The Battle of Stromboli and Its Aftermath: Dutch-Spanish Maritime, Financial, and Commercial Entanglements, 1675–1690

This chapter examines how the financial and commercial aftermath of the Battle of Stromboli (1676) dramatically transformed relations between the Dutch Republic and Spain in the period 1675–1690. In 1676, the Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter assisted the Spanish Crown in suppressing the Messinian Revolt on Sicily. The Dutch intervention was urgent since the French king Louis XIV had sent a warfleet to aid Messina. The Battle of Stromboli between the Dutch and French fleets ended inconclusively, but Spain was able to regain possession of Messina two years later. The French threat, however, forced the Dutch and Spanish to continue their naval collaborations in the Mediterranean and in the Baltic. On these occasions, the States General provided the Spanish Crown naval assistance and Dutch credit in return for a wide range of commercial favors within their overlapping global and commercial networks. Credit and naval power on the one hand and markets and resources on the other established a working relationship that strengthened the role of the United Provinces and the Spanish Monarchy on the European stage and questions the supposed power-political demise of both.