History of Holland | Page 4

the
Duchess Elizabeth of Görlitz, who had married in second wedlock
Anthony, Duke of Brabant, and afterwards John of Bavaria, but who
had no children by either of her marriages. Thus in 1443 Philip had
become by one means or another sovereign under various titles of the
largest and most important part of the Netherlands, and he increased his
influence by securing in 1456 the election of his illegitimate son David,
as Bishop of Utrecht. Thus a great step forward had been taken for the
restoration of the middle kingdom, which had been the dream of Philip
the Hardy, and which now seemed to be well-nigh on the point of
accomplishment.
The year 1433, the date of the incorporation of Holland and Zeeland in
the Burgundian dominion, is therefore a convenient starting-point for a
consideration of the character of the Burgundian rule in the Netherlands,
and of the changes which the concentration of sovereign power in the
hands of a single ruler brought into the relations of the various
provinces with one another and into their internal administration. The
Netherlands become now for the first time something more than a
geographical expression for a number of petty feudal states, practically
independent and almost always at strife. Henceforward there was peace;
and throughout the whole of this northern part of his domains it was the
constant policy of Philip gradually to abolish provincialism and to
establish a centralised government. He was far too wise a statesman to
attempt to abolish suddenly or arbitrarily the various rights and

privileges, which the Flemings, Brabanters and Hollanders had wrung
from their sovereigns, and to which they were deeply attached; but,
while respecting these, he endeavoured to restrict them as far as
possible to local usage, and to centralise the general administration of
the whole of the "pays de par deçà" (as the Burgundian dukes were
accustomed to name their Netherland dominions) by the summoning of
representatives of the Provincial States to an assembly styled the
States-General, and by the creation of a common Court of Appeal.
The first time the States-General were called together by Philip was in
1465 for the purpose of obtaining a loan for the war with France and
the recognition of his son Charles as his successor; and from this time
forward at irregular intervals, but with increasing frequency, the
practice of summoning this body went on. The States-General (in a
sense) represented the Netherlands as a whole; and it was a matter of
great convenience for the sovereign, especially when large levies of
money had to be raised, to be enabled thus to bring his proposals before
a single assembly, instead of before a number of separate and
independent provincial states. Nevertheless, it must be borne in mind
that the States-General had, as such, no authority to act on behalf of
these several provincial states. Each of these sent their deputies to the
General Assembly, but these deputies had to refer all matters to their
principals before they could give their assent, and each body of
deputies gave this assent separately, and without regard to the others. It
was thus but a first provisional step towards unity of administration, but
it did tend to promote a feeling of community of interests between the
provinces and to lead to the deputies having intercourse with one
another and interchanging their views upon the various important
subjects that were brought before their consideration. The period of
disturbance and the weakening of the authority of the sovereign, which
followed the death of Charles the Bold, led to the States-General
obtaining a position of increased importance; and they may from that
time be regarded as forming a regular and necessary part of the
machinery of government in the Burgundian Netherlands. The
States-General however, like the Provincial States, could only meet
when summoned by the sovereign or his stadholder; and the causes for
which they were summoned were such special occasions as the

accession of a new sovereign or the appointment of a new stadholder,
or more usually for sanctioning the requests for levies of money, which
were required for the maintenance of splendid courts and the cost of
frequent wars. For not only the Burgundian princes properly so-called,
but even Charles V, had mainly to depend upon the wealth of the
Netherlands for their financial needs. And here a distinction must be
drawn. For solemn occasions, such as the accession of a new sovereign,
or the acceptance of a newly appointed governor, representatives of all
the provinces (eventually seventeen) were summoned, but for ordinary
meetings for the purpose of money levies only those of the so-called
patrimonial or old Burgundian provinces came together. The demands
for tribute on the provinces acquired later, such as Gelderland,
Groningen, Friesland and Overyssel, were made to each of these
provinces