1609
The actions of Maurice turned out to be very successful
indeed. The Republic gained lots of territory and made a truce with the Spanish
that lasted for 12 years. King Philip II had died and the remaining Habsburg
Netherlands were given to the Spanish Habsburg Infanta Isabella, who had married
her Austrian Habsburg cousin Albrecht, as joint suzerains, with the provision
that if one of them died before they had children, the lands would fall back to
the Spanish King Philip III. The Archdukes, as they were called, were the first
independent rulers over the territory that about equals present day Belgium.
This territory would prove to be one of the stubborn features on the map of
Europe. Many powers tried to get rid of it, in the coming centuries (notably
Holland, France and Germany), but it kept stubbornly reappearing on the map
after all attempts to wipe it away! The Republic unilaterally declared all its
ties with the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1607. In the Republic an internal
struggle ensued between the proponents of a stronger federal authority
(supported by Maurice of Orange) and proponents of a confederal construction,
led by the Pensionary of the Council of Holland, Johan van Oldenbarneveld. This
conflict also was reflected in a parallel religious schism within the Calvinist
church. It ended with Van Oldenbarneveld's beheading. The Dutch became one of
the leading merchant nations of the world and in this, their Golden Century,
built an impressive colonial Empire in the Indian archipelago, South and North
America, Ceylon and the Cape. Maurice became one of the champions of the
Protestant cause in Europe's religious conflict.
