COLEX · Coopetition and Legislation in the Spanish Netherlands (1598-1665)

The COLEX project (Coopetition and Legislation) aims to produce unprecedented and original research on the (in)effectiveness of legislation promulgated in the name of the Spanish King in the Spanish Netherlands (currently Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Northern France) during the reign of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella (1598-1621) and Philip IV of Spain (1621-1665). In order to study carefully the chosen theme, we will rely on the concept of coopetition. The chosen period should allow for a comparison of legislation enforcement since the reign of the Archdukes, starting with the death of King Philip II, after which the Netherlands was ceded to the archducal couple, until the death of King Philip IV. From a conceptual point of view, the project intends to make the concept of coopetition [contraction of cooperation and competition] operational, in other words the capacity to be able to compete and cooperate simultaneously, between agents involved in the decision-making process and in the implementation of legislative decisions.