Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/85

73 BURGUNDIAN RULE.] HOLLAND 73 while the Cods declared for John of Lie&quot;ge. Jacoba was granddaughter of Philip of Burgundy, who behaved very ill towards her ; her romantic and sad life has rendered her the most picturesque figure in all the history of Holland ; she struggled long against her powerful kinsfolk, nor did she know happiness till near the end of her life, when she abandoned the unequal strife, and found repose with Francis of Borselen, ruwaard of Holland, her fourth husband. Him Philip the Good of Burgundy craftily seized, and thereby in 1433 Jacoba was compelled to cede her rights over the counties of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Hainault. Consequently, at her death lip of in 143G, as she left no children, Philip seized on all her lands. He already held much of the Nether- ^ lands ; he had inherited Flanders and Artois, had bought Namur, had seized Brabant, with Limburg, Antwerp, and Mechlin ; he now got Holland, Zealand, and Hainault, with a titular lordship over Friesland ; a few years later he be came lord also of Luxembourg. By this incorporation with the possessions of the house of Burgundy, the commercial and artistic life of Holland was quickened, but political liberties suffered; for the rule of the &quot;good duke&quot; was far from being good. It was a time of luxury and show, of pageants and display, of the new and brilliant Order of the Golden Fleece (1430), and of the later days of feudalism, with all its brilliancy, corruption, and decline in the presence of tlie new monarchical spirit of Europe. Duke Philip on his accession declared that the privileges and constitutions of Holland, to which he had taken oath as ruwaard for Jacoba, should be null, unless he chose to confirm them as count. From that moment till the latter part of the next century the liberties of the Netherlands were treated with contempt. Holland, however, at first tcrial contented herself with growing material prosperity : her herring fishery, rendered more valuable than ever by the 11 ^ curing process discovered or introduced by Beukelzoon, brought her fresh wealth; and her fishermen were un consciously laying the foundations of her maritime great ness. It was in the days of Duke Philip that Lorenz Koster of Haarlem contributed his share to the discovery of printing ; the arts and learning of the Renaissance began to flourish greatly. The Burgundian dukes rivalled their contemporaries the Medici ; under them grew up the Flemish school of painters, headed by the Van Eycks and Memling; architecture advanced as stately churches and town-houses were built ; the dvikes collected priceless manu scripts, founded libraries, and encouraged authors. But this speedy growth in art and letters belonged more to Flanders and Brabant than to Holland or Zealand. In short, throughout the Burgundian time Holland plays but an insignificant part ; and it may merely be remarked that the friendship of the dukes for the nobility did that class more harm than their hostility to civic liberties hurt the towns ; for the lavish waste of Philip s court impoverished the nobles, and the wars of Charles destroyed them. After their days the Xe herlands nobility were never again powerful. The church also suffered : it was enriched and corrupted by Philip, and was consequently very loyal to him ; but his favour instead of strengthening it made the Reformation necessary. The cities, though oppressed and heavily taxed, grew stronger; and, when Duke Charles perished at Nancy, they at once stood out for their right*,
 * iy of and obliged his sole heir the duchess Mary, not unwillingly,

^ to grant them the &quot; Great Privilege &quot; of March 1477, which 11 y&amp;gt; affirmed the power of the cities and provinces to hold diets, and reserved to the estates a voice in the declaration of war, and authority to approve of the choice she might make of a husband. It was declared that natives alone might hold high office ; no new taxes should be laid without the approval of the estates ; one high court of justice was established for Holland, Zealand, and Friesland ; the Dutch language was made official. Thus came to an end the centralizing despotism of the Burgundian dukes. This period is also remarkable for a reconstruction of the civic government, and for the appearance of the States The General, first summoned by Philip the Good. In th.e States states of Holland many nobles sat in person, though they GeneraL had but one collective vote. At first all towns, larger and smaller, also sent representatives, but after a time the smaller ceased to appear, and only such larger cities as Dort, Haarlem, Leyden, Amsterdam, Gouda, were repre sented, each having one vote. The president was the &quot; advocatus,&quot; or &quot; vogt,&quot; of the country, afterwards styled &quot;the pensionary,&quot; an officer regarded as the champion of the estates against the counts. In Zealand and elsewhere, clergy, nobles, and cities sat separately, each order having a single vote. The estates, under the Burgundians, had little power ; they could not even control the taxation. Duke Philip in 1464 summoned them to meet him at Bruges, and, though some of the more distant held aloof, the majority obeyed. These States General, however, expressed no national feeling or union of the provinces : that was a far later state of things. After Mary of Burgundy had granted the Great Privi lege, the provinces warmly supported her against Louis XL; they approved her union with Maximilian of Austria in Maxi- August 1477, though it brought them no rest; for the old milian of parties still survived, and Hooks and Cods fought savagely s1 in almost every town. Maximilian had allied himself with the Cods, and the Hooks were defeated at Leyden and Dort, and finally in their last stronghold, Utrecht, of which j city the archduke was made temporal protector in 1483. Before that time (March 1482) Mary of Burgundy had died, and Maximilian, acting for his son Philip, became governor of the Netherlands. After fresh Hook and Cod troubles at Haarlem, he finally made peace with France in December 1482, and after the death of Louis XL brought the Flemings to complete obedience by the peace of Frank fort in 1481). The provinces were still very uneasy, partly through the turbulence of the Hooks, partly because of the autocratic character of his rule, and partly through the so- called &quot; Bread and Cheese &quot; war, caused by famine in the northern provinces. War with France also complicated matters, and the government over the Netherlands was entrusted to Albert of Saxony. In 1494 Maximilian, having been elected emperor, laid clown his office as guar dian, and had Philip the Handsome declared of age. He was at once accepted by Brabant, and the estates of Hol land even let him sweep away the Great Privilege. He ruled over them quietly, and got back their English trade. In 1496 he married Joanna of Aragon, daughter of Fer dinand and Isabella, and afterwards heiress to the new monarchy of Spain. On Philip s death in 1506, leaving two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, and four daughters, Maximilian again became guardian for his grandson Charles, then but six years old ; he named Margaret of Savoy, his daughter, governess of the Netherlands in 1507. In 1515 Charles was declared of age, and received the Count homage of Holland and Zealand, Brabant and Flanders, Charles as Count Charles II. In consequence of his friendly rela- /, cror tions with Francis I. of France, Henry of Nassau, his cliar i es comrade and trusted follower, was wedded to Claude, sister V.). of Philibert, prince of Orange, and from this union springs the great house of Orange-Nassau. On his accession to the Spanish and imperial thrones successively, Charles continued his aunt Margaret of Savoy as governess of the Netherlands, with a privy council to assist her. He brought all the provinces under one hand, having in 1524 become lord of Friesland by purchase, and in 1 528 acquired the temporalities of Utrecht. He now ruled XII. 10