The modern Netherlands Navy dates its founding to a "statute of admiralty" issued by Maximilian, King of the Romans and his son Philip the Fair, the ruler of Burgundian lands (a minor at that time) on 8 January 1488. This is also the date accepted by Wragg. Richard Ernest Dupuy and Trevor Nevitt Dupuy consider this as the founding date of the administrative foundations of the Dutch navy. Sicking opines that the 1488 Ordinance marked a departure point from previous policies by establishing a centralized structure, although the objectives of the Ordinance initially could not be carried out because of strong opposition and unfavourable political climate (for example, the first central Admiral, Philip of Cleves, sided with the rebels against Maximilian since 1488). The situation improved with the appointment of Philip of Burgundy-Beveren in 1491, and especially since the tenures of Adolf and Maximilian of Burgundy. A true permanent central navy only emerged after the 1550-1555 period, under the governorship of Mary of Hungary, with Cornelis de Schepper also playing a major role.
