[3] St. Willibrord evangelised the northern parts of the Netherlands (above the Rhine), bringing Roman Catholicism in the 7th century.

[1]: 72 Forced into hiding as a result of the Protestant Reformation, the diocesan structures of the Catholic Church of the Netherlands were dissolved.

Pope Innocent XII appointed a commission of cardinals who started an investigation of Codde, ending in exoneration.

[citation needed] In 1700, Codde was summoned to Rome and brought before a second commission appointed by Pope Clement XI.

[1]: 235–236, 282 Finally in 1723, dissatisfied Dutch clergy elected Cornelius Steenoven [nl] as archbishop of the suppressed Archdiocese of Utrecht.

[1]: 246, 256 [e] Both Varlet and Steenoven were suspended for illicit episcopal consecration, and excommunicated for claiming a diocesan see of jurisdiction without the permission of the Roman Pontiff.

[citation needed] In 1870 the First Vatican Council was convened, and the bishops of the Church of Utrecht were not invited because they were not seen as being in communion with the Holy See.