Treaty of Nonsuch

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The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed by Queen Elizabeth and her English allies, and the Netherlands on August 20, 1585 at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey. England initially agreed to supply 400 horse and 4,000 foot (initially intended as a way of lifting the Siege of Antwerp (1584-1585)) and an annual subsidy of 600,000 florins a year (about a quarter of the annual cost of the revolt). This eventually increased to a commitment of 1,000 horse and 6,350 foot. As a surety for this assistance, the Dutch were to hand over Ostend, Brielle and Vlissingen to England. This provoked the objection of Zeeland, which was to lose the most by this measure. In addition, the treaty provided for an English governor-general of the rebel provinces. Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was granted this post.

Philip II of Spain took the treaty as a declaration of war against him by Elizabeth, and in retaliation prepared and launched the Spanish Armada against England. The vast resources spent by Philip on this (around 44.7m florins) undoubtedly helped the Dutch revolt succeed as Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza who led the Spanish forces in the later stages of the revolt, was hampered by limited resources (he received only 14.7m florins from Spain).