The Long and Prosperous Reign of Jakoba (1445-1497)
Upon her coronation, Jakoba von Habsburg began to reestablish Holland's position among the prominent nations of Europe and to restore its international reputation. Dutch nobles sought brides among the many European dynasties, and Dutch maidens were also married off to prominent European bachelors. Little by little Holland's recent wave of expansion was forgotten and its emissaries were once again accepted in polite company.
Unfortunately, in March 1446, Jakoba's strong supporter General Willem van Hessling died suddenly, leaving the armed forces without a commander. Jakoba did not immediately appoint a replacement, concentrating on more diplomatic matters. She was also occupied by her pregnancy by her consort, Wilhelm von Braunschweig; on September 24th, 1446, she gave birth to a boy who was named Floris.
Jakoba's economic and social policies proved successful as the Dutch people prospered under her rule, and Holland became the wealthiest European country despite its size, mostly due to its renewed trade connections. Jakoba decided to act upon the rumors of new lands across the sea and in early 1448, the carrack Graaf Floris V was made ready to sail. Its captain was the intrepid adventurer Raes Piet.
The expedition sailed south along the coast of Africa, mapping out the coastlines. In May 1448, it reached a chain of isles called the Canarias, from where it continued further south. In April 1450, the ship reached what appeared to be the southern tip of the African continent, and Raes Piet was certain that the sea route to India lay beyond. But it was time to return back home for resupplying. In the meantime, Dutch settlers were dispatched to the Canarias, where a village was soon established. Back home, Jakoba began a program of building craft workshops to improve the domestic economy in addition to trade.
Sadly, Floris died in 1448 before he reached the age of two, but Jakoba was soon expecting again. In June 1451 she gave birth to another baby boy, who was named Willem. To celebrate the birth of the new heir and general prosperity of Holland, Jakoba arranged festivities throughout the fall of that year. In the course of the celebrations, a siege engineer named Cornelius of Mons came to attention of the court. Recognizing his talent, Jakoba appointed him Castellan of Mons, charged with reinforcing the fortifications of Hainaut which was still vulnerable to Burgundian threat.
The appointment came none too soon, as in June 1452 the Burgundians declared war on France. As a dutiful ally, Holland answered the call and the Dutch army moved south to besiege Breda, capital of the Burgundian vassal Brabant.
Although England did give any aid to the French for obvious reasons, English subsidies flowed across the Channel to Holland. Breda was taken in December and the Dutch army moved to Flanders. Unfortunately, when the Dutch fleet tried to support the army from the sea, it was caugh and destroyed in early 1453 by a combined Scottish-Breton fleet three times its size. However, the Dutch army demonstrated its prowess by defeating another Burgundian vassal, Karl Ludwig von Wittelsbach of the Palatinate, whose army was destroyed in Artois. Afterwards the Dutch moved back north to lay siege to Antwerpen in April.
In May, France's situation got worse as Aragon declared war on it to recover its lost territories and the Portuguese joined in. Without a fleet, Jakoba knew that Holland could not face a possible Aragonese-Portuguese landfall, and wisely decided to stay neutral in this war. The French hastily signed a white peace treaty with Burgundy in June, leaving Holland with nothing to show for its efforts. Indeed, in the course of the war Dutch merchants were banned from Antwerpen, hurting Holland's trade somewhat, and the ban remained in effect after the peace treaty. Weary from the pressures of recent month, Jakoba suffered a bout of illness during the winter of 1453-1454, allowing her courtiers an opportunity to assert greater power.
Jakoba recovered from her illness in spring, and in April 1454 France agreed to peace with Aragon after having crushed the Catalans utterly. The King of Aragon was left with little more than Barcelona and the Baleares. The French offered a renewal of alliance with Holland and Jakoba readily agreed, knowing that Burgundy was still dangerous to her country.
Western Europe in May 1454
In summer 1454 the Dutch settlement on the Canarias finally grew into a full-fledged town. Unfortunately, no valuable resources were discovered on the isles, and the town's main export source was its fishing industry. Still, it offered a base from which exploration of new lands could be launched. Some clergy members also eyed the nearby Sultanate of Morocco as a possible avenue of expansion, hoping to convert the local Berbers to Christianity.
Jakoba continued energetically her economic policies by building post offices all over Holland and starting a program of land enclosure to improve the use of available farmland. On March 14, 1458, the newly elected Emperor Karl I of Austria held the Diet of Polotsk, implementing a number of reforms in Imperial administration. The Emperor's choice of Polotsk, the most recent addition to the Empire and its easternmost city, seemed to many an indication of his intentions for eastern expansion. Indeed, with the Russian principalities utterly devastated by the infidels of Golden Horde, many called for a crusade against this most dangerous enemy of Christendom.
In September 1459, England began a war against Castile and Portugal, citing a trade dispute. Since Holland still had barely any fleet to speak of, Jakoba decided not to enter this war. Instead, in November she concluded an alliance with the Archbishop of Trier, who was also worried about Burgundian expansion. The English-Castilian war ended after two years with nothing achieved by better side, so Jakoba felt vindicated for her decision. In any event, English emissaries soon arrived in Amsterdam, offering to renew the alliance as they were unwilling to concede Holland's allegiances wholly to France.
In spring 1464 as the new trading season started, the Duke of Burgundy was mollified enough to allow Dutch merchants in Antwerpen again. This was soon taken advantage of, and Dutch traders were seen all across Europe. Using the increased trade income, Jakoba began to build a new Dutch fleet consisting of new light ship models known as barques, which were less expensive than carracks.
In summer 1467, Raes Piet embarked on another expedition. This time he sailed to the uncharted waters southwest of Africa. By next January, he discovered what appeared to be a new landmass, which he called Brazil. Over the next several years he explored the coastline to the north and south, discovering various island chains in the sea to the northwest. His expedition in early 1472 uncovered what he thought was the southern tip of the continent, opening west into a vast ocean.
On the economic front, in 1468 the National Bank of Holland was instituted by Jakoba, taking measures to combat rising inflation and to better finance the Dutch expeditions. In summer of that year, a new colony was founded in Rio de Oro, south of Morocco; however its initial growth proved difficult as the native Tuareg tribes were hostile to Dutch settlers.
European wars continued as in August 1466, Burgundy declared war on England over the ownership of Calais. Since Jakoba had little faith that the English could protect Holland by land, she opted to stay neutral in the war. Her neutrality remained in force when France declared war on England in April 1471. In July however, a new ally presented itself. The Duke of Bavaria, a powerful state in southern Germany and a rival of Austria, offered Holland an alliance. Although Jakoba was herself a Habsburg and her grandfather had deposed the Wittelsbachs ruling over Holland and Hainaut, she agreed to the alliance since Bavaria was poised to be of assistance against Burgundy. However, Bavaria was soon occupied in a war against Poland, whose King was excommunicated by the Pope.
Dutch economy continued to prosper as in September 1472 Jakoba issued an edict formalizing scales, weights and measures. In 1474 a new big ship model, the caravel, replaced the carracks, and Jakoba ordered the construction of several of these.
Religious tensions continued to grow in Europe as many opposed Papal authority. The Dutch domains were not spared, as in late 1473 the Waldensian heretics in Hainaut occupied Mons and drove out the Catholic clergy. Jakoba was unable to do anything as the Duke of Burgundy, still in a war with England, refused to grant access through his lands, and so Hainaut remained in Waldensian hands for a time.
In June 1474 the Bavarian war against Poland ended in victory. When the Habsburg Emperor died only a few weeks later, the Electors were so impressed with Bavarian conduct that they elected Duke Maximilian Emanuel as the new Emperor. Thus armed with an Imperial alliance, Jakoba decided to try her luck. In September, the Imperial Archives produced documents showing Dutch claims to Brabant, then still a Burgundian vassal. The preparations took almost two years, but in July 1476, Jakoba delivered a war declaration to Burgundy, her objective being the conquest of Breda.
The Emperor supported Holland and Bavarian forces moved into Burgundian-controlled Palatinate. The Dutch army under General Bartout Elten Leur swiftly took Breda in October and moved south to Flanders. In May 1477, French emissaries arrived in Amsterdam, offering an alliance to which Jakoba agreed, hoping for French assistance. However, the French King Philippe was still a minor and his Regency Council did not dare to declare war on Burgundy, leaving Jakoba disappointed. A further setback came in June, when the Emperor treacherously concluded peace with Burgundy, taking only Pfalz. Nonetheless, the Dutch army valiantly continued its campaign against Burgundy, taking Antwerpen in July and Brabant in August. However, in December Holland's luck had run out. A large Burgundian army led by Duke Louis-Joseph himself inflicted a crushing defeat on the Dutch near Liege. Fortunately, with Burgundy still deadlocked in a war against England, the Duke offered a white peace. Seeing no way to stand up to Burgundian might alone, Jakoba agreed to the treaty in June 1478, returning to pre-war status quo. It was fortunate, for in December the English suffered a final blow, ceding Calais to Burgundy and being forced to grant self-rule to Guyenne, Cornwall, and Wales.
Holland withdrew licking her wounds, and for the next several years peace reigned as Jakoba, now in advanced years, spent her time rebuilding and strengthening the country's economy. The turning point came in late 1486. With the international recognition of united Dutch provinces now final, Jakoba proclaimed the formation of the nation of Netherlands, under whose aegis all Dutch and other Lowlands people could find home. The declaration itself was widely seen as a renewed challenge to Burgundy, which controlled both Flanders and most of Wallonia. However, the first campaign of the united Netherlands was to subjugate the only Dutch province not yet within its sphere: Gelre. With the Emperor tacitly acknowledging Dutch claims over the province, Gelre was quickly defeated and annexed in March 1488.
The annexation came none too soon. In April, the bold young King of France, Philippe VII, began a campaign to once and for all recover French lands from Burgundy, and Jakoba saw her chance. Shortly thereafter the Netherlands declared war on Burgundy and Dutch armies moved south, besieging the cities of Brabant and Flanders. Unfortunately, Breda was taken by the French before Dutch armies could arrive there, but otherwise the war quickly became an unprecedented success.
As Burgundy had offended many of its neighbors, it began to be pressed from all sides. The Swiss invaded Franche-Comte, while Trier advanced into Lorraine, and the French took Burgundian Auvergne and Aquitaine. Even Papal forces landed in Picardie in a punitive expedition. Meanwhile, Dutch forces secured control over Brabant, Flanders, and most of Picardie and Wallonia. Utterly defeated, Burgundy had no choice but to accept Dutch demands, and by the Peace of Liege of July 13, 1490, Flanders and Brabant were incorporated into the Netherlands, with the exception of still French-occupied Breda. Luckily, the French soon left Breda after making their own peace with Burgundy. In what became known as the Great Dismantling of Burgundy, the Duchy was allowed to keep only the disjointed domains of Bourgogne, Picardie, and Guyenne.
The Netherlands thus secured against immediate nearby threats, Jakoba continued to look after the economic prosperity of her much enlarged realm. In December 1491 she passed the Anti-Piracy Act designed to curb the growing piracy off the western coast of Africa. At the same time, a contingent of Dutch troops was shipped to the colony of Rio de Oro, where the hostile native tribes were soon massacred and the survivors sold into slavery. Another slave-trading colony, Arguin, was soon founded further south. It was discovered that Castile had founded colonies of its own in western Africa and was engaged in the conquest of the local Empire of Mali, thus blocking further Dutch expansion in the vicinity. Faced with potential future threat of Castilian colonial ambitions, Jakoba appointed the highly skilled military engineer Isaac Bentinck to her council, advising on improving of fort defenses. Isaac himself was the son of Cornelius of Mons and had inherited his father's great skill.
Jakoba, now of advanced age, was subjected to further suffering when her son and heir Willem died at the age of 43 from pneumonia. The Dutch Habsburg dynasty seemed to have reached its end as Willem left only a daughter, whose son by a Dutch noble was now the heir to the Dutch domains. Grieving, Jakoba seemed to have acquired a taste for conflict and became highly religious. Her quick conquest and annexation of Breda in early 1496 was only a prelude to a far greater crusade against Morocco that began in the summer of 1496. The Dutch army marched north from Rio de Oro, defeating the Moroccans and besieging their cities. At the height of the war, on September 19, 1497, Jakoba passed away, leaving her infant great-grandson Lodewijk Knyphausen ruler of the Netherlands.
Only days after Jakoba's death, news came that a Breton monk had nailed some theses to a church door, beginning what was called the Protestant Reformation. Netherlands was not spared, as the new movement quickly gained followers in Limburg. Nonetheless, the crusade against Morocco was successful, and on March 7, 1498, the Sultan was forced to sign the Peace of Marrakech, ceding most of his lands to the Netherlands and submitting in vassalage. A day later in Amsterdam, the Regency Council passed the Dissolution Act, limiting the monarch's powers and establishing new rights of the Dutch subjects. The era of freedom and expansion had begun.
