July 26: Dutch Independence

The Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, or Act of Abjuration, formally declaring the Netherlands’ independence from the King Philip II of Spain, was signed on this date in 1581. The provinces of the northern lowlands had already formed a States-General of the Netherlands in 1477 and rebelled against Spain under the leadership of William of Orange in the 1560s. Emerging as a Protestant country with tolerant laws, the Netherlands became a country of refuge for Jews, including many crypto-Jews (Marranos) still living on the Iberian Peninsula following the 1492 Edict of Expulsion. They eventually concentrated mostly in Amsterdam, which they helped to develop as a center of shipping and trade and, eventually, as their jumping-off point for emigration to the New World. The Preamble to the Act of Abdjuration bears resemblance to the American Declaration of Independence.

“And when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them, seeking opportunities to infringe their ancient customs and privileges, exacting from them slavish compliance, then he is no longer a prince, but a tyrant, and the subjects are to consider him in no other view. And particularly when this is done deliberately, unauthorized by the states, they may not only disallow his authority, but legally proceed to the choice of another prince for their defense.” —The Plakkaat van Verlatinghe