page_title: Dutch Revolt
section_title: Peace
hierarchical_section_title: Dutch Revolt / Final stages (1621–1648) / Peace
caption_attribution_description: Celebration of the peace of Münster, 18 June 1648, in the headquarters of the crossbowmen's civic guard (St George guard), Amsterdam. The people portrayed are: (right, with silver horn) captain Cornelis Jansz. Witsen, (shakes hand of previous) lieutenant Johan Oetgens van Waveren, (seated behind the drum, with flag) reserve officer candidate Jacob Banning, sergeants Dirck Claesz. Thoveling and Thomas Hartog. Additionally: Pieter van Hoorn, Willem Pietersz. van der Voort, Adriaen Dirck Sparwer, Hendrick Calaber, Govert van der Mij, Johannes Calaber, Benedictus Schaesk, Jam Maes, Jacob van Diemen, Jan van Ommeren, Isaac Ooyens, Gerrit Pietersz. van Anstenraadt, Herman Teunisz. de Kluyter, Andries van ANstenraadt, Christoffel Poock, Hendrick Dommer Wz., Paulus Hennekijn, Lambregt van den Bos and Willem the drummer.
context_page_description: The Dutch Revolt was the revolt in the Low Countries against the rule of the Habsburg King Philip II of Spain, hereditary ruler of the provinces. The northern provinces eventually separated from the southern provinces, which continued under Habsburg Spain until 1714. The northern provinces adopted Calvinism and Republicanism whereas the southern provinces became wholly Catholic again due to the expulsion of Protestants and the efforts of the Counter-Reformation and remained under absolutist rule. The Dutch Revolt has been viewed as the seedbed of the great democratic revolutions from England, to America to France.
  The religious "clash of cultures" built up gradually but inexorably into outbursts of violence against the perceived repression of the Habsburg Crown. These tensions led to the formation of the independent Dutch Republic, whose first leader was William the Silent, followed by several of his descendants and relations. This revolt was one of the first successful secessions in Europe, and led to one of the first European republics of the modern era, the United Provinces.
context_section_description: On 30 January 1648, the war ended with the Treaty of Münster between Spain and the Netherlands. In Münster on 15 May, the parties exchanged ratified copies of the treaty. This treaty was part of the European-scale Peace of Westphalia that also ended the Thirty Years' War. In the treaty, the power balance in Western Europe was readjusted to the actual geopolitical reality. This meant that de jure the Dutch Republic was recognized as an independent state, and that the long-existing separation of the Netherlands (and also the Old Swiss Confederacy) from the Holy Roman Empire was finally recognized. The Republic retained control over the territories that were conquered in the later stages of the war. The now officially recognized republic still consisted of the seven provinces that in 1579 concluded the Union of Utrecht: Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Friesland, and Groningen. Each province was governed by its sovereign States, such as the States of Holland and West Friesland and States of Friesland, assisted by a stadtholder and by an executive council, variously called Gecommitteerde Raden or Gedeputeerde Staten (Delegated States). Each stadtholder was appointed by the States of the province and also subordinate to the States-General. However, the princes of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William I of Orange, became de facto hereditary stadtholders in Holland and Zeeland. In practice they usually became stadtholder of the other provinces as well (except for Friesland, where the cadet branch of Nassau-Dietz provided the stadtholders). A constant power struggle, which already had shown its precursor during the Twelve Years' Truce, emerged between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Dutch States Party supporters.
  The border states, parts of Flanders, Brabant, and Limburg that were conquered by the Dutch in the final stages of the war, were to be federally governed by the States-General. These were the so-called Generality Lands (Generaliteitslanden), which consisted of Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen (present Zeelandic Flanders), and Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht).
  The peace would not be long-lived as the newly emerged world powers, the Republic of the Netherlands and the Commonwealth of England, would start their first war in 1652, only four years after the peace was signed.
caption: Amsterdam citizens celebrating the Peace of Münster, 1648 painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst
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