There were four thousand of the very best of the Spanish infantry and several squadrons of cavalry encamped at Turnhout in Brabant, where on the 24th of January 1597 Maurits with a much inferior force attacked them. They actually fled in a panic, and in the pursuit two thousand were slain and five hundred were made prisoners. It was the most notable victory ever won over Spanish veterans. Turnhout was occupied by the patriots, and Maurits began to prepare for an extensive campaign.
In August 1597 he attacked the Spanish garrisons in the towns along the Rhine on the eastern border of the United Provinces, and by the end of October he had reduced nine of them. Five thousand Spanish soldiers surrendered, who were allowed to march away unharmed, to add to the troubles of the cardinal archduke, whose army was now and long afterwards in a state of organised mutiny and a terror to the obedient provinces. The patriot cause would have made great progress at this time, but on the 2nd of May 1598 Henry IV seceded from the triple alliance between England, France, and the United Provinces, and signed a treaty of peace with Spain.
Historical Sketches.
Four days after the conclusion of this treaty, on the 6th of May 1598, Philippe II transferred the sovereignty of the Netherlands to his favourite daughter Isabella, who was to marry the cardinal archduke Albert. He was physically unable to carry on the government longer himself, and on the 13th of September 1598 he died of a loathsome and painful disease. On his deathbed he declared that he did not know of ever having done anyone a wrong, so firmly convinced was he that all the murders committed and all the blood that had been shed by his orders tended to the glory of God and the promotion of true religion. Such a man in his position is a greater enemy to mankind than an avowed infidel could be, whether he gives others the choice of the koran or the sword, adherence to any form of Christianity or death. He arrogates to himself the power of defining the will of the Almighty God in matters of faith, and of compelling others to profess to believe as he does, surely a position that angels might shudder to take. The dead king was succeeded by his son, Philippe III of Spain, who had none of his father’s patience or industry, who was satisfied with his title, and left the administration entirely to his favourite the duke of Lerma, the real master of the Spanish realms.
The cession of the Netherlands to Isabella nominally severed the provinces from Spain, but if she should leave no issue, it was provided that they should return to their former condition. She was to have all the assistance that Spain could afford to give, so that practically the position was not greatly altered.
The republic was now left to defend itself almost unaided, for on the 16th of August 1598 a treaty of alliance with England was concluded at Westminster, which provided for the payment of £800,000 to the queen for the expenses incurred by her, and for her keeping eleven hundred and fifty soldiers in the cautionary towns until the debt should be paid. The second article of the treaty was: “The foresaid Lords the States, confiding in the good Affection and Favour of her Majesty, for the Preservation of the State of the foresaid United Provinces, shall be contented with such aids as her Majesty shall please to give them, and to continue the War, with the Assistance of God, the best they can.”[29]
Battle of Nieuwpoort.
Very little that was of permanent importance transpired in the Netherlands for some time after the conclusion of this treaty. The cardinal archduke was without money, and his soldiers were mutinous, so that he could not undertake any military operations. He was preparing too to become a layman and to wed the infanta Isabella, which event took place in April 1599.
The Dutch, as henceforth the people of the republic of the United Netherlands can be termed in contradistinction to the Belgians, or the inhabitants of the obedient provinces, were superior to the Spaniards on the sea, and were victorious in every naval engagement where the enemy was not more than three to one against them, still privateers under the Spanish flag frequently made sudden darts from Dunkirk and Nieuwpoort and did much damage to Dutch trading vessels and fishing smacks. To prevent this, the states-general resolved to send a strong expedition against those places. Accordingly, in June 1600 Maurits with an army thirteen thousand six hundred strong invaded Flanders and marched to Nieuwpoort. The archduke Albert upon this appealed in stirring words to his mutinous troops, and made such promises to them that twelve thousand veterans agreed to return to duty. They reached the environs of Nieuwpoort a few hours after Maurits, and there in the sand dunes on the 2nd of July 1600 was fought a pitched battle, which, though the Dutch lost very heavily in a preliminary encounter, ended in a complete victory in their favour. Three thousand Spaniards were killed, and six hundred were made prisoners, among whom was the ferocious admiral of Aragon. The Dutch lost two thousand men killed. Nieuwpoort, however, was so strongly garrisoned that Maurits did not think it prudent to lay siege to it, and so he returned to Zeeland.
Historical Sketches.