States-General
The Netherlands' States General (Staten-Generaal) originated around the middle of the 15th century as an assembly of the Burgundian Netherlands' provincial states, meeting from time to time to consider important issues. The first significant assembly met in Bruges on 9 January 1464 on the initiative of Holland, Flanders, and Brabant, with the initially reluctant agreement of the Burgundian duke Philip the Good.
In the next significant assembly, after the death of Charles the Bold in February 1477 forced Mary of Burgundy to grant the Great Privilege which recognised the States General's right to convene on their own initiative, although legislative and executive actions were still reserved for the sovereign.
At the start of the Dutch Revolt the States General initially remained loyal to Spain's Philip II the overlord of the Habsburg Netherlands, then openly turned against the Spanish crown in 1576 and split three years later as southern provinces returned to the fold and formed the Union of Arras while the remaining provinces formed the Union of Utrecht, continued the rebellion as the United Provinces. They replaced Philip II as the supreme authority of the Dutch Republic in 1581, deliberating on subjects of common interest: the Union, religion, and defence before reaching an unanimous resolution. The assemblies of the separate provinces remained sovereign bodies and the need for unanimity slowed the decision-making process considerably.
A National Assembly on the French modelreplaced the States General after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, but the former body was restored restored as a bicameral parliament in 1815. Political parties in the modern sense did not emerge in the Netherlands until the 1870s.
