Five Brothers and a War

History—1500 to 1600 AD

While Holland was still under the control of Charles V at this time, and because Charles was the leader of the Holy Roman Empire (as in the Royal arm that combined the Church with secular government), problems quickly arose. The Church and Charles V attempted to suppress Protestantism, but the Dutch revolted against Catholicism and the Spanish in 1566, an event not surprisingly named “The Dutch Revolt”. Eventually, this led to the formation of the Dutch Republic, with Willem van Oranje (“William of Orange”—also known as “William the Silent”) as prince. The northern provinces of Holland remained Protestant, whereas the southern provinces eventually resubmitted to the Spanish throne, and to Catholicism. The creation of the Dutch Republic signaled the beginning of the “Dutch Golden Age” in which Holland became a world power in art, commerce, military power, science and colonization. The Universiteit Leiden (Leiden University) was established in 1575 and was a major force in academia. To add confusion to the dates, the Julian calendar, which miscalculated Leap Years and had therefore gotten out-of-sync by 10 days, was replaced with Gregorian calendar which is the calendar commonly used in the world today. Brabant, Zeeland, and lands belonging to the States General (mostly Limburg) adopted the Gregorian calendar on December 14, 1582. The days December 15-24, 1582 were dropped to correct the calendar error. The province of Holland adopted the calendar on January 1, 1583 (omitting January 2 through 11). The last areas adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1700 and 1701. In the province of Gelderland, the Gregorian calendar was adopted June 30, 1700 (omitting July 1-11, 1700); in Utrecht and Overijssel on November 30, 1700 (omitting December 1-11, 1700); in Friesland and Groningen on December 31, 1700 (omitting January 1 through 11, 1701), and in Drenthe on April 30, 1701 (omitting May 1 through 11 May 1701). Dates in the intervening times can be shockingly confusing, as the dates between towns a few kilometers apart can differ from each other by 10 days.

holland

Five Brothers and a War

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