The Pacification of Ghent was an alliance between the provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands signed on 8 November 1576. The main objectives were to remove Spanish mercenaries who had made themselves hated by all sides due to their plundering, and to promote a formal peace with the rebellious provinces of Holland and Zeeland.
Background
In 1566, the Habsburg Netherlands experienced considerable political upheaval and civil unrest, which culminated in the Beeldenstorm (or "iconoclastic fury") of that year. Its ruler, Philip II of Spain, responded by appointing Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba as Governor-general. He arrived there in 1567 to restore order, accompanied by an army of mercenaries. Philip soon replaced the most important advisors to former regent Margaret of Parma, either by summarily executing those such as the counts of Egmont and Hoorn, or by driving them into exile, as he did to William of Orange (also known as "William the Silent"). The leader of the royalist faction, Philippe III de Croÿ remained in favor.
Alba had little initial difficulty in repelling the rebel military incursions, led by William. However, maintaining a large military presence put severe strain on the royal finances, especially because Spain was fighting expensive wars against the Ottoman Sultan and in Italy at the same time. Alba's attempts to finance these expenses by new taxes in the Netherlands also estranged previously loyal subjects from the royalist cause. Then, in 1572, a group of privateers with letters of marque from William (known as watergeuzen) were unexpectedly successful in an invasion into Holland and Zeeland. Orange was able to take over the government in these two provinces under the guise of his old post of royal Stadtholder, and brought them into open revolt against the government in Brussels. This brought about a formal state of war between Holland and Zeeland and the fifteen loyalist provinces.
This civil war was mostly fought with mercenary troops on both sides, with Spanish tercios playing a preponderant role on the royalist side. Because of the dire state of the royal finances, these Spanish mercenaries often went unpaid. Consequently, they frequently mutinied and pillaged nearby towns, especially following victories. The disaffection this caused among the citizenry toward the Brussels government eventually was brought to a boil in the summer of 1576.
Pacification
350px|thumb|right|[[Allegory depicting the Pacification of Ghent by Adriaen van de Venne (Nederlandtsche gedenck-clanck 1626). The picture shows the Netherlandish Lion defending the entrance to the Garden of the Netherlands where 17 Netherlandish Maidens personifying the Seventeen Provinces are seated, while surrounded by 'furious Spanish and foreign soldiers seeking to breach the garden'.]]
In 1573, meanwhile, Alba had been replaced by Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens as governor-general. Requesens was also unable to defeat the rebels. He was in bad health and died in March 1576. This caused a power vacuum in the Brussels government, as the slow communications of the day prevented a speedy replacement from Madrid. Philip appointed his younger brother Don Juan (also known as John of Austria) governor-general, but it took him several months to take up this appointment.
During this interim period, the Duke of Aerschot stepped into power. He had already held inconclusive peace talks with Orange, his former colleague in the Raad van State (Council of State). When Spanish troops mutinied because of lack of payment and sacked the towns of Zierikzee and Aalst, the States General of the Netherlands was immediately convened by the States of Brabant and County of Hainaut on 8 September 1576 to deal with the mutinous troops. Holland and Zeeland, as rebellious provinces, were not invited. Aerschot, acting in the usurpation of the royal prerogatives, had by then been appointed as head of the Council of State by the States General. This made him acting governor-general. This action was comparable to what Orange had done in Holland and Zeeland, in which royal authority had been usurped by rebels pretending to act "in the name of the king". by Alba for the suppression of heresy were revoked, and nobody would be punished for religious offenses before the States General decided the matter of religion. Article 4 provided that, outside Holland and Zeeland, no action against the Catholic religion was to be allowed. The remaining articles dealt with such issues as the free movement of goods and persons, the freeing of prisoners of war, the return of confiscated properties (especially those of the Prince of Orange), the reimbursement of the Prince for his expenses in the conduct of the war against the government troops before 1572, and the problems caused by the need to equalize the inflated currency in Holland and Zeeland with that in the other provinces.]]
The problem with the Pacification was that the provinces agreed on little, other than the need to confront the marauding mutineers. Once that problem had been solved by the withdrawal of the Spanish tercios to Italy in April 1577, the provinces started to diverge again.
Don Juan signed the Pacification on 12 February 1577, thereby apparently giving royal assent to it. He took care, however, to stress the clauses about maintaining the Catholic religion outside the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. The States General then accepted him as the legitimate governor-general and even agreed to pay the arrears of the royal troops, the refusal of which had arguably been the cause of the problems with the mutineers. This agreement was enshrined in the Edict of 1577.
However, the Edict of 1577 seemed to provide for a return to the status quo ante in which the States General would not be permanently in session. Holland and Zeeland protested against this arrangement and refused to submit to it. Neither would they give up the fortresses they had occupied, as provided for in the Pacification.