ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the precise nature of the relationship between the Spanish monarchy and the Habsburg Netherlands, on how that relationship functioned and developed in the course of the reign and on the resulting shifts in the balance of power. In strategic terms, the Netherlands was of vital importance to the Spanish monarchy. Hence, the relationship between the Spanish monarchy and the archducal regime should not be depicted as a system of indirect domination. The Act of Cession was there to ensure that the Spanish monarchy as well as the Netherlands would remain in the House of Habsburg. The Act of Cession of 6 May 1598 was the cornerstone that settled the marriage between the Infanta Isabella and Archduke Albert. At the same time the Act of Cession and the kindred projects addressed fundamental options of dynastic policy. On the surface, the act merely settled the dowry of the Infanta Isabella.
