History of Holland | Page 3

the brothers De Witt, 1672 251-257
XVIII. The Stadholderate of William III, 1672-1688 258-273
XIX. The King-Stadholder, 1688-1702 274-284
XX. The War of the Spanish Succession and the Treaties of Utrecht,
1702-1715 285-297
XXI. The Stadholderless Republic, 1715-1740 298-305
XXII. The Austrian Succession War and William IV, 1740-1751
306-315
XXIII. The Regency of Anne and of Brunswick, 1751-1766 316-320
XXIV. William V. First Period, 1766-1780 321-326
XXV. Stadholderate of William V (continued), 1780-1788. The
English War. Patriot Movement. Civil War. Prussian Intervention
327-336
XXVI. The Orange Restoration. Downfall of the Republic, 1788-1795
337-343

XXVII. The Batavian Republic, 1795-1806 344-356
XXVIII. The Kingdom of Holland and the French Annexation,
1806-1814 357-366
XXIX. The Formation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 1814-1815
367-375
XXX. The Kingdom of the Netherlands--Union of Holland and
Belgium, 1815-1830 376-388
XXXI. The Belgian Revolution. The Separation of Holland and
Belgium, 1830-1842 389-404
XXXII. William I abdicates. Reign of William II. Revision of the
Constitution, 1842-1849 405-410
XXXIII. Reign of William III to the death of Thorbecke, 1849-1872
411-418
XXXIV. The later reign of William III, and the Regency of Queen
Emma, 1872-1898 419-425
XXXV. The Reign of Queen Wilhelmina, 1898-1917 426-428
EPILOGUE 429-432
BIBLIOGRAPHY 433-444
INDEX 445-464
MAPS
THE NETHERLANDS, about 1550 THE NETHERLANDS, after
1648 AFTER p. 444
CHAPTER I
THE BURGUNDIAN NETHERLANDS

The last duke of the ancient Capetian house of Burgundy dying in 1361
without heirs male, the duchy fell into the possession of the French
crown, and was by King John II bestowed upon his youngest son,
Philip the Hardy, Duke of Touraine, as a reward, it is said, for the
valour he displayed in the battle of Poictiers. The county of Burgundy,
generally known as Franche-Comté, was not included in this donation,
for it was an imperial fief; and it fell by inheritance in the female line to
Margaret, dowager Countess of Flanders, widow of Count Louis II,
who was killed at Crécy. The duchy and the county were soon,
however, to be re-united, for Philip married Margaret, daughter and
heiress of Louis de Male, Count of Flanders, and granddaughter of the
above-named Margaret. In right of his wife he became, on the death of
Louis de Male in 1384, the ruler of Flanders, Mechlin, Artois, Nevers
and Franche-Comté. Thus the foundation was laid of a great territorial
domain between France and Germany, and Philip the Hardy seems
from the first to have been possessed by the ambitious design of
working for the restoration of a powerful middle kingdom, which
should embrace the territories assigned to Lothaire in the tripartite
division of the Carolingian empire by the treaty of Verdun (843). For
this he worked ceaselessly during his long reign of forty years, and
with singular ability and courage. Before his death he had by the
splendour of his court, his wealth and his successes in arms and
diplomacy, come to be recognised as a sovereign of great weight and
influence, in all but name a king. The Burgundian policy and tradition,
which he established, found in his successors John the Fearless
(murdered in 1419) and John's son, Philip the Good, men of like
character and filled with the same ambitions as himself. The double
marriage of John with Margaret, the sister of William VI of Holland,
and of William VI with Margaret of Burgundy, largely helped forward
their projects of aggrandisement. Philip the Good was, however, a
much abler ruler than his father, a far-seeing statesman, who pursued
his plans with a patient and unscrupulous pertinacity, of which a
conspicuous example is to be found in his long protracted struggle with
his cousin Jacoba, the only child and heiress of William of Holland,
whose misfortunes and courage have made her one of the most
romantic figures of history. By a mixture of force and intrigue Philip, in
1433, at last compelled Jacoba to abdicate, and he became Count of

Holland, Zeeland and Hainault. Nor was this by any means the end of
his acquisitions. Joanna, Duchess of Brabant (1355-1404) in her own
right, was aunt on the mother's side to Margaret of Flanders, wife of
Philip the Hardy. Dying without heirs, she bequeathed Brabant,
Limburg and Antwerp to her great-nephew, Anthony of Burgundy,
younger brother of John the Fearless. Anthony was killed at Agincourt
and was succeeded first by his son John IV, the husband of Jacoba of
Holland, and on his death without an heir in 1427, by his second son,
Philip of St Pol, who also died childless in 1430. From him his cousin
Philip the Good inherited the duchies of Brabant and Limburg and the
marquisate of Antwerp. Already he had purchased in 1421 the territory
of Namur from the last Count John III, who had fallen into heavy debt;
and in 1443 he likewise purchased the duchy of Luxemburg from