Page 359 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

Philip of Spain. This portrait by Titian depicts Philip II of Spain. The king’s attempts to make Spain a great power led to large debts and crushing taxes, and his military actions in defense of Catholicism ended in failure and misfortune in both France and the Netherlands.
Most Catholic King. Philip’s attempt to strengthen his control in the Netherlands, which consisted of seven- teen provinces (modern Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), soon led to a revolt. The nobles, who stood to lose the most politically if their jealously guarded privileges and freedoms were weakened, strongly opposed Philip’s efforts. Resentment against Philip was also aroused by his use of taxes collected in
the Netherlands to fur- ther Spanish interests. Finally, religion became a major catalyst for rebellion when Philip attempted to crush Cal- vinism.
UNITED PROVINCES
Amsterdam
Rotterdam Utrecht Boundary
of 1579
Ghent Antwerp
Violence erupted in
1566 when Calvinists—
many of them nobles—
began to smash statues
and stained-glass win-
dows in Catholic churches. Philip responded by sending the duke of Alva with 10,000 veteran Spanish and Italian troops to crush the rebellion. But the revolt became organized, especially in the seven northern provinces, where the Dutch, under the leadership of William of Nassau, the prince of Orange, offered growing resistance. The struggle dragged on until 1609, when a twelve-year truce ended the war, virtually recognizing the independ- ence of the northern provinces. These seven northern provinces, which began to call themselves the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1581, soon emerged as the Dutch Republic, although the Spanish did not for- mally recognize them as independent until 1648. The ten southern provinces remained a Spanish possession.
The England of Elizabeth
After the death of Queen Mary in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, ascended the throne of England. During Eliza- beth’s reign, England rose to prominence as the rela- tively small island kingdom became the leader of the Protestant nations of Europe and laid the foundations for a world empire (see the Film & History feature on p. 323).
FLANDERS Brussels
Cologne LUXEMBOURG
SPANISH NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands
CHRONOLOGY Wars of Religion in the Sixteenth Century
The French Wars of Religion 1562–1598 Outbreak of revolt in the Netherlands 1566 Battle of Lepanto 1571 Spanish armada 1588 Twelve-year truce (Spain and Netherlands) 1609 Independence of the United Provinces 1648
Politics and the Wars of Religion in the Sixteenth Century 321
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
E
m
s
R
.
u
e
M
e
s
R
.
R
h
i
n
e
R
.
Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence//Scala/Art Resource, NY