
ELIZABETH I - PRIVY COUNCIL – LOW COUNTRIES Letter signed by five members of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, Greenwich, 28 December 1585 - 'SINCE THE DOUBT GROWETH APPACE...'
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ELIZABETH I - PRIVY COUNCIL – LOW COUNTRIES
Footnotes
'SINCE THE DOUBT GROWETH APPACE THE PLACARTES GRANTED BY THE ESTATES – WE PRAY YOU TO CONSIDER OF THEIR VALIDITY': ENGLISH INFLUENCE IN THE NEW DUTCH REPUBLIC.
This request from the Privy Council came at a period of temporary English influence in the politics of the United Provinces, which had formally declared their independence from Spanish rule in 1581, and at the very moment in December 1585 when Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester was offered the post of governor-general. Elizabeth had signed the Treaty of Nonsuch in August 1585, the first international treaty signed by the new Dutch republic, agreeing to supply soldiers and cavalry (led by Dudley) to attempt to lift the siege of Antwerp and in return receive the right to appoint two councillors to the Council of State of the United Provinces. Three of our signatories, Burleigh, Hatton and Howard had played prominent roles in the negotiation of this treaty.
Robert Dudley had arrived at Flushing on 9 December, was delayed by fog, and finally arrived in The Hague on 20 December, whereupon he was greeted with great ceremony and the offer from the States General to accept the appointment of governor-general: '...It has been claimed that the grand reception he received went to his head, but the disputes over his role before he left England suggest that there was more design to it. The main justification [for accepting the role] was the belief held widely in both England and the Netherlands that the main weakness of Dutch government was the lack of a central authority...' (Simon Adams, ODNB). That the Privy Council is seeking the view of the Admiralty Courts on the validity of placartes (or decrees) issued by the new States General reflects this concern about the fragmented organisation of the Estates, particularly when the Dutch, free of Spanish rule, were turning more towards their mercantile interests.