Dutch Independence
Act of Abjuration, 1581
Toward the end of the Middle Ages, many of the
large cities of the Netherlands had bought or won charters giving them many
rights of freedom, but when Charles V came to the throne of Spain he
disregarded these charters. When Calvinism spread over the Low Countries he
introduced the Inquisition and tried to root it out. Philip II of Spain
increased the persecution. The people rebelled in 1566 and the Duke of Alva
was sent into the country to put down the rebellion. The people elected
William of Orange as their leader, and the Dutch Revolt began. The war lasted
for forty years with varied fortunes. The Prince of Orange was assassinated in
1584, but the struggle went on under his second son, Prince Maurice, a boy of
seventeen. First England and then France came to their aid. Finally in 1609 a
truce was established which ended in the acknowledgment of the provinces in
1648 as one of the provisions of the Treaty of Westphalia.
The declaration given below -- the first in modern times -- brings
forward prominently the great idea that rulers are responsible to the people
and can be deposed by them. The growth of this idea is center of the
development of constitutional and republican government.
Oliver J. Thatcher's introduction.
The States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, to all
whom it may concern, do by these Presents send greeting:
As it is apparent to all that a prince is constituted by God to be ruler of
a people, to defend them from oppression and violence as the shepherd his
sheep; and whereas God did not create the people slaves to their prince, to
obey his commands, whether right or wrong, but rather the prince for the sake
of the subjects (without which he could be no prince), to govern them
according to equity, to love and support them as a father his children or a
shepherd his flock, and even at the hazard of life to defend and preserve
them. And when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them,
seeking opportunities to infringe their ancient customs and privileges,
exacting from them slavish compliance, then he is no longer a prince, but a
tyrant, and the subjects are to consider him in no other view. And
particularly when this is done deliberately, unauthorized by the states, they
may not only disallow his authority, but legally proceed to the choice of
another prince for their defense. This is the only method left for subjects
whose humble petitions and remonstrances could never soften their prince or
dissuade him from his tyrannical proceedings; and this is what the law of
nature dictates for the defense of liberty, which we ought to transmit to
posterity, even at the hazard of our lives. And this we have seen done
frequently in several countries upon the like occasion, whereof there are
notorious instances, and more justifiable in our land, which has been always
governed according to their ancient privileges, which are expressed in the
oath taken by the prince at his admission to the government; for most of the
Provinces receive their prince upon certain conditions, which he swears to
maintain, which, if the prince violates, he is no longer sovereign.
Now thus it was that the king of Spain after the demise of the emperor, his
father, Charles the Fifth, of the glorious memory (of whom he received all
these provinces), forgetting the services done by the subjects of these
countries, both to his father and himself, by whose valor he got so glorious
and memorable victories over his enemies that his name and power became famous
and dreaded over all the world, forgetting also the advice of his said
imperial majesty, made to him before to the contrary, did rather hearken to
the counsel of those Spaniards about him, who had conceived a secret hatred to
this land and to its liberty, because they could not enjoy posts of honor and
high employments here under the states as in Naples, Sicily, Milan and the
Indies, and other countries under the king's dominion. Thus allured by the
riches of the said provinces, wherewith many of them were well acquainted, the
said counselors, we say, or the principal of them, frequently remonstrated to
the king that it was more for his Majesty's reputation and grandeur to subdue
the Low Countries a second time, and to make himself absolute (by which they
mean to tyrannize at pleasure), than to govern according to the restrictions
he had accepted, and at his admission sworn to observe. From that time forward
the king of Spain, following these evil counselors, sought by all means
possible to reduce this country (stripping them of their ancient privileges)
to slavery, under the government of Spaniards having first, under the mask of
religion, endeavored to settle new bishops in the largest and principal
cities, endowing and incorporating them with the richest abbeys, assigning to
each bishop nine canons to assist him as counselors, three whereof should
superintend the inquisition.
By this incorporation the said bishops (who might be strangers as well as
natives) would have had the first place and vote in the assembly of the
states, and always the prince's creatures at devotion; and by the addition of
the said canons he would have introduced the Spanish inquisition, which has
been always as dreadful and detested in these provinces as the worst of
slavery, as is well known, in so much that his imperial majesty, having once
before proposed it to these states, and upon whose remonstrances did desist,
and entirely gave it up, hereby giving proof of the great affection he had for
his subjects. But, notwithstanding the many remonstrances made to the king
both by the provinces and particular towns, in writing as well as by some
principal lords by word of mouth; and, namely, by the Baron of Montigny and
Earl of Egmont, who with the approbation of the Duchess of Parma, then
governess of the Low Countries, by the advice of the council of state were
sent several times to Spain upon this affair. And, although the king had by
fair words given them grounds to hope that their request should be complied
with, yet by his letters he ordered the contrary, soon after expressly
commanding, upon pain of his displeasure, to admit the new bishops
immediately, and put them in possession of their bishoprics and incorporated
abbeys, to hold the court of the inquisition in the places where it had been
before, to obey and follow the decrees and ordinances of the Council of Trent,
which in many articles are destructive of the privileges of the country.
This being come to the knowledge of the people gave just occasion to great
uneasiness and clamor among them, and lessened that good affection they had
always borne toward the king and his predecessors. And, especially, seeing
that he did not only seek to tyrannize over their persons and estates, but
also over their consciences, for which they believed themselves accountable to
God only. Upon this occasion the chief of the nobility in compassion to the
poor people, in the year 1566, exhibited a certain remonstrance in form of a
petition, humbly praying, in order to appease them and prevent public
disturbances, that it would please his majesty (by showing that clemency due
from a good prince to his people) to soften the said points, and especially
with regard to the rigorous inquisition, and capital punishments for matters
of religion. And to inform the king of this affair in a more solemn manner,
and to represent to him how necessary it was for the peace and prosperity of
the public to remove the aforesaid innovations, and moderate the severity of
his declarations published concerning divine worship, the Marquis de Berghen,
and the aforesaid Baron of Montigny had been sent, at the request of the said
lady regent, council of state, and of the states-general as ambassadors to
Spain, where the king, instead of giving them audience, and redress the
grievances they had complained of (which for want of a timely remedy did
always appear in their evil consequences among the common people), did, by the
advice of Spanish council, declare all those who were concerned in preparing
the said remonstrance to be rebels, and guilty of high treason, and to be
punished with death, and confiscation of their estates; and, what is more
(thinking himself well assured of reducing these countries under absolute
tyranny by the army of the Duke of Alva), did soon after imprison and put to
death the said lords the ambassadors, and confiscated their estates, contrary
to the law of nations, which has been always religiously observed even among
the most tyrannic and barbarous princes.
And, although the said disturbances, which in the year 1566 happened on the
aforementioned occasion, were now appeased by the governess and her ministers,
and many friends to liberty were either banished or subdued, in so much that
the king had not any show of reason to use arms and violence, and further
oppress this country, yet for these causes and reasons, long time before
sought by the council of Spain (as appears by intercepted letters from the
Spanish ambassador, Alana, then in France, writ to the Duchess of Parma), to
annul all the privileges of this country, and govern it tyrannically at
pleasure as in the Indies; and in their new conquests he has, at the
instigation of the council of Spain, showing the little regard he had for his
people, so contrary to the duty which a good prince owes to his subjects),
sent the Duke of Alva with a powerful army to oppress this land, who for his
inhuman cruelties is looked upon as one of its greatest enemies, accompanied
with counselors too like himself. And, although he came in without the least
opposition, and was received by the poor subjects with all marks of honor and
clemency, which the king had often hypocritically promised in his letters, and
that himself intended to come in person to give orders to their general
satisfaction, having since the departure of the Duke of Alva equipped a fleet
to carry him from Spain, and another in Zealand to come to meet him at the
great expense of the country, the better to deceive his subjects, and allure
them into the toils, nevertheless the said duke, immediately after his arrival
(though a stranger, and no way related to the royal family), declared that he
had a captain-general's commission, and soon after that of governor of these
provinces, contrary to all its ancient customs and privileges; and, the more
to manifest his designs, he immediately garrisoned the principal towns and
castles, and caused fortresses and citadels to be built in the great cities to
awe them into subjection, and very courteously sent for the chief nobility in
the king's name, under pretense of taking their advice, and to employ them in
the service of their country. And those who believed his letters were seized
and carried out of Brabant, contrary to law, where they were imprisoned and
prosecuted as criminals before him who had no right, nor could be a competent
judge; and at last he, without hearing their defense at large, sentenced them
to death, which was publicly and ignominiously executed.
The others, better acquainted with Spanish hypocrisy, residing in foreign
countries, were declared outlawed, and had their estates confiscated, so that
the poor subjects could make no use of their fortresses nor be assisted by
their princes in defense of their liberty against the violence of the pope;
besides a great number of other gentlemen and substantial citizens, some of
whom were executed, and others banished that their estates might be
confiscated, plaguing the other honest inhabitants, not only by the injuries
done to their wives, children and estates by the Spanish soldiers lodged in
their houses, as likewise by diverse contributions, which they were forced to
pay toward building citadels and new fortifications of towns even to their own
ruin, besides the taxes of the hundredth, twentieth, and tenth penny, to pay
both the foreign and those raised in the country, to be employed against their
fellow-citizens and against those who at the hazard of their lives defended
their liberties. In order to impoverish the subjects, and to incapacitate them
to hinder his design, and that he might with more ease execute the
instructions received in Spain, to treat these countries as new conquests, he
began to alter the course of justice after the Spanish mode, directly contrary
to our privileges; and, imagining at last he had nothing more to fear, he
endeavored by main force to settle a tax called the tenth penny on merchandise
and manufacture, to the total ruin of these countries, the prosperity of which
depends upon a flourishing trade, notwithstanding frequent remonstrances, not
by a single province only, but by all of them united, which he had effected,
had it not been for the Prince of Orange with diverse gentlemen and other
inhabitants, who had followed this prince in his exile, most of whom were in
his pay, and banished by the Duke of Alva with others who between him and the
states of all the provinces, on the contrary sought, by all possible promises
made to the colonels already at his devotion, to gain the German troops, who
were then garrisoned in the principal fortresses and the cities, that by their
assistance he might master them, as he had gained many of them already, and
held them attached to his interest in order, by their assistance, to force
those who would not join with him in making war against the Prince of Orange,
and the provinces of Holland and Zealand, more cruel and bloody than any war
before. But, as no disguises can long conceal our intentions, this project was
discovered before it could be executed; and he, unable to perform his
promises, and instead of that peace so much boasted of at his arrival a new
war kindled, not yet extinguished.
All these considerations give us more than sufficient reason to renounce
the King of Spain, and seek some other powerful and more gracious prince to
take us under his protection; and, more especially, as these countries have
been for these twenty years abandoned to disturbance and oppression by their
king, during which time the inhabitants were not treated as subjects, but
enemies, enslaved forcibly by their own governors.
Having also, after the decease of Don Juan, sufficiently declared by the
Baron de Selles that he would not allow the pacification of Ghent, the which
Don Juan had in his majesty's name sworn to maintain, but daily proposing new
terms of agreement less advantageous. Notwithstanding these discouragements we
used all possible means, by petitions in writing, and the good offices of the
greatest princes in Christendom, to be reconciled to our king, having lastly
maintained for a long time our deputies at the Congress of Cologne, hoping
that the intercession of his imperial majesty and of the electors would
procure an honorable and lasting peace, and some degree of liberty,
particularly relating to religion (which chiefly concerns God and our own
consciences), at last we found by experience that nothing would be obtained of
the king by prayers and treaties, which latter he made use of to divide and
weaken the provinces, that he might the easier execute his plan rigorously, by
subduing them one by one, which afterwards plainly appeared by certain
proclamations and proscriptions published by the king's orders, by virtue of
which we and all officers of the United Provinces with all our friends are
declared rebels and as such to have forfeited our lives and estates. Thus, by
rendering us odious to all, he might interrupt our commerce, likewise reducing
us to despair, offering a great sum to any that would assassinate the Prince
of Orange.
So, having no hope of reconciliation, and finding no other remedy, we have,
agreeable to the law of nature in our own defense, and for maintaining the
rights, privileges, and liberties of our countrymen, wives, and children, and
latest posterity from being enslaved by the Spaniards, been constrained to
renounce allegiance to the King of Spain, and pursue such methods as appear to
us most likely to secure our ancient liberties and privileges. Know all men by
these presents that being reduced to the last extremity, as above mentioned,
we have unanimously and deliberately declared, and do by these presents
declare, that the King of Spain has forfeited, ipso jure, all hereditary right
to the sovereignty of those countries, and are determined from henceforward
not to acknowledge his sovereignty or jurisdiction, nor any act of his
relating to the domains of the Low Countries, nor make use of his name as
prince, nor suffer others to do it. In consequence whereof we also declare all
officers, judges, lords, gentlemen, vassals, and all other the inhabitants of
this country of what condition or quality soever, to be henceforth discharged
from all oaths and obligations whatsoever made to the King of Spain as
sovereign of those countries. And whereas, upon the motives already mentioned,
the greater part of the United Provinces have, by common consent of their
members, submitted to the government and sovereignty of the illustrious Prince
and Duke of Anjou, upon certain conditions stipulated with his highness, and
whereas the most serene Archduke Matthias has resigned the government of these
countries with our approbation, we command and order all justiciaries,
officers, and all whom it may concern, not to make use of the name, titles,
great or privy seal of the King of Spain from henceforward; but in lieu of
them, as long as his highness the Duke of Anjou is absent upon urgent affairs
relating to the welfare of these countries, having so agreed with his highness
or otherwise, they shall provisionally use the name and title of the President
and Council of the Province.
And, until such a president and counselors shall be nominated, assembled,
and act in that capacity, they shall act in our name, except that in Holland
and Zealand where they shall use the name of the Prince of Orange, and of the
states of the said provinces until the aforesaid council shall legally sit,
and then shall conform to the directions of that council agreeable to the
contract made with his highness. And, instead of the king's seal aforesaid,
they shall make use of our great seal, center-seal, and signet, in affairs
relating to the public, according as the said council shall from time to time
be authorized. And in affairs concerning the administration of justice, and
transactions peculiar to each province, the provincial council and other
councils of that country shall use respectively the name, title, and seal of
the said province, where the case is to be tried, and no other, on pain of
having all letters, documents, and despatches annulled. And, for the better
and effectual performance hereof, we have ordered and commanded, and do hereby
order and command, that all the seals of the King of Spain which are in these
United Provinces shall immediately, upon the publication of these presents, be
delivered to the estate of each province respectively, or to such persons as
by the said estates shall be authorized and appointed, upon peril of
discretionary punishment.
Moreover, we order and command that from henceforth no money coined shall
be stamped with the name, title, or arms of the King of Spain in any of these
United Provinces, but that all new gold and silver pieces, with their halfs
and quarters, shall only bear such impressions as the states shall direct. We
order likewise and command the president and other lords of the privy council,
and all other chancellors, presidents, accountants-general, and to others in
all the chambers of accounts respectively in these said countries, and
likewise to all other judges and officers, as we hold them discharged from
henceforth of their oath made to the King of Spain, pursuant to the tenor of
their commission, that they shall take a new oath to the states of that
country on whose jurisdiction they depend, or to commissaries appointed by
them, to be true to us against the King of Spain and all his adherents,
according to the formula of words prepared by the states-general for that
purpose. And we shall give to the said counselors, justiciaries, and officers
employed in these provinces, who have contracted in our name with his highness
the Duke of Anjou, an act to continue them in their respective offices,
instead of new commissions, a clause annulling the former provisionally until
the arrival of his highness. Moreover, to all such counselors, accomptants,
justiciaries, and officers in these Provinces, who have not contracted with
his highness, aforesaid, we shall grant new commissions under our hands and
seals, unless any of the said officers are accused and convicted of having
acted under their former commissions against the liberties and privileges of
this country or of other the like maladministration.
We farther command of the president and members of the privy council,
chancellor of the Duchy of Brabant, also the chancellor of the Duchy of
Guelders, and county of Zutphen, to the president and members of the council
of Holland, to the receivers of great officers of Beoostersheldt and
Bewestersheldt in Zealand, to the president and council of Friese, and to the
Escoulet of Mechelen, to the president and members of the council of Utrecht,
and to all other justiciaries and officers whom it may concern, to the
lieutenants all and every of them, to cause this our ordinance to be published
and proclaimed throughout their respective jurisdictions, in the usual places
appointed for that purpose, that none may plead ignorance. And to cause our
said ordinance to be observed inviolably, punishing the offenders impartially
and without delay; for so it is found expedient for the public good. And, for
better maintaining all and every article hereof, we give to all and every one
of you, by express command, full power and authority. In witness whereof we
have hereunto set our hands and seals, dated in our assembly at the Hague, the
six and twentieth day of July, 1581, indorsed by the orders of the
states-general, and signed J. De Asseliers.
Source.
From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources
(Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. V: 9th to 16th
Centuries, pp. 189-197.