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Were the Habsburg Netherlands when these were ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714.
Establishment
January 1556: The Seventeen Provinces were a group of territories in the Low Countries, including modern-day Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Emperor Charles V was a powerful ruler of the Habsburg Empire who abdicated in 1556, passing the territories to his son, King Philip II of Spain.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of wars in Europe (and the overseas possessions of European countries) the 16th, 17th and early 18th that started after the Protestant Reformation. Although the immediate causes of the wars were religious, the motives were complex and also included territorial ambitions.
1.1.Eighty Years' War
Was the intermittent war of independence of the Dutch Republic, a breakaway state from the Spanish Netherlands. .
1.1.1.Dutch revolt and establishment of the Dutch Republic
Was the revolt of northern protestant regions of the Spanish Neterlands (the southern part was mainly Catholic) that led to the creation of the Dutch Republic.
1.1.1.1.Dutch Revolt
Was the revolt of the northern Spanish Netherland which later led to the formation of the Dutch Republic.
April 1572: The Dutch Rebels Captured the city of Brill on 1 April 1572.
May 1572: The news of the capture of Brill by the Dutch Rebels, led by William the Silent, prompted the cities of Flushing and Veere to join the rebellion against Spanish rule on 3 May 1572. This marked a significant turning point in the Eighty Years' War for Dutch independence.
May 1572: Louis of Nassau, a Dutch nobleman and brother of William the Silent, led the Dutch Rebels in capturing Mons on May 24, 1572.
July 1572: In 1572, Diederik Sonoy, a Dutch rebel leader, successfully persuaded the cities of Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Medemblik, Edam, Haarlem, and Alkmaar to defect to William of Orange's side during the Eighty Years' War against Spanish rule.
July 1572: Leiden, a city in the Netherlands, declared itself for William of Orange in a spontaneous revolt against Spanish rule in 1572.
July 1572: In 1572, during the Eighty Years' War, the cities of Oudewater, Gouda, Gorinchem, and Dordrecht surrendered to Admiral Lumey, a Dutch rebel leader fighting against Spanish rule in the Netherlands. This marked a significant victory for the Dutch Rebels in their struggle for independence.
July 1572: Holland and Zeeland were in rebellion against Spanish rule. Amsterdam and Schoonhoven were the only major cities that remained loyal to the Spanish Crown.
January 1573: Cities in Gelderland and neighbouring Overijssel joined the Dutch revolt against Spain.
January 1573: Count Willem IV van den Bergh was a Dutch nobleman and military leader who fought alongside his brother-in-law, William of Orange, in the Eighty Years' War against Spanish rule. In 1572, he successfully captured the city of Zutphen from the Spanish forces, marking a significant victory for the Dutch rebels.
July 1573: The city of Haarlem was under siege by the Spanish forces led by the Duke of Alba. The defenders, including Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer, held out for over six months before surrendering due to starvation. This event was part of the Eighty Years' War between the Dutch rebels and the Spanish Empire.
January 1575: Fall of Middelburg to the Dutch Rebels during the Eighty Years' War.
July 1579: In 1579 the city was sacked by the Spanish army led by the Duke of Parma (Siege of Maastricht, 1579). For over fifty years the Spanish crown took over the role previously held by the dukes of Brabant in the joint sovereignty over Maastricht.
1.1.1.2.The Union of Utrecht
Was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Spanish Netherlands.
January 1579: The treaty for the formation of the Union of Utrecht was signed by the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht (excluding some areas), and Groningen (excluding the city).
May 1579: Catholic Walloon provinces signed their own defensive Union of Arras on 6 January 1579. Grievances against Spain of Catholics who were becoming more and more concerned about Calvinist violence were satisfied and they could make a separate peace in the form of the Treaty of Arras in May 1579. All the cities of the union of arras that were still at war with spain renewed their allegiance to Spain.
September 1579: In 1579, the cities of Amersfoort, Ypres, Antwerp, Breda, and Brussels joined the Union of Utrecht, a treaty signed by the northern provinces of the Netherlands to oppose Spanish rule. This alliance was led by William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and played a crucial role in the Dutch Revolt against Spanish control.
January 1580: During the following months of 1579, other states signed the treaty as well, such as Ghent, cities from Friesland, as well as three of the quarters of Guelders (Nijmegen Quarter, Veluwe Quarter, Zutphen County).
March 1580: In February 1580, the cities of Lier and Bruges, along with the surrounding area, joined the Union of Utrecht.
May 1580: In April 1580, Overijssel and Drenthe signed a treaty with the Union of Utrecht.
July 1580: Spanish forces managed to capture most of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel.
January 1581: In 1580, the city of Groningen shifted its allegiance to the Union of Utrecht under the influence of George van Rennenberg, the stadtholder for Friesland. This decision was significant as it strengthened the Union of Utrecht's position in the region.
July 1581: The Spanish military leader Alexander Farnese, also known as the Duke of Parma, successfully captured the town of Breda.
July 1581: Minor Spanish reconquests from the rebel Dutch state in 1581.
July 1581: Part of the Spanish Netherlands separated to form the autonomous Dutch Republic in 1581.
January 1583: The Spanish captured the fortress city of Steenwijk.
January 1584: The cities of Dunkirk and Nieuwpoort fell to the Spanish forces led by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.
May 1584: Ypres conquered by spain.
June 1584: Bruges conquered by spain.
October 1584: Ghent, cities from Friesland, as well as three of the quarters of Guelders (Nijmegen Quarter, Veluwe Quarter, Zutphen County) conquered by spain.
April 1585: Brussels, the capital of the Spanish Netherlands, surrendered to the Spanish forces led by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.
September 1585: Antwerp was besieged and it surrendered to the Spanish in August.
1.1.1.3.English Protectorate in the Netherlands
The Dutch rebels of the northern Spanish Netherlands became an English protectorate with the Treaty of Nonsuch, signed on 10 August 1585, as a measure of protection against Spain.
February 1587: In January 1587, the English garrisons led by Sir John Norreys at Deventer and Zutphen were bribed to defect to Spain by the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Alexander Farnese. This marked a significant loss for the English forces in the region, as they also lost control of Zwolle, Arnhem, and Ostend to the Spanish.
October 1587: English forces led by the Earl of Leicester (the English supported the Dutch Republic) occupied Gouda, Schoonhoven and a few other cities in September 1587.
1.1.1.4.Expansion of the Dutch Republic
Were a series of Dutch military actions during the Eighty Years' War that led to the expansion of the newly created Dutch Republic by conquering territories from the Spanish Netherlands.
March 1590: The city of Breda was recaptured by the Dutch Republic from the Spanish Empire.
January 1592: In 1591, Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, used his expanded army and innovative river transportation methods to conquer Zutphen and Deventer in the Netherlands, further expanding the territory of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
January 1592: A campaign led by Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, and his cousin William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg resulted in the conquest of Hulst and Nijmegen by the Dutch.
January 1593: Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, joined his cousin William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, in capturing the cities of Steenwijk and Coevorden in 1592.
January 1598: Maurice of Nassau first seized the fortress of Rheinberg, a strategic Rhine crossing, and subsequently Groenlo, Oldenzaal, and Enschede, before capturing the county of Lingen.
January 1605: In 1604, the stadtholders, Maurice of Nassau and Ambrosio Spinola, captured Spanish fortresses in Grave, Sluys, and Aardenburg.
January 1606: In 1605, Oldenzaal, a city in the Dutch Republic, was captured by Maurice of Nassau from the Spanish Netherlands.
January 1607: Lochem conquered by spain.
April 1609: A ceasefire was signed in Antwerp by Spain and the Dutch Republic, thus ending the Dutch Revolt starting the Twelve Years' Truce. Spain recognized the Dutch Republic with the borders of the current military situation.
1.2.Thirty Years' War
Was a war that took place mainly in central Europe between 1618 and 1648. The war began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestant in the Holy Roman Empire but then escalated into a conflict for the hegemony in Europe between Habsburg Spain and Austria, Sweden and France.
1.2.1.Bohemian-Palatine period
Was the first period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with a protestant revolt in Bohemia, at the time a territory of the Habsburg Domains.
1.2.1.1.War in Netherlands
Was the theatre of war in the Low Countries during the first phase of the Thirty Years' War.
June 1625: In June 1625, after a siege of almost a year, the Dutch city of Breda was forced to surrender.
1.2.2.Thirty Years' War Minor Scenarios
A series of conflicts related to the Thirty Years' War.
1.2.2.1.Invasion of Franche Comté (Ten Years War)
Was French invasion of modern-day Franche-Comté, at the time a possession of the Habsburg, during the Thirty Years' War.
May 1636: The French army besiege Dole.
August 1636: As troops from the Holy Roman Empire, commanded by Charles IV of Lorraine, were approaching Dole, the Prince of Condé ordered the French army to end the siege of Dole and retreat.
March 1637: In 1637, during the Franco-Spanish War, the Comtois forces, led by French military leader Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien, won the battles of Martignat and captured Oyonnax. However, due to a lack of sufficient troops, they were unable to hold onto the territory, which ultimately fell to the Spanish Netherlands.
March 1637: In 1637, during the Franco-Spanish War, the Comtois, led by Henri de Montmorency, returned home to Oyonnax, abandoning most of their conquests in the region.
April 1639: In 1639, during the Franco-Spanish War, the Count of Guébriant, a French military commander, seized Château-Vilain from the Spanish forces.
January 1645: Following a treaty concluded with Cardinal Mazarin in 1644, France committed to cease hostilities in Franche-Comté, in exchange for the considerable sum of 40,000 écus, thus guaranteeing the region's neutrality once again. The year 1644 thus marked the end of the Ten Years' War in Franche-Comté.
1.2.3.Swedish Period
Was the third main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of Sweden.
August 1632: Occupation of Trier by the French.
August 1632: The Dutch forces, led by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, successfully captured the city of Maastricht from the Spanish occupiers in 1632.
March 1635: The Spaniards recapture Trier from the French.
1.2.4.Franco-Swedish Period
Was the fourth main period of the Thirty Years' War. It started with the intervention of the Kingdom of France.
1.2.4.1.North German Front (Sweden)
Was the north German front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
November 1648: When in November Gustaf of Sweden received a report about the signed peace, he ordered his troops to leave. Also the French troops started leaving the occupied territories in the Holy Roman Empire.
1.2.4.2.Low Countries Front (France)
Was the Low Countries front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1637: Lens is annexed by the Kingdom of France.
October 1637: Breda, a city in the southern Netherlands, surrendered to Prince Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassau, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, after a six-month siege in 1637. This victory was a significant achievement for the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in their ongoing struggle against the Spanish Habsburgs during the Eighty Years' War.
June 1639: In 1639, during the Franco-Spanish War, the French army led by Marshal Chatillon successfully captured the town of Hesdin in northern France after a failed attempt at Saint-Omer.
August 1640: Arras conquered by france.
October 1641: During the spring of 1641 and until September 1641, other Spanish strongholds, such as Aire-sur-la-Lys, Lens, Bapaume and La Bassée, fell to the French military occupation led by King Louis XIII and his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu.
August 1643: The siege of Thionville in 1643 was led by French military leader Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, against the Spanish-held city.
October 1646: Siege of Dunkirk.
August 1648: Archduke Leopold William of Habsburg captured Lens.
1.2.4.3.Rhineland Front (France)
Was the Rhineland front during the Franco-Swedish period of the Thirty Years' War.
July 1636: French conquest of Landrecies.
August 1636: Maubeuge conquered by france.
September 1636: French forces occupy La Capelle.
January 1637: Bohain conquered by france.
January 1637: Franche Comté conquered by france.
1.2.5.Peace of Westphalia
Were a series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War. Catholics and Protestants were redefined as equal in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. There were major territorial adjustments. In particular, France, Sweden and Brandenburg had major territorial gains, and several religious territories of the Holy Roman Empire were secularized.
October 1648: Borders of the Dutch Republic at the end of the Thirty Years' War.
January 1649: In 1648, the territory of Bisanz (modern-day Besancon) was transferred to the Spanish Netherlands as part of the Treaty of Westphalia.
1.3.Thirty Years' War aftermath wars
Were a series of wars that were a continuation of the Thirty Years' War.
1.3.1.Franco-Spanish War (1648-1659)
Was a war between Spain and France that ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659.
June 1658: Siege of Dunkirk.
November 1659: With the Treaty of the Pyrenees that ended the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), France gained French Flanders (Artois) and minor territories on the rhineland (f.e. thionville). The northern part of the Principality of Catalonia, including Roussillon, Conflent, Vallespir, Capcir, and French Cerdagne, was also transferred to France, i.e. what later came to be known as "Northern Catalonia".
1.4.Nine Years' War
Was a conflict between France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition including the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy. It is considered the first war that saw fighting globally because battles occured in Europe, America, Africa and India.
1.4.1.Low Countries Theatre (Nine Years' War)
Was the Low Countries Theatre of the the Nine Years' War.
April 1691: The French army captured Mons in the Spanish Netherlands.
May 1691: Luxembourg, a French military commander, captured the city of Halle in present-day Belgium at the end of May.
June 1692: In 1692, during the Nine Years' War, the French military under the command of Vauban invested the stronghold of Namur on 29 May. The town fell quickly, but the citadel, defended by the Dutch military engineer Menno van Coehoorn, held out until 30 June.
September 1695: Loss of Namur.
June 1697: French forces besieged the city of Ath in present-day Belgium. The siege ended with the city falling under French military occupation.
1.4.2.Peace of Ryswick
Were a series of treaties that ended the Nine Years' War.
September 1697: Peace of Ryswick (1697): France kept Strasbourg but returned Freiburg, Breisach, Philippsburg and the Duchy of Lorraine to the Holy Roman Empire.
Was a war that saw Spain fighting against England-Scotland and the Netherlands.
August 1626: Siege of Oldenzaal, wich eventually fell to the Dutch forces.
August 1627: Siege of Groenlo.
September 1629: The Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch in 1629 was led by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, against the Spanish-held city of 's-Hertogenbosch. The successful siege resulted in the city's surrender and its territory being annexed by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
2.1.Treaty of Madrid
Was the treaty that ended the Anglo-Spanish War (1625-1630).
November 1630: The Treaty of Madrid was signed in 1630 between the Dutch Republic and Spain, ending the Eighty Years' War. The treaty restored the status quo ante bellum, returning the territory to the Spanish Netherlands.
Was a war between the Kingdom of Spains and the Commonwealth of England caused by commercial rivalry.
3.1.Low Countries Theatre of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654-60)
Was the Low Countries Theatre of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654-1660).
September 1657: Mardyck was captured and garrisoned by Commonwealth troops.
Was a war between France and Spain. The French armies of Louis XIV occupied the Franche-Comté and large parts of the Spanish Netherlands.
4.1.Front of Flanders (War of Devolution)
Was the theatre of war in the Flanders of the War of Devolution.
July 1667: During the War of Devolution, French military leader Marquis de Rochebaron captured the cities of Tournai, Kortrijk, and Oudenaarde in 1667 as part of France's military occupation of the territory.
September 1667: On 12 September, Turenne captured Aalst.
4.2.France Comté Front (War of Devolution)
Was the theatre of war in the Franche-Comté of the War of Devolution.
February 1668: Besançon and Salins-les-Bains surrendered to French forces.
February 1668: Gray conquered by france.
4.3.Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)
Was the treaty that ended the War of Devolution. France returned much of his gains.
May 1669: With the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), France returned the province of Franche-Comté to Spain.
May 1669: By the terms of theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), Louis XIV returned three cities (Cambrai, Aire, and Saint-Omer) to Spain.
May 1669: At the end of the War of Devolution France kept Armentières, Bergues, Charleroi, Courtrai, Douai, Furnes, Lille, Oudenarde, and Tournai.
Was a war between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic.
August 1674: In Northern Europe, the French under the command of King Louis XIV recaptured the Franche-Comté by July 1674. This territory was previously under Spanish control and was strategically important for France's military expansion in the region.
March 1676: The French captured Ypres and Ghent in early March.
5.1.French invasion of the Dutch Republic
Was the French invasion of the Dutch Republic during the Franco-Dutch War.
June 1672: French forces conquer Burick.
December 1673: Münster and Cologne left the war in November. With the war expanding into the Rhineland and Spain, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.
5.2.Peace of Nijmegen
Were a series of treaties that ended various interconnected wars, notably the Franco-Dutch War.
January 1678: Valenciennes was formally ceded to France in the Peace of Nijmegen.
August 1678: With the Peace of Nijmegen France gained further territories of the Spanish Netherlands, adding to those it had annexed under the 1659 Peace of the Pyrenees and 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. These included the town of Saint-Omer with the remaining northwestern part of the former Imperial County of Artois, the lands of Cassel, Aire and Ypres in southwestern Flanders, the Bishopric of Cambrai and the towns of Valenciennes and Maubeuge in the southern County of Hainaut.
August 1678: France returned Charleroi, Ghent and other towns to the Spanish Netherlands.
September 1678: By the Treaty of Nijmegen of 1678, Spain relinquished Cambrai, which has remained as a part of France, to this day.
September 1678: Peace of Nijmegen
Was a conflict between France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire caused by Louis XIV's determination to establish defensible boundaries along France's northern and eastern borders.
November 1683: A French army under the Duke of Humières surrounded the town of Courtrai on the night of 3-4 November 1683.
November 1683: The fortress at Courtrai fell to French forces on 6 November 1683.
November 1683: In 1683, during the War of the Reunions, French Marshal François de Créquy led the military occupation of Dixmude. The city surrendered to French forces under the command of Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, without resistance.
April 1684: Siege of Luxembourg by the French army.
June 1684: Siege of Luxembourg by the French army.
The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Philip of Anjou and Charles of Austria, and their respective supporters. It was a global war, with fighting taking place in Europe, Asia, and America. At the end of the war, Philip II, who was the successor chosen by Charles II as a descendant of Charles' paternal half-sister Maria Theresa, became King of Spain and of its overseas empire. The Spanish possessions in Europe were partitioned between various European Monarchies.
7.1.French campaign in Spanish possessions
Were a seris of French military actions to occupy Spanish possession in order to support the Spanish king (who was a grandchild of the French King Louis XIV).
January 1702: Helped by the Viceroy, Max Emanuel of Bavaria, French troops replaced Dutch garrisons in the 'Barrier' fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands, granted at Ryswick.
January 1569: In 1568, the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands fell under Spanish control during the Eighty Years' War.
January 1577: Hoorn is acquired by the Bishopric of Liège.
January 1597: Henry IV of France confirmed Montluc in his position as governor of Cambrai in 1594. However, this was very unpopular, so that the citizens handed over their city to the Spaniards just two years later.
January 1610: Evolution of the border between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands before the Thirty Year's War.
January 1630: In 1629, during the Eighty Years' War, Eindhoven was captured by the Dutch Republic under the leadership of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.
Disestablishment
January 1702: Helped by the Viceroy, Max Emanuel of Bavaria, French troops replaced Dutch garrisons in the 'Barrier' fortresses in the Spanish Netherlands, granted at Ryswick.
Selected Sources
Johannes Arndt: Der Dreißigjährige Krieg 1618–1648. Reclam Sachbuch, Stuttgart 2009, S. 81–84.
Panhuysen, L. (2009): Rampjaar 1672: Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte, Uitgeverij Atlas
Schmiele, E. (1887): Zur Geschichte des schwedisch-polnischen Krieges von 1655 bis 1660, Berlin (Germany), p. 5
Treaty of Ryswick (English version), https://bonoc.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/tratado-ryswick.pdf
Zeller, O. (2024): La Bresse et le pouvoir: Le Papier journal de Jean Corton, syndic du tiers état (1641-1643), Dijon (France), p. 12
Spanish Netherlands
