INTRODUCTION

In June 1575 Holland and Zeeland concluded a closer union, which not only strengthened the co-operation between the two provinces but also enlarged the authority of William of Orange. In retrospect the 1575 union should be regarded as an important step on the road to independence. In October 1575 the States of Holland were already discussing a proposition to abjure Philip II. Although the idea was certainly not supported unequivocally, offers of sovereignty in return for military support were made to Queen Elizabeth in November 1575 and to the Duke of Anjou in May 1576. Eventually the contacts with Anjou led to the treaty of 13 August 1578, which awarded the duke the title of ‘Defender of liberty against the tyranny of the Spanish and their allies’ and which promised that, if the States should abjure Philip II, Anjou was their first choice as successor. The threat to deprive Philip II of his political authority was expressed in public during the Cologne peace negotiations. On 4 July 1579 the States' deputies announced that if Philip II did not accede to the demands of the States, the latter would ‘proceed to the act of privation, by which they will declare that the king is fallen out of all rule, authority and seigniory’. With the Act of Abjuration, this was effected.

From about 1578 political treatises started to comment on the political course the provinces should adopt.