What did Philip II want for the Netherlands?

Answer 1

The Revolt of the Netherlands


The Netherlands was a group of seventeen provinces clustered around the mouth of the Rhine and Scheldt rivers, and they were ruled by the king of Spain, as part of his Burgundian inheritance. Each province had a tradition of liberties, and each elected a stadtholder, a man who provided military leadership when necessary. The stadtholder often was an important noble and became the most important politician in the province.


Since the Middle Ages, the Netherlands had included many cities dominated by wealthy merchants. By 1560 the cities housed many Calvinists, including some who had fled France.

Philip II of Spain sought to impose on the Netherlands a more centralized government, as well as a stronger Catholic Church, following the decrees of the Council of Trent. His efforts provoked resistance by some nobles, led by Sir William of Orange (1533-1584), who was called "the silent" because he discussed his political plans with very few people. An agreement and pledge to resist, called the Compromise of 1564 and signed by people throughout the provinces, led to rebellion. The regent, Margaret of Parma, once hissed that the rebels were mere beggars; they took that insult and made it their nickname.

Philip sent the Duke of Alva (1508-1583) with 20,000 soldiers to suppress the rebellion. Alva established the "council of Blood," which executed several thousand Calvinists as heretics. He also imposed new taxes, including sales tax of 10% . Most significantly, the harsh Spanish Inquisition supplanted the milder Dutch/Flemish variety.


"Sea Beggars" resisted Alva along the coast, raiding ports, and landlubbers opened the dykes to frustrate the marches of the Spanish armies. In 1576, the unpaid Spanish mercial supremacy in the Netherlands.


The Calvinist northern provinces and the Catholic southern provinces united in 1576 in the Pacification of Ghent, but were unable to cooperate. They broke into two groups: The Calvinist Union of Utrecht (approx. modern day Netherlands) and the Catholic Union of Arras (approx. modern day Belgium). The division attracted international attention: a son of Catherine de' Medici attempted to become the leader of the revolt and the English sent troops and money to support the rebels after 1585.


The Spanish were driven out of the northern provinces in the 1590s, and the war ended in 1609. The independent northern provinces, dominated by Holland, were called the United Provinces, and the southern provinces, ruled by the king of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands.


from AP European History book by REA