Editing Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Governor in Netherlands===
[[File:Ritratto di Mattia d'Asburgo.jpg|thumb|left|upright|19th century portrait of Matthias]]
[[File:Iimatyas.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Coronation medal of Matthias as [[Kingdom of Hungary|King of Hungary]]]]
In 1578, Matthias was invited to the [[Seventeen Provinces]] by the [[States General of the Netherlands|States-General]] of the rebellious provinces, which offered him the position of Governor-General. Matthias had come into contact with Gautier van der Gracht, the envoy of the Dutch provinces, at the [[Regensburg]] Reichstag in 1576. [[Philippe III de Croÿ]], Duke of Aarschot, and other representatives of a rather moderate party agreed with Matthias to make him the governor of the Netherlands against the will of his uncle, [[Philip II of Spain]], the hereditary ruler of the provinces and without the knowledge of Emperor Rudolf II. Matthias accepted the appointment, but the position was not recognised by Philip II. He set down the rules for religious peace within most of the [[United Provinces of the Netherlands|United Provinces]]. His work is noted in Article 13 of the 1579 [[Union of Utrecht]], which established [[freedom of religion]] as a locally determined issue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Union of Utrecht |url=http://www.constitution.org/cons/dutch/Union_Utrecht_1579.html |publisher=constitution org |access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref> Matthias continued as titular governor for the rebels until their deposing of Philip II and [[Act of Abjuration|declaration of full independence]] in 1581, when he returned home to Austria.{{fact|date=July 2021}}