In 1598 King Philip II ceded the Spanish Netherlands to his daughter Infanta Isabella and her fiance Archduke Albert. This "gift" came with stipulations over the succession, which said that in the absence of sons a daughter would marry either the King of Spain or a person chosen by him, and if they were childless the Spanish Netherlands would revert to Spain on the death of either spouse. Sadly they died childless and the Netherlands lost its brief independence, returning to the Spanish Crown. So my question is this: what if either one or both of the Archdukes sons survived? How would an independent Netherlands (read early Belgium) effect Europe and the thirty years' war? Would the 20 years truce between the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic hold?