about a month later, leaving the widowed Jacqueline at
17 years of age face to face with a difficult situation. She
was at first welcomed in Holland and Zeeland, but found
her claims opposed by her uncle, John of Bavaria, supported
by the Cod party. Every one from whom she might have
expected help betrayed her in turn, her second husband John
IV. of Brabant, her third husband Humphrey of Gloucester,
her cousin Philip the Good of Burgundy, all behaved shamefully
to her. Her romantic and sad life has rendered the courageous
and accomplished Jacqueline the most picturesque figure in
the whole history of Holland. She struggled long against her
powerful kinsfolk, nor did she know happiness till near the end
of her life, when she abandoned the unequal strife, and found
repose with Francis of Borselen, Ruward of Holland, her fourth
husband. Him Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, craftily
seized; and thereby in 1433 the Duchess Jacqueline was compelled
Accession
of the Burgundian Dynasty.
Philip the Good.
Flourishing state of Holland.
to cede her rights over the counties of Holland and
Hainaut. Consequently at her death in 1436, as she left no
children, Philip succeeded to the full and undisputed
possession of her lands. He had already acquired by
inheritance, purchase or force almost all the other
Netherland states; and now, with the extinction of
the Bavarian line of counts, Holland ceased to have
an independent existence and became an outlying province
of the growing Burgundian power (see Burgundy). During
the years that followed the accession to the sovereignty
of Duke Philip, Holland plays but an insignificant
part. It was governed by a stadholder, and but
small respect was shown for its chartered rights and privileges.
The quarrels between the Hook and Cod factions still continued,
but the outbreaks of civil strife were quickly repressed by the
strong hand of Philip. Holland during this time contented
herself with growing material prosperity. Her
herring fishery, rendered more valuable by the curing
process discovered or introduced by Benkelszoon,
brought her increasing wealth, and her fishermen
were already laying the foundations of her future maritime
greatness. It was in the days of Duke Philip that Lorenz
Koster of Haarlem contributed his share to the discovery of
printing. During the reign of Charles the Bold (1467–1477)
the Hollanders, like the other subjects of that warlike
prince, suffered much from the burden of taxation
An outbreak at Hoorn was by Charles sternly repressed.
The Hollanders were much aggrieved by the establishment
Charles the Bold.
Mary of Burgundy.
of a high court of justice for the entire Netherlands at Mechlin.
(1474). This was regarded as a serious breach of their privileges.
The succession of Mary of Burgundy led to the granting
to Holland as to the other provinces of the Netherlands,
of the Great Privilege of March 1477, which
restored the most important of their ancient rights and liberties
(see Netherlands). A high court of justice was established
for Holland, Zeeland and Friesland, and the use of the native
language was made official. The Hook and Cod troubles
again disturbed the country. Hook uprisings took place at
Leiden and Dordrecht and had to be repressed by armed
force.
By the sudden death of the Duchess Mary in 1482 her possessions,
including the county of Holland, passed to her infant son
Philip, under the guardianship of his father the Archduke
Maximilian of Austria. Thus the Burgundian
dynasty was succeeded by that Maximilian
of Austria.
Philip II. the Fair.of the Habsburgs.
During the regency of Maximilian the turbulence of
the Hooks caused much strife and unrest in Holland. Their
leaders. Francis of Brederode and John of Naaldwijk, seized
Rotterdam and other places. Their overthrow finally ended
the strife between Hooks and Cods. The “Bread
and Cheese War,” an uprising of the peasants in
North Holland caused by famine, is a proof of the
misery caused by civil discords and oppressive taxation. In
1494, Maximilian having been elected emperor, Philip was
declared of age. His assumption of the government was greeted
with joy in Holland, and in his reign the province enjoyed rest
and its fisheries benefited from the commercial treaty concluded
with England. The story of Holland during
the long reign of his son and successor Charles III.
(1506–1555), better known as the emperor Charles V.,
belongs to the general history of the Netherlands
The Emperor Charles V. (Charles III.).
Philip III.
William of Orange Stadholder.
The revolt of
the Netherlands.
Union of Utrecht.
Abjuration
of Philip’s
Sovereignty.
(see Netherlands). On the abdication of Charles, his
son Philip II. of Spain became Philip III., count of Holland, the
ruler whose arbitrary rule in church and state brought about
the revolt of the Netherlands. His appointment of
William, prince of Orange, as stadholder of Holland
and Zeeland was destined to have momentous results to the
future of those provinces (see William the Silent). The
capture of Brill and of Flushing 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 stadholder, summoned the states
of Holland to meet at Dordrecht. This act was the beginning of
Dutch independence. 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 Requesens and stemmed
the tide of Spanish victory. 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. In 1580, when the
sovereignty of the Netherlands was offered to the
duke of Anjou, the two maritime provinces refused
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).
After the assassination of William (1584) the title of count of
Holland was never revived.
In the long struggle of the united provinces with Spain,
which followed the death of Orange, the brunt of the conflict
fell upon Holland. More than half the burden of the charges
of the war fell upon this one province; and with Zeeland it
furnished the fleets which formed the chief defence 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 of representatives of the burgher oligarchies (regents)
of the principal towns, together with representatives of the
nobles, who possessed one vote only. The advocate was theGovernment
of Holland.
Johan van Oldenbar-
neveldt.
paid minister of the states. He presided over their
meetings, kept their minutes and conducted all
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. It was this
influence as exerted by the successive advocates of
Holland, Paul Buys and Johan van Oldenbarneveldt,
which rendered abortive the well-meant efforts of the
earl of Leicester to centralize the government of the
United Provinces. After his departure (1587) the advocate of
Holland, 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 (see Oldenbarneveldt). 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, more than counterbalanced
