Eighty Years' War, 1599–1609
Sixth phase of the Eighty Years' War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The years 1599–1609 constituted a phase of in the Eighty Years' War (c. 1568–1648) between the Spanish Empire and the emerging Dutch Republic. It followed the Ten Years (1588–1598) that saw significant conquests by the Dutch States Army under the leadership of stadtholders Maurice of Nassau and William Louis of Nassau-Dillenburg, and ended with the conclusion of the Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621) on 9 April 1609. The 1599–1609 period was generally marked by a stalemate; the well-known Battle of Nieuwpoort (1600) brought the Dutch a tactical victory without long-term gain, while Spanish conquests in the Siege of Ostend (1601–1604) and Spinola's 1605–1606 campaign [nl] were effectively balanced out by the Dutch naval triumph in the Battle of Gibraltar (1607) and the Spanish state bankruptcy that same year.[1] Financial troubles were amongst the primary motives that prompted the Dutch, and even more so the Spanish, to head to the negotiating table for a ceasefire.[1]