Question:
Discuss the causes of the Dutch revolt against Spain. What were the consequences for the emerging power of England?
Answer:
Although the Low Countries possessed no other identity other than fragmented states that were "owned" (or controlled) by the dukes of Burgundy, and therein, when called upon to send delegates to an estates general, the seeds of collaboration were placed. As Phillip II entered the scene with his outright foreign Spanish influence (where he was born and resided), followed by the introduction of Spanish soldiers, governors, and officials, the first currents of revolt began to stir. As the religious wars consumed Europe, the 'invasion' of Philip II aroused rebellious feelings on both political and religious grounds--as the majority of the Netherlanders were Protestant and Phillip and his Spaniards were emphatically Catholic. …
