more about de alba

An act of Alba that caused perhaps an even stronger reaction, and certainly a more universal one, than the creation of the Council of Troubles was his imposition of the infamous alcabala. This tax of 10% on all sales (“tenth penny” tax) was his attempt to raise money that, predictably, even the Catholic residents weren’t so thrilled about. Mainly in reaction to this new policy, the exiles from the Low Countries who called themselves Geuzen (from the French for “beggers”), fitted out a fleet of privateers and actually managed to seize the town of Den Briel. This event has been pointed to as an essential step in the movement towards independence of the Dutch colonies.