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Union of Utrecht
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Union of Utrecht
The Union of Utrecht (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht) was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against the king, Philip II of Spain. By joining forces, they hoped to force him to stop his harsh administrative measures. In addition, some important political matters were regulated in areas such as defence, taxation and religion, which is why the treaty in question is also seen as a first version or precursor of a later constitution. The Union of Utrecht complemented the so-called General Union of 1576, established by the Pacification of Ghent, which is why it is also referred to as the Further Union.
The signing of the treaty for the Union of Utrecht, during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), was preceded by a whole series of unions, edicts and covenants. At the Union of Dordrecht, on 4 July 1575, William of Orange was appointed stadholder of Holland and Holland and Zeeland decided to cooperate. These areas – except for Amsterdam and Middelburg, among others – were largely free of Spanish troops in the years 1572–1576, and there leaders with the Calvinist faith gained the upper hand. The Spanish sack of Antwerp on 4 November 1576, in which Spanish troops looted and reduced the city to ashes and killed thousands of citizens, caused a stir in the Netherlands. The States of Holland, the States of Zeeland and the other regions, which were predominantly Catholic, reconciled on 8 November with the Pacification of Ghent in their aversion to the Spanish presence. They declared at the Pacification that they would cooperate in resisting interventions by King Philip II but remain obedient to him. There was no final settlement of the religious issue. For the time being, the Calvinist religion would be leading in Holland and Zeeland, the Catholic religion in the other regions, but religious peace would be sought in all regions.
In Holland and Zeeland, however, Calvinists took little notice of the agreements. And returning Calvinist exiles who had once fled from Alva sometimes caused serious religious disturbances in the then church- and king-faithful regions outside Holland and Zeeland after 1576.
The agreements of the Pacification of Ghent were confirmed at the first Union of Brussels on 6 January 1577, by which the regions wanted to force the new governor Don Juan of Austria to recognise the Pacification; the Spanish soldiers were to leave the country and the regions themselves would take care of maintaining Catholicism, much against the wishes of the Calvinists. The governor finally agreed by signing the Eternal Edict on 12 February, after which Spanish troops began to withdraw, largely to the Duchy of Luxembourg, which had always remained royalist. That same month, William of Orange urged Guelders to "form a good, firm alliance and bond in private with those of Holland and Zeeland, as well as other provinces with some of the leading lords and nobles." Rather than break the Pacification, the prince wanted to raise a second line of defence in a ‘further union’. The concept of the Union of Utrecht was already contained in this proposal to Gelre. However, the predominantly Catholic Gelre saw little point in it; it did not want to depend on intransigent, Calvinist Holland for a possible reconciliation with the king.
The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Twelve Years' Truce in 1609.
The treaty was signed on 23 January by Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht (but not all of Utrecht), and the province (but not the city) of Groningen. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the 1579 Union of Arras (Dutch: Unie van Atrecht), in which two southern provinces and a city declared their support for Roman Catholic Spain.
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). In the summer of 1579, Amersfoort from the province of Utrecht also joined, together with Ypres, Antwerp, Breda and Brussels. In February 1580, Lier, Bruges and the surrounding area also signed the treaty. The city of Groningen shifted in favor under influence of the stadtholder for Friesland, George van Rennenberg, and also signed the treaty. The fourth quarter of Guelders, Upper Guelders, never signed the treaty. In April 1580, Overijssel and Drenthe signed on.
The parts of the Low Countries that joined:
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Union of Utrecht
The Union of Utrecht (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht) was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against the king, Philip II of Spain. By joining forces, they hoped to force him to stop his harsh administrative measures. In addition, some important political matters were regulated in areas such as defence, taxation and religion, which is why the treaty in question is also seen as a first version or precursor of a later constitution. The Union of Utrecht complemented the so-called General Union of 1576, established by the Pacification of Ghent, which is why it is also referred to as the Further Union.
The signing of the treaty for the Union of Utrecht, during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), was preceded by a whole series of unions, edicts and covenants. At the Union of Dordrecht, on 4 July 1575, William of Orange was appointed stadholder of Holland and Holland and Zeeland decided to cooperate. These areas – except for Amsterdam and Middelburg, among others – were largely free of Spanish troops in the years 1572–1576, and there leaders with the Calvinist faith gained the upper hand. The Spanish sack of Antwerp on 4 November 1576, in which Spanish troops looted and reduced the city to ashes and killed thousands of citizens, caused a stir in the Netherlands. The States of Holland, the States of Zeeland and the other regions, which were predominantly Catholic, reconciled on 8 November with the Pacification of Ghent in their aversion to the Spanish presence. They declared at the Pacification that they would cooperate in resisting interventions by King Philip II but remain obedient to him. There was no final settlement of the religious issue. For the time being, the Calvinist religion would be leading in Holland and Zeeland, the Catholic religion in the other regions, but religious peace would be sought in all regions.
In Holland and Zeeland, however, Calvinists took little notice of the agreements. And returning Calvinist exiles who had once fled from Alva sometimes caused serious religious disturbances in the then church- and king-faithful regions outside Holland and Zeeland after 1576.
The agreements of the Pacification of Ghent were confirmed at the first Union of Brussels on 6 January 1577, by which the regions wanted to force the new governor Don Juan of Austria to recognise the Pacification; the Spanish soldiers were to leave the country and the regions themselves would take care of maintaining Catholicism, much against the wishes of the Calvinists. The governor finally agreed by signing the Eternal Edict on 12 February, after which Spanish troops began to withdraw, largely to the Duchy of Luxembourg, which had always remained royalist. That same month, William of Orange urged Guelders to "form a good, firm alliance and bond in private with those of Holland and Zeeland, as well as other provinces with some of the leading lords and nobles." Rather than break the Pacification, the prince wanted to raise a second line of defence in a ‘further union’. The concept of the Union of Utrecht was already contained in this proposal to Gelre. However, the predominantly Catholic Gelre saw little point in it; it did not want to depend on intransigent, Calvinist Holland for a possible reconciliation with the king.
The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Twelve Years' Truce in 1609.
The treaty was signed on 23 January by Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht (but not all of Utrecht), and the province (but not the city) of Groningen. The treaty was a reaction of the Protestant provinces to the 1579 Union of Arras (Dutch: Unie van Atrecht), in which two southern provinces and a city declared their support for Roman Catholic Spain.
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). In the summer of 1579, Amersfoort from the province of Utrecht also joined, together with Ypres, Antwerp, Breda and Brussels. In February 1580, Lier, Bruges and the surrounding area also signed the treaty. The city of Groningen shifted in favor under influence of the stadtholder for Friesland, George van Rennenberg, and also signed the treaty. The fourth quarter of Guelders, Upper Guelders, never signed the treaty. In April 1580, Overijssel and Drenthe signed on.
The parts of the Low Countries that joined: