An Empire of Spices

The Dutch Republic

Political/Economic Chronology

1200's

After 1200 - Construction of dikes and systematic land reclamation.
1253 - Count William II (1234 - 1256) defeats Flemish army on Walcheren (principal island of Zeeland).
1256 - Treaty of Brussels -
Holland gains effective control over Zeeland.
1280's - West Friesland annexed by Count Floris V (1256 - 1296)

1300's

1304 - Count of Flanders defeated by French and Hollanders in sea-battle off Zierikzee.
1323 - Treaty of Paris -
Count Louis of Flanders relinquishes Flemish claims to Zeeland and recognizes count of Holland as count of Zeeland.
1345 - Count William IV killed fighting Frisians.
1348 - Black Death.
1350 - Outbreak of civil war.
1396 - Towns of Holland, including Amsterdam, mount expedition which conquers most of Friesland and Ommelands.

1400's

After 1400 -
Pace of land reclamation slows.
Hollanders develop full-rigged seagoing vessels suitable for bulk-carrying traffic.
Growth of Baltic trade for Holland in grain and timber.
Herring buss allows for expansion of North Sea fishing.
Series of floods in Holland and Zeeland encourage shift to dairy farming and importation of grain.
By 1414 - Holland had lost control of Friesland.
November 1421 - St. Elizabeth's Day flood inundates large area of South Holland.
Engulfs 72 villages.
1425 - Death of last independent count of Holland.
1425 - 1428 - Hook and Cod-Fish strife (Hoek - Cabeljauwen).
c. 1428 - Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy (1419 - 1467) becomes new lord of Holland and Zeeland.
1430's - States General established by Duke Philip.
Administrative reorganization and state-building by Philip.
Noble Order of the Golden Fleece established.
Central Chamber of Accounts, with a treasurer established.
1438 - 1441 - War between Holland and the Hansa.
Late 1440's - New eruption of Hoek insurgency.
1455 - Duke Philip invades Utrecht with army from Holland.
1467 - 1477 - Reign of Duke Charles the Bold.
January 1477 - Charles the Bold killed in battle with Swiss near Nancy.
1477 - 1482 - Mary of Burgundy (daughter of Charles) rules. -
Revolt against Burgundians
French armies invade French provinces of Burgundy.
1477 - Grand Privilege conceded by Mary -
Mary of Burgundy agrees to charter giving States General right to gather on their own.
1482 - Death of Mary of Burgundy.
Regency of Philip I (son of Mary and Maximilian) begins.
1487 - Revolt in Flanders against Habsburg rule.
June 1489 - Rotterdam surrenders after siege.
1491 - Karel van Egmond leads successful anti-Habsburg revolt in Gelderland.
July 1492 - Ghent surrenders to Albrecht of Saxony.
August 1493 - Maximilian called to return to Austria to succeed father as Holy Roman Emperor.
Philip proclaimed ruler of Habsburg Netherlands.
1493 - 1506 - Rule of Philip I.

1500's

During 1500's - Improvement in dikes, drainage systems & water regulations
Development of new windmills.
1500 - 1560 - Baltic grain imports in Netherlands experience five-fold increase.
1504-1505 - Philip I organizes invasion of Gelderland.
Invasion fails.
1506 - 1515 - Regency of Margaret of Austria.
January 1515 - Charles of Luxemburg (son of Philip), proclaimed ruler of Habsburg Netherlands.
(Charles later becomes Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.)
1515 - Charles assembles army to subdue Friesland and Groningen.
1515-1516 - Armed Frisian vessels attack Holland's shipping.
1516 - Death of Ferdinand of Aragon (maternal grandfather of Charles) leaves Charles successor to Spanish throne.
1516 - 1521 - Beginning of Reformation.
September 1517 - Charles V leaves for Spain, to claim throne.
Habsburg Netherlands placed under regency of Margaret of Austria (1517 - 1530).
March 1521 - Emperor bans prohibited books, sermons, and writings of Luther.
July 1521 - 400 Lutheran books burned at Antwerp.
1522 - Charles sets up Netherlands Inquisition.
Frans Van der Hulst appointed inquisitor-general.
1523 - Pope approves Netherlands Inquisition.
1522-1523 - End of Frisian war.
July 1523 - Two Augustinian friars burned at Brussels.
1525 - Utrecht guilds revolt and seize city.
1526 - First book-burnings at Amsterdam.
September 1526 - Former priest burned at The Hague.
1527 - Duke Karel invades Utrecht and Overijssel.
October 1528 - Duke Karel surrenders.
1530 - Death of Margaret of Austria.
St. Felix Day inundation covers large parts of South Beveland Island.
1531 - Charles returns to Brussels.
Mary of Hungary appointed regent (1531-1540).
Charles sets up Council of State and Secret Council.
March 1531 - Anabaptist leader Sikke Freerks beheaded at Leeuwarden.
March 1534 - Anabaptists executed in Haarlem and Amsterdam following armed incident.
March 1535 - Twenty four Anabaptists hanged following seizure of Cistercian abbey of Oldeclooster.
May 10, 1535 - Amsterdam town hall seized by Anabaptists.
May 15, 1535 - Seven Anabaptist women drowned at Amsterdam.
December 1536 - Treaty of Grave -
Duke Karel cedes overlordship over Groningen, the Ommelands, and Drenthe, to Emperor.
1538 - Death of Duke Karel.
1539 - Duke Wilhelm von der Marck, of Cleves, becomes duke of Gelderland.
Late 1530's - French king Francois I shifts troops from Italy to Netherlands frontier.
French construction of new system of forts along border.
Charles V responds to French threat with new fortification, including Mons and Gravelines.
1539 - 1540 - Ghent rebels against Mary of Hungary.
1540's - Spanish conflict with France leads to increased taxation.
1541 - Duke Wilhelm becomes Lutheran.
1542 - Last raid by Gelderlanders into Habsburg territory.
1543 - German army under Charles advances down Rhine and defeats Wilhelm.
September 1543 - Treaty of Venlo
Wilhelm cedes sovereignty over Gelderland.
1548 - So-called "Pragmatic Sanction" -
Recognized Habsburg Netherlands as a separate entity and created hereditary monarchy for Emperor.
April 1550 - 'Eternal edict' -
Crown issues edict providing for death penalty and confiscation of all property for heresy.
1523 - 1565 - Total of 1,300 persons executed for heresy in Habsburg Low Countries.
1551 - Zeeland town of Reimerswal inundated.
1552 - 1559 - Habsburg - Valois war.
1555 - Flood covers Reimerswal.
September 1555 - Charles V arrives in Netherlands from Spain.
October 25, 1555 - Charles V abdicates in favor of Philip (Philip II)
Philip proclaimed new ruler of seventeen provinces.
1555 - Duke of Savoy (Emanuele Filiberto) named lieutenant-governor at Brussels.
March 1556 - Philip puts tax demand of three million guilders before States General.
Provinces refuse.
August 1556 - Duke of Savoy reconvenes States General to demand passage of tax request.
August 10, 1557 - Battle of Saint-Quentin
French forces defeated by Spanish near Cambrai.
Cambrai captured.
1558 - Novennial Aid of 1558 -
States General agree to Savoy's request, but funding extends over nine years.
April 1559 - Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis -
Peace agreement between France, Spain, and England.
Spain's dominance of Italy recognized.
Philip plans to return to Spain, appoints Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle as chief advisor.
Margaret of Parma appointed regent of Low Countries.
1559 - Papal bull "super universas" published.
Outlines plans to reorganize Netherlands Church.
Late 1550's - Calvinism emerges as a religious force in Protestant regions.
1560 - Herring fleet size reaches 500 busses, employing 7,000.
Holland seagoing fleet estimated at 1,800 vessels; 500 in Amsterdam.
January 1561 - Philip recalls Spanish troops from Netherlands.
1561 - William of Orange marries Anna of Saxony.
March 1563 - Mob plunders Cistercian nunnery near Leiden.
December 1564 - Philip dismisses Granvelle over opposition to church reorganization.
October 1565 - Philip insists on continuation of anti-heresy campaign.
November 1565 - League of Compromise formed
April 5, 1566 - Petition of Compromise
Hendrik van Brederode and 200 noblemen force themselves into presence of Margaret of Parma to present Petition.
Inquisition denounced and dismantlement demanded.
Margaret suspends Inquisition.
May 1566 - So-called hedge-preaching (open-air preaching) of 1566 begins.
August 10, 1566 - Convent near Steenvoorde attacked by mob.
Beeldenstorm (iconoclastic) attacks spread.
August 21-22, 1566 - All 42 churches in Antwerp pillaged by iconoclastic mobs.
August 23, 1566 - 'Accord'
Magnates offer Margaret help in restoring order.
League of Compromise dissolved.
August 24, 1566 - Middleburg and Flushing experience mob attacks.
December 1566 - Protestants suppressed by government troops in Walloon provinces.
March 1567 - Rebel force defeated near Antwerp.
May 1567 - William of Orange moves to family's castle at Dillenburg, following collapse of rebellion.
August 1567 - Duke of Alva arrives in Netherlands
with 10,000 Spanish and Neapolitan troops.
August-September 1567 - 'Conseil des Troubles' set up by Alva.
Commission to investigate disturbances, with prosecuting staff of 170.
Will execute over 1,000 people.
September 9, 1567 - Magnates Egmond and Horn arrested after banquet in Brussels.
September 1567 - Margaret resigns regency.
May 1568 - Battle of Heiligerlee -
Louis of Nassau defeats royal forces under count of Aremberg.
May - June 1568 - Rebel naval force, the Sea-Beggars, established by Count Louis, in the Ems estuary.
June 1568 - Egmond and Horn beheaded in Grand-Place at Brussels.
July 1568 - Battle of Jemminghen
Rebel army defeated by Alva near Emden.
March 1569 - Alva convenes States General.
November 1570 - All Saints Day Flood innundates Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland.
April 1, 1572 - Sea-Beggar force of 600, under Count Lumey de la Marck, seizes port of Brill (Brielle).
April 6, 1572 - Town of Flushing ousts garrison and invites Sea-Beggars in.
May 21, 1572 - Town militia seize Enkhuizen.
June 1572 - Hoorn and Haarlem join rebels.
July 19, 1572 - Holland towns in revolt assemble at Dordrecht as States of Holland.
Sept. 19, 1572 - Mons surrenders to Alva.
November 14, 1572 - Alva's troops massacre hundreds at Zutphen.
December 2, 1572 - Alva's troops massacre citizens of Naarden.
December 1572 - Siege of Haarlem begins.
July 1573 - Haarlem surrenders to Alva.
October 11, 1573 - Spanish fleet defeated at Battle of Zuider Zee.
October 1573 - Leiden relieved from Spanish siege after dikes cut. Rebels capture Bossu.
November 1573 - Alva replaced by Don Luis de Requesens.
February 1574 - Spanish garrison at Middelberg surrenders.
Autumn 1575 - Philip suspends interest payments on the royal debt.
March 1576 - Death of Requesens.
July 2, 1576 - Zierikzee surrenders to Spanish troops.
Starving Spanish troops mutiny and abandon town just hours after surrender.
November 1576 - 'Spanish Fury'
Roaving bands of Spanish mutineers attack Antwerp, killing hundreds.
'Pacification of Ghent'
Provinces agree to drive out Spanish troops.
February 1577 - Don Juan, new governor-general, signs so-called Eternal Edict with States General.
States General agree to recognize Don Juan's authority.
April 1577 - Spanish troops leave Netherlands.
July 1577 - Don Juan flees Brussels.
Recalls Spanish troops.
September 1577 - William of Orange returns to Brussels.
January 1578 - State's army defeated by Don Juan at Gembloux.
February 1578 - Leuven captured by Spanish.
September 1578 - Unpaid Dutch troops mutiny.
January 23, 1579 - Union of Utrecht -
Dutch Republic comes into existence with the signing of the Union of Utrecht.
Signed by delegates of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, the Ommelands, and ridderschap of Arnhem & Zuitphen.
March 1579 - Gelderland joins union.
June 1579 - Parma retakes Maastricht.
February 1580 - Parma takes Kortrijk.
April 1580 - Dutch forces recapture Mechelen.
September 1580 - Duke of Anjou signs treaty with States General granting him sovereignty over Netherlands.
January 1581 - Duke of Anjou proclaimed 'prince and lord' of the Netherlands.
June 1581 - Parma captures Breda.
July 1581 - Act of Abjuration -
States General repudiate Philip II.
October 1582 - Spanish troop strength reaches 61,000.
January 1583 - Anjou takes Dunkirk.
Opposition to French at Antwerp results in hundreds of deaths among Anjou's troops.
June 1583 - Anjou quits the Netherlands.
July 1583 - Orange moves headquarters to Delft.
July 1584 - Orange assassinated at headquarters in Delft.
1585 - 1590 - Spanish embargo on Dutch shipping and goods to the Iberean peninsula.
1585 - 1604 - Spanish embargoes against English goods.
March 1585 - Parma's army takes Brussels.
August 1585 - Antwerp surrenders to Parma.
August 20, 1585 - Treaty of Nonsuch
Queen Elizabeth agrees to aid Dutch with military expedition.
6,350 foot soldiers and 1,000 cavalry dispatched, commanded by earl of Leicester.
April 1586 - Trade embargo imposed on south Netherlands and Spanish-held zones in north.
January 1587 - English garrisons at Deventer and Zutphen defect to Spaniards.
September 1587 - Leicester returns to England after failed coup attempt.
April 1588 - Elizabeth orders closer English cooperation with Dutch in anticipation of sailing of Armada.
1590's - Dutch state benefits from Philip II's decision to intervene in French civil war.
Spanish troops moved from northern Netherlands toward French border.
Fluit ship design originates at Hoorn.
Beginnings of so-called Dutch 'Golden Age.'
1590-1609 - Establishment of Dutch 'rich trades' and growth of long-distance traffic to East Indies, Africa, and Americas.
1590 - Dutch forces capture Breda.
States General's code of military conduct first published.
Spring 1591 - Zutphen and Deventer captured by Dutch, followed by Hulst and Nijmegan.
Maurits of Nassau captures Steenwijk and Coevorden.
June 1593 Geertruidenberg surrenders to Dutch.
March 1594 - Formation of Compagnie van Verre (Long-Distance Company) at Amsterdam.
Consortium of nine elite merchants.
Starting capital of 290,000 guilders.
Fleet of four ships with 249 men and 100 cannon.
June 1594 - Dutch capture Groningen following siege.
1595 - Amsterdam emerges as main rival of Hamburg for European spice distribution.
April 1595 - Long-Distance Company fleet sails from Texel.
1596 - Publication of 'Itineraio' of Jan Huigen van Linschoten helps spark Dutch interest in Far East.
Journal of travels to Goa and Far East between 1584 and 1592.
1597 - City of Rheinburg and fortress of Lingen captured by Maurits.
Long-Distance Company fleet of 1595 returns with only 3 of 4 ships; 89 surviving crew of original 249.
May 1598 - Treaty of Vervins.
France and Spain conclude peace.
1598 - Philip II dies.
Philip III (1598-1621) becomes king.
Spain reimposes embargoes in Spain and Portugal on Dutch shipping (1598 - 1609).
Dutch ships begin sailing in Caribbean for high-grade salt, in response to Portuguese embargo. Long-Distance Company of 1594 expands to 18 directors with starting capital of 768,466 guilders.
Spring 1598 - Long-Distance Company fleet of eight vessels sails.
1599 - Four vessels of fleet of 1598 return.
Profit of 400 percent.
East India traffic expands to eight Dutch companies.

1600's

1600 - Dutch army, under Maurits, invades Flanders.
June 30, 1600 - Battle of Nieuwpoort.
Maurits routs Spanish forces, but fails to take city.
Dutch forced to withdraw.
December 31, 1600 - Queen Elizabeth signs charter for 'The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies.'
February 1601 - Four East India Company ships, Red Dragon, Hector, Susan, and Ascension, sail from Woolwich under command of James Lancaster.
Fall 1601 - Fourteen Dutch fleets, totaling 65 ships sail to East Indies.
Dutch East India trade saturates market causing drop in prices and fall in profits.
December 1601 - Conference at Hague on government regulation of spice trade.
March 1602 - Charter issued to United East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) (VOC).
Ambrosio Spinola begins three-year siege of Ostend.
1603 - 47 members of Dutch crew massacred in Ceylon by natives.
June 1603 - East India Company ships Ascension and Susan return with cargo of pepper and spices.
September 11, 1603 - East India Company ships Red Dragon and Hector return to London.
Surplus of pepper causes London prices to fall.
1604 - Treaty between England and Spain.
September 22, 1604 - Ostend surrenders to Spaniards.
February 1605 - Dutch East India Company forces bombard Portuguese fortress at Ambon (Amboina).
Dutch take Indonesian 'Spice Islands' of Ternate and Tidore from Portuguese.
August 1605 - Spinola captures Oldenzaal and Lingen.
April 1607 - Dutch-Spanish cease-fire signed.
April 25, 1607 - Battle in Bay of Gibraltar.
Dutch fleet of 26 warships defeats Spanish fleet.
All ten of large Spanish galleons destroyed.
Dutch admiral Jacob van Heemskerck killed.
1609 - 1659 - Silver Age of Spanish Netherlands.
May 22, 1609 - Dutch admiral Peter Verhoef and 41 Dutch crew killed by Bandanese on Neira Island.
August 10, 1609 - Dutch subdue Banda and impose pact.
1609 - Twelve Years Truce.
VOC makes Bantam, in western Java, headquarters.
Agricultural boom, fueled by Thirty Years' War, provides incentive for huge drainage projects.
North Holland Beemster polder; 123 investors; 1.5 million guilders; construction of 45 windmills.
1610 - King Henri IV of France assassinated.
January 1610 - Guilds and Calvinists seize Utrecht.
Oldenbarnevelt orders troops in to restore order.
July 1610 - "Remonstrance' of the Arminians submitted to States.
1611 - Dutch establish Fort Nassau (Mouree) on African Gold Coast.
Dutch alliances with Sweden and Hansa towns.
1613-1614 - Dutch enter into treaties with Denmark.
August 1616 - Rioting at Delft over falling wages and rents.
December 1616 - Nathaniel Courthope takes possession of nutmeg-producing island of Pulo Run.
January 1617 - Unrest at The Hague and Brill.
August 1617 - 'Sharp Resolution' empowers towns to raise special troops (waardgelders) to maintain order.
1618 - Defenestration of Prague - Protestant mob seizes control of Prague, marking the start of the Thirty Years' War.
July 1618 - States General vote to disband waardgelders in Holland and Utrecht.
August 29, 1618 - Oldenbarnevelt arrested by Maurits.
1619 - Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, accepts crown of Bohemia
VOC takes Jakarta (called Batavia), and moves headquarters there.
May 12, 1619 - Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius, and Hogerbeets found guilty of treason.
May 13, 1619 - Oldenbarnevelt beheaded.
October 1620 - Nathaniel Courthope murdered off Ai, effectively ending British resitance on Run.
November 8, 1620 - Battle of White Mountain.
Catholic League forces of Bavaria and Austria under Tilly defeat forces of Protestant Union under Frederick.
1621 - Resumption of Dutch-Spanish conflict (1621-1647).
Spain re-imposes embargoes on Dutch goods.
Embargo on Portuguese salt exports (1621 - 1640) leads to shortage of salt for fisheries.
Holland enters economic slump.
Recession in Dutch maritime economy (lasting into 1630's).
Spring 1621 - Dutch expedition, under Jan Coen, invades Banda Islands.
May 1621 - Dutch take Run Island.
June 1621 - States General charter Dutch West India Company (Westindische Compagnie) (WIC).
March 1623 - Massacre of Amboina (Amboyna)
15 English factors, accused of plotting against Dutch rule, tortured and executed.
August 1623 - Battle of Stadtlohn.
Spinola begins siege of Breda.
Cleves and Gennep captured by Spaniards.
June 1624 - Treaty of Compiegne -
Louis XIII agrees to provide Dutch with subsidy of a million guilders for three years.
April 1625 - Maurits dies.
May 1625 - Spanish Council of State decides to end offensive operations in Netherlands due to financial difficulties.
June 1625 - Breda surrenders to Spaniards.
1625 - England decides to aid Dutch and enters war.
Oldenzaal captured by Dutch.
April 1626 - Danish forces under king Christian IV defeated by Wallenstein at Dessau.
1627 - Grol captured by Dutch.
1628 - Mexican treasure convoy captured by WIC fleet under Piet Heyn (Hein) off Cuban coast, at Matanzas.
1628 - 1631 - Franco-Spanish conflict over Mantuan Succession forces Spain to divert funds and troops to Italy.
April - September 1629 - Dutch siege of 's-Hertogenbosch.
May 12, 1629 - Treaty of Lübeck -
Denmark withdraws.
1630 - WIC captures Recife in northern Brazil.
September 1631 - Battle of Breitenfeld.
Tilly defeated by Swedish and Saxon forces.
June 1632 - Dutch begin siege of Maastricht.
August 1632 - Maastricht surrenders.
November 1632 - Battle of Lützen
Wallenstein defeated. Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus killed.
1634 - WIC captures Curacao.
May 1635 - France declares war on Spain.
Franco-Dutch invasion of Spanish Netherlands fails.
July 26, 1635 - Spanish troops capture island fortress of Schenckenschans.
April 1636 - Dutch retake Schenckenschans after siege.
1636 - 1637 - Tulipmania - Speculation in tulip bulbs.
1639 - Dutch VOC forces capture cities of Trincomalee and Batticaloa on Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
October 21, 1639 - Battle of the Downs.
Dutch fleet under Maarten Tromp destroys Spanish squadron.
1641 - Dutch capture Malacca from Portuguese.
Summer 1645 - Denmark forced to lower tariffs in Baltic after Dutch fleet arrives at Copenhagen.
March 14, 1647 - Death of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange.
October 24, 1648 - Treaty of Westphalia or Münster.
End of Thirty Years' War.
End of Eighty Years' War (Beginnings of Dutch revolt dated from events of 1568.)
Late 1640's - Dutch begin to dominate trade in Europe
January 30, 1649 - Execution of Charles I of England.
July 30, 1650 - Prince William II stages coup, deploys troops in The Hague.
Amsterdam yields.
November 6, 1650 - William dies of smallpox at The Hague.
1651 - England enters economic slump.
August 1651 - Navigation Act passed by English Parliament.
Dutch shipping prohibited from carrying southern European products to English ports.
English navy and privateers seize 140 Dutch ships during 1651.
1652 - VOC establishes Cape Colony on southern tip of Africa.
1652 - 1654 - First Anglo-Dutch War.
September 28, 1652 - Battle of the North Foreland (Kentish Knock).
February 18 -20 1653 - Battle of Portland Bill.
March 1653 - Dutch defeat English Levant fleet
June 1-2, 1653 - Battle of the Gabbard.
August 8-9, 1653 - Battle of Scheveningen
Dutch lose 13 warships sunk or burned, estimated 4,000 casualties.
Dutch admiral Tromp killed.
English lose two ships, estimated 1,000 casualties.
English blockade broken.
1653 - Cromwell made Lord Protector in England.
Dutch fleets shut down English trade in Baltic and Mediterannean.
April 1654 - Peace treaty ratified.
1655 - 1660 - Anglo-Spanish War.
June 1658 - Battle of the Dunes, outside Dunkirk.
Spanish forces defeated.
October 29, 1658 - Battle of the Sound.
Dutch fleet defeats Swedish fleet.
1659 - Peace of the Pyranees.
1659 - Parliament restored to power in England.
Charles II returns as king.
1660's - Beginning of agricultural depression in Low Countries and western Europe.
1662 - Franco-Dutch Treaty of 1662.
Dutch loss of Taiwan.
September 1662 - Anglo-Dutch Treaty of Alliance.
1664 - 1667 - Second Anglo-Dutch War.
1664 - English resume harassment of Dutch shipping.
200 Dutch ships siezed.
English take Dutch forts on Guinea coast.
French general tariff raises price on Dutch goods imported into France.
French East and West India Companies formed.
September 8, 1664 - Peter Stuyvesant, governor of Fort Amsterdam, surrenders New Amsterdam (Manhattan Island) to English.
February 22, 1665 - Dutch declare war on Britain.
March 1665 - Charles II declares war on Dutch.
April 1665 - Plague starts in London.
June 3, 1665 - Battle of Lowestoft.
Dutch admiral Jacob van Wassenaer (Lord of Obdam) and 400 sailors killed when ship's powder magazine explodes.
Dutch lose 17 ships sunk or captured.
1666 - 500 English merchant vessels captured by Dutch privateers.
June 1-4, 1666 - Four-Day Fight.
July 25, 1666 - St. James' Day Fight
September 2 - 5, 1666 - Great Fire of London.
April 1667 - Colbert's second tariff list raises prices again on Dutch imports into France.
French armies invade Spanish Netherlands.
June 10 - 11, 1667 - Dutch raid on the Medway.
Dutch fleet, commanded by Michel de Ruyter sails up Thames to attack English fleet anchored in the Medway.
Sink several English ships and tow Royal Charles and Unity away as prizes.
July 31, 1667 - Peace of Breda.
English keep New York.
August 28, 1667 - Lille surrenders to French.
1668 - Triple Alliance of 1668 -
Dutch Republic, England, and Sweden form armed coalition to mediate between France and Spain.
Demand end to French hostilities with Spain.
Louis orders halt to invasion.
June 1670 - Secret treaty signed between Charles II and Louis against Dutch.
January 1671 - Dutch retaliate against French for tariff restrictions.
November 1671 - Dutch impose further restrictions on French trade.
1672 - 1674 - Third Anglo-Dutch War.
March 1672 - Dutch declare war following English attack on Dutch convoy.
April 6, 1672 - France declares war on Dutch.
May 26, 1672 - Battle of Sole Bay -
Dutch fire ship destroys flagship Royal James, killing the Earl of Sandwich.
June 1672 - French army of 118,000 infantry and 12,500 cavalry crosses Maas to invade Spanish Netherlands.
May 28, 1673 - First Battle of Schooneveld.
June 4, 1673 - Second Battle of Schooneveld.
August 11, 1673 - Battle of the Texel -
Dutch defeat Anglo-French fleet.
Financial difficulties force Charles to discontinue war.
February 1674 - Treaty of Westminster signed ending Third Anglo-Dutch War.
June 2, 1676 - Battle of Palermo, Sicily.
French fleet destroys Dutch and Spanish fleets.
January 1678 - Anglo-Dutch treaty.
August 10, 1678 - Treaty of Nymegen.
End hostilities between France and Dutch.
1682 - Dutch annex Bantam settlement on Java.
August 15, 1684 - Treaty of Ratisbon.
Twenty-year truce between Dutch and France.
May 1685 - Death of Elector Karl II of the Palatinate.
October 18, 1685 - Revocation of Edict of Nantes.
Louis XIV eliminates state protection for Protestants in France.
August 1687 - France bans import of Dutch herring.
September 1687 - Colbert's general tariff list of 1667 imposed on Dutch.
1688 - 1697 - Nine Years' War (War of the League of Augsburg).
Austria, Sweden, Dutch Republic and several German states form alliance against France.
Spain, Savoy, and England later join League.
September 1688 - Dutch ships in French ports of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, and Nantes seized.
September 1688 - Dutch assemble fleet for invasion of England.
400 transport and 53 warships with army of over 21,000 men.
November 1688 - Dutch invasion force lands at Devon and seizes Exeter.
William lands at Torbay on November 5.
Glorious Revolution launched.
December 18, 1688 - William enters London.
James II flees to France.
February 1689 - William becomes ruler of England.
May 1689 - France declares war.
England and Scotland enter war.
Formation of Grand Alliance against France.
June 30, 1690 - Combined Dutch and English fleet battle French fleet off Beachy Head, ending French invasion plans.
July 1690 - Battle of the Boyne.
1697 - Treaty of Ryswick ends Nine Years' War.

1700's

February 1701 - French troops invade south Netherlands.
March 19, 1702 - William II dies at Hampton Court in England.
May 1702 - War of the Spanish Succession begins.
Dutch Republic, Britain, Austria and Prussia declare war on France and Bourbon Spain.
October 13, 1702 - Anglo-Dutch fleet attacks French and Spanish fleets anchored in harbor of Vigo, Spain.
1704 - Battle of Blenheim -
Marlborough defeats French forces.
1706 - Battle of Ramillies.
July 1708 - French forces capture Ghent and Bruges.
1713 - Peace of Utrecht ends War of the Spanish Succession.
Public debt reaches 128 million guilders.
November 1715 - Austro-Dutch Treaty of Antwerp.
South Netherlands assigned to Emperor and become 'Austrian Netherlands.
1717-1718 - Rioting in Ghent, Antwerp, and Brussels over high bread prices.
Spring 1719 - Government puts down riots and executes leaders.
1720's - Accelerating collapse of 'rich trades' begins.
December 1722 - Imperial East India Company in Austrian Netherlands formed - 'Ostend Company.'
1740 - 1748 - War of the Austrian Succession.
April 1747 - Small French army enters States Flanders.
Riots at Middelburg and Zierikzee follow invasion.
Unrest at The Hague.
September 1747 - French capture Bergen-op-Zoom.
May 1748 - Rioters in Friesland attack residences of tax-farmers (pachters).
June 1748 - Rioting in Harlingen, Haarlem, and Amsterdam.
October 22, 1751 William IV, Prince of Orange, dies unexpectedly at The Hague, at the age of 40.
May 1767 - Franco-Austrian treaty of Versailles.
1780 - 1784 - Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.
1780 - 1787 - Dutch Patriot Revolution.
April 3, 1784 - Free Corps company opens fire on Orangist crowd in Rotterdam, killing four.
August 1786 - Death of Frederick the Great of Prussia.
Friedrich Wilhelm II (1786 - 1797) becomes king of Prussia.
June 1787 - Princess Wilhelmina, sister of Friedrich Wilhelm II, arrested by Gouda Free Corps.
September 1787 - Prussian army marches on The Hague and Amsterdam.
William V returns to The Hague.
Dissolves Patriot clubs and Free Corps.
September 1787 - Austrian troops withdrawn from Brussels after popular rising.
October 1789 - Belgian rebel forces invade south Netherlands from States Brabant and defeat Austrians.
Rebel state called 'Republic of the United Netherlands States.'
July 1790 - Leopold II reaches agreement with Prussians to restore Austrian authority in south Netherlands.
November 1790 - Austrian army of 30,000 invades south Netherlands.
December 1790 - Austrians end south Netherlands Republic.
1791 - WIC liquidated.
November 1792 - Battle of Jemappes.
June 1794 - Battle of Fleurus.
French forces defeat Austrians.
October 1794 - Orangist regime suppresses attempted rising with British and Prussian backing.
January 1795 - French advance over frozen rivers.
Dutch revolutionary committees take over cities ahead of advancing French forces.
February 1795 - So-called 'Circular Note of Kew.
William V, shortly after flight to Britain, orders Dutch colonial governors not to resist British.
Governors of Malacca, Amboina, and west Sumatra surrender settlements to British.
September 1795 - British capture South Africa.
October 1795 - France annexes southern Netherlands.
December 1795 - Dutch East India Company (VOC) liquidated.
February 1796 - British conquer Dutch Ceylon.
October 1797 - Battle of Camperdown.
British defeat of Dutch navy off Den Helder effectively ends Dutch naval power.
October 6, 1799 - Battle of Castricum.
Franco-Dutch army defeats British invasion force near Alkmaar.

1800's

1802 - Treaty of Amiens.
British return South Africa to Dutch.
1805 - Coup d'etat of 1805.
Napoleon installs new regime at The Hague.
Plebiscite - 14,000 voters approve new constitution.
March 1806 - Napoleon abolishes Republic and replaces with monarchy of Louis Bonaparte.
1806 - Britain re-annexes South Africa.
1808 - Guilds abolished.
August 1810 - English party seizes Dutch Fort Belgica, on Neira, gaining control of Banda Islands.
1811 - British conquest of Java.
1817 - English return Banda Islands to Dutch control.
Before leaving, remove nutmeg seedlings, for transplant to plantations in Ceylon, Pinang, Bencoolen, and Singapore.