Cautionary Towns

The Cautionary Towns, three towns in the Dutch Republic garrisoned by English troops from 1585, were named for being given to Queen Elizabeth I as security for the Dutch rebels repaying her for assisting the Dutch revolt. The towns were Brielle (Briel), Vlissingen (Flushing) and Fort Rammekens on the island of Walcheren.

English and Scottish troops who had volunteered to fight for the Dutch Protestant cause had helped the capture of Brielle, Rammekens and Flushing in 1572 and garrisoned them soon after.[1] That continued until 1585, with the outbreak of war with Spain. The handover of the garrisons was made during the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585 and were kept during the Anglo-Spanish War, which England would garrison at its own expense.[2] The primary objective was to keep these ports out of Spanish hands.[3]

Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester was made governor of Flushing in 1588. The first English governor of Brielle was Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, succeeded by Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway who named his daughter Brilliana in honour of the city.[3]

When peace was made at the Treaty of London in 1604, the Spanish demanded the return of the Cautionary Towns, but the English refused to hand them over.[4] Instead, King Philip III of Spain allowed himself to view the towns as neutral to gain access through the English Channel.[5]

The towns were eventually restored to the Dutch by purchase through King James I in 1616 for the sum of £250,000.[6]

References
  1. Knight, Charles Raleigh: Historical records of The Buffs, East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot) formerly designated the Holland Regiment and Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. Vol I. London, Gale & Polden, 1905, p. 8
  2. R. B. Wernham, Before the Armada: The growth of English foreign policy 1485–1588 (1966), p. 371.
  3. Garrett Mattingly (1959), The Armada, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Ch. V, "Plans of Operations", p. 44.
  4. Harris, William (1814). An historical and critical account of the lives and writings of James I. and Charles I. and of the lives of Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. F.C. and J. Rivington. p. 196.
  5. Malland p. 32
  6. Croft p. 96

Sources
  • Croft, Pauline (2002). King James. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403990174.
  • Lawrence, J; Wymer, R; Burgess, G, eds. (2016). The Accession of James I: Historical and Cultural Consequences. Springer. ISBN 9780230501584.
  • Malland, David (1980). Europe at War 1600-1650. Rowman and Littlefield. ISBN 9780847662135.
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