Origins of the Eighty Years' War

The origins of the Eighty Years' War are complicated, and have been a source of disputes amongst historians for centuries.^[1]

The Habsburg Netherlands emerged as a result of the territorial expansion of the Burgundian State in the 14th and 15th centuries. Upon extinction of the Burgundian State in 1477/82, these lands were inherited by the House of Habsburg, whose Charles V became both King of Spain^[a] and Holy Roman Emperor. While conquering and incorporating the rest of what would become the "Seventeen Provinces" during the Guelders Wars (1502–1543), and seeking to forge and centralise these disparate regions into one political entity, Charles aspired to counter the Protestant Reformation and keep all his subjects obedient to the Catholic Church.

King Philip II of Spain, in his capacity as sovereign of Habsburg Netherlands, continued the anti-heresy and centralisation policies of his father Charles V. This caused growing resistance among the moderate nobility and population (both Catholic and dissenting) of the Netherlands.^[b] This mood of resistance first led to peaceful protests (as from the Compromise of Nobles), but in the summer of 1566 erupted in violent protests by Calvinists, known as the iconoclastic fury, or (Dutch: Beeldenstorm) across the Netherlands. The Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, Margaret of Parma, as well as authorities at lower levels, feared insurrection and made further concessions to the Calvinists, such as designating certain churches for Calvinist worship, but in December 1566 and early 1567 the first battles between Calvinist rebels and Habsburg governmental forces had taken place, commencing what would become known as the Eighty Years' War.^[2]

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