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NETHERLANDS 247 was called, granted money to the sovereign only when they saw fit. Under the house of Burgundy the Netherlands became the most opulent and populous part of Europe; and their chief cities, Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, were especially distinguished for their wealth and splendor. By the marriage of Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, with Maximilian, archduke of Austria (1477), the Netherlands became a possession of the house of Hapsburg. Her grandson, the emperor Charles V., resigned them to his son Philip II. of Spain in 1555. At this period the Netherlands comprised the dukedoms of Bra- bant, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Gelderland ; the countships of Artois, Hainaut, Flan- ders, Namur, Zutphen, Holland, and Zealand; the baronies of Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen; and the margra- viate of Antwerp; in all, 17" provinces. They contained 208 walled cities, 150 chartered towns, 6,300 small towns and villages, and 60 fortresses of great strength, besides hamlets, castles, and farm houses. The reformation had made considerable progress among the people during the reign of Charles V., chiefly in the cities, and Philip II. soon after his ac- cession undertook to root out entirely the new doctrines. After his father's abdication Phil- ip remained in the country till August, 1559, when he departed to his Spanish dominions never to return. He left the Netherlands under the government of his sister Margaret, duchess of Parma, as regent, assisted by three councils: a council of state, a privy council, and a council of finance. Of these the council of state was the most important. It consisted at first of five members, among whom were two native nobles of the highest rank and character, the prince of Orange and Count Egmont. Three more were afterward added, the most distinguished of whom was Count Horn. But all the real power of the council was exercised by a secret committee of three, called the consulta, and this was entirely under the control of one of its members. Antoine Perrenot, bishop of Arras, afterward Cardinal Granvelle, a native of France, who was great- ly detested by the people. The arrogance of Granvelle and the attempt to introduce the inquisition provoked a determined resistance, which was headed by the prince of Orange, Egmont and Horn, and other great nobles. An insurrection of the Protestants broke out in Flanders, Aug. 14, 1566, spread rapidly into other provinces, and lasted about a fortnight, during which great ravages were committed on the churches and monasteries. (See ICONO- CLASTS.) This outbreak, which was tempora- rily suppressed by the influence of William of Orange, Egmont, and Horn, and by concessions from the frightened duchess of Parma, deter- mined Philip to resort to the most severe mea- sures to suppress Protestantism ; and accord- ingly the duke of Alva was sent to the Neth- erlands in 1567, with a powerful army of Span- ish veterans. Egmont and Horn were arrest- ed and beheaded at Brussels (June 5, 1568), and also many other noblemen of distinction, and for six years the country suffered under a tyranny which for extent and ferocity is almost unparalleled in history. The prince of Orange withdrew to Germany, and appealed to the Protestant princes of that country for aid. They allowed him to raise a force of volunteers, and gave him some pecuniary as- sistance, as did also Queen Elizabeth of Eng- land. He reentered the Netherlands in the lat- ter part of 1568 at the head of an army, and called his countrymen to arms. A long war ensued, distinguished by sieges rather than by battles, and marked by various fortune on both sides. The states of Holland and Zea- land conferred almost dictatorial powers on the prince of Orange, with the title of stadt- holder; and those provinces equipped a pow- erful naval force which greatly contributed to the ultimate achievement of Dutch indepen- dence. The severity of Alva having driven the greater part of the Netherlands to insur- rection, and his attempts to suppress .the revo- lution by force of arms having entirely failed, he was recalled, and departed in December, 1573. His successor, Kequesens, was instruct- ed to adopt a milder system of government ; but he met with little success, and died of fever in March, 1576. Philip's brother Don John of Austria, the victor of Lepanto, succeeded him as viceroy ; but after gaining several vic- tories over the revolutionary forces, he too died of fever (some supposed of poison), Oct. 1, 1578. He was succeeded as regent by his nephew Alessandro Farnese. In the following year (the so-called pacification of Ghent of 1576, for the same purpose, having failed) the provinces of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Fries- land, Groningen, Overyssel, and Gelderland formed the union of Utrecht, and thus laid the foundation of the republic of the Seven United Provinces. Zutphen and North Bra- bant subsequently joined the confederation. From this period the history of the Nether- lands divides itself into that of Holland and that of Flanders and Brabant, or the southern provinces which remained under the Spanish dominion and adhered to the Roman Catholic faith, and now, though diminished by cessions of territory, constitute the kingdom of Bel- gium. (See BELGITJM.) The assassination of William of Orange, July 10, 1584, was a ter- rible loss to the struggling commonwealth, which owed its existence mainly to his ex- traordinary wisdom, prudence, and firmness. The Dutch patriots, however, did not despair. They continued the contest with unabated cour- age and energy, and finally with a success truly astonishing when we consider the resources of Spain, at that time the first power in the world. Prince Maurice of Nassau, a son of the murdered statesman,, though not yet 17 years of age, was chosen to succeed him. He proved to be one of the greatest generals of modern