20 THE HISTORY OF DUTCH SEA FISHERIES. 



and as the war with Scotland added to the fishermen's 

 distress, the point was a subject of frequent resultless 

 deliberations in the next years. In 1 547 another fruitless 

 appeal was made to Government, who were content to 

 advise the fishermen to equip one-tenth of their boats as 

 ships of war,* and at last, on June I ith, issued a prohibition 

 to fish, to last till September ist.f This induced delegates 

 from three of the towns most concerned, Dordrecht, Amster- 

 dam and Rotterdam, to crave an audience from the Queen,! 

 and earnestly speak up for their interests. The Emperor, 

 they said, had been granted taxes or supplies (beden) by 

 the States under promise of all available protection to 

 the country's mercantile and industrial interests ; and he 

 therefore owed the fishermen such covering by ships of 

 war as should enable them to fish in safety without any 

 special contribution on their part. Having met with a flat 

 refusal, for which the Emperor's distressed finances indeed 

 gave the most stringent of reasons, the delegates came to 

 terms, and after some protracted negotiations the States of 

 Holland at length, in 1548, granted six thousand florins 

 towards the equipment of five convoying ships. These, 

 however, were not yet ready on the Qth of August, when a 

 prohibition was issued against any busses sailing till the 

 convoy should be ready to put to sea, involving the loss of 

 the best part of the fishing season. 



The States' tardy concession by no means put an end to 

 the disputes. What Government wanted was not a grant 



* Res. Ho II. 1547, p. 1 86. 



t Eerste Memoriaelboek 's Hofs van Holland, van Mr. Jan van 

 Dam, fol. 256. Cf. Wagenaar, Vad. Hist. v. p. 297. 



\ Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary, appointed governess of the 

 Dutch provinces by her imperial brother, in 1530. 



Eerste Memoriaelboek van Mr. Jan van Dam, fol. 344, verso. 

 See Res. Holland, 1547 and 1548, p. 197 sqq., and 245 sqq. 



