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1607, Spanish Netherlands, Albert and Isabella. Nice Silver Real Coin. Antwerp!

Denomination: Real Reference: KM-25.1. Condition: A nice VF! Mint Period: 1603-1607 Mint Place: Antwerp (privy mark: hand)  Diameter: 26mm Weight: 2.86gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Burgundian Cross (St.Andrew's Cross), crown above,  the golden fleece order hanging on  ornaments, initials (A-E) in fields. Legend: ARCH AVST DVCES BVRG ET BRAB (privy mark: hand) / A-E (Albert and Elisabeth)   Reverse: Crowned arms of the spanish line of the Habsburgs surrounded by the Order of the Golden Fleece. Legend: ALBERTVS ET ELISABET D:G

In 1521, Emperor Charles V added Tournai to his possessions in the Low Countries, leading to a period of religious strife and economic decline. During the 16th century, Tournai was a bulwark of Calvinism, but eventually it was conquered by the Spanish governor of the Low Countries, the Duke of Parma,  following a prolonged siege in 1581.

Authenticity undonditionally guaranteed.

Albert VII, Archduke of Austria (sometimes called Albrecht of Austria) (15 November 1559 – 13 July 1621) was, together with his wife Infanta Isabella of Spain, the daughter of Philip II of Spain, co-sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, ruling the Habsburg territories in the southern  Low Countries and the north of modern France. Prior to this, he had  been Governor of these territories since 1595.

Albert VII was the fifth son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and the Infanta Maria of Spain, daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Isabella of Portugal.  He was sent to the Spanish Court at the age of eleven, where his uncle  Philip II looked after his education. Initially he was meant to pursue  an ecclesiastical career. In 1577 he was appointed cardinal at the age  of eighteen and was given the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme as his titular church. Philip II planned to make him archbishop of Toledo as soon as possible, but the current incumbent, Gaspar de Quiroga y Sandoval,  lived much longer than expected. In the mean time Albert only took  lower orders. He would never be ordained priest, nor bishop. His  clerical upbringing did however have a lasting influence on his  lifestyle.

After the annexation of Portugal, Albert became the first viceroy of  the kingdom and its overseas empire in 1583. He was likewise appointed Papal Legate and Grand Inquisitor for Portugal. As viceroy of Portugal, he took part in the organization of the Great Armada of 1588 and beat off an English counter-attack on Lisbon in 1589. In 1593 Philip II recalled him to Madrid, where he  would take a leading role in the government of the Spanish Monarchy.

After the death of Archduke Ernst in 1595, Albert was sent to Brussels to succeed his elder brother as Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands.  He made his entry in Brussels on 11 February 1596. His first priority  was restoring Spain's military position in the Low Countries. She was  facing the combined forces of the Dutch Republic, England and France  and had known nothing but defeats since 1590. During his first campaign  season, Albert surprised his enemies by capturing Calais and nearby  Ardres from the French and Hulst from the Dutch. These successes were  however offset by the third bankruptcy of the Spanish crown later that  year. As a consequence, 1597 was marked by a series of military  disasters. Stadholder Maurice of Orange captured the last Spanish strongholds that remained north of the great  rivers, as well as the strategic town of Rheinberg in the Electorate of  Cologne. Still, the Spanish Army of Flanders managed to surprise  Amiens, thereby stalling the counter offensive that Henry IV was about to launch. With no more money to pay the troops, Albert was also facing a series of mutinies.

While pursuing the war as well as he could, Albert made overtures  for peace with Spain's enemies, but only the French King was disposed  to enter official negotiations. Under the mediation of the papal legate Cardinal Alessandro de'Medici —the future Pope Leo XI— Spain and France concluded the Peace of Vervins on 2 May 1598. Spain gave up its conquests, thereby restoring the situation of Cateau Cambrésis.  France tacitly accepted the Spanish occupation of the  prince-archbishopric of Cambray. It pulled out of the war, but  maintained its financial support for the Dutch Republic. Only a few  days after the treaty, on 6 May 1598, Philip II announced his decision  to marry his eldest daughter, the Infanta Isabella to Albert and to cede them the sovereignty over the Habsburg  Netherlands. The Act of Cession did however stipulate that if the  couple would not have children, the Netherlands would return to Spain.  It also contained a number of secret clauses that assured a permanent  presence of the Spanish Army of Flanders. After obtaining the pope's  permission, Albert formally resigned from the College of Cardinals on  13 July 1598 and left for Spain on 14 September, unaware that Philip II  had died the night before. Pope Clement VIII celebrated the union by procuration in Ferrara on 15 November, while  the actual marriage took place in Valencia on 18 April 1599.

The first half of the reign of Albert and Isabella was dominated by war. After overtures to the United Provinces and to Queen Elizabeth I proved unsuccessful, the Habsburg policy in the Low Countries aimed at  regaining the military initiative and isolating the Dutch Republic. The  strategy was to force its opponents to the conference table and  negotiate from a position of strength. Even if Madrid and Brussels  tended to agree on these options, Albert took a far more flexible  stance than his brother in law, the new Spanish king Philip III.  Albert had first hand knowledge of the devastations wrought by the  Dutch Revolt and had come to the conclusion that it would be impossible  to reconquer the northern provinces. Quite logically, Philip III and  his councillors felt more concern for Spain's reputation and for the  impact that a compromise with the Dutch Republic might have on Habsburg  positions as a whole. Spain provided the means to continue the war.  Albert took the decisions on the ground and tended to ignore Madrid's  instructions. Under the circumstances, the division of responsibilities  repeatedly led to tensions.

Albert's reputation as a military commander suffered badly when he was defeated by the Dutch stadtholder Maurice of Orange in the battle of Nieuwpoort on 2 July 1600. His inability to conclude the lengthy siege of Ostend (1601-1604), resulted in his withdrawal from the tactical command of  the Spanish Army of Flanders. From then on military operations were led  by the Genuese Ambrogio Spínola.  Even though he could not prevent the almost simultaneous capture of  Sluys, Spínola forced Ostend to surrender in September 1604. He seized  the initiative during the next campaigns, bringing the war north of the  great rivers for the first time 1594.

Meanwhile the accession of James VI of Scotland as James I in England had paved the way for a separate peace with  England. On 24 July 1604 England, Spain and the Archducal Netherlands  signed the Treaty of London. The return to peace was severely hampered by differences over religion. Events such as the Gunpowder Plot caused a lot of diplomatic tension between London and Brussels. Yet on  the whole relations between the two courts tended to be cordial.

Spínola's campaigns and the threat of diplomatic isolation induced  the Dutch Republic to accept a ceasefire in April 1607. The subsequent  negotiations between the warring parties failed to produce a peace  treaty. They did lead however to conclusion of the Twelve Years' Truce in Antwerp on 9 April 1609. Under the terms of the Truce, the United  Provinces were to be regarded as a sovereign power for the duration of  the truce. Albert had conceded this point against the will of Madrid  and it took him a lot of effort to persuade Philip III to ratify the  agreement. When Philip's ratification finally arrived, Albert's quest  for the restoration of peace in the Low Countries had finally paid off.

The years of the Truce gave the Habsburg Netherlands a much needed  breathing-space. The fields could again be worked in safety. The  archducal regime encouraged the reclaiming of land that had been  inundated in the course of the hostilities and sponsored the  impoldering of the Moeren, a marshy area that is presently astride the  Belgian-French border. The recovery of agriculture led in turn to a  modest increase of the population after decades of demographic losses.  Industry and in particular the luxury trades likewise underwent a  recovery. International trade was however hampered by the closure of  the river Scheldt. In order to combat urban poverty, the government  supported the creation of a network of Monti di Pietà based on the Italian model.

Meanwhile the archducal regime ensured the triumph of the Catholic Reformation in the Habsburg Netherlands. Most Protestants had by that stage left  the Southern Netherlands. After one last execution in 1597, those that  remained were no longer actively persecuted. Under the terms of  legislation passed in 1609, their presence was tolerated, provided they  did not worship in public. Engaging in religious debates was also  forbidden by law. The resolutions of the Third Provincial Council of  Mechlin of 1607 were likewise given official sanction. Through such  measures and by the appointment of a generation of able and committed  bishops, Albert and Isabella laid the foundation of the catholic  confessionalisation of the population. It should be noted however, that  the same period saw important waves of witch-hunts.

In the process of recatholisation, new and reformed religious orders  enjoyed the particular support of the Archdukes. Even though Albert had  certain reservations about the order, the Jesuits received the largest cash grants, allowing them to complete their  ambitious building programmes in Brussels and Antwerp. Other champions  of the Catholic Reformation, such as the Capuchins, were also given considerable sums. The foundation of the first convents of Discalced Carmelites in the Southern Netherlands depended wholly on the personal initiative  of the Archdukes and bore witness to the Spanish orientation of their  spirituality.

Albert's reign saw a strengthening of princely power in the Habsburg Netherlands. The States-General of the loyal provinces were only summoned once in 1600. Thereafter the  government preferred to deal directly with the provinces. The years of  the Truce allowed the archducal regime to promulgate legislation on a  whole range of matters. The so called Eternal Edict of 1611, for  instance, reformed the judicial system and ushered in the transition  from customary to written law. Other measures dealt with monetary  matters, the nobility, duels, gambling, etc.

Driven by strategic as well as religious motives, Albert intervened  in 1614 in the squables over the inheritance of the duchies of Jülich, Kleve and Berg. The subsequent confrontation with the armies of the Dutch Republic led to the Treaty of Xanten. The episode was in many ways a rehearsal of what was to come in the Thirty Years' War. After the defenestration of Prague, Albert responded by sending troops to his cousin Ferdinand II and by pressing Philip III for financial support to the cause of the  Austrian Habsburgs. As such he contributed considerably to the victory  of the Habsburg and Bavarian forces in the Battle of the White Mountain on 8 November 1620.

As the years passed, it became clear that Albert and Isabella would  never have children. When Albert's health suffered a serious breakdown  in the winter of 1613-1614, steps were taken to ensure the succession  of Philip III in accordance to the Act of Cession. As a result, the  States of the loyal provinces swore to accept the Spanish King as heir  of the Archdukes in May 1616. Philip III however predeceased his uncle  on 31 March 1621. The right to succeed the Archdukes thereupon passed  to his eldest son Philip IV.

Albert had a precarious health and it deteriorated markedly in the  closing months of 1620. As the Twelve Years' Truce would expire the  next April, he devoted his last energies to securing its renewal. In  order to reach this goal he was prepared to make far reaching  concessions. Much to his frustration neither the Spanish Monarchy, nor  the Dutch Republic took his pleas for peace seriously. His death on 13  July 1621 therefore more or less coincided with the resumption of  hostilities between the two.