Union of Arras

The Union of Arras (Dutch: Unie van Atrecht) was an accord signed on 6 January 1579 in Arras (Atrecht), under which the southern states of the Netherlands, today in Wallonia and the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (and Picardy) régions in France and Belgium, expressed their loyalty to the Spanish king Philip II and recognized his Governor-General, Don Juan of Austria. It is to be distinguished from the Union of Utrecht, signed later in the same month.

These were the conditions:

  • There should be no more garrisons of foreign troops;
  • The Council of State should be organized like that of the time of Charles V;
  • Two thirds of the council members should be installed by all member states consenting.
  • All privileges that were in force before the Dutch Revolt should be reinstated.
  • Catholicism was the only religion. Any other religion (i.e. Calvinism) should be abolished.

The regions that signed it were:

  • County of Hainaut
  • County of Artois
  • Lille, Douai and Orchies (Lilloise Flanders)
  • Bishopric of Cambrai

The regions that favored the Union, but did not sign it, were

  • County of Namur,
  • County of Luxembourg,
  • Duchy of Limburg.

Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, used these counties as a base to start his conquest of the separatist parts (members of the Union of Utrecht).

Famous quotes containing the words union of, union and/or arras:

    “The best philosophical attitude to adopt towards the world is a union of the sarcasm of gaiety with the indulgence of contempt.”
    —Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)

    “The admission of the States of Wyoming and Idaho to the Union are events full of interest and congratulation, not only to the people of those States now happily endowed with a full participation in our privileges and responsibilities, but to all our people. Another belt of States stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific.”
    —Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    “There is a time for building
    And a time for living and for generation
    And a time for the wind to break the loosened pane
    And to shake the wainscot where the field-mouse trots
    And to shake the tattered arras woven with a silent motto.”
    —T.S. (Thomas Stearns)