The Dutch Revolt and the Spanish Monarchy, 1572–1665

The Dutch Revolt

The Dutch Revolt, also known as the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648), was a rebellion of the northern, largely Protestant Seven Provinces of the Low Countries against the rule of the Roman Catholic Habsburg King Philip II of Spain.
The primary causes for the revolt were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the religious persecution of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition.
The revolt resulted in the establishment of a de facto independent Dutch state, the precursor of the present Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Spanish Monarchy at the time was one of the most powerful entities in the world, with territories spanning on every continent known to Europeans.
King Philip II of Spain, also the ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, was heavily committed to Catholic orthodoxy and wanted to suppress Protestantism.
Philip’s distant attitude, exhausting wars, and heavy handed approach in the region are often linked as a major cause of the Dutch Revolt.

The Iconoclast Fury of 1566 marked the start of the large-scale uprising, with Protestants destroying Catholic symbols and churches in the Low Countries.
In the early years of the revolt, William of Orange, a key leader of the Dutch Revolt, strived for religious tolerance, trying to pacify the situation between the Protestants and Catholics.
The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 recognised the independence of the Dutch Republic and marked the end of the Eighty Years’ War.

The Revolt led to both political and social changes. It resulted in the separation of the Northern Low Countries from the Southern Low Countries, essentially forming what is known today as the Netherlands and Belgium respectively.
The independence gained from the Revolt allowed the Dutch Republic to prosper as a trading nation during the Dutch Golden Age.
The Revolt and the eventual Dutch independence significantly weakened the Spanish Monarchy, and it marked the beginning of a decline for Spanish prestige and power in Europe.

The Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England, associated with the Dutch Revolt.
The conflict ended in a somewhat inconclusive peace in the Treaty of London, 1604, but marked a significant shift in power from Habsburg Spain towards the emerging Dutch Republic and England.

The Peace of Westphalia was a series of treaties (1648) that ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) in Europe.
With this peace came widespread recognition of the Dutch Republic’s independence. This marked the rise of the Dutch Republic as a new and powerful player on the world stage.