The history of the Lowlands
Part 4
The 80 years war with Spain 1568-1648
Introduction to the War
Although he never directly opposed the Spanish king,
William I "the Silence" soon became
one of the most prominent members of the opposition in the Counsel of State
(Raad van State), together with Philip de Montmorency, Count of Horn
* and Lamoral, Count of Egmont.**
They were mainly seeking for more political power for the Dutch nobility, and
complained that too many Spaniards were involved in governing the Netherlands.
The Count of Horn *
click the image to enlarge
* Philip de Montmorency was also known as Count
of Hoorn. He was a Stadtholder of Guelders and an admiral of Flanders. He was
a knight of the Golden Fleece. In 1559 he commanded the stately fleet which
conveyed Philip II from the Netherlands to Spain, and he remained at the Spanish
court until 1563. On his return he placed himself with the Prince of Orange
and Count of Egmont at the head of the party which opposed the policy of Cardinal
Granvelle. When Granvella retired the three nobles continued to resist the introduction
of the Spanish Inquisition and of Spanish despotic rule into the Netherlands.
The Count of Egmont **
click the image to enlarge
** Egmont, Count of Lamoral (1522-1568),
Was a Flemish general and statesman, member of one of the noblest families of
the Netherlands. In the service of Philip II of Spain He helped defeat the French
at Saint-Quentin (1557) and Gravelines (1558) and was governor of Brabant and
Artois. Although a devout Catholic, Egmont protested against the persecution
inflicted on the Protestants of the Low Countries, and he helped force the removal
of Cardinal Granvelle of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1565 he journeyed to Madrid
to persuade Philip II to change his policy but he failed.
William I "the silence" of Orange
click the image to enlarge
William I was also dissatisfied with the increasing persecution of Protestants
in the Netherlands. Although he was brought up as both a Lutheran and Catholic,
William was not a very religious person, and a proponent of freedom of religion.
The inquisition policy in the Netherlands, carried out by Cardinal Granvelle,
prime minister to regent Margaret of Austria, increased opposition to the Spanish
rule among, the then mostly Catholic, population of the Lowlands.
In early 1565, a large group of lesser noblemen, including William's younger
brother Louis, formed the Confederacy of Noblemen. On 5 April 1565, they offered
a petition to Margaret of Austria, requesting an end to the persecution of Protestants.
From August to October 1566, a wave of iconoclasm (known as the Beeldenstorm)
spread through the Low Countries. Calvinists, angry with their prosecution by
the Spanish and opposed to the Catholic images of saints (which in their eyes
conflicted with the Second Commandment), destroyed statues in hundreds of churches
and monasteries throughout the Lowlands.
Following the iconoclasm (Beeldenstorm), unrest in the Southern Lowlands grew, and Margaret agreed
to grant the wishes of the Confederacy, provided the noblemen would help to
restore order. She also allowed more important noblemen, including William of
Orange, to assist the Confederacy. In late 1566, and early 1567, it became clear
that the regent would not fulfill her promises, and when several minor rebellions
failed, many Calvinists (the major Protestant denomination) and Lutherans fled
the Country.
In the Northern Lowlands in 1566 the party of the Gueux (Water-Geuzen or
Sea-Baggers) was organized with the connivance of William I, King Philips II
sent his loyal general Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba (also known
as Alva or "The Iron Duke") to the Lowlands to quell the rebels, William withdrew to
Germany and his eldest son
Philips
William was abducted and taken hostage to Spain (1566-1596),
they should never see each other alive again.
When the duke of Alba arrived (1567) at Brussels he established the Council
of Troubles (known to the people as the Bloedraad) to trial those involved with
the rebellion and the iconoclasm. William was one of the 10,000 to be summoned
before the Council, but he failed to appear. He was subsequently declared an
outlaw, and his properties were confiscated. Alba also arrested Count Egmont and
Count Hoorn. Although they had sympathized with William I "the Silent",
they had actually never entertained the thought of treason against their King. Egmont held that Philip was the rightful ruler of the Netherlands and believed
he would agree to a compromise with his subjects. Nevertheless, Alba meant to
spread terror among the population by securing a death sentence. Egmont and
Hoorn, both knights of the Golden Fleece, vainly sought to be tried by a
court of their order or even to obtain a fair trial by the judges Alba had
appointed.
During his absence in the Lowlands William I financed the Sea-Baggers (Watergeuzen),
refugee Protestants, who formed bands of corsairs and raided the coastal cities
of the Netherlands (often killing Spanish and Dutch alike.
He also raised an army, consisting mostly of German mercenaries to fight
Alva on land. Led by his brother Louis, the army invaded the northern Netherlands
in 1568. On 23 May, the army won the Battle of Heiligerlee against a Spanish
army led by the Stadtholder of the northern provinces, Jean de Ligne, Duke of
Aremberg. Aremberg was killed in the battle, as was William's brother Adolf.
Alva Countered by killing a number of convicted noblemen (including the Dukes
of Egmont and Hoorn on 6 June 1568), and then by leading an expedition to Groningen.
There, he annihilated Louis's forces in the Battle of Jemmingen on 21 July,
although Louis managed to escape. These two battles and the killing of
Nobles are now considered to be
the start of the Eighty Years' War.
The capture of Brill (Den Briel) in 1572 by the Sea-Beggars led to
the submission of the greater part of Holland and Zeeland to the authority of
the prince of Orange, who, as Stadtholder, summoned the states of Holland to
meet at Dordrecht in August 1572.
The first Council of the "States of Holland"
Because of the bloodshed under the citizens of the Northern Lowlands the
cities of Holland united themselves and gave up their own independence in 1572.
In Dordrecht (the most powerful of
the cities) was held the first council of The "States of Holland" with the
principal towns1 Dordrecht, the president of the cities, 2.Haarlem, 3 Leiden,
4 Gouda, 5 Gorinchem, 6 Alkmaar, 7 Oudewater, 8 Hoorn, 9 Enkhuizen, 10 Edam,
11 Medemblik and 12 Monnikendam * in which it allied
with several Northern Lowlands against the armies of the King of Spain. In the
same council, the States of Holland declared themselves independent from Spain
and William I "The Silent" of Orange was chosen as their leader. One of the
cities that remained Roman Catholic was Amsterdam who would pay for that heavily
a few years later. The Southern Lowlands (Brabant, Limburg, Flanders (modern
Belgium) and Luxemburg, stayed also Roman Catholic and gave up the fight and
stayed occupied by foreign forces.
* Some other cities were added later when they choice
the site of William of Orange in 1579 with the treaty of Utrecht. (Amsterdam,
Middelburg and others)
From this time forward William made Holland his home. It became the bulwark
of the Protestant faith in the Netherlands, the focus of the resistance to Spanish
tyranny. The sieges of Haarlem, Alkmaar and Leiden saved Holland from being
overwhelmed by the armies of Alva and stemmed the tide of Spanish victory.
The States of Holland decided to finance the War against Spain and William
and his brother Louis of Nassau raised an army to drive the Spanish out of the
Lowlands. They at first met defeat, but in 1576 the provinces of the "Seven
United Provinces of the Lowlands", taking advantage of the mutiny of the Spanish
army under John of Austria, united under William's leadership in the Pacification
of Ghent for the purpose of expelling the Spanish. In 1573, chiefly for the
sake of policy, William had become a Calvinist too.
The act of federation between Holland and Zeeland brought about by the influence
of William was the germ of the larger Union of Utrecht between the seven Northern
Provinces in 1579. But within. the larger Union the inner and closer Union between
Holland and Zeeland continued to subsist.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam, an unimportant city until 1579, had suffered a lot for its mistake
to side with Spain in 1572 . The Sea-Beggars besieged the city and the harbors
for a long time (1572-1578), during this siege a large part of the male population
was gone and parts of the city itself was destroyed. Women were hungry and forced
to offer their body for money. They did this just outside the city walls and
the area were women "let you pay to make love" is still
called Walletjes. In 1578 Amsterdam understood that it had supported the wrong
side and became Pro-Orange too, from then on the city grew to great prosperity
in a short period.
The struggle with Spain continued. The Union of Utrecht (1579) proclaimed
the virtual independence of the northern provinces, of which William was the
uncrowned ruler, but the victories of the Spaniards under Alessandro forced
William to seek French support by offering (1580) the rule over the Lowlands
to Francis, duke of Alençon and Anjou.
In 1580, when the sovereignty of the Netherlands was offered to the Duke
of Anjou, the two maritime provinces (Holland and Zeeland) refused of to acquiesce,
and forced William to accept the title of Count of Holland and Zeeland. In the
following year William in the name of the two provinces solemnly abjured the
sovereignty of the Spanish king (July 24 1581). Philip II denounced William
as a traitor, and a high price was set on his head.
The Seven United Provinces
The provinces of the republic were Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel,
Friesland and Groningen.
click the image to enlarge
William replied with his famous Apologia, in which he not only sought to
vindicate his own conduct, but hurled violent accusations at the Spanish king.
In the same year the representatives of Brabant, Flanders, Utrecht, Guelders,
Holland, and Zeeland solemnly declared Philip deposed from sovereignty over
those provinces. William's support of the unpopular Francis, duke of Alençon
and Anjou, resulted in the wane of William's own popularity during his last
years. He was assassinated at Delft by a French Catholic fanatic (Balthasar
Gerard) in 1584, while the struggle against Spain was still in a critical stage.
The Republic of the seven united provinces of The Netherlands 1588 - 1795
The orange-white-blue "Prince flag"
click the image to enlarge
In 1572 the orange-white-blue flag was first mentioned
when the town of Den Briel was liberated. The red-white-blue flag was first
mentioned in 1596. Around 1630 more flags with a red stripe were used, and after
1660 the version with the orange stripe became very rare. It's still unknown
why the orange stripe was changed to red, In my opinion was red chosen because
the House of Orange became less popular. During the time of Johan de Witt (see
the story later) the republicans became more and more powerful and they introduced
the red instead of the orange stripe in the flag, probably because the flag
of Dordrecht (the birth-city of Johan de Witt and the most powerful city at
that time) was red-white-red.
 |
 |
 |
|
Oranje-blanje-bleu "Prinsen vlag" used
during the period of William of Orange. |
Red-white-blue, the flag of the 7 United
Provinces used from about 1630. |
Red-white-red, the flag of Dordrecht,
the oldest city of Holland |
The Political structure
The Hague
Most Stadtholders (like the old Counts, 'rulers' in name of the King) lived
in The Hague. The village had grown to become a rich place. Bankers and nobility
still live there. And the administration for the king was also done there. The
Stadtholders had their own Castle in The Hague, Het Binnenhof (The Inner-court),
and from 1585 on the United Provinces were governed from there.
In the long struggle of the United Provinces with Spain, which followed the
death of William I of Orange in1584, the brunt of the conflict fell upon Holland.
More than half the burden of the charges of the war fell upon Holland and with
Zeeland it furnished the fleets which formed the chief defense of the Country.
Hence the importance attached to the vote of Holland in the assembly of the
States-General. That vote was given by deputies at the head of whom was the
advocate (in later times called the Grand Pensionary) of Holland, and who were
responsible to, and the spokesmen of, the provincial states.
These states, which met at the Hague in the same building as the States-General,
consisted after 1608 of representatives of the burgher oligarchies (regents)
of the principal towns
The following eighteen towns sent representatives:
South Quarter (I) Dordrecht, (2) Haarlem, (3) Deift, (4) Leiden, (5) Amsterdam,
(6) Gouda, (7) Rotterdam, (8) Gorinchem, (9) Schiedam, (10) Schoonhoven and
(11) Brill (Den Briel)
North Quarter:(12) Alkmaar, (13) Hoorn, (14) Enkhuizen, (15) Edam, (16) Monnikendam,
(17) Medemblik and (18) Purmerend.
Together with representatives of the nobles, who possessed one vote only.
The advocate was the paid minister of the states. He presided over their meetings,
kept their minutes and conducted all Govern correspondence, and, as stated above,
was their spokesman in the States-General. The advocate (or Grand Pensionary)
of Holland therefore, if an able man, had opportunities for exercising a very
considerable influence, becoming in fact a kind of minister of all affairs.
After the assassination of William (1584) the title of Count of Holland was
never revived. His 3rd son (7th child)
Maurice
succeeded him in 1584 because his elder half-brother
Philips William was still a hostage
by King Philips II of Spain.
The life story of Maurice
Maurice of Nassau (in Dutch Maurits van Nassau) 14 November 1567 - 23 April
1625, Prince of Orange 1618–1625
*, son of William I "the Silent" and Princess Anna
of Saxony, was born at the castle of Dillenburg. He was named after his maternal
grandfather, the Elector Maurice of Saxony.
* Maurice also took this title from his eldest half-brother
Philips William who was the "real" heir of the title "Prince of Orange
Nassau" directly after his dead in 1618.
Maurice never married but was the father of illegitimate children by Margaretha
van Mechelen and Anna van de Kelder. He was raised in Dillenburg by his uncle
John VI "the Elder" of Nassau-Dietz, 1536-1606, the younger
brother of William I "the Silent"). Together with his cousin Willem Lodewijk
of Nassau-Dietz (1570-1620) he studied in Heidelberg and later in Leiden where
he met
Simon Stevin.
The States of Holland and Zeeland paid for his studies, as their father had
run into financial problems after spending his entire fortune in the early stages
of the Dutch revolt. When his father was murdered in Delft in 1584, he took
over as Stadtholder (Stadhouder), though this title was not inheritable. He became
Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland in 1585, of Gelderland, Overijssel and Utrecht
in 1590 and Groningen and Drenthe in 1620 (following the death of
Willem Lodewijk of Nassau-Dietz 1560-1620). He never became Stadtholder of
Friesland because his nephew
Ernst
Casimir (1573-1632), brother of Willem Lodewijk, of the Nassau-Dietz
line was Stadtholder there.
He was appointed Captain-General of the army in 1587. The Prince organized
the rebellion against Spain into a coherent, successful revolt. He reorganized
the army together with his nephew Willem Lodewijk, studied military history, strategy and
tactics, mathematics and astronomy, and proved himself to be among the best
strategists of his age. Paying special attention to the siege theories of Simon
Stevin, he took valuable key fortresses and towns: Breda in 1590, Steenwijk
in 1592, and Geertruidenberg in 1593. His victories in the cavalry battles at
Turnhout (1597) and at Nieuwpoort 1600 earned him military fame and acknowledgment
throughout Europe. Despite these successes, the House of Orange did not attain
great respect among European Royalty, as the Stadtholdership was not inheritable.
During the first part of Maurice's career his principal adviser was Johan
van Oldenbarneveldt The relations between the two men were, however,
strained because they disagreed about the way to govern the States of
Holland regarding financing the high costs in time of war.
Prince Maurice ruled in the name of the
'real power' in the Republic. The real power still were the "cities" of Holland
(Dordrecht, Delft, Leiden, Gouda, Haarlem and Amsterdam).
The House of Orange against Republicans.
Shortly after the dead of William I of Orange the first struggle between the Republicans
and the Orange family came to existence when the most powerful cites of Holland
(Dordrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda and Amsterdam) united their commercial
power and opened trade routes with England and France. Because of that the
cities desired a truce with their enemy Spain. The States of Holland
demanded a period of peace to expand trade.
Johan van Oldenbarneveldt was
asked to sign a truce with Spain in 1609. The truce virtually established
the independence of the "Seven United Provinces".
Maurice of Orange was aware of the danger of the Republicans but knew that
as long as the war with Spain lasted the cities needed a "War-lord" and he was
safe in his palace in The Hague. Thus the house of Orange became dominant in
the Northern Lowlands but Johan van Oldenbarneveldt,
became the indispensable statesman of the struggling republic. The multiplicity
of his functions gave to the advocate an almost unlimited authority in the details
of administration, and for thirty years the conduct of affairs remained in his
hands.
Against Maurice's advice, and despite his protests, Van Oldenbarneveldt decided
to sign the Twelve Year Truce with Spain, which lasted from 1609 - 1621. The
required funds to maintain the army and navy, and the general course of the
war were other topics of constant struggle. The conclusion of the twelve years truce in 1609 was a triumph for Oldenbarneveldt
and the province of Holland over the opposition of Maurice, prince of Orange.
The cities founded the VOC (United East-Indies Company) in 1602 to expand
the trade-routes with the far east and in 1621 the WIC (West-Indies Company)
to expand the trade route to the west. Both Companies were seated at Amsterdam.
This meant the undisputed hegemony of Holland in the federation, in other
words of the burgher oligarchies who controlled the town corporations of the
province, and especially of Amsterdam. This authority of Holland was, however,
inure than Counterbalance by the extensive powers with which the Stadtholder
princes of Orange were invested; and the chief crises in the internal Contest
history of the Dutch republic are to be found in between the struggles for supremacy
between two, in reality, the Prince of Orange and different principles of government.
On the one side the principle of provincial sovereignty which gave to and
the voice of Holland a preponderating weight that was vicinal decisive; on the
other side the principle of national sovereignty personified in the princes
of Orange, to reign whom the States-General and the provincial states delegated
executive powers that were little less than monarchical.
In 1617 the outbreak of the religious dispute between the Remonstrant and
Contra-remonstrant parties brought on a death struggle between the sovereign
province of Holland and the States-General of the Union. The sword of Maurice
decided the issue in favor of the States-General. The claims of Holland were
overthrown and the head of Oldenbarneveldt fell upon the scaffold (1619).
Maurice urged his brother Frederick Henry to marry in order to preserve the
dynasty. In 1621 the war resumed, and the Spanish, led by Ambrosio Spinola, had notable
successes, including the recapture of Breda in 1625. Maurice died shortly thereafter.
Struggles with the house of Orange continued
Stadtholder, Frederick Henry of Orange succeeded his brother in 1625 and ruled with well-nigh monarchical authority
(1625-1647), but even he at the height of his power and popularity had always
to do with the opposition of the states of Holland and of Amsterdam and
Dordrecht, and many
of his plans of campaign were thwarted by the refusal of the Hollanders to furnish
supplies. His son William II. was but 21 years of age on succeeding to the Stadtholdership,
and the states of Holland were sufficiently powerful to carry through the negotiations
of Orange for the peace of Munster (1648) in spite of his opposition.
The war, which lasted for eighty years ended with the peace-treaty of Munster
in 1648, the Republic of "The Seven United Provinces", which had been proclaimed
in 1581, was recognized as an independent state and the provinces in the south (Belgium)
and Luxembourg stayed with Spain. The Northern Lowlands fought for 80 years (1568-1648) and finally won the
war with Spain.
A life and death conflict again ensued, and once more in 1650 the prince
of Orange by armed force crushed the opposition of the Hollanders. The sudden
death of William II in the hour of his triumph caused a complete revolution in
the government of the republic. His death signaled the opponents of the
house of Orange to reassert the rights of the provinces and the
States-General. William II left no heir but a posthumous infant (William
III), and
the party of the burgher regents of Holland was once more in the ascendant.
The office of Stadtholder was abolished, and
Johan the Witt of Dordrecht, the
political leader of the estates of Holland, was chosen (1653) Grand Pensionary (Raad-Pensionaris,
a kind of President) of Holland) and led the Dutch republic for the next 20 years. To prevent
Prince William III of Orange (son of William II) from regaining the
authority of his father, Johan de Witt held in
his hands all the threads of administration, and occupied the same position
of undisputed authority in the councils of the land as Oldenbarneveldt had done
at the beginning of the century.
Amsterdam and Dordrecht were during this period the centers of the
Republicans and Amsterdam the head of the United Provinces.
The principle of provincial sovereignty was carried to its extreme point in
the separate treaty concluded with Cromwell in 1654, in which the province of
Holland agreed to exclude for ever the prince of Orange from the office of Stadtholder
of Holland or Captain-General of the Union. ("The Eternal Edict") The originator for this edict was Johan de Witt, like his predecessor
Johan van Oldenbarneveldt a Republican himself. From the beginning of the
Orange dynasty the States General were mostly Orangists
and the regents of most cities Republicans.
This Edict would be the
introduction to the disaster that happened 18 years later in the, so called,
Year of disaster (Rampjaar) 1672.
The Witt and the Succession of Wars
De Witt's administration was largely
encompassed by the
Dutch Wars
with England (1652-1654 and 1664-1667), arising out of the first of the English Navigation
Acts (1651) and the Dutch-English commercial rivalry. The Treaty of
Breda (1667) was advantageous to the United Provinces; it gained trade privileges
and had its possession of Suriname recognized. The United Provinces reached the
peak of political power when, by forming (1668) the Triple
Alliance with Sweden and England, it forced Louis XIV of France to halt
the War of Devolution against Spain.
1672 Rampjaar (Year of Disaster)
Louis XIV took revenge by starting (1672) the
third of the Dutch Wars, in which the French, England, Munster and Cologne overran the
Lowlands. In defense, the Dutch opened their dikes and flooded the country,
creating a watery barrier that was virtually impenetrable. De Witt sought to
negotiate peace and William
III of Orange was appointed Stadtholder and the brothers Johan de Witt and
Cornelis de Witt were lynched by a orange-loving crowd, almost surely
authorized by William III of Orange. The war devastated the provinces, but in
the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678–79) the Dutch obtained important concessions
from France. The Netherlands again fought Louis XIV in the
War of the
Grand Alliance (1688–97) and in the War of the
Spanish
Succession.
A lot more information about the Republicans of
the Lowlands in the 17-18th century you can find on my
Republican page, dedicated to Johan
van Oldenbarneveldt, Johan de Witt and Simon van Slingerlandt and their
struggles with the Orange dynasty..
During the above written period the Lowlands became one of the most
powerful countries in the world at sea and as trading experts.
"The Golden Age" 1588 - 1672
During the Golden Century, the 17th century, the Republic came to great prosperity.
The VOC and the WIC
The United East India Company, 1602-1798, chartered
by the States-General of the United Provinces of the Lowlands to expand trade and assure close relations
between the government and its colonial enterprises in Asia. The company was
granted a monopoly on Dutch trade east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Strait
of Magellan.
From its headquarters at Batavia (modern Jakarta in Indonesia) (founded 1619) the company subdued
local rulers, drove the British and Portuguese from Indonesia, Malaya, and Ceylon
(Sri Lanka), and arrogated to itself the fabulous trade of the Spice Islands.
A colony, established (1652) in South Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, remained
Dutch until conquered by Great Britain in 1814. The company was dissolved when
it became scandalously corrupt and nearly insolvent in the late 18th cent.,
and its possessions became part of the Dutch colonial empire in East Asia.
The merchant spirit of the Dutch made The United Netherlands the most powerful
trading Country of the world in the 17th century. In this period Amsterdam grow
to an important city and became the trade center of the United Provinces and
in fact also of Europe.
Ship "Delft" one of the ships of the VOC and the WIC
To coordinate trade with Southeast-Asia (current Indonesia, and the Dutch
West Indies (Antilles) Aruba, Boneire and Curacao and the three other islands near Venezuela
(Saba, St-Maarten, St-Eustatius. This Union brought
forth a great trade-traffic between all the Countries situated along the Indian
Ocean. The VOC has been for a long time the largest trade-company of the world,
the worlds first Multinational. Dutch ships were the only European ships that
were allowed to trade with Japan.
Next to the VOC, the WIC (The West Indian Company), founded in 1621, was
trading with Africa and America. The WIC. was controlling New Amsterdam, nowadays
New York, from 1625 until 1664. The need to protect these interests caused several
wars with Great Britain and France. But the close relationships with Great Britain
were never in danger. Ships from Amsterdam sailed the oceans and brought back
material that made the United Provinces one of the richest Countries in Europe.
With material wealth came a cultural golden age.
Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jacob van Ruisdael,
Ferdinand Bol,
Aert de Gelder, Frans Hals, Albert Cuyp and many others carried Dutch
art to its peak. The University of Leiden won world acclaim; the philosophers Descartes
(1596-1650)
and Spinoza (1632-1677), the jurist Hugo Grotius (Hugo de Groot 1583-1645),
and the philosopher Erasmus (1466-1536), were active in the United Provinces.
Even in science the Lowlands brought forth famous scientists like Anthony
van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), discoverer of the Bacteria en many others.
Next : Holland 1697 - 1815
Sources :
Mr. drs. Dirk van Duijvenbode in Dutch,
Count
Floris V in Dutch,
The Royal Genealogy
site in English,
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
in English,
Genealogy of Holland
in English, Women in Leadership in English,
Historische sprokkelingen in Dutch,
Wikipedia the free
encyclopedia in English, The
Worldwide web encyclopedia in English,
The Info please
encyclopedia in English,
The
history of The Hague in Dutch, English and German,
Het volk van Nederland
in Dutch,
The
1911 edition encyclopedia in English,
The House of Orange and
Dutch history in Dutch,
The
Dutch Republic in English,
Geschiedenis in
hoofdlijnen in Dutch,
