 :If I may join in the discussion: Before 1568 (and for a long period after) terms like 'Dutch', 'Hollandic', 'Flemish' were used interchangably. Just look at the fact the the whole of the Seventeen provinces was sometimes referred to in Latin as 'Belgica'. Isn't just using 'The (Burgiundian) Netherlands' for the whole and 'Southern'or 'Spanish' Netherlands for the South and 'Northern Netherlands' or 'Republic' clear enough? The rebellion itself clearly started in the 'Southern' provinces of Flanders and Brabant. Ghent (which was, for a while, a Calvinist Republic between 1577 and 1584) and Antwerp were some of the most important locations of the early revolt. William of Orange actually resided in Antwerp (of which he was Margrave) at the start of the Revolt. It is also interesting to see how some places that were later so activly involved in the Revolt didn''t join it until long after its start. The best known example is Amsterdam, that was loyal to Philip II and the Catholic faith until 1578(!) Another factor is the enormous amount of Refugees from the South to the North, especially after the Fall of Antwerp. It has been calculated that Antwerp had about 100.000 inhabitants in 1570, but only about 40.000 in 1590. The last attempt by the Republic to recapture Antwerp on the Spanish was actually even conducted in the 1630's. Main point is, that the early Revolt mainly took place in the South, but it was quite quickly exterminated by the Loyalist and Spanish forces. By 1572, the rebels had no foothold in the Netherlands. Only the capture of Den Briel on April 1 brought about some territorial gain, which happened to be in the North. This was however a sign for protestants all over the Low Countries to rebel once more. It was only after the most important Spanish victory, that over Antwerp in 1585, that it became more strictly a Northern affair; for a couple of reasons: Firstly, purely military: the North was far harder to conquer and far easier to defend because of its geography. Also, later on it was important for the Spanish to have their forces in the South, where they could not onlyrespond to the Rebels, but also to the French. Another important reason would eventually come to the fore: the commercial one. As is probably known many Northern Merchants didn't want Antwerp commencing its commercial activities again, as that would seriously hamper the position of the Northern cities (especially Amsterdam). The people in the North who acually wanted the South to be conquered from the Spanish (mainly refugees rom the South and Extremist Calvinist preachers who wanted to spread their faith to the South) were a minority in politics.  