The Pursuit of Dominance by Christopher J. Fettweis

Author:Christopher J. Fettweis
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Armada

On October 29, 1566, the new king convened a meeting of his senior aides to discuss an evolving new issue. The security situation in one of his most important colonies, the Low Countries of modern-day Netherlands and Belgium, was rapidly deteriorating. A bad harvest in 1565 had led to widespread hunger, and the people were bristling under new taxes levied by the king. Calvinist preachers had whipped the peasantry into frenzies of iconoclasm and looting. The destruction of religious imagery and art, known to the Dutch as the Beeldenstorm, or “statue storm,” was a direct challenge to the Habsburg leadership in Madrid. Like his father, Philip considered himself the great protector of the Catholic faith, Christ’s warrior on Earth, and he could hardly be expected to ignore heretic vandalism of holy sites. Local nobility could not, or would not, rein in the rioters.

Present at this Council of State were two of the king’s favorites, the longtime rivals Duke of Alba and Prince of Eboli. Alba and Eboli often pulled the king in opposite directions, and did so again in this case. The former felt that the time for patient negotiation had passed and urged an immediate military response.49 The people of the Low Countries needed to be shown the error of their ways, thought Alba, and deserved the kind of message that only concentrated imperial power could send. The rest of the empire was watching, which meant that vacillation or delay would be interpreted as weakness and would encourage further challenge. As Alba’s allies had noted in the months leading up to the meeting, “All Italy is plainly saying that if the troubles in the Netherlands continue, Milan and Naples will follow.” A statement from the Council of State in September had expressed a similar opinion: “If the Netherlands situation is not remedied, it will bring about the loss of Spain and all of the rest.”50

It surprised no one that Eboli disagreed. The prince, who had a reputation as a dove, proposed a smaller response that would involve a light military footprint and perhaps a royal visit to spark a reconciliation. Eboli recommended détente, and felt that extensive repression was likely to make the situation worse. He urged Philip to send a senior emissary to make one more effort at reconciliation, perhaps bringing promises of religious freedom and respect for local customs.

The meeting went late into the night. The king eventually cut off discussion as tempers flared, and announced his decision the next morning: he sided with Alba and ordered a punitive force of ten thousand men under the duke’s command to set off for the Low Countries immediately, before the winter snows blocked their route.51 Alba was one of the foremost military officers in Europe, having for decades led Spanish armies against the French and other enemies various and sundry. He soon sallied forth, with instructions to put an end to Dutch insubordination. And end it he did. Opposition, which was not widespread, quickly collapsed in front of the Spanish troops.

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