Feasibility of a "Dutch" Habsburg Venezuela

[AsukaEMP]

This is a question relating to an idea I'm brainstorming for a timeline in which Emperor Charles V has 2 surviving sons and decides to split his Burgundian and Spanish inheritances between them (but it also works for other timelines).

As part of this I'm trying to think of potential colonies for this alternate Netherlands and how they would get these, especially if they would remain Catholic. One of these ideas is that Charles doesn't only give the 2nd son the Netherlands, but also Venezuela. As Venezuela was a very "small" (population-wise) colony, largely neglected, and on the periphery of the Empire, the Spanish might not complain too much about this idea. It also wasn't too long ago that the German experiment in the region had taken place so there was some precedence as well (although it was not entirely the same thing). Simultaneously Venezuela did have potential for those willing to invest in it so it's interesting for the Dutch. It also wasn't absurdly far from Europe like most other peripheral parts of the empire. Alternatively it could be acquired as part of a dowry, or the Dutch make a payment to the Spanish for the right to colonize the region (but generally I want the transfer to happen before 1610). So I'm looking for 2nd opinions on this? Is the Spanish accepting the transfer realistic, and how feasible would it be for the "Dutch" colonization efforts to be a success?

As a follow-up, if it happens how do you think it would affect future colonization in the Caribbean? Venezuela is massive and it's already possible to grow cocoa, sugarcane, and coffee there so I'd assume they wouldn't expand too much into the Antilles. The ones closest to the mainland and maybe an island or two somewhere in the north as a stopover point on the way to Europe?

 

[Nivek]

o I'm looking for 2nd opinions on this? Is the Spanish accepting the transfer realistic, and how feasible would it be for the "Dutch" colonization efforts to be a success?

There no guaranteed they will uphold their word or they can easily conquer it back from the South Netherlands anyway,

 

[Orcot]

With the southern netherlands being part of the spanish empire, is their any book or source on what the southern netherlands did during spains colonial period? Did they migrate and started speaking spanish where they mostly merchants? etc

 

[Fernando III]

With the southern netherlands being part of the spanish empire, is their any book or source on what the southern netherlands did during spains colonial period? Did they migrate and started speaking spanish where they mostly merchants? etc

There was some Flemish that colonized South America. In fact they outnumbered Catalans, Aragonese and Valencians.
In some places they reached 2.8% of the total population, and funnily enough Venezuela was one of their largest settlement destinations

 

[Saya Aensland]

Why are we assuming the northern Netherlands will split away from a Habsburg Netherlands that's not part of Spain anymore?

 

[Fernando III]

Why are we assuming the northern Netherlands will split away from a Habsburg Netherlands that's not part of Spain anymore?

He is assuming that Charles would split his Burgandian inheritance in 2. In my opinion just giving Burgandy to the other son is good enough. The Spanish king would own Spain, Naples, Sicily, Milan and the New world which is powerful and prestigious enough to be left to your main heir

 

[AsukaEMP]

There no guaranteed they will uphold their word or they can easily conquer it back from the South Netherlands anyway,

I meant that one gets the entire Spanish inheritance and the other the entire Burgundian one. There's no north-south split as Charles had already decreed in 1549 that the Habsburg Netherlands (including Burgundy) were an indivisible territory. By the mid-16th century "Netherlands" (along with "Belgica" in Latin) was a catch-all term for the entire region.

 

[AsukaEMP]

With the southern netherlands being part of the spanish empire, is their any book or source on what the southern netherlands did during spains colonial period? Did they migrate and started speaking spanish where they mostly merchants? etc

The Spanish tried their best to keep non-Castilians (as in "Crown of Castile") out of their colonies and as a result the "Belgian" presence in the colonies was always on the smaller side. But despite their best efforts there was always at least some presence (usually ranging between 0.5 and 2.5%, depending on the area). Personally I have a Dutch translation of "Presencia Flamenca en la Sudamérica Colonial" but this focusses more on various individuals, both big and small, rather than statistics.

Most normal people came to the regions as miners, sailors, merchants, soldiers, etc. It indentified a Flemish soldier present at the founding of Bogota, as well as a whole group of miners and silversmiths active in Potosi. But from the mid-17th century a couple of bigger families started taking positions in the Americas as well. These include Carlos Adrián de Sucre d' Yves, born in Cambrai (now France) who became governor of Cartagena de Indias, his descendants took up similar positions in Colombia, Venezuela, and Cuba. One of these was Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá, a major figure in the foundation of Colombia. Also impressive was Teodoro de Croix, born nearby Lille, who first became commander of the Internal Provinces in New Spain before becoming the Viceroy of Peru (although it should be noted that by this time the southern Netherlands were Austrian instead of Spanish).​