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Historiography of the Eighty Years' War

This article is about how the Eighty Years' War has been seen after it started, and debates between historians how to write about the war. For the reasons why the Eighty Years' War broke out, see Origins of the Eighty Years' War. For the short- and long-term effects of the war, see Aftermath of the Eighty Years' War.

The Eighty Years' War has given rise to more historical controversies than any other topic from the history of the Nederlanden [Low Countries] whatsoever.

– Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins (2002)[1]

The historiography of the Eighty Years' War examines how the Eighty Years' War has been viewed or interpreted throughout the centuries. Some of the main issues of contention between scholars include the name of the war (most notably "Eighty Years' War" versus "Dutch Revolt"[1]), the periodisation of the war (particularly when it started, which events to include or exclude, and whether the effective length of the war justifies counting "eighty years" or not[1]), the origins or causes of the war (the Protestant Reformation or the violation of the rights and privileges of the nobility and autonomous cities[1]) and thus its nature (a religious war, a civil war or a war of independence[1]), the meaning of its historical documents such as the Act of Abjuration, and the role of its central characters such as Philip II of Spain, William "the Silent" of Orange, Margaret of Parma, the Duke of Alba, the Duke of Parma, Maurice of Orange, and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. It has been theorised that Protestant Reformation propaganda has given rise to the Spanish Black Legend in order to portray the actions of the Spanish Empire, the Army of Flanders and the Catholic Church in an exaggerated extremely negative light, while other scholars maintain that the atrocities committed by the Spanish military in order to preserve the Habsburg Netherlands for the Empire have historically been portrayed fairly accurately. Controversy also rages about the importance of the war for the emergence of the Dutch Republic as the predecessor of the current Kingdom of the Netherlands and the role of the House of Orange's stadtholders in it, as well as the development of Dutch and Belgian national identities as a result of the split of the Northern and Southern Netherlands.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference Encarta problematiek was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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