IF you look at a modern map of Europe, the Netherlands and Spain aren’t exactly close to each other. So, going back several centuries how did the two geographically distanced countries end up becoming the one unified state? The answer lies with the Burgundian and (especially) the Habsburg rulers in the 16th century and their dynastic and territorial ambitions.

The origins of the Spain/Dutch nexus can be traced back to the 1470s and Mary the Rich, the Duchess of Burgundy, whose marriage to Austrian Habsburg Maximilian (later Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor) brought the Valois–Burgundy dynasty to an end and created an opening for the Habsburgs to massively expand their power base in Europe. Mary’s early death (1482) leaving Maximilian as sole ruler of Burgundy, further consolidated the position of the Habsburgs. The marriage of Maximilian’s son, Philip the Handsome, to the daughter of Catholic monarchs Joanna of Castile (future queen Juana I), made possible the linking of Burgundian territories including the Netherlands with the Spanish Habsburgs.

It was Maximilian’s grandson, Carlos I (Charles V), who reaped the rewards of these marriages between high regal families. With Philip dying in 1506, his heir Carlos inherited the Low Countries. In 1516 he became king of Spain (co-monarch of Castile and Aragon)¹. Three years later, on his grandfather’s death, Carlos inherited the Austrian ancestral lands and was elected² Holy Roman Emperor (as Charles V). Through a combination of inheritance, dynastic marriage, warfare and strategic alliances, Charles assiduously expanded the Habsburg empire by piecemeal acquisitions – eg, victory in a 40-year intermittent war with the Duchy of Guelders netted Charles Guelders, Groningen and Frisia; Friesland and the Bishopric of Utrecht were bought; and other Dutch entities were acquired through strategic alliance-making with regional overlords. Charles’ expansionist imperial policy eventually brought the core of the Netherlands under Habsburg rule.

With Netherlands under Charles V’s fiefdom, the Holy Roman Emperor, a devout Catholic, faced with the challenge of the burgeoning Protestant Reformation, resorted to the weapon of religious persecution, aimed at erasing all instances of heretical deviations from his territories. At the same time Charles put in place a policy of centralisation – consolidating Habsburg rule by uniting the 17 provinces, the United Provinces (of Holland). Both policies found ill-favour with the nobles and Protestants of the Low Countries.

In 1555 a weary Charles hung up his imperial robes and retired to a monastery. Mastery over the provinces of the Low Countries fell to Philip II, his son. Philip continued Charles’ uncompromising, hard-line approach to the growing unrest in the Netherlands, upping the ante. Ruling remotely from distant Spain—a loathed foreigner who refused to recognise the customs and institutions of the diverse and historically self-governing provinces—he alienated himself from his new subjects. Philip committed himself to securing absolute control over the 17 provinces come what may, accordingly he initiated a series of oppressive policies – despatching the ruthless Duke of Alba with a force of 10,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers to wage a campaign of terror and brutality against the Low Countries; extending the Inquisition introduced by Charles V against the people of the region. This alienated local people, nobles and commoners alike, as did the imposition of high taxation (to fund Philip’s wars). The emperor’s zealous efforts to suppress Calvinism in the Low Countries was the spark that ignited the Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years War, the upshot of which was the eventual breaking away of the northern provinces to form the Dutch Republic in 1579³, declaring itself independent from Spain. It was not until the Treaty of Munster in 1648 however that Spain finally recognised the Netherlands’ independence.

¹ which brought with it territories in Italy (including Naples) and in the Americas

² with cash inducements for the princely electors

³ the Spanish empire held on to the southern provinces which became known as the Spanish Netherlands

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