1477 - The Great Privilege
The cities, though oppressed and heavily taxed, grew stronger; and, when Duke Charles perished at Nancy, they at once stood out for their rights, and obliged his sole heir the duchess Mary, not unwillingly, to grant them the "Great Privilege" of March 1477, which affirmed the power of the cities and provinces to hold diets, and reserved to the estates a voice in the declaration of war, and authority to approve of the choice she might make of a husband. It was declared that natives alone might hold high office; no new taxes should be laid without the approval of the estates; one high court of justice was established for Holland, Zealand, and Friesland; the Dutch language was made official.
Thus came to an end the centralizing despotism of the Burgundian dukes. This period is also remarkable for a reconstruction of the civic government, and for the appearance of the States General, first summoned by Philip the Good. In the states of Holland many nobles sat in person, though they had but one collective vote.
At first all towns, larger and smaller, also sent representatives, but after a time the smaller ceased to appear, and only such larger cities as Dort, Haarlem, Leyden, Amsterdam, Gouda, were represented, each having one vote. The president was the "advocatus," or "vogt," of the country, afterwards styled "the pensionary," an officer regarded as the champion of the estates against the counts. In Zealand and elsewhere, clergy, nobles, and cities sat separately, each order having a single vote.
The estates, under the Burgundians, had little power; they could not even control the taxation. Duke Philip in 1464 summoned them to meet him at Bruges, and, though some of the more distant held aloof, the majority obeyed. These States General, however, expressed no national feeling or union of the provinces: that was a far later state of things.
After Mary of Burgundy had granted the Great Privilege, the provinces warmly supported her against Louis XI; they approved her union with Maximilian of Austria in August 1477, though it brought them no rest; for the old parties still survived, and Hooks and Cods fought savagely at almost every town. Maximilian had allied himself with the Cods, and the Hooks were defeated at Leyden and Dort, and finally in their last stronghold, Utrecht, of which city the archduke was made temporal protector in 1483.
In March 1482 Mary of Burgundy died, and Maximilian, acting for his son Philip, became governor of the Netherlands. After fresh Hook and Cod troubles at Haarlem, he finally made peace with France in December 1482, and after the death of Louis XI brought the Flemings to complete obedience by the peace of Frankfort in 1489. The provinces were still very uneasy, partly through the turbulence of the Hooks, partly because of the autocratic character of his rule, and partly through the so-called"Bread and Cheese" war, caused by famine in the northern provinces. War with France also complicated matters, and the government over the Netherlands was entrusted to Albert of Saxony.
In 1494 Maximilian, having been elected emperor, laid down his office as guardian, and had Philip the Handsome declared of age. He was at once accepted by Brabant, and the estates of Holland even let him sweep away the Great Privilege. He ruled over them quietly, and got back their English trade. In 1496 he married Joanna of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and afterwards heiress to the new monarchy of Spain.
On Philip's death in 1506, leaving two sons, Charles and Ferdinand, and four daughters/ Maximilian again became guardian for his grandson Charles, then but six years old; he named Margaret of Savoy, his daughter, governess of the Netherlands in 1507.
