1. Imperial Spain and Philip II

2. Kagan’s Four Pillars of Spanish Power (U2.6 #1)
New World Riches
Incredible wealth from gold and silver mines BUT Spain never entirely free of debt
Increased Population
Gap between rich and poor grew immensely; Spanish peasantry most heavily taxed in all of Europe
Efficient Bureaucracy & Military
Lesser nobility = efficient, loyal bureaucratic machine
Supremacy in the Mediterranean
Battle of Lepanto, 1571: 1/3 of Turkish fleet sunk or captured
1580 Philip inherits Portugal & Spanish army dominates resistance

3. el Escorial

4. el Escorial

5. Revolt in the Netherlands 1568-1648 (a.k.a. The Eighty Years’ War)

6. Habsburg History Charles V (1515-1556)
Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1500; inherits Low Countries 1515
Seen as one of their own
Philip II inherits 1556 – but he is SPANISH! and CATHOLIC! therefore resented
Calvinism strong in Netherlands
Philip – great defender of Catholic faith - tries to root out Calvinism by force (Spanish Inquisition & Spanish troops)
Life at home was also difficult. Philip's first wife, Maria, had died in 1545 after giving birth to a son, Don Carlos. Philip next married Queen Mary I of England, a marriage arranged by his father in an attempt to turn Protestant England back to Catholicism. After Mary died in 1558, Philip married Elizabeth of Valois, the daughter of Henry II of France. She died in childbirth in Added to this misfortune was the insanity of Don Carlos, whom Philip eventually had to confine after he tried to knife his father's ministers.

7. Dutch Revolt
Philip makes his sister Margaret, regent – Cardinal Granvelle, head councilor
U2.6 #3
But Calvinists angry and attack Antwerp: churches, libraries, statues, altars destroyed
U2.6 #4
William of Orange (“the Silent”) & Count of Egmont
(German – but has estates in Netherlands) – organizes Calvinist province leaders against Spanish; war at sea (Dutch, Danes, Scots & English)
U2.6 #5 What is The Compromise?

8. Duke of Alba
U6.2 #6
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duke of Alba, who was appointed captain-general of the Netherlands
Margaret opposed the duke of Alba's aggressively repressive policies, which included the implementation of the Inquisition and the establishment of the Council of Troubles (known to the Dutch as the Council of Blood) to restore order. But, unable to restrain the captain, Margaret resigned her position as regent and returned to Italy that same year, leaving the duke of Alba as her successor.
The Duke of Alba presiding over the Council of Troubles

9. U2.6#7
Calvinist Dutch privateers, known the Sea Beggars, assault the port of Brill in April 1572 during the Netherlands revolt against Spanish domination. The Sea Beggars, who used their shallow draft boats to effectively control important waterways, were a significant factor in the success of the Dutch Revolt.
"Dutch Revolt." Image. Hulton Archive. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, Web. 12 Sept <

10. Spanish Fury - U2.6 #8 What was the Spanish Fury, Nov. 4, 1576?
What was the Pacification of Ghent, Nov. 8, 1576? To what other treaty can it be compared?
Jan Union of Brussels = 2 yrs. Unified Netherlands!
What was the Perpetual Edict? U2.6 #9
Was the Dutch Revolt over?

11. Unity broken U2.6 #10
Alex Farnese, Duke of Parma (Margaret’s son) to break unity in 1579
William of Orange and friends hold 7 northern provinces –establish the Union of Utrecht, deny Spanish control
Southern provinces form Catholic union, Union of Arras, and accept Spanish control
Dec the Apology (U2.6 #11)
Dutch Declaration of Independence (1581)
French duke of Alençon (deposed in 1583)
July 1584, William of Orange assassinated
Maurice aided by England and France
Issued in 1581 in the midst of the Dutch Revolt, the Dutch Declaration of Independence was the first of such documents in modern times. It clearly endorsed the idea that rulers had responsibilities toward their subjects and could be rightly deposed by their subjects if they failed in those responsibilities. Although not well remembered today, the Dutch Declaration of Independence served as a model for later revolutionary leaders.

12. Fall of Philip II in the Netherlands
How did Philip II undermine his own ability to re-take the Netherlands in the 1580s? U2.26#12
Elizabeth I, Queen of England – dilemma:
either help Protestants thereby antagonizing Philip
or not help, but Spain might invade England if they gain Netherlands
so she helps the Dutch secretly – then openly and in 1588 she defeats the Spanish Armada in the English Channel

13. The Netherlands . . . after the revolt U2.6 #13
1609 revolt ends – Union of Utrecht becomes “United Provinces” (aka Dutch Republic) but do not gain independence from Spain until 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia (end of 30 Years’ War)