A reply to /u/nickcooper1991

This was asked not too long ago, you may want to read some of the discussion.

I assume you used "Holland" and "The Netherlands" interchangeably. Here I have to give a note of caution, that you should be careful to distinguish between "Holland" and "The Netherlands". In that era, the former refers to a County, whereas the latter can either refer to the entire Low Countries, or the parts that became today's country The Netherlands.

The biggest impact of "Spanish occupation" is the partition of the Low Countries into the Southern Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch Republic. The Spanish Netherlands formed the core of Belgium, although Liege was added into it only much later, as did parts of Luxembourg. Regardless, that era is strongly Catholic due to efforts in counter-Reformation.

The revolt started in cities of the Southern Netherlands: Brugge, Gent, Antwerp among others. Amsterdam remained loyal to the King of Spain although large parts of Holland did not. The Sack of Antwerp changed everything as it turned nearly everybody -- including Amsterdam -- against their lord abroad. Only the efforts of Alessandro Farnese saved the Southern Netherlands for Philip II and stabilized the politics there in his favor.