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First page of the Oath of Abjuration
First page of the Oath of Abjuration

The Oath of Abjuration or Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, signed on July 26, 1581, was the formal declaration of independence of the northern Low Countries from the Spanish king, Philip II. Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus This article is about declarations of independence in general The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 This act followed the Union of Utrecht. The Union of Utrecht (Unie van Utrecht is a treaty signed on January 23, 1579 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, unifying the northern Provinces

Contents

Background

The Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands had only been united in a personal union by Charles V with the incorporation of the duchy of Guelders in his Burgundian territories in 1544, and been constituted as a separate entity with his Pragmatic Sanction of 1549. The Seventeen Provinces were a Personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century roughly covering the current Netherlands The Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole Low Countries from 1482 to 1556/1581 and solely the Southern Netherlands from 1581 to 1794 Charles V (24 February 1500 &ndash 21 September 1558 was This article deals with the historical county and duchy of Guelders for other meanings see Gelderland. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 was an Edict, promulgated by Charles V Holy Roman Emperor, reorganizing the Seventeen Provinces. His son Philip II of Spain became overlord of these provinces on Charles's abdication in 1555. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 But this actually meant that he assumed the feudal title of each individual province, like Duke of Brabant, or Count of Holland. The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Counts of Holland ruled over the county of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century There never was a single, unified Netherlands state, though the provinces had been represented by a States-General of the Netherlands since the Great Charter or Privilege of Mary of Burgundy of 10 February 1477. The States-General ( Staten-Generaal) is the Parliament of the Netherlands. Mary, called Mary the Rich ( 13 February, 1457 &ndash With the Dutch Revolt a number of these provinces rose against Philip. The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries At first they pretended just to have revolted against his viceroys, successively Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens, John of Austria, and Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, while their self-appointed Stadtholders continued to pretend they represented Philip. Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel 3rd Duke of Alba (Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel tercer duque de Alba ( October 29, Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens ( Barcelona, 1528 — Brussels, March 5, 1576) Spanish governor of The Netherlands, had the Alexander Farnese ( Italian: Alessandro Farnese, Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio, ( August 27 1545 &ndash A Stadtholder ( Dutch: stadhouder, " steward " or literally "place-keeper" or "stead-holder" in older Dutch in the Low This pretense was wearing thin, however, by the time of the Pacification of Ghent of 1576. The Pacification of Ghent, signed on November 8, 1576, was an alliance of the provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands for the purpose of driving mutinying When Don Juan attacked Antwerp and Namur in 1577 the States-General, in like manner as the non-royalist stadtholders, appointed archduke Matthias, Philip's nephew, as viceroy, without Philip's consent[1]. Matthias ( February 24 1557 - March 20 1619) of the House of Habsburg reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1612-1619 Matthias was young and inexperienced. He had the added disadvantage that he did not bring his own resources in the battle with Philip. This became a serious problem, after Parma started to make serious inroads against the tenuous unity of the Pacification with his Union of Arras of a number of southern Provinces, which the rebellious northern provinces answered with their own Union of Utrecht, both in 1579. The People of Arras (Dutch Atrecht) was an accord signed on January 6, 1579 in Arras ( Atrecht) under which the southern states The Union of Utrecht (Unie van Utrecht is a treaty signed on January 23, 1579 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, unifying the northern Provinces William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch Revolt, therefore decided that the rebellious Netherlands should look for an overlord who could bring useful foreign allies. William I Prince of Orange ( April 24 1533 — July 10 1584) also widely known as William the Silent (Willem de Zwijger or simply François, Duke of Anjou was such a man. Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 He did not wish to be someone else's viceroy, especially not of the Habsburg king. The States-General[2] therefore offered him the sovereignty of the Netherlands, which he accepted by the Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours. The Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours was signed on September 29, 1580 between the Dutch Staten Generaal (with the exception of Zeeland and Holland (Meanwhile, Matthias was bought off with a generous annuity).

Oath of Abjuration

This, however, presented a problem: the magistrates of the cities and rural areas, and the provincial states themselves, had sworn allegiance to Philip. People took oaths of allegiance seriously in those days. As long as the conflict with Philips could be glossed over these magistrates could pretend to remain loyal to the king, but if a new sovereign was recognized, they had to make a choice. The rebellious States-General decided on 14 june 1581 to officially declare the throne vacant[3], because of Philip's behavior (hence the Dutch name for the Act of Abjuration: "Plakkaat van Verlatinghe", which may be translated as "Placard[4] of Desertion. Abjuration is the solemn repudiation abandonment or renunciation by or upon Oath, often the renunciation of Citizenship or some other Right or Privilege " To be sure, not "desertion" of Philip by his subjects, but, on the contrary, previous desertion of the Dutch "flock" by their malevolent "shepherd" Philip).

A committee of four members: Andries Hessels, greffier (secretary) of the States of Brabant; Jacques Tayaert, pensionary of the city of Ghent; Jacob Valcke, pensionary of the city of Ter Goes (now Goes); and Pieter van Dieven (also known as Petrus Divaeus), pensionary of the city of Mechelen, was charged with drafting what was to become the Act of Abjuration[5]. The States of Brabant were the representation of the three estates: Nobility Clergy and Commons to the court of the Duke of Brabant. A pensionary was a name given to the leading functionary and legal adviser of the principal town corporations in the Netherlands because they received a Salary, or Ghent (ˈɡɛnt Gent ʝɛnt in Dutch, Gand in French, and formerly Gaunt in English) is a City and a Goes ( is a Municipality and a City in the southwestern Netherlands, in Zuid-Beveland. Mechelen ( Mechlin in English is a Dutch-speaking city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. The Act prohibited the use of the name and seal of Philip in all legal matters, and of his name or arms in minting coins. It gave authority to the Councils of the provinces to henceforth issue the commissions of magistrates. The Act relieved all magistrates of their previous oaths of allegiance to Philip, and prescribed a new oath of allegiance to the States of the province in which they served, according to a form prescribed by the States-General[6]. The actual draft seems to have been written by the audiencier[7] of the States-General, Jan van Asseliers[8].

The Act was remarkable because of its extensive Preamble, which took the form of an ideological justification, phrased as an indictment (a detailed list of grievances) of king Philip. This form, which is strikingly similar to that of the American Declaration of Independence, has often given rise to speculations that the latter was at least inspired by the Act of Abjuration. The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4 1776 announcing that the thirteen American colonies then [9][10]

The Preamble was based on Vindiciae contra tyrannos by Philippe de Mornay, and other works of monarchomachs may have been sources of inspiration also. Vindiciae contra tyrannos (meaning "A defence of liberty against tyrants" was an influential Huguenot tract published in Basel in 1579 Philippe de Mornay ( November 5, 1549 &ndash November 11, 1623) seigneur du Plessis Marly usually known as Du-Plessis-Mornay or Mornay Du Plessis The Monarchomachs (Monarchomaques were originally French Huguenots theorists who opposed Absolute monarchy at the end of the 16th century known [11] The rebels, in their appeal to public opinion, may have thought it more important to quote "authoritative" sources and refer to "ancient rights" they wished to defend. By deposing a ruler for having violated the Social Contract with his subjects, they were the first to apply the theoretical ideas that two hundred years later would ultimately form the basis for the American Declaration of Independence.

Aftermath

Many magistrates refused to take the oath and preferred to resign from their offices. The oath therefore had the (unintended?) consequence of bringing about a wholesale change in the political makeup of many rebellious cities in the Netherlands, strengthening the radicals. Philip, of course, did not recognize the Act, nor the sovereignty of the Duke of Anjou[12]. The Duke himself was not satisfied with his limited powers and he made an attempt to subject a number of cities, among which Antwerp, in what became known as the French Fury. The French Fury was a failed attempt by François Duke of Anjou to conquer the city of Antwerp by surprise on January 17 1583. This caused the States-General to start looking for a different sovereign. After a first attempt to interest Elizabeth I of England in assuming sovereignty did not succeed, William the Silent was asked to assume the "vacant" title of Count of Holland, but he was assassinated in 1584, before the arrangements could be finalized. After the Treaty of Nonsuch Elizabeth agreed to send aid to the Dutch rebels after all, without, however, assuming sovereignty. The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed by Elizabeth I of England and the Netherlands on August 20, 1585 at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey Under the provisions of the treaty Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was appointed Governor-General of the Netherlands. Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester ( 24 June 1532 /1533 &ndash 4 September 1588) was the long standing Favourite of Elizabeth However, like the "reign" of the Duke of Anjou, this proved to be a disappointment. After Leicester's departure in 1587 the States-General decided to assume sovereignty themselves, thereby making the seven[13]United Provinces a republic.

Provinces

In the declaration, these provinces are mentioned (in order of appearance):

The provinces of Groningen and Overijssel (which included Drenthe) also seceded but are not separately mentioned as they strictly speaking were not separate entities but parts of Gelre and Utrecht, respectively. The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. This article deals with the historical county and duchy of Guelders for other meanings see Gelderland. The County of Flanders was a historical region in the Low Countries. Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. A maritime and economic power in the 17th century Holland today consists of the Dutch provinces of Zeeland ( also called Zealand in English and Zeelandic, is a province of the Netherlands. Friesland ( West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known Mechelen ( Mechlin in English is a Dutch-speaking city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium. Utrecht ( ˈyːtrɛxt is the smallest province of the Netherlands, and is located in the center of the country Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. Overijssel (Transiselania is a Province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity

References

  1. ^ There were now two competing viceroys, therefore, whose writ was only recognized in the provinces they controlled.
  2. ^ That is, the States-General made up by the provinces united in the Union of Utrecht. There was a "competing" States-General in the southern provinces. Besides, the two "core" provinces of the Revolt, Holland and Zeeland, remained apart from the offer of sovereignty to Anjou.
  3. ^ Gachard, p. 388
  4. ^ The States-General published their Acts by hanging them up in public places as placards. The name for the means of publication became commingled with the name for the Act itself.
  5. ^ Gachard, p. 388
  6. ^ A close reading of the text of the Act does not show an actual "Oath of Abjuration" as one would expect from the commonly used English expression for the Act; cf. Abjuration is the solemn repudiation abandonment or renunciation by or upon Oath, often the renunciation of Citizenship or some other Right or Privilege the text of the Act in any of the external links.
  7. ^ The official who received petitions to the States-General and drafted its Placards.
  8. ^ Gachard, p. 590; however, see Martin van Gelderen, The Political Thought of the Dutch Revolt, 1555-1590, 1992 Cambridge University Press, p. 150, fn. 143
  9. ^ Stephen E. Lucas (1989). The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence. U. S. National Archives. Retrieved on 2007-12-15. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of
  10. ^ Barbara Wolff. "Was Declaration of Independence inspired by Dutch?", University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998-06-29. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Events 512 - A Solar eclipse is recorded by a monastic chronicler in Ireland. Retrieved on 2007-12-14. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1287 - St Lucia's flood: The Zuider Zee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses killing over 50000 people  
  11. ^ Ger van der Tang, Grondwetsbegrip en grondwetsidee: Notion Et Idee de Constitution, 1998 Kluwer, p. 83
  12. ^ He was quick to react to the affront by outlawing William of Orange and putting a prize on his head
  13. ^ By this time the reconquest of the Southern Netherlands by Parma had removed Flanders, Mechelen, and Brabant as members of the northern Union.

Sources

Gachard, L. P. (1890), Études et notices historiques concernant l'histoire des Pays-Bas

External links

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