ABSTRACT
The deliberate myth-building of the republican oligarchs was powerless to obliterate from the institutions of the Dutch Republic and from the minds of its inhabitants the potent relics and strong memories of the monarchical past. When in 1572 strategic considerations induced those who were determined to continue their resistance against the Spanish troops to adopt as their base the provinces of Holland and Zeeland in the north-western corner of the country, the States of these provinces recognised William of Orange as their stadtholder. The constitution of the republic was absurd and cumbersome, and anything that tended to concentrate power into fewer hands was a move towards efficiency. In 1609, when the truce was concluded with Spain, Henri IV, friend and well-wisher of the Republic, expressed the view that, for the good of the country, stadtholder Maurice should be given larger powers.
