The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton [333]
p. 129. and ofLuzerne, as the head of the Catholic association…: Luzerne (Lucerne) was the leading member of the Golden or Borromean League of Swiss cantons, formed in 1586 to combat the progress of the Reformation in Switzerland.
Federalist 20
p. 129. The United Netherlandsare a confederacy of republics, or rather of aristocracies…: "The United Provinces of the Netherlands" is the formal designation of a state in northwestern Europe that endured for about two centuries. Also known as the Dutch Republic, the United Provinces were sometimes misleadingly referred to as Holland, the name of the largest member of the union. The republic enjoyed spectacular success in the seventeenth century when it was a maritime power of the first order, traded throughout Europe and East Asia, and fostered significant artistic and intellectual achievement. For all of its success, however, the Dutch Republic rested on a precarious system of government. Its foundation was the Union of Utrecht (1579), an alliance intended originally only to strengthen resistance against Spanish rule among the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands. The rebellion of the Netherlands began in 1566, when some two hundred Protestant and Catholic nobles of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands petitioned their Hapsburg ruler, Philip II of Spain, not to employ the Spanish Inquisition in their lands. He demurred, riots erupted in the provinces, and Philip dispatched the Duke of Alva, Spanish troops, and the Inquisition in order to restore order. William of Orange, Philip’s stadtholder or deputy in the province of Holland, soon became the leader of the revolt. By 1576, the Netherlands was engaged in all-out war to drive the Spanish out. Due to diplomatic efforts by the Duke of Parma, whom Philip appointed governor-general of the Netherlands in 1578, however, the ten southern provinces were reconciled to a milder form of Spanish rule in 1579. The seven northern provinces, decidedly more Calvinist, responded by forming the Union of Utrecht that same year. In 1581, they formally declared their independence from Spain, calling themselves the United Provinces of the Netherlands (the southern states became the Spanish Netherlands). The fighting continued until 1609, when a Twelve Years’ Truce was concluded. Under the Union, each province remained sovereign in matters of internal concern. Yet with respect to matters of foreign policy and taxation, and assuming unanimous consent in the States-General, the provinces acted as one.
p. 130. The States-Generalhave authority to enter into treaties and alliances…: The States-General was a legislative body, delegates to which were appointed by the member states of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The States-General had authority to make peace and war, to assess contributions from the member provinces, to collect duties, and to regulate the mint. Instituted by the dukes of Burgundy in the fifteenth century (in what were then the Burgundian Low Countries), the States-General merely assisted the central government in assessing and collecting taxes. But by the mid-sixteenth century, it became the focus of a rising spirit of opposition to Spanish rule. The agreement that formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579 specified the powers of the States-General, making it responsible for foreign and military affairs but preventing any action not preceded by the unanimous approval of the provincial States. On account of this arrangement, and of the extreme social and religious particularism of the seven provinces, the States-General functioned effectively only when crises threatened the survival of the United Provinces.
p. 130. The executive magistrate of the Union is thestadtholder…: The title, stadtholder, designated both a provincial executive officer in the Low Countries