William the Silent, Prince of Orange, had been murdered on July 10, 1584.  It was natural that for an instant there should be a feeling as of absolute and helpless paralysis.  The Estates had now to choose between absolute submission to Spain, the chance of French or English support, and fighting it out alone.  They resolved at once to fight it out, but to seek French support, in spite of the fact that Francis of Anjou, now dead, had betrayed them.  For the German Protestants were of no use, and they did not expect vigorous aid from Elizabeth.  But France herself was on the verge of a division into three, between the incompetent Henry III. on the throne, Henry of Guise of the Catholic League, and Henry of Navarre, heir apparent and head of the Huguenots.

The Estates offered the sovereignty of the Netherlands to Henry; he dallied with them, but finally rejected the offer.  Meanwhile, there was an increased tendency to a rapprochement with England; but Elizabeth had excellent reasons for being quite resolved not to accept the sovereignty of the Netherlands.  In France, matters came to a head in March 1585, when the offer of the Estates was rejected.  Henry III. found himself forced into the hands of the League, and Navarre was declared to be barred from the succession as a heretic, in July.

While diplomacy was at work, and the Estates were gradually turning from France to England, Alexander of Parma, the first general, and one of the ablest statesmen of the age, was pushing on the Spanish cause in the Netherlands.  Flagrantly as he was stinted in men and money, a consummate genius guided his operations.  The capture of Antwerp was the crucial point; and the condition of capturing Antwerp was to hold the Scheldt below that city, and also to secure the dams, since, if the country were flooded, the Dutch ships could not be controlled in the open waters.

The burghers scoffed at the idea that Parma could bridge the Scheldt, or that his bridge, if built, could resist the ice-blocks that would come down in the winter.  But he built his bridge, and it resisted the ice-blocks.  An ingenious Italian in Antwerp devised the destruction of the bridge, and the passage of relief-ships, by blowing up the bridge with a sort of floating mines.  The explosion was successfully carried out with terrific effect; a thousand Spaniards were blown to pieces; but by sheer blundering the opening was not at once utilised, and Parma was able to rebuild the bridge.

Then, by a fine feat of arms, the patriots captured the Kowenstyn dyke, and cut it; but the loss was brilliantly retrieved, the Kowenstyn was recaptured, and the dyke repaired.  After that, Antwerp’s chance of escape sank almost to nothing, and its final capitulation was a great triumph for Parma.

The Estates had despaired of French help, and had opened negotiations with England some time before the fall of Antwerp had practically secured the southern half of the Netherlands to Spain.  It was unfortunate that the negotiations took the form of hard bargaining on both sides.  The Estates wished to give Elizabeth sovereignty, which she did not want; they did not wish to give her hard cash for her assistance, which she did want, as well as to have towns pawned to her as security.  Walsingham was anxious for England to give the Estates open support; the queen, as usual, blew hot and cold.