A short history of Belgium

by Léon van der Essen

CHAPTER IX

THE LAST YEARS OF THE SPANISH RULE (1633-1715)

The last eighty years of the seventeenth century were an unhappy period for Belgium. France, under Richelieu and Louis XIV, continually attacked the declining Spanish monarchy, and sought to wrest from it the Belgian provinces piece by piece. From 1622 to 1648 France was assisted in this policy of conquest by the United Provinces of Holland. Each treaty of this period marks a territorial diminution of Belgium and sometimes likewise a decisive blow at the elements of its material prosperity. The Treaty of Munster, concluded in 1648 between Spain and the United Provinces, remorselessly sacrificed the commercial interests of Belgium. According to this treaty it was agreed that the Dutch should have the right to control and to close the Scheldt, the very source of Antwerp’s wealth. It was also agreed that henceforth the United Provinces should definitely retain their independence, won by William the Silent and his sons, should even remain in possession of Northern Brabant and Northern Flanders, and should divide with Belgium the sovereignty over Maestricht.

The act which established the final separation between Belgium and Holland constituted also the first act of hostility of the latter. As a consequence of the Treaty of Munster, Limburg was divided between both countries in 1661. The Dutch obtained the larger part of the country of Fauquemont and Daelhem and a portion of Rolduc.

Other territorial losses were forced upon Belgium some years later. In 1659, France acquired nearly all the country of Artois, by the Treaty of the Pyrennees; in 1668, French Flanders and Tournaisis, by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; in 1678, Franche-Comté, Cambrai and Cambrésis, and the rest of Artois, by the Treaty of Nimègue. On the whole, the defeats suffered by the Spanish monarchy at the period of its decline cost Belgium, hopelessly attached to the dying body, the north of Flanders, and the south of Flanders, of Hainaut, and of Luxemburg.

Each treaty terminated a war; and from the numerous negotiations already mentioned it is not difficult to realize how many wars Belgium was forced to endure on her own soil. Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Germans, successively trampled over the rich fields of Flanders and the industrious country of the Walloons. In fifty years, from 1642 to 1709, no less than ten famous battles were fought on Belgian soil. Belgium was already at that time “the cockpit of Christendom,” a designation found in an old English book, Instructions for Forreine Travell; written in 1642 by James Howell, a clerk in the diplomatic service.[17] Howell says:

... For the Netherlands have been for many years, as one may say, the very cockpit of Christendom, the school of arms and rendezvous of all adventurous spirits and cadets; which makes most nations beholden to them for soldiers. Therefore the history of the Belgic wars are very worth the reading; for I know none fuller of stratagems, of reaches of policy, ... nor a war which hath produced such deplorable effects, directly or collaterally, all Christendom over, both by sea and land.

COURT-YARD OF THE PALACE OF THE BISHOP PRINCES IN LIÈGE

What all these wars meant for the poor inhabitants of the country may be imagined when the devastation wrought by huge armies in Poland today is borne in mind. And it must be remembered that the armies of the belligerent powers in the seventeenth century were, to a large extent, composed of mercenaries without any feeling of patriotism, without discipline, without morals, who saw in military occupation only an opportunity for excesses and outrages of all kinds, who revolted when not regularly paid, and who pillaged the friendly country they were hired to defend as well as the enemy’s territory. Massacre, burning, looting, awful tortures inflicted on the unhappy inhabitants in order to force them to reveal the spot where their money was kept—all this was daily work for those rough hirelings. In the village of Meix-devant-Virton, in 1636, the whole populace was burned alive in the church where it had taken refuge, not by the enemy, but by the Spanish troops intrusted with their defense.[18] Ruin, disease, and poverty were the terrible lot of Belgium during this sinister century.

What of the internal situation of the country? After the death of Archduke Albert (1621), the Spaniards increasingly dominated the destinies of Belgium. A Spanish army, paid by Spain and under a Spanish commander, permanently occupied many fortresses and important cities. Those members of the Belgian aristocracy who sought to obtain influence with the intruders found themselves compelled to marry their daughters to Spaniards. The Spanish government put the native nobles entirely aside, and all important matters were discussed in Juntas—special committees composed of Spaniards.

This unhappy state of things in 1622-33 provoked the so-called “conspiracy of the Belgian nobility against Spain.” This was the work of some prominent seigneurs who failed to realize the historical conditions and the times in which they lived. They fondly believed that, with the help of France and of the United Provinces, they could start another Belgian revolt, like that of the sixteenth century, and that they could obtain support from the army and the people. They found themselves seriously mistaken. The Belgians, wearied of their misfortunes, refused to follow them. They had no confidence in the movement. The attempt failed and the conspirators were obliged to flee to foreign countries to avoid criminal prosecution. As for the States-General, except in 1600 and 1632-34, they were never called together; only when there was talk of peace negotiations with the United Provinces were they allowed to meet.

The rule of the Hapsburg dynasty in Spain came to an end with the death of the last heir, Charles II, in 1700. The latter had provided in his will that Philip of Bourbon, grandson of Louis XIV, of France, should be his successor and consequently sovereign of the Netherlands. As a matter of fact, it was Louis XIV who governed in the name of Philip. The absolutist system which existed in France was suddenly introduced in Belgium, and organized by the Count of Bergeyck, with the help of French generals. This régime did not last long; in 1702 the War of the Spanish Succession broke out, in the course of which England and the United Provinces concluded an alliance against Louis XIV.

Three treaties terminated the struggle—that of Utrecht, that of Rastadt, and that of Bade (1713-14). The contracting powers decided that the Netherlands—that is to say, Belgium—should be transferred to the Austrian branch of the Hapsburgs. They would serve as a barrier for the protection of the United Provinces against any menace from France, and it was determined, therefore, that the Dutch should continue to occupy Belgian territory provisionally till all questions had been settled. A final agreement was reached by the Treaty of Antwerp, better known as the “Treaty of the Barriers” (1715), somewhat modified by the Hague Convention of 1718. These several conventions placed the Hapsburgs of Austria in full possession of Belgium.