Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A cikin 1568, larduna Bakwai waɗanda daga baya suka sanya hannu kan Union of Utrecht () sun fara tawaye ga Philip II na Spain wanda ya haifar da Yaƙin Shekaru Takwas. Kafin a sake mamaye ƙasashen Low Countries gaba ɗaya, yaƙin tsakanin Ingila da Spain, Yaƙin Anglo-Spanish na 1585-1604, ya ɓarke, ya tilasta sojojin Spain su dakatar da ci gaban su kuma ya bar su cikin ikon manyan biranen kasuwanci na Bruges da Ghent, amma ba tare da ikon Antwerp ba, wanda a lokacin ya kasance mafi mahimmancin tashar jiragen ruwa a duniya. Antwerp ta faɗi
a ranar 17 ga Agusta 1585, bayan kewaye, kuma an kafa rarrabuwa tsakanin Arewa da Kudancin Netherlands (mafi yawanci Belgium na zamani).