Revolt and War, 1555-1598

During the reign of Charles’s son, Philip II of Spain (1555-98), the people of the Netherlands rebelled (an episode referred to as the ‘Dutch Revolt’). The Eighty Years War which resulted, 1568-1648, saw the irrevocable division of the northern and southern provinces of the Netherlands: the south remained under Spanish rule, whilst the north became a Republic known as the ‘United Provinces’. By 1600 the worst of the struggle was over and in 1609 a Twelve Year Truce was signed.