Abstract
This paper investigates the active policy of the cities and knighthoods of Guelders and Overijssel during the last phase of the Gueldern Wars between 1542-1543 to limit the negative effects of the war between Emperor Charles V and Willem, Duke of Guelders, on trade, transport, and daily life. The realization of a treaty which is repeatedly renewed displays the effects of bottom-up diplomacy during this conflict. A case study of a series of confiscations on the Zuiderzee by an official of the Duke of Guelders provides insight into the often hard to measure effects of such treaties. Next to people from Overijssel, the confiscations include victims from Bremen, Danzig (now Gdańsk), Dorpat (now Tartu), Hannover, Hamburg, Cologne, Lübeck, Lüneburg, Münster, Reval (now Tallinn) and Riga. The process of solving the conflicts resulting from these confiscations not only reveals the financial and political interests of the Duke of Guelders, but also political and commercial relations between aforementioned cities.
