Independence does not become William's objective even after the proclamation of the Act of Abjuration.

Because William had in 1580 turned to the duke d'Anjou, who has agreed to take over the “lordship” of the Low Countries, Archduke Matthias returns home in 1581.

The prince hopes for assistance from the duke's brother, King Henry III of France, and considers the “lordship” of Anjou as only a kind of limited, constitutional “sovereignty” like that which the rebels had hoped to impose on Philip II at the beginning of their rising.

Anjou, however, sees the lordship as a means to total dominion over the Netherlands and, seeking to exploit the unsettled conditions here, in 1581 proclaims himself duke of Brabant and count of Flanders, but the titles remain fictitious.