1648 treaty between the Netherlands and Spain
This article is about the 1648 treaty between Spain and the Dutch Republic. For the 1648 treaty between France and the Holy Roman Empire, see
Treaty of Munster (October 1648)
.
The
Peace of Munster
was a
treaty
between the
Lords States General
of the
Seven United Netherlands
[a]
and the
Spanish Crown
, the terms of which were agreed on 30 January 1648.
[1]
The treaty, negotiated in parallel to, but not part of, the
Peace of Westphalia
, is a key event in Dutch history, marking the formal recognition of the independent
Dutch Republic
and the end of the
Eighty Years' War
.
Negotiations
[
edit
]
Negotiations between began in 1641 in the town of
Munster
, in present-day Germany. With the initiation of Spanish-Dutch peace talks, Dutch trade with the Levant and the Iberian Peninsula began to flourish. Dutch merchants, benefiting from both the availability of relatively cheap shipping and the cessation of hostilities, soon dominated the markets that had been previously dominated by English traders. Dutch merchants would also benefit from the foreign upheavals of the
English Civil War
and gain on English trade in their American colonies.
[2]
While Spain did not recognise the Dutch Republic, it agreed that the Lords States General of the United Netherlands was 'sovereign' and could participate in the peace talks. This was a result of the immense political pressure from the entire
Bicker-De Graeff Clan
,
[3]
whose leaders
Andries
and
Cornelis Bicker
,
[4]
Cornelis
and
Andries de Graeff
from Amsterdam
[3]
as well as
Jacob de Witt
from Dordrecht
[3]
vehemently pushed for this peace.
[5]
In January 1646, eight Dutch representatives arrived in Munster to begin negotiations; these included two delegates from
Holland
with one each from the other six provinces. The Spanish envoys were
Gaspar de Bracamonte, 3rd Count of Penaranda
and
Antoine Brun
, and had been given great authority by the Spanish King
Philip IV
who had been suing for peace for years.
[
citation needed
]
On 30 January 1646,
Adriaan Pauw
and Johan de Knuyt, representing Holland and Zeeland, reached an armistice for twenty years and recognition of
State sovereignty
.
[6]
On 8 January 1647, a provisional peace agreement was reached, recognizing the status quo in the East and West Indies, as well as the patents of the
Dutch East India Company
and the
West India Compan
.
[7]
(In March 1647
Frederick Henry of Orange
died.) Bicker, Adriaan Pauw and the inner power circle of the States of Holland advocated a drastic reduction in Dutch forces.
[8]
In July 1647, the Spanish government made a proposal aimed at making Amsterdam the staple market for Spanish silver. In October the States General decided to authorize the admiralties to issue passports for the export of silver imported from Spain;
Andries Bicker
was involved in the request.
[9]
He provided ships to transport Spanish silver from
Cadiz
to the
Spanish Netherlands
.
The States General sent eight delegates from several of the provinces as none trusted the others to represent them adequately. They were
Willem Ripperda
(Overijssel), Frans van Donia (Friesland), Adriaen Clant tot Stedum (Groningen),
Adriaan Pauw
and Jan van Mathenesse (Holland), Barthold van Gent (Gelderland), Johan de Knuyt (Zeeland) and Godert van Reede (Utrecht). The negotiations were held in what is now the Haus der Niederlande in Munster.
[
citation needed
]
Outcome
[
edit
]
On 30 January 1648, the parties reached agreement and the text sent to the Hague and Madrid for approval. As an immediate consequence of the signing of the treaty, on 4 February the ambassadors of both countries agreed to and signed on to a particular item on the navigation and trade between the two states, her colonies and dominions.
The treaty was ratified by king Philip IV in Madrid on 1 March,
and by the Assembly of the States General in the Hague on 18 April and solemnly published and announced in the
town hall of Munster
on 15 May 1648.
[11]
The delegate of Zeeland refused to attend, and the delegate of Utrecht suffered a possibly diplomatic illness).
The States General narrowly approved the Treaty on 5 June 1648.
[13]
The text was adopted in four copies, two in French and two in Dutch.
The Utrecht delegate Nederhorst initially refused to put down his signature and seal, but after being forced to do so by his province, he put them on 30 April (although they no longer fit neatly on the document).
On 15 May 1648, the peace was definitively signed and solemnly ratified with an oath by Dutch and Spanish envoys, while a huge crowd was spectating the proceedings from the sidelines.
Despite achieving independence, there was considerable opposition to the Treaty within the States General since it allowed Spain to retain the Southern Provinces and permitted religious toleration for Catholics. Support from the powerful province of Holland meant it was narrowly approved but these differences resulted in political conflict.
[13]
Contents
[
edit
]
During the peace talks, negotiators representing the Republic and Spain reached an agreement relatively quickly.
The text of the
Twelve Years' Truce
was taken as the foundation, and this made it a lot easier to formulate the peace treaty, because many articles could be copied without too many changes.
If one compares the texts of the Twelve Years' Truce of 1609 to the Peace of Munster of 1648, the articles that correspond in whole or in part are as follows::
Twelve Years' Truce
(1609)
|
Art. 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10/11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
30
|
31
|
32
|
33
|
34
|
36
|
37
|
38
|
Peace of Munster
(1648)
|
Art. 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
7
|
8
|
17
|
20
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
31
|
32
|
33
|
34
|
42
|
43
|
46
|
47
|
48
|
51
|
54
|
55
|
56
|
57
|
58
|
59
|
60
|
61
|
62
|
63
|
75
|
77
|
79
|
The States-General of the Dutch Republic were formally recognised by Spain as a sovereign entity. This important concession by Spain was therefore the first point; Spain stopped regarding the Republic's inhabitants as rebellious Spanish subjects (which it had done for nearly a century). Peace seemed near. France, with which the Republic had agreed to come to a joint treaty with Spain, threw a spanner in the works by constantly coming up with new demands. The States then decided to conclude a separate peace with Spain without France.
Copies
[
edit
]
In the Netherlands, the
National Archives
in The Hague keeps two copies of the Peace of Munster, a Dutch-language one ("NL-HaNA 1.01.02 12588.55B"), and a Francophone version ("NL-HaNA 1.01.02 12588.55C").
[16]
Both versions are provided by the Spanish side with French-language ratifications, both signed by King
Philip IV
? one in Spanish with
Yo el Rey
("I the King"), the other in French with
Philippe
("Philip") ? and both bearing his seal in solid gold.
[16]
[17]
: 12?13
They are on display in the archive's exhibition room.
[16]
The
Archivo General de Simancas
in Spain preserves the other Dutch-language copy ("ES.47161.AGS//EST,LEG,2943,27") and the other French-language copy ("ES.47161.AGS//EST,LEG,2943,28").
[18]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
The Treaty does not use the word
Republic
but instead recognizes the Lords States General as
sovereign
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
1648 Treaty of Munster
. Rijks Museum/
- ^
Gijs Rommelse, "The Role of Mercantilism in Anglo-Dutch political relations, 1650?74", p. 596.
Economic History Review
, New Series, Vol. 63, No. 3 (August 2010), pp. 591?611.
JSTOR
40929818
.
- ^
a
b
c
Amsterdam: a brief life of the city. By Geert Mak, Harvill Press (1999), p 123
- ^
Andries and Cornelis Bicker at
Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid
- ^
Buitenplaatsen in de Gouden Eeuw: De rijkdom van het buitenleven in de Republik. Herausgegeben von Y. Kuiper, Ben Olde Meierink, Elyze Storms-Smeets, S. 71 (2015)
- ^
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/beleven/onderwijs/bronnenbox/eindelijk-vrede-1648#collapse-3657
- ^
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/beleven/onderwijs/bronnenbox/eindelijk-vrede-1648#collapse-3657
- ^
Jonathan I. Israel:
The Dutch Republic ? Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall - 1477-1806
. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, S. 602. ISBN 978-0-19-820734-4
- ^
J.G. van Dillen
(1970) Van rijkdom en regenten. Handboek tot de economische en sociale geschiedenis van Nederland tijdens de Republiek, p. 31-32
- ^
http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/description/12894060/
- ^
a
b
"The Treaty of Munster, 1648"
(PDF)
. University of Massachusetts. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 13 July 2019.
- ^
a
b
c
"Eindelijk vrede (1648)"
.
Nationaal Archief
(in Dutch)
. Retrieved
9 July
2022
.
- ^
"Topstukken in perspectief Nationaal Archief"
.
Issuu
. 27 March 2019
. Retrieved
9 July
2022
.
- ^
"EST,LEG,2943,27 - Treaty of peace between Spain and The Netherlands"
.
PARES
. Retrieved
9 July
2022
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Boer, H. W. J. de, H. Bruch en H. Krol (red.)
Adriaan Pauw (1585?1653); staatsman en ambachtsheer
. Heemstede, VOHB, 1985
- Groenveld, Simon (2009).
Unie ? Bestand ? Vrede. Drie fundamentele wetten van de Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden
. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 200.
ISBN
9789087041274
.
(in cooperation with H.L.Ph. Leeuwenberg and H.B. van der Weel)
- Israel, Jonathan
(1995).
The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477?1806
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
ISBN
0-19-873072-1
.
- Lesaffer, Randall (2006). "Siege Warfare and the Early Modern Laws of War".
Ius Brabanticum, ius commune, ius gentium
(PDF)
. pp. 87?109.
- Manzano Baena, Laura (Winter 2007), "Negotiating Sovereignty: The Peace Treaty of Munster, 1648",
History of Political Thought
, Volume 28, Number 4, pp. 617?641.
JSTOR
26222899
.
- Mulder, Liek; Doedens, Anne; Kortlever, Yolande (2008).
Geschiedenis van Nederland, van prehistorie tot heden
. Baarn: HBuitgevers. p. 288.
ISBN
9789055746262
.
- Poelhekke, J. J.
De vrede van Munster
. 's-Gravenhage, Martinus Nijhoff, 1948.
External links
[
edit
]
Dutch
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
French
Wikisource
has original text related to this article: