William III of Orange (r. England 1689-1702)

1516 Charles of Habsburg becomes King ofSpain and Netherlands

1519-56 Reign of Charles as Holy RomanEmperor (Charles V)

Map Link: The Netherlands, 1559-1609:

<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Northern_Netherlands_map_002.jpg>.

1556-98 Reign of Philip II of Spain

1560s Philip starts promoting Catholicismin Netherlands

William the Silent of Nassau/Orange (1533-84)

Summer 1566 Dutch rebel against Philip

Aug 1567 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the“Iron Duke” of Alba, arrives in Brussels,establishes “Council of Blood”

“Sea Beggars”

1573 Alba recalled

1578 Philip calls on AlexanderFarnese, Duke of Parma, toquell rebellion

1579 Farnese persuades Spanish/Southern Netherlands to signUnion of Arras

William of Orange unitesDutch United Provinceswith Union of Utrecht

1584 Death of William of Orange. Succeeded byMaurice of Nassau (1567-1625)

1585 English troops aid Dutch revolt

1609 Truce between Spanish and Dutch

1648 Dutch Republic gains independence atWestphalia

Trade and exploration:

Carrying trade, exploring to east and west

Cape Horn (Hoorn)

1602 Establishment of Dutch East IndiaCompany

1641 Japanese expel foreign merchants, butDutch allowed presence near Nagasaki

Trade and exploration:

1612 Foundation of New Amsterdam

1621 Establishment of Dutch West IndiaCompany

1652 Dutch capture Cape of Good Hope

Afrikaners

Bank of Amsterdam, est. 1609 florins

Frans Hals (1582/83-1666)

Jan Vermeer (1632-75)

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69)

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645): Law of War andPeace

Baruch Spinoza (1632-77): philosophy

Christian Huyghens (1629-95): telescope(improvement), pendulum clocks,rings of Saturn, wave theory of light

Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-78): TheLearned Maid, or Whether a Maid may beCalled a Scholar

An age of religious tolerance?

Early 17th c. Dutch Calvinists split intoDutch Reformed Church and Arminians/Remonstrants

1632 Toleration of Arminians

Catholics, Jews, Mennonites

Limits of tolerance

Government:

States General, with representatives from each ofthe seven provinces

Each province headed by elected stadholder

Republic headed by stadholder from House ofOrange

Commercial class vs. House of Orange

1650 Death of William II of Orange (1626-50).No new stadholder elected

1650 Birth of William III of Orange (d. 1702)

1651 English pass Navigation Act

1652-74 Wars between Dutch and English. NewAmsterdam taken by English in 1664, renamedNew York

1677 William marries Mary Stuart

1667 Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) invades SpanishNetherlands, deterred by Dutch-English-Swedish alliance

1672 Louis XIV attacks Dutch Republic.William of Orange acclaimed as stadholder(House of Orange made hereditarystadholders in 1673)

William allies with Danes, Brandenburg,Habsburgs

1678-79 Treaties of Nimwegen

1689 William becomes King of England

Further Dutch wars with French in early 18th c.

The Decline of the Dutch Republic:

Dwindling finances, esp. because ofcompetition in trade

Lack of investment in technology, agriculture,land reclamation

Loss of originality in art and writing

Corruption in politics

Decline of tolerance in religion and society

Dutch Declaration ofIndependence (1581)

Sir William Temple (1628-99)

Essayist, statesman and diplomat

Observations upon the United Provinces ofthe Netherlands