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1550 CE
1560 CE
1570 CE
1580 CE
1590 CE
1600 CE
1610 CE
1620 CE
1630 CE
1640 CE
1555 CE - 1568 CE: Religious tensions mount in the Netherlands in response to Philip II's edict and the imposition of the Inquisition.
1556 CE: Philip II of Spain issues his Edict of 1556, a continuation of Charles V's 1550 Edict, outlawing Protestant sects, books, preaching, and meetings in the Netherlands.
1566 CE: Protestants in the Netherlands engage in the Beeldenstorm ("Statue Storm") destroying Catholic iconography.
1567 CE: The Duke of Alba persecutes Protestants under Philip II's edict; thousands are executed.
1568 CE - 1648 CE: The Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands.
1568 CE: Montmorency and Egmont executed; William the Silent flees to the Holy Roman Empire; War begins.
1609 CE - 1621 CE: Twelve Years' Truce; Netherlands becomes a major European power.
1621 CE - 1648 CE: Hostilities resume until concluded by the Peace of Westphalia.