User:DillonAnt

My name is Ashlyn and I come from Louisiana in the USA - I am a freshman majoring in Geography together with Dutch and I run a top quality wiki about Culture.In 1588 the Republic of the United Provinces consisted of the 7 sovereign provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Overijssel and Gelderland, the most effective being Holland. Each of the provinces elected a Stadholder. The office of Stadholder had initially been planned for the King of Spain's representative or proxy but under the Republic the Stadholder became the servant of the States and a completely brand-new form of government came into being. This was goinged by the States General, which was made up of representatives of the 7 sovereign provinces and met in The Hague. Since unanimity was needed in voting on issues relating to defense and tax, and since such issues needed to be debated by the rural assemblies initially, it was tough for the States General to act decisively and decision-making underwent long delays. Each of the provinces also had a paid legal adviser or 'Pensionary', known in Holland as the Advocate. These were influential authorities, specifically in a powerful province like Holland, considering that they functioned as spokespersons for their provinces in the States General as well as as intermediaries between the States and foreign powers. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Johan de Witt were the most prominent of these Advocates or Grand Pensionaries, as they were later called.