Eighty Years' War - Causes of The War

Causes of The War

In the decades leading to the war, the Dutch had become increasingly discontented with Habsburg rule. A major cause of Dutch discontent was the heavy level of taxation the population was required to pay, while support and guidance from the government was hampered by the size of the empire. At that time the Seventeen Provinces were known in the Habsburg empire as De landen van herwaarts over, and in French Les pays de par deça ("those lands around there"). In practice this meant that the Dutch provinces were being continually criticized for acting without permission from the throne, while the latter was not practical since any request for permission sent to the throne would take at least four weeks for a response to return. This unrest was further amplified by the presence of Spanish troops brought in to oversee the order in these provinces.

While Spain maintained a policy of strict religious uniformity within the Roman Catholic Church, enforced by the Inquisition, a number of Protestant denominations gained ground in the Seventeen Provinces. The Lutheran movement of Martin Luther, the Anabaptist movement of the Dutch reformer Menno Simons, and the Reformed teachings of John Calvin all gained followers by the middle of the 16th century. This led to the Beeldenstorm, or "Iconoclastic Fury", in 1566, in which hundreds of churches were stripped of statuary and other religious decoration.