6.1 the Dutch Republic - T -

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

AGE 6. The Time of Regents and Monarchs

6.1 the Dutch Republic

THEORY

What is this lesson about?

In the Republic, each province was ruled by a council called "Provincial States". Representatives of the Provincial States discussed larger political issues in the States General. As grand pensionary, Johan van Oldenbarneveldt was the political leader of the Republic. The stadtholder was the military leader. In 1648, the Eighty Years' War with Spain ended and the Republic was officially recognised as a sovereign state.

people in this lesson

Maurice of Orange

Frederick Henry of Orange

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt

Piet Hein

Main Questions

1. How was the Dutch Republic governed?
2. Why was the grand pensionary the most powerful man in the Republic?
3. What caused the power struggle between the grand pensionary and the stadtholder?
4. Why did the Twelve Years' Truce end without solution?
5. Why did Spain start peace negotiations in 1646?

Important dates in this lesson:

1588: the 7 northern provinces declare themselves the Dutch Republic

1609 - 1621: the Twelve Years' Truce (Twaalfjarig Bestand)

1619: van Oldenbarnevelt executed

1621: WIC established

1628: Piet Hein conquers a Spanish silver fleet

1648: Treaty of Münster

Word Duty

Provincial States: the daily government of a province in the Republic led by regenten

States General: the government of the Republic, with representatives from the Provincial States (today: Eerste en Tweede kamer)

Regenten: rich men who had a lot of influence in the daily politics of the Republic

Grand pensionary: the political advisor of the States General

Twelve Years’ Truce: a truce of twelve years in which the Dutch Republic and Spain tried to negotiate peace

Embargo: measures taken by a government to restrict the trade of another country

Peace of Münster: a treaty signed by the Dutch Republic and Spain, ending the Eighty Years’ War

Sovereign state: a state with borders, where a government makes laws and where people abide by those laws

Key words

On our own...

In chapter 5, you have learned that the seven provinces that stood up against 
Philip II formed a Republic, after unsuccessful attempts of finding a new                  monarch. 
This was unique in the world. No king? Who was going to protect us?

The Republic of Seven United Netherlands (1588-1795)

Als known as "the Dutch Republic" or simply: "the Republic".

The Republic was a union of seven small states called "provinces", that had signed the Union of Utrecht in 1579. 

1. Groningen

2. Friesland

3. Overijssel

4. Gelderland

5. Utrecht

6. Holland

7. Zeeland.

And..... 8. Drenthe. But Drenthe was so poor it wasn't seen as a full member. Therefore: Seven United Netherlands instead of Eight.

Look at the map: What about the light green areas, like Brabant?

These regions were called "the Generality Lands". They were conquered from the Spanish and mainly Catholic. Therefore they were not fully trusted and had no voice in the government of the Republic.

Union of Utrecht: an alliance of the seven northern provinces that decided to fight against the Spanish together. 

Ruling the Republic

Before the Republic the government of the Netherlands was formed by the monarch: Charles V and later Philip II.

The Republic had no monarch. So who ruled the Republic?

First of all: each province ruled itself, like a small country.

The richest people called "regenten" made the decisions in an assembly called the Provincial States. So the Provincial States was the government of one province.

But many times decisions needed to be made for the whole Republic. For example: what to do about the war with Spain? 

For this, several representatives of each of the Provincial States travelled to The Hague and formed the States General. 

The States General was the government of the Republic.

The leader of the States General was the grand pensionary.

a meeting of the Provincial States of the province of Holland

The States General

• Each of the seven provinces had its own administration: the Provincial States.
• They made decisions that mainly affected their own province.
• Decisions for the entire Republic were made in the States General, the assembly of all the provincial states together. 
• The leader of the States General was the grand pensionary.

Another important function in the Republic was the Stadtholder. These were always the Princes of Orange since William of Orange. In the Republic, his son Maurice became the first stadtholder

The stadtholder had high military positions: he was the general of the army and admiral of the navy.

Officially, the stadtholder was in the service of the States General, but who was the boss was not always clear.

In short:

Regenten

• Contrary to many other countries, rich citizens  in the Republic had much more power and influence than aristocrats (nobles).
• Many of these citizens had had gained a fortune through trade (in the cities).
• This group of rich citizens was called regenten.
• Almost all important jobs were taken by regenten. 

In short:

From father to son

• Many regenten families tried to keep all the good jobs within their own families. 
• Children would inherit titles at a very young age, or they were given good jobs before anyone else, based on their last name. 

Gerard Bicker was a son of Andries Bicker, one of the most powerful merchants from Amsterdam. Gerard had a good life. Because of the power and wealth of his father, he did not have to work really hard. He would have weighed 220 kilograms and was commonly referred to as "the thick bicker".

States General, 1651

States General, 2017

representatives from the 7 provinces

representatives from all political parties

members (regenten) not elected by anyone. 

members elected by the Dutch people

Money equals power! 

You might think that the meetings of the States General would take very long, because the representatives had to travel back and forth to their provinces to confer. 

In practice however, this was hardly the case.

Representatives from Holland dominated the States General. Holland was the richest province in the Dutch Republic and therefore paid most of the taxes that were needed to finance the war against Spain. Because of this, the province of Holland had a bigger say in the meetings of the States General. 

Leo Belgicus is the Latin name for the Dutch Lion. Since 1583 the Netherlands were often depicted on maps as a lion. The lion was a widely used symbol in the Netherlands. The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands also used him as a weapon of war, the so-called Generality Lion. This lion is also the forerunner of the weapon of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In 1586, the representative of Holland,

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547-1619), became grand pensionary of the States General. In this function he would advise the States General about all sorts of matters like finances and laws. Because Holland had the most power, Van Oldenbarnevelt could decide about the policy of the Republic, such as taxes and foreign affairs, on his own. As grand pensionary, Van Oldenbarnevelt was the most powerful person of the Dutch Republic.

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547-1619), by workshop of Michiel Jansz van Mierevelt, painted in 1616

There was actually an eight province in the Republic: the province of Drenthe. However, this area was so poor it was exempt from paying taxes and therefore was not allowed to send representatives to the States General.

Grand pensionary versus stadtholder

In 1585, the son of William of Orange, Maurice of Orange (1567-1625), was appointed stadtholder for Holland and Zeeland. 

The function of stadtholder had changed however.

In the time of Charles V and Philip II a stadtholder was the king's representative in a certain province.

In the Republic the stadtholder became a military office: the stadtholder was now the commander of the Dutch army.

At first, Maurice and Van Oldenbarnevelt worked closely together. 

Van Oldenbarnevelt looked after the financial and foreign affairs, while Maurice looked after the army and led many successful battles against Spain. Because of this, he gained a lot of popularity.

Maurice at the battle of Nieuwpoort (1600), painted by Hendrick Ambrosius Pacx (early 17th century)

The Twelve Years' Truce (1609 - 1621)

Due to financial problems, the Spanish wanted to start peace negotiations in 1609. Although Spain and the Republic could not agree on the conditions of the peace, they decided to sign a Twelve Years' Truce to halt the war. 

During this truce, a political conflict between Maurice and Van Oldenbarnevelt arose. Van Oldenbarnevelt wanted to end the war with Spain as soon as possible for financial reasons. The war was expensive and affected the trade: ships with goods were destroyed or captured. This resulted in a loss of income for the Republic. 

Maurice however wanted to continue fighting, because he was convinced that the Spanish fleet was at its weakest.

Prince Maurice welcomes Spinola in Rijswijk, January 1608. The meeting is part of a series of negotiations that eventually lead to a truce between the Netherlands and Spain after 40 years of war. Picture attributed to Willem Luytsz of Kittensteyn (1613) Atlas van Stolk, Rotterdam.

Maurice becomes more powerful 

Maurice used his influence and popularity in the States General to arrest Van Oldenbarnevelt in 1618 on account of high treason. Van Oldenbarnevelt was tried in May 1619 and sentenced to death.

Van oldenbarnevelt was sentenced to death by beheading. His final words were: " keep it short, keep it short!".

This however he did not say to the executioner, but to his servant who came to say goodbye.

This is assumed to be the actual sword that killed Van Oldenbarnevelt . (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

The title page of an Antwerp-printed pamphlet from 1619, which reports on the execution.

To war again! 

In 1621, negotiations about a definite peace ended without a solution. Spain posed demands that the Republic was unwilling to meet, and vice versa. The war with Spain was resumed under the directions of Maurice. The Spanish took measures such as embargoes to restrict Dutch trade. These embargoes meant that the Dutch Republic was not allowed to trade anymore with Spanish or Portuguese trading posts in the East Indies. As a reaction, the States General ordered the Dutch West India Company - a trading company that sailed between the Republic and South America - to destroy Spanish ships, which sailed between the Spanish colonies and Spain carrying goods and silver. This meant a huge loss of income for Spain. 

In 1625, Maurice died. His half-brother Frederick Henry succeeded him. Frederick Henry was a very able military leader. During his 21 years as a stadtholder, he was able to conquer many cities such as 's-Hertogenbosch and Maastricht from the Spanish.

Piet Hein's conquest of a Spanish silverfleet (1628) is still remembered in a famous song. Listen to the song in the next slide (30 seconds)

After the end of the Truce in 1621, the rural population again became a massive victim of robbery and arson, as seen in this 1630 painting by Pieter de Molijn.

Dutch ships attacking a fleet of Spanish treasure ships that brought silver from the Spanish colonies in America to Spain.

Spain needed the silver desperately to finance all its wars.

Peace at last! 

Besides waging war on the Dutch Republic, Spain was also at war with France. 

Furthermore, Spain was also involved in a major European war about religion, which lasted for 30 years. Because of all the wars Spain was involved in and its loss of many trade ships, the country went bankrupt. Therefore, Spain was forced to start new peace negotiations. 

In 1646, talks between Spain and the Republic began in the city of Münster. The Spanish and Dutch delegations soon came to an agreement and in 1648 signed a treaty called: Peace of Munster. This treaty finally ended the Eighty Years' War and Spain officially recognised the Dutch Republic as a sovereign state: a state with borders, where a government makes laws and where people abide by those laws. The Republic gained some new borders: parts of the Spanish Netherlands were added to the Dutch Republic.

left: today the room in which the Treaty of Munster was signed still looks the same as in 1648, as you can see in the painting.

The swearing of the treaty by the Spanish and Dutch negotiators . The signing of the Münster peace treaty - the six Dutch negotiators with raised fingers: Willem Ripperda, Frans van Donia, Adriaen Clant to Stedum, Adriaen Pauw, Johan van Mathenesse and Barthold van Gent.

(painting by Gerard Terborch, 1648)

A group of nobles celebrating the signing of the Peace Treaty of Münster, 18 June 1648, painted by Bartholomeus van der Helst

Peace at last. Time to celebrate...

"fill in the gap" summary

LINK

Upload a printscreen of your finished summary

Write down a question about something from this lesson that you don't understand.

congratulations

congratulations