Union of Delft
Encyclopedia
The Act of Federation of 1576, (popularly known as the Union of Delft) was signed on the 25th April 1576 by William the Silent
(the then Prince of Orange
) and the provinces of Holland, and Zeeland
in the Netherlands
and made a definitive federation of the two provinces. It also gave William supreme authority in war, allowed him to call a States General when he pleased, and effectively made him head of it. This allowed him to better gather resources and plan for attacks on the invading Spanish.
Some of stadtholder
s of the provinces saw the Union of Delft as a threat to their power. The three Stadtholders, Lambers, Van Gessel and De Witte tried to turn their provinces against the Union, but they were halted in their tracks by the mastermind behind the Union, Martin Drent.
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
(the then Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
) and the provinces of Holland, and Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and made a definitive federation of the two provinces. It also gave William supreme authority in war, allowed him to call a States General when he pleased, and effectively made him head of it. This allowed him to better gather resources and plan for attacks on the invading Spanish.
Some of stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
s of the provinces saw the Union of Delft as a threat to their power. The three Stadtholders, Lambers, Van Gessel and De Witte tried to turn their provinces against the Union, but they were halted in their tracks by the mastermind behind the Union, Martin Drent.