Netherlands

C.R. Boxer profiles the naval adventures of the Netherlands' Tromp family - a thorn in the side of mid-17th century English maritime activity.

The future emperor was born on August 31st, AD 12.

Jos Damen tells the stories of two unusual men who lived a century apart in the Dutch colony at Elmina in West Africa; a poet who became a tax inspector and a former slave who argued that slavery did not contradict ideas of Christian freedom.

Held during a period of intense great power rivalry, the Hague Conference sought to prevent conflict but ended up rewriting the laws of war instead.

As a new installation at the National Gallery recreates Amsterdam’s red-light district, Melanie Abrams traces the history of Dutch liberalism.

Rowena Hammal explains why the United Provinces enjoyed a ‘Golden Age’ in the first half of the Seventeenth Century.

Nick Pelling suggests that credit should go not to the Netherlands but much further south to Catalonia.

One of William of Orange's earliest convictions was that the Dutch Revolt would never succeed without foreign support. 

Geoffrey Parker examines the reasons Philip II of Spain was drawn into a lengthy and bitter conflict with his Low Country provinces.

Geoffrey Parker considers the far-reaching consequences of a sudden change of plan by the king of Spain in 1567.