He promised to accept the “Pacification of Ghent,” and finally
an agreement was drawn up, styled the “Perpetual Edict,”
which was signed by Don John (February 12th) and
ratified by Philip a few weeks later. The states-general
undertook to accept Don John as governor general
and to uphold the Catholic religion, while
“Perpetual Edict.”
Don John, in the name of the king, agreed to carry out the
provisions of the “Pacification.” The authority conferred upon
Orange as stadtholder by the provinces of Holland and Zeeland
was thus ratified, but that astute statesman had no confidence
that Philip intended to observe the treaty any longer than it
suited his convenience. He therefore refused, with the approval
of the representatives of these provinces, to allow the publication
of the “Perpetual Edict” in Holland and Zeeland. As
events were to prove, he was in the right.
Don John made his state entry into Brussels on the 1st of May, but only to find that he had no real authority. “The prince of Orange,” he informed the king, “has bewitched the minds of all men. They keep him informed of everything, and take no resolution without consulting him.” In vain the fiery young soldier strove to break loose Orange at Brussels. from the shackles which hampered him. He was, to quote the words of a contemporary, “like an apprentice defying his master.” Irritated and alarmed, the governor suddenly left Brussels in the month of July with some Walloon troops and went to Namur. It was a virtual act of abdication. The eyes of all men turned to the prince of Orange. Through his exertions the Spanish troops had not only been expelled from Holland and Zeeland, but also from the citadels of Antwerp and Ghent, which were now in the hands of the patriots. He was invited to come to Brussels, and after some hesitation, and not without having first obtained the approval of the states of Holland and Zeeland, he assented. William made his triumphal entry into the capital (September 23), which he had quitted as an outlawed fugitive ten years before. In a brief period he was the acclaimed leader of the entire Netherland people.
But it was not to last. The jealousy of Catholic against Protestant, of south against north, was too deeply rooted. Two distinctive nationalities, Belgian and Dutch, were already in course of formation, and not even the tactful and conciliatory policy of the most consummate statesman of his time could unite those whom the whole trend Archduke Matthias. of events was year by year putting farther asunder. On the 6th of October, at the secret invitation of the Catholic nobles headed by the duke of Aerschot, the archduke Matthias, brother of the emperor, arrived in Brussels to assume the sovereignty of the Netherlands. He was but twenty years of age, and his sudden intrusion was as embarrassing to the prince of Orange as to Don John. William, however, whose position had been strengthened by his nomination to the post of ruwaard of Brabant, determined to welcome Matthias and use him for his own purposes. Matthias was to be the nominal ruler, he himself with the title of lieutenant-general to hold the reins of power.
But Philip had now become thoroughly alarmed, and he despatched Alexander Farnese, son of the duchess of Parma, to join his uncle Don John with a veteran force of 20,000 troops. Strengthened by this powerful reinforcement, Don John fell upon the patriot army at Gemblours The Duke of Anjou and John Casimir. near Namur on the 31st of January 1578, and with scarcely any loss completely routed the Netherlanders. All was now terror and confusion. The “malcontent” Catholics now turned for help from Matthias to the duke of Anjou, who had invaded the Netherlands with a French army and seized Mons. At the same time John Casimir, brother of the elector palatine, at the invitation of the Calvinist party and with the secret financial aid of Queen Elizabeth, entered the country at the head of a body of German mercenaries from the east. Never did the diplomatic talents of the prince of Orange shine brighter than at this difficult crisis. The duke of Anjou at his earnest instigation accepted the title of “Defender of the liberties of the Netherlands, ”and promised, if the provinces would raise an army of 10,000 foot and 2000 horse, to come to their assistance with a like force. At the same time negotiations were successfully carried on with John Casimir, with Elizabeth and with Henry of Navarre, and their help secured for the national cause. Meanwhile Don John had aroused the mistrust of his brother, who met Death of Don John. his urgent appeal for funds with cold silence. Deeply hurt at this treatment and disappointed at his failure, the governor-general fell ill and died on the 1st of October. Philip immediately appointed Alexander Farnese to the vacant post. In him Orange was to find an adversary who was not only a great general but a statesman of insight and ability equal to his own.
Farnese at once set to work with subtle skill to win over to
the royalist cause the Catholic nobles of the south. The moment
was propitious, and his efforts met with success.
Ghent had fallen into the hands of John Casimir,
and under his armed protection a fierce and intolerant
Calvinism reigned supreme in that important city.
Alexander Farnese governor-general.
League of Arras.
To the “Malcontents” (as the Catholic party was styled) the
domination of heretical sectaries appeared less tolerable than the
evils attendant upon alien rule. This feeling was widespread
throughout the Walloon provinces, and found expression
in the League of Arras (5th of January 1579).
By this instrument the deputies of Hainault, Artois
and Douay formed themselves into a league for the defence of the
Catholic religion, and, subject to his observance of the political
stipulations of the Union of Brussels, professed loyal allegiance
to the king. The Protestant response was not long in coming.
The Union of Utrecht was signed on the 29th of January by the
representatives of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland
and Zutphen. By it the northern provinces
bound themselves together “as if they were one
Union of Utrecht.
province” to maintain their rights and liberties “with life-blood
and goods” against foreign tyranny, and to grant complete
freedom of worship and of religious opinion throughout the
Confederacy. This famous compact was the work of John of
Nassau, at that time governor of Gelderland, and did not at first
commend itself to his brother. William was still struggling to
carry out that larger scheme of a union of all the seventeen
provinces, which at the time of the “Pacification of Ghent”
had seemed a possibility. But his efforts were already doomed
to certain failure. The die was cast, which decreed that from
1579 onwards the northern and southern Netherlands were to
pursue separate destinies. For their later history see Holland
and Belgium.
Bibliography.—General history: For the early authorities consult Collections de chroniques Belges inédites, publ. par ordre du gouvernement (89 vols., 1836–1893); and Collections des chroniqueurs. Trouvères Belges, publ. par l’Académie de Bruxelles (58 vols., 1868–1870); among later writers, J. P. Arend, Algemeane geschiedenis des vaderlands van de vroegste tijden (4 vols., 1840–1883); J. Wagenaar, Vaderlandsche historie (21 vols., 1749–1759); J. P. Blok, A History of the People of the Netherlands (trans. from the Dutch by O. Bierstadt and R. Putnam), vols. i. and ii. (1898–1900). For the Burgundian period—A. B. de Burante, Histoire des ducs de Burgogne (1364–1477), (13 vols., 1824–1826); L. Vanderkindere, Le Siècle des Artevelde (1879); J. F. Kirk, History of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (3 vols., 1863–1868). For the Habsburg period to 1555—Th. Juste, Charles Quint et Marguerite d’Autriche (1858); A. Le Glay, Maximilien I. et Marguerite d’Autriche (1839); A. Henne, Histoire du règne de Charles V. en Belgique (10 vols., 1858–1860).
The Revolt of the Netherlands: Contemporary authorities: P. C. Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II. sur les affaires des Pays-Bas (5 vols., 1848–1879); Correspondance de Guillaume le taciturne (6 vols., 1847–1857); G. Groen van Prinsterer, Archives ou correspondance inédite de la maison d’Orange, 1ᵉ série (9 vols., 1841–1861); Poullet et Piot, Correspondance du cardinal Granvelle, (12 vols., 1879–1899); J. M. B. C. Kervyn de Lettenhove, Relations politiques des Pays-Bas el de l’Angleterre sous le règne de Philippe II. (5 vols., 1882–1886); Collection de mémoires sur l’histoire Belgique au XVIᵉ, XVIIᵉ, et XVIIIᵉ siècles (47 vols., 1858–1875) (chiefly dealing with the period of the Revolt) P. Bor, Oorspronck, begin ende aenwang der Nederlandscher oorlogen, beroerten ende borgelijcke oneenicheyden (1595); J. Ghysius, Oorsprong en voortgang der nederlandscher beroerten (1626); Hugo Grotius, Annales et histoire de rebus belgicis (1657); P. C. Hooft, Nederlandscher historien, 1555–1587 (1656); E. V. Reyd, Voornaenste gheschiedennissen in de Nederlanden, 1566–1601 (1626); A. Carnero, Historia de las guerras civiles que ha avido en los estados de Flandres des del anno 1559 hasta el de 1609, y las
