Maurits of Nassau and the Survival of the Dutch Revolt This book describes the crucial period in the monumental 80-year Dutch struggle against the Spanish Empire, through which a small nation gained its independence from one of the mightiest European powers. Dr. Ridley shows how, even though the Dutch Revolt was at its lowest point, Maurits of Nassau and the Dutch fought on and the Revolt survived. It was a turbulent time, with complex diplomacy and shifting alliances, assassination plots, France torn by civil war, Spain spearheading the Counter-Reformation, England facing invasion, and Europe eventually convulsed with the Thirty Years’ War. In all these, the Dutch Revolt was a significant factor. The book also explores subsequent insurgencies over the following 3 centuries, when nationalist groups revolted against European powers, and analyses and identifies essential factors for a successful insurgency. The key roles of finance and international relations in insurgencies are emphasised. This volume will be informative and compelling reading for readers and students of history, international relations, and insurgencies. Nick Ridley, is currently Visiting Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University. He has formerly worked as an intelligence analyst with the Metropolitan Police and Europol, has taught at several European universities, and has trained police and security forces in Africa and at NATO Centres of Excellence-Defence against Terrorism. Routledge Research in Early Modern History Series editor: Renato Lancelotta Maurits of Nassau and the Survival of the Dutch Revolt Comparative Insurgences Nick Ridley The Economic Causes of the English Civil War Freedom of Trade and the English Revolution George Yerby Edwin Sandys and the Reform of English Religion Sarah L. Bastow Murder, Justice, and Harmony in an Eighteenth-Century French Village Nancy Locklin The Dirty Secret of Early Modern Capitalism The Global Reach of the Dutch Arms Trade, Warfare and Mercenaries in the Seventeenth Century Kees Boterbloem The Social Fabric of Fifteenth-Century Florence Identities and Change in the World of Second-Hand Dealers Alessia Meneghin For more information about this series, please visit: https://www. routledge.com/Routledge-Research-in-Early-Modern-History/ book-series/RREMH Maurits of Nassau and the Survival of the Dutch Revolt Comparative Insurgences Nick Ridley First published 2020 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Taylor & Francis The right of Nick Ridley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-34607-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-32683-7 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction: The Dutch Revolt and Other Revolts 1 PART I The Revolt 3 1 Early Days 5 2 William of Orange Forges a Nation 11 PART II Maurits of Nassau and the Survival of the Dutch Revolt 25 3 Sufficient Armed Forces 27 4 English Support, Leicester’s Ambition, Oldenbarneveldt’s Steadiness 36 5 Parma’s About Turn—And Maurits’s Counterstroke 44 6 Politicians Meddling, Flanders “Invaded” 56 7 The Twelve Years’ Truce—And a Diplomatic Victory 63 8 Internal Strife Within the Republic . . . 74 9 . . . But the Economy Expands 85 10 1621, Renewal of War Looms—And Playing for Time 99 11 War Again—And the Dark Hour Before the Dawn 109 vi Contents 12 Reasons Why the Dutch Revolt Survived 118 13 The Sinews of War 127 PART III Later Revolts and Insurgencies 147 14 Revolts and Insurgencies Over the Next 3 Centuries 149 PART IV Maurits of Nassau 203 15 Maurits of Nassau: His Achievement 205 Appendix I: The 1620s Spanish Trade Embargo Against the Dutch Republic 210 Appendix II: The Governance of the Dutch Navy: The 5 Admiralties 211 Appendix III: The Regents and the Dutch Republic 213 Bibliography and Works Consulted 217 Index 222 Acknowledgements The author is particularly grateful for the kind advice and guidance of Professor Martin Prak of the University of Utrecht and for the kind advice of Professor Judith Pollman of the University of Leiden. In addition, the author wishes to thank the staff of the Netherlands National Library in The Hague and the Netherlands National Archives in The Hague for their assistance, valuable assistance which was given with unfailing courtesy, friendliness, and efficiency. Most importantly. the author owes a large debt of gratitude for the translations, for the preliminary proofreadings and for the advice, con- stant support and patience of Ingrid. Introduction The Dutch Revolt and Other Revolts This book is about Maurits of Nassau and the survival of the Dutch Revolt, with comparisons to other revolts and insurgences. The prin- cipal subject of the book, Maurits of Nassau, was a remarkable indi- vidual during a period of intense struggle in which a remarkable people gained their independence. The struggle for independence lasted for over 3 generations and is known to history as the Eighty Years’ War. At its end, the Dutch Republic was officially acknowledged as a sovereign and independent nation state by Spain, which, although declining, was still an empire. The 7 northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands had successfully revolted and had won their independence from one of the greatest European powers of the era. As part of this struggle, Maurits of Nassau had ensured the survival and continuation of the Revolt. There has been and is much scholarship by eminent historians of this period and of the long event of the Dutch struggle. Some histori- ans have designated it the “Eighty Years’ War”. The author has drawn upon and has taken guidance from the works of these eminent scholars and historians, particularly the older but still valuable works of H.T. Colenbrander, drawn from groundbreaking archival documentation techniques, the works of C.V. Wedgwood and of Peiter Geyl, as well as those of the more modern works of Geoffrey Parker, the monumental works of Jonathan Israel, those of Arnaud van Cruyningen and of Theo van Deusen. Geoffrey Parker, in his trenchant account of the Revolt con- taining incisive analysis, points to one school of historians who insist that the Dutch Revolt was not one but several revolts, each with differ- ent causes. Accordingly, he divides his work into 3 revolts spanning the respective periods 1565–1568, 1568–1576, and 1576–1581 This current book, whilst fully respecting and acknowledging their scholarship, will take the traditional term of the singular “Dutch Revolt”. Significantly, Parker, in his The Dutch Revolt, entitles one of his chapters, chapter 5, covering the period of much of Maurits’s activities as “Independence and Survival” (italics mine). There are many factors affecting the success or failure of revolts, rebellions, and insurgencies and to what extent one sin- gle factor is important varies from struggle to struggle. However, for the