1
A Political and Economic Background
The introduction of the tulip market into the Netherlands and the tulipmania occurred in the midst of the Eighty Years’ War of independence between the Dutch and the Spanish.1 Spanish possession of the Low Countries had arisen through marriage; both the old Burgundian possessions in the Low Countries and Spain had been melded with Hapsburg territories in Central Europe in this manner. In trying to centralize and make organizational sense of this amalgamation of territories, the Hapsburgs attempted to impose administrative reforms that initiated the Dutch rebellion in 1567. This war was waged continuously, with Spain using the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) as a base to attack the United Provinces until the Twelve Years’ Truce was arranged in 1609. The Spanish were thwarted in their attempts to subjugate the Netherlands, which consolidated its territory and eventually seized control of most of international shipping. During this phase of the war, the English and Dutch formed an alliance, under
