At first Archduke Albert initiated negotiations with the United Provinces, but his proposals were received with contempt. He was forced to make war. A bloody battle was fought at Nieuport, where the Archduke courageously led his troops against the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau. Although not victorious, Albert decided to besiege Ostend, the only Belgian city left in the hands of the rebels. The siege of Ostend lasted three years, from 1601 to 1604. On both sides deeds of heroism were numerous. Three rings of fortifications had to be taken and every trench was stormed at the cost of many lives. At length Ostend, continuously battered by artillery, could no longer resist the energetic assaults of the soldiers of Spinola. It surrendered, but only its ruins were left in the hands of the victor.
After the fall of Ostend, the Archduke, wishing to put an end to this war of exhaustion, again opened negotiations with the United Provinces, and succeeded in concluding a truce for twelve years (1609-21). During that time Albert and Isabella did their best to heal the wounds of their people. Their reign was one of peace and of reconstruction. The sovereign power was even stronger than before the crisis of the sixteenth century. No revolt troubled the happy years of the Archduke’s rule. National institutions were not disturbed, the re-establishment of order was attempted by law rather than by force. In 1611 a meeting of magistrates and lawyers was called in order to codify the judicial provisions and to inaugurate a reform of civil and criminal law. The fruit of that attempt was the Édit perpétuel, a judicial monument of great importance. At the same time the old customs, the unwritten law of the Belgian principalities and cities, were reduced to writing and published in definite form by order of the sovereign.
In addition to the respect they manifested for the customs of the country, Albert and Isabella showed the utmost interest in the restoration of every kind of social activity. Zealous for the welfare of Catholicism, they undertook to restore the religious life of the country. Three hundred churches and convents were rebuilt or founded. The religious orders of the Jesuits, the Carmelites, etc., found in the sovereigns hearty and generous protectors. The lost treasures of the churches had to be replaced, and the restoration of worship brought about the revival of the goldsmith’s art and of painting. The Flemish school of painting again became as famous as in the time of the Burgundian dukes. The head of this school was Peter Paul Rubens; and among his pupils he counted artists like Van Dyck, Teniers, and Jordaens. Public education was encouraged and many colleges and academies were opened for the teaching of Greek and Latin. The University of Louvain was accorded special protection. In 1607 Drusius, abbot of the abbey of Parc, near Louvain, and Van Craesbeke, councilor of Brabant, were appointed to inspect the University. Another delegate, the Nuncio Caraffa, was sent by the Pope. The system of “visitation,” as it was called, lasted, with interruptions, till 1617, when a complete scheme of regulations was enacted. The jurisdiction of the academic authorities, the privileges of the University, the interests of teaching and of the various colleges, the rights and duties of professors, the granting of degrees, the discipline and conduct of the students—everything was carefully dealt with. The visitation of 1617 established the authority of the University of Louvain and gave it a legal status.
The excellent results of the new rules were immediately apparent. At this time seven or eight thousand students, among them Dutchmen, Frisians, Flemings, Germans, Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians, were in attendance at the University. The faculty of law became especially notable, and professors such as Peckius, Coursèle, Tulden, Perez, and Gudelin were regarded as eminent authorities. In letters the humanists Justus Lipsius and Erycius Puteanus, Valerius Andreas and Nicholas Vernuleus were famous. Albert and Isabella showed clearly their lively interest in the institution by attending one of the lectures of Justus Lipsius.
Although artistic, literary, and scientific interests flourished during the reign of Albert and Isabella, the trade and industry of Belgium enjoyed no such revival. Antwerp was closed and had no access to the sea, as the Dutch blocked the Scheldt, and all commerce with the colonies of the New World was forbidden to the people of Belgium by Spain. Moreover, the peace and safety necessary to the development of trade were continually threatened by France in the south and by the United Provinces in the north.
The private life of Albert and Isabelle was modest and simple. Their court at Brussels was an example of morality and seriousness, although they were not given over to bigotry. Isabella was a cheerful princess; she liked to mingle sometimes with the people and to take part in their rejoicings and their sports. Both sovereigns were very popular.
Sorrow filled the souls of the Belgians when the Archduke died in 1621, without issue. According to the testament of Philip II, Belgium was held obliged to return to Spanish rule. Indeed, Spain immediately took possession of the country and, although Isabella remained at Brussels, she was no longer a sovereign, but a simple regent in the name of the King. When she died in 1633, the universal mourning in town and country proved how well she had succeeded in winning the sympathy of the Belgians.[16]
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.