The Act of Abjuration (Dutch: Plakkaat van Verlatinghe) was a significant document in the history of the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule. It was proclaimed on July 26, 1581, in The Hague by the States-General of the Dutch Republic.
The Dutch Revolt, which began in 1568, was a series of conflicts primarily driven by religious tensions between the predominantly Calvinist Dutch and the Catholic monarchy of Philip II of Spain. The revolt was also fueled by political and economic grievances, as the Dutch provinces sought greater autonomy and less control from Spain.
The Act of Abjuration formally declared the deposition of King Philip II of Spain as the sovereign of the Dutch provinces. It was based on the legal theory of tyrannicide and justified the secession from Spain on the grounds that:
The document invoked the right of the people to resist a tyrannical ruler, drawing upon the ideas of Natural Law and Just War Theory. This act was not only a political statement but also a philosophical one, asserting the principle that sovereignty resides with the people, not with the monarch by divine right.
The Act of Abjuration led to the formation of the Union of Utrecht in 1579, which later became the basis for the Dutch Republic. It marked the official beginning of the Dutch independence movement, although full independence was not recognized internationally until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
The Act influenced political thought and was a precursor to later declarations of independence, including the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, which borrowed some of its philosophical underpinnings.