Elizabeth I's apparent vacillation over the Dutch Revolt is possibly the most disputed aspect of her foreign policy. On two occasions she was formally offered sovereignty of the rebel provinces, of Holland and Zeeland in 1576 and of the United Provinces in 1585. The circumstances of both offers were very similar, however different the outcomes. The course of the negotiations reveals how Elizabeth's prevarication arose from a moral dilemma: how to reconcile her acceptance of the legitimacy of the Dutch cause with her conscientious objection to territorial expansion.