Philip II's Rule of the Netherlands

Timeline

1. 1555Brussels · NetherlandsCharles V held a ceremony near the Grand-Place in Brussels, formally transferring the seventeen provinces of the Burgundian Netherlands—including Flanders, Brabant, Holland, and Zeeland—to Philip II, completing the generational transfer of Habsburg rule over the Low Countries.
2. 1555–1556Netherlands · Burgundian NetherlandsPhilip pursued policies of strengthened centralization and Catholic orthodoxy in the Netherlands, suppressing heresy, tightening local privileges, and beginning to reorganize the administrative and fiscal systems. Before departing in 1556, he appointed his sister Margaret as regent to continue his hardline course.