Treaty of Nonsuch

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The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed by Elizabeth I of England and the Netherlands on August 20, 1585 at Nonsuch Palace in Surrey. England initially agreed to supply 400 horses and 6,500 foot soldiers (then changed to 8,000) (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, Brill and Flushing 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.

The treaty was provoked by the signing of the Treaty of Joinville in 1584 between Philip II of Spain and the Catholic League in France in which Philip II promised to finance the League.

Philip II took the treaty as a declaration of war against him by Elizabeth. Three years later he launched the Spanish Armada in an attempt to invade and conquer England. The vast resources spent by Philip on the Armada (about 44.7m florins) undoubtedly helped the Dutch revolt succeed as the Duke of Parma, 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).

However, the direct support from the English would prove to be of little help to the revolt. Leicester was an ineffective administrator, often in conflict with the leading Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarneveld. His military enterprises came to no success either, culminating in the loss of Battle of Zutphen. He was to return to England in disgrace.