The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed on 10 August 1585 by
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
and the
Dutch rebels fighting against Spanish rule. It was the first international treaty signed by what would become the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
. It was signed at
Nonsuch Palace, England.
[ R. B. Wernham, ''Before the Armada: The growth of English foreign policy 1485–1588'' (1966), p. 371.]
Terms
The treaty was provoked by the signing of the
Treaty of Joinville
The Treaty of Joinville was signed in secret on 31 December 1584 by the Catholic League, led by France's first family of Catholic nobles, the House of Guise, and Habsburg Spain.
Treaty provisions
In the treaty:
* Philip II of Spain agreed to fi ...
in 1584 between
Philip II of Spain and the
Catholic League in which Philip II promised to finance the League.
Elizabeth I agreed to supply 6,400 foot soldiers and 1,000 cavalry (who were to be led by Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester) which were initially intended as a way of lifting the
siege of Antwerp, with an annual subsidy of 600,000
florins, about a quarter of the annual cost of the revolt. As a surety for this assistance, the Dutch were to hand over
Brill and
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushin ...
to England, which it would garrison at its own expense. They were known as the
Cautionary Towns.
[
The treaty granted Elizabeth the right to appoint two councillors to the Council of State of the United Provinces.
The surety provoked the objection of ]Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
, which was to lose the most by this measure. Elizabeth rejected the title of General of the Provinces, offered to her in the treaty.
Aftermath
Philip II viewed the treaty as a declaration of war against him by Elizabeth I, and the Anglo-Spanish War started. Three years later, he launched the Spanish Armada and attempted to invade and conquer England. The resources spent by Philip on the Armada (10 million ducats) undoubtedly diverted significant resources from fighting the Dutch revolt. Around 110 million ducats were spent on the partly-successful campaign against the resurgent revolt.
The Treaty of Nonsuch was renewed and amended by the Treaty of Westminster of 6/16 August 1598 between the States-General and the Privy Council on behalf of Elizabeth.[Davenport, F. G.; Paulin, C. O. (1917). ''European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies''. Carnegie Institution of Washington. pp. 239–242.]
See also
* List of treaties
This list of treaties contains known agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups.
Before 1200 CE
1200–1299
1300–1399
1400–1499
1500–1599
1600–1699
1700–1799
...
Footnotes
External links
Primary source for terms of Treaty of Nonsuch 1585
1585 in England
1585 in the Dutch Republic
1585 treaties
Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
Dutch Republic–England relations
Elizabethan era
History of Surrey
Nonsuch
Nonsuch
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