
station. "The sovereign of Java gladly offered them a
settlement not above 100 miles distant, with full permission
to erect such buildings as they chose, and an engagement that
pepper (the chief spice thence exported) should be sent out of
his dominions toll-free. These terms were accepted. Jocatra, a
situation very propitious for traffic, was chosen as the site
of their future factory. Warehouses of stone and mortar
quickly rose; and dwellings, to the number of 1,000, were in a
short time added. All nations had leave to settle and trade
within its walls; and this was the origin of Batavia. In six
years the Company sent out 46 vessels, of which 43 returned in
due course laden with rich cargoes. … By the books of the
Company it appeared that, during the next eleven years, they
maintained 30 ships in the Eastern trade, manned by 5,000
seamen. … Two hundred per cent. was divided by the
proprietors of the Company's stock on their paid-up capital in
sixteen years. … But of all the proud results of their
Indian commerce, that which naturally afforded to the Dutch
the keenest sense of exultation, was the opportunity it
afforded them of thoroughly undermining the once exclusive
trade of Spain, not with foreign nations merely, but with her
own colonies, and even at home. The infatuated policy of her
government had prepared the way for her decline. … In the
space of a few years the Dutch had taken and rifled 11 Spanish
galleons, 'carkets and other huge ships, and made about 40 of