NESTORIUS NETHERLANDS. 



177 



the Puschkinian manuscript was printed for the 

 Russian historical and antiquarian society (Moscow, 

 1814, Timkowsky's edition). 



NESTORIUS, and NESTORIANS. See Syrian 

 Christians, and Christians of St Thomas. 



NESTS, EDIBLE. See Birls' Nests. 



NET (Italian, nelto, pure) ; that which remains of a 

 weight, quantity, &c., after making certain deduc- 

 tions. Thus, in mercantile language, the net weight 

 is the weight of any article after deducting tare and 

 tret : net profits, income, &c., is the absolute profit or 

 income, after deducting expenses, interest, &c. It is 

 opposed to gross (brutto). 



NETHERLANDS, KINGDOM OF THE. History of 

 the Netherlands. \. Till 1548, or till the Union 

 under the House of Austria. The Netherlands com- 

 prise tile Lowlands, or north-west declivity of the 

 great basin formed by the forest of Ardennes, the 

 Vosges, the Hunsdiick, the Siebengebirge, the Spes- 

 sart, Odenwald, and Hartz, in the valley of which 

 the Rhine flows down through the Netherlands. The 

 southern portion of these Low Countries belonged, 

 in Caesar's time, to Gaul (Gallia Belgica). That 

 great general declared the Belgians the most war- 

 like of the Gallic tribes. The northern portion, situ- 

 ated between the Meuse, the Ural, and the Rhine, 

 was called the Island of the Batavians ; and, with 

 Friesland, formed part of Germany. The part of the 

 Netherlands north of the Rhine, was inhabited by the 

 Frisians, who were, as well as the Batavians, a Ger- 

 man nation. We are made more particularly ac- 

 quainted with both, from the struggle which they so 

 honourably sustained, under the command of Civilis, 

 against the Romans. At subsequent periods, we find 

 them engaged in commerce and piracy, and they 

 were finally overpowered by the Romans. In the 

 fifth century the Batavians, and in the sixth the Bel- 

 gians, were reduced to submission by the Franks ; 

 but the Frisians were not subdued until the seventh 

 century. (See Belgians, Batavians, and Frisians.) 

 By the peace of Verdun, in 843 (see France), Batavia 

 and Friesland were annexed to the new kingdom of 

 Germany, and administered by governors who event- 

 ually became independent. In the eleventh century, 

 the country was divided into duchies, counties, and 

 imperial cities : Brabant or Lower Lorraine, and 

 afterwards Luxemburg, Limburg, and Guelders, were 

 governed by dukes ; Flanders, Holland, Zeeland, 

 Hainault, Artois, Namur, and Ziitphen, by counts ; 

 Friesland Proper remained a free lordship ; Utrecht 

 became a bishopric : the secular authority of the 

 bishop extended over Groningen and Overyssel. Of 

 all these rulers, the counts of Flanders were the 

 most powerful ; and, after their possessions had 

 passed, in 1383, to the more powerful house of Bur- 

 gundy, the latter, partly by marriages, partly by 

 force or cession, obtained possession of the largest 

 part of the Low Countries. The last duke of Bur- 

 gundy, Charles the Bold (q. v.), fell, in 1477, in 

 battle with the brave Swiss; his daughter Mary, by 

 her marriage with the emperor Maximilian, brought 

 the Netherlands to Austria, and Charles V., grand- 

 son of Maximilian, born in the Netherlands, united 

 (1548) the seventeen provinces with Spain, by the 

 pragmatic sanction, as for ever inseparable from it, 

 according to the rule of primogeniture. From 1512, 

 they formed, under the name of the Circle of Bur- 

 gundy, an appendage to the German empire. East 

 Friesland continued, under its own princes, attached 

 to the circle of Westphalia II. Till 1810, or till 

 the Union with the French Empire. Under the 

 reign of Cliarles V., the Protestant religion, though 

 severely opposed, spread in the Belgic and Ba- 

 tavian provinces. The number of persons exe- 

 cuted, during his reign, in these countries, for 



heresy, is computed at 100,000. The rulers of the 

 Netherlands, even Charles V., had always respected 

 their privileges and ancient liberties, by which means 

 the country had been rendered prosperous, and had 

 been a source of wealth to the monarchs. Charles's 

 son and successor, the cold tyrant Philip II., aban- 

 doned the maxims of his prudent predecessor. Born 

 in Spain, he treated the distant Netherlands with the 

 greatest severity. His governors, especially the 

 cruel Granvella, assailed the established rights of the 

 provinces ; and, by means of the inquisition, all free- 

 dom of religious opinion was to be exterminated. 

 These measures excited the wrath of a free people ; 

 great numbers of industrious artisans, particularly 

 workers in wool, fled to other countries, especially to 

 England and Saxony ; the nobility conspired in de- 

 fence of their rights (see Gueux)-> an( ^ t' )e Protestants 

 publicly celebrated their divine worship with all the 

 defiance of enthusiasm. When Granvella was recalled, 

 in 1564, it was too late to extinguish the conflagra- 

 tion he had kindled, except by force. Philip sent 

 the bloody Alva (q. v.), under the axe of whose exe- 

 cutioner fell the heads of the noblest of the nation 

 Egmont and Hoorn. The prudent prince of Orange 

 had disappeared only to reappear in arms, while 

 Alva sacrificed thousands to his fanatical rage. Even 

 the moderation of his wise successor Zuniga, could 

 not calm the excited spirits ; and the politic prince of 

 Orange, though often defeated by don John of A us- 

 tria and Alexander of Parma, finally came off victori- 

 ous in the unequal conflict for freedom and religion. 

 The struggle would have been sooner terminated, 

 had not the different situation of the Dutch pro- 

 vinces the mutual jealousies of the nobles, each 

 aiming at his own aggrandisement, and the unhappy 

 religious suspicions prevailing between the Catholics 

 and Protestants done much to retard the victory. 

 Almost all the other provinces joined, indeed, at 

 Ghent, in 1576, the open rebellion of Holland and 

 Zeeland ; but the abilities of the Spanish governor, 

 the prince of Parma (see Farnese), were successfully 

 employed in reducing the most southern, or, as they 

 were called, the Walloon provinces, to the Spanish 

 power ; and, soon after, in subjugating Brabant and 

 Flanders, by force of arms, in effecting which he was 

 much assisted by the flight of the most intelligent 

 and influential citizens, who repaired mostly to Hol- 

 land. In 1579, the five northern provinces, Hol- 

 land, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Friesland, 

 concluded the celebrated union of Utrecht, by which 

 they declared themselves independent of Spain. 

 They were joined, in 1580, by Overyssel, and, in 

 1594, by Groningen. Thus, after the united pro- 

 vinces had renounced their allegiance (July 26,, 1581) 

 to the king of Spain, " as a tyrant," arose the republic 

 of the United Netherlands, afterwards commonly 

 called Holland, from the province of that name, which 

 was superior to the others in extent, population, 

 riches, and influence. After the assassination of 

 William (q. v.) of Orange, July 10, 1584, Maurice 

 (q. v.) became stadtholder (governor), and followed 

 the steps of his predecessor. His victories at Nieu- 

 port and in Brabant, the bold and victorious exploits 

 of the Dutch admirals against the navy of Philip II. 

 (q. v.), the wars of France and England against 

 Spain, and the apathy of Philip II., caused, in 1609, 

 the peace of Antwerp, of twelve years' duration. 

 But Holland had yet to go through the thirty years' 

 war (q. v.), before its independence, now recognised 

 by all the powers except Spain, was fully secured by 

 the peace of Westphalia. While religious disputes 

 distracted the other European states, Holland offered 

 a safe asylum to the persecuted. All religions were 

 tolerated. The continually increasing population 

 found it necessary to seek employment beyond the 



