Religious conflict was rampant in Europe at the time. Protestantism was on the rise, also in the Netherlands. The King of Spain, also ruler of the Netherlands, was a devout Catholic and introduced the Spanish Inquisition in these countries. This was not to the liking of many nobles who had embraced Calvinism and resented the King's meddling in religious and other affairs.
That brings us to a second factor, the rise of Absolutism. In the Sixteenth century the monarchs of the larger territorial states in Europe tried to enforce absolute power for themselves. This was a reaction to the medieval state of affairs, in which the King's power was limited by the rights of individual fiefs, estates, local nobles and cities. Remember that the Netherlands were still a collection of small suzerain Duchies, Counties and Lordships, that happened to have the same Prince, who also happened to be the King of Spain. The Netherlands were not an integral part of Spain. These states and the nobles and institutions thereof had a traditional say in matters of government and protested to the Kings Governess, Margaret of Parma, against the high handed way in which the King of Spain, and his lieutenants crushed their ancient privileges. Her advisor Granvelle insulted them by calling the "Geux" or beggars on that occasion. The nobles made that derogatory appellation the name of their movement.
One of the mightiest nobles in the country was the Baron of Breda, traditionally recruited from a collateral branch of the House of Nassau that ruled a suzerain County in the Holy Roman Empire. These Barons had greatly enlarged their influence by marrying great heiresses. The present Baron, William of Nassau, had also inherited the Sovereign Principality of Orange in the South of France. William had become a Catholic on entering the service of Charles V, but was from a Lutheran family. When the Spanish rulers beheaded two of the most important of the complaining nobles of the land, the Counts of Egmont and Horne, William fled to Nassau and raised an army. Not ostensibly to fight the King, but to fight his bad advisors and lieutenants. Williams brother John, the reigning Count of Nassau-Dillenburg and Stadtholder (Governor) of Utrecht founded the Union of Utrecht in which many of the King's lands were united against the Spanish rule in 1579. The Union would be the predecessor of the Dutch state. The Union is coloured Orange on the map.
Note that the Cleves Juliers lands are depicted here no more. The ruling dynasty died out triggering the Cleves Juliers war of succession. The lands were claimed by the Albertine Wettins, ruling the Electorate of Saxony, the Hohenzollerns, ruling the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, and the Wittelsbach Counts Palatine of Neuburg. Neuburg won the Duchies of Berg and Juliers, that would eventually fall to the Palatinate proper and after that to Bavaria, when branches of the Wittelsbach dynasty died out. The Saxons got nothing, but the Albertine branches of the Wettin dynasty use the arms and titles of the Cleves Juliers states to this very day. Brandenburg won Cleves, Ravensberg and Mark, making its entry in Western Germany for the first time. These territories are coloured bright yellow. Brandenburg and Prussia would evolve into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The yellow colour will appear in every next map to signify the development of that state and nineteenth century German Realm it would eventually produce.
