MUCH ADO ABOUT THE DUTCH
REMEMBER: The REFORMATION starts in 1517, and CHARLES V (the HRE who is also CHARLES I of SPAIN) abdicates in 1556, splitting the Habsburg domain and leaving the Netherlands to be governed by his son, Philip II of Spain. Philip wants to impose religious uniformity on the Netherlands (as he does on everyone else, too)...
The principal opponent of Philip II's policy is William of Orange (a/k/a The Silent) who lived from 1533-1584.
1548 - Charles V annexed 17 provinces of the Netherlands to Burgundian lands of the HRE.
1556-1598 - Reign of Philip II of Spain
1566 - The Protestants (primarily Calvinists) began to worship openly and there were attacks on Catholic churches.
1567 - Philip II sends in the Duke of Alva with 20,000 Spaniards. William of Orange’s estates were confiscated. The Spanish governor the DUKE OF ALVA began widespread persecutions of Protestants and in
1568 - Protestant nobles Egmont and Horne were executed. Dutch opposition known as the SEA BEGGARS escaped the persecution and began attacking Spanish ships, triggering the period known as the DUTCH REVOLT.
1573 - The Duke of Alva was recalled at his own request and Don John of Austria succeeds him. He ruled until 1578.
1576 - The SPANISH FURY: Spanish soldiers sack Antwerp, leading to the PACIFICATION OF GHENT, in which all 17 provinces unite against Spain regardless of national or religious differences.
1578 - Peace of Arras: the 10 southern (Catholic) provinces unite with Spain. Don John of Austria is succeeded by the Duke of Parma (Alexander Farnese) who rules until 1592.
1579 - Union of Utrecht: the 7 northern (Calvinist) provinces unite against Spain.
1581 - The Northern Provinces proclaim their independence as the United Provinces, electing William of Orange as the hereditary Stadtholder.
1588 - The Invincible Armada belies its name and goes down to the bottom of the sea, glug, glug, glug.
1602 - Dutch East India Company founded.
1609 - Spain and the Netherlands sign the TWELVE YEARS’ TRUCE.
- Dutch found Manhattan
1621 - Dutch West India Company founded.
1626 - Dutch found New Amsterdam, eventually New York
1634 - Dutch establish base at Curacao.
1641 - Dutch seize Malacca from Portugal and dominate trade in the East Indies.
1648 - Peace of The Hague: Spain recognizes the United Provinces. The Southern Provinces remain under Spanish rule as the Spanish Netherlands and will later become Belgium. END of the DUTCH REVOLT.
Once having gained independence the United Provinces also known as the Dutch Republic, have their Golden Age. Amsterdam becomes a center of banking and trade, and the Dutch found a huge colonial empire in Asia, South Africa and the Western Hemisphere. Their major rivals are the English (who had been their allies in the war against Spain. After 1650 there are three Anglo-Dutch Trade Wars.
1652-1654 - First Anglo-Dutch Trade War is the result of the English Navigation Act of 1651. It ends in the Treaty of Westminster in which the Dutch agree to enter a defensive league with England and to pay an indemnity. England also gets New York.
1657-1660 - The Dutch intervene successfully in Swedish-Danish War to prevent the entrance of the Baltic from falling exclusively under Swedish control
1666-1667 - Anglo-Dutch Trade War ends in the Pease of Breda. France declares war on England in support of the Dutch. The province of Holland secretly agrees to exclude all members of the House of Orange from the Stadholdership because of Oliver Cromwell's uneasiness about their connection to the house of Stuart. William II is married to the daughter of the late beheaded Charles I.
1668 - England, Holland and Spain ally to check aggression of Louis XIV in the Spanish Netherlands. Louis buys off England and Swedes and concentrates his hatred on the Dutch.
1670 - SECRET TREATY OF DOVER between Louis XIV and Charles II of England, in which France promises England money to fight the Dutch and restore Catholicism to England.
1672-1674 - Third Anglo-Dutch Trade War
1672-1678 - War between France and the Netherlands ends in Treaty of Nijmwegen. The Dutch were unprepared for a land war and Louis overran the country.
1672 - William III of Orange becomes the hereditary Stadtholder of the Netherlands and major nemesis of LOUIS XIV of France.
1684 - France invades the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) and occupies Luxembourg.
1688 - William III of Orange becomes William III of England, because he's asked to by the English Parliament and he is married to former King James II's Protestant daughter Mary.
1688-1697 - War of the League of Augsburg vs. Louis XIV. Ends in the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) France and the Netherlands agree to status quo ante.