History of the United Netherlands, 1584-86

History of the United
Netherlands, entire 1584-86

The Project Gutenberg EBook History of United Netherlands, 1584-86,
Entire
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Title: History of the United Netherlands, 1584-86, Entire
Author: John Lothrop Motley
Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4847] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 2,
2002]

Edition: 10
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY
UNITED NETHERLANDS, 1584-86 ***

This eBook was produced by David Widger

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HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS From the Death of
William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce--1609
By John Lothrop Motley

MOTLEY'S HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS, Project Gutenberg
Edition, Volume 47
History United Netherlands, 1584-1586, Complete

PREFACE.
The indulgence with which the History of the Rise of the Dutch
Republic was received has encouraged me to prosecute my task with
renewed industry.
A single word seems necessary to explain the somewhat increased
proportions which the present work has assumed over the original
design. The intimate connection which was formed between the
Kingdom of England and the Republic of Holland, immediately after
the death of William the Silent, rendered the history and the fate of the
two commonwealths for a season almost identical. The years of anxiety
and suspense during which the great Spanish project for subjugating
England and reconquering the Netherlands, by the same invasion, was

slowly matured, were of deepest import for the future destiny of those
two countries, and for the cause of national liberty. The deep-laid
conspiracy of Spain and Rome against human rights deserves to be
patiently examined, for it is one of the great lessons of history. The
crisis was long and doubtful, and the health--perhaps the existence--of
England and Holland, and, with them, of a great part of Christendom,
was on the issue.
History has few so fruitful examples of the dangers which come from
superstition and despotism, and the blessings which flow from the
maintenance of religious and political freedom, as those afforded by the
struggle between England and Holland on the one side, and Spain and
Rome on the other, during the epoch which I have attempted to
describe. It is for this reason that I have thought it necessary to reveal,
as minutely as possible, the secret details of this conspiracy of king and
priest against the people, and to show how it was baffled at last by the
strong self-helping energy of two free nations combined.
The period occupied by these two volumes is therefore a short one,
when counted by years, for it begins in 1584 and ends with the
commencement of 1590. When estimated by the significance of events
and their results for future ages, it will perhaps be deemed worthy of
the close examination which it has received. With the year 1588 the
crisis was past; England was safe, and the new Dutch commonwealth
was thoroughly organized. It is my design, in two additional volumes,
which, with the two now published, will complete the present work, to
carry the history of the Republic down to the Synod of Dort. After this
epoch the Thirty Years' War broke out in Germany; and it is my wish,
at a future day, to retrace the history of that eventful struggle, and to
combine with it the civil and military events in Holland, down to the
epoch when the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War of the
Netherlands were both brought to a close by the Peace of Westphalia.
The materials for the volumes now offered to the public were so
abundant that it was almost impossible to condense them into smaller
compass without doing injustice to