Act of Abjuration

The Act of Abjuration, known in Dutch as the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, is the declaration by which many of the provinces of the Netherlands renounced their allegiance to King Philip II of Spain during the Dutch Revolt. It was signed on 26 July 1581 in The Hague, formally confirming a decision the States General of the Netherlands had made four days earlier in Antwerp, and it declared that the magistrates of the provinces belonging to the Union of Utrecht were freed from their oaths of allegiance to Philip on the grounds that he had failed in his obligations to his subjects by oppressing them and violating their ancient rights, and that he had therefore forfeited his thrones as ruler of each signing province. Its authors included Andries Hessels, Jacques Tayaert, Jacob Valcke, Pieter van Dieven and Jan van Asseliers.