The Spanish Netherlands
When Philip II by the abdication of his father, Charles V, became sovereign of the Low Countries and took up the government of the Seventeen Provinces, he found them at the zenith of their prosperity, as is evident from the description given in 1567 by Luigi Guicciardini in his "Descrittione di tutti i Pacsi Bassi" (Totius Bolgiidescriptio, Amsterdam, 1613).
Few countries were so well governed; none was richer. Antwerp had taken the place of Bruges as commercial metropolis; every day saw a fleet of 500 sea-going craft enter or leave its port.Luxury, however, corrupted the earlier good morals of the people, and humanism gradually undermined the faith of some in the upper classes. Protestantism too had already effected an entrance, Lutheranism through Antwerp and Calvinism from the French border. The Anabaptists also had adherents. In addition the more powerful of the nobility now hoped to play a more influential part in the government than they had done under Charles V, and were already planning for the realization of this ambition.
The situation presented many difficulties, and unfortunately Philip II was not the man to cope with them. He had little in common with his Low-Country subjects. Their language was not his; and he was a stranger to their customs. From the day he quitted the Netherlands in 1559, he never set foot in them again, but governed from far-off Spain.
It must be said in justice that from a religious point of view, he brought about one of the most important events in the history of the Netherlands when he caused the establishment of fourteen new dioceses. The want had long been recognized and the sovereigns, particularly Philip the Good and Charles V, had often thought of this measure.
This act, excellent from a religious point of view, gave rise to many complaints. To endow the new sees it was found necessary to incorporate with them the richest abbeys in the country, and in certain provinces these carried the right of voting in the States-General. And this right being for the future exercised through the bishops, the result was that the king who nominated them gained a considerable influence in the Parliament, which had hitherto always acted as a check on the royal power.
To aggravate matters, the Protestant faction spread a rumour that the erection of the new bishoprics was but a step towards introducing the Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands. Lastly the abbeys began to complain of their lost autonomy-the place of the abbot being now occupied by the bishop.
The opposition of the nobles was led by two men, remarkable in different ways. On one hand was the Count of Egmont, the victor at St-Quentin and Gravelines, a brave man, frank and honest, a lover of popularity but weak in character and lacking in political shrewdness. On the other hand stood William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, surnamed "the Silent", a politician and diplomat of the first rank, filled with ambition which he well knew how to conceal, having no religious scruples, being Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist as it suited him, a man who had made the downfall of Spanish rule the one aim of his life. Grouped around these two chiefs were a number of nobles irritated with the Government, many of them deeply involved financially or morally corrupt like the too well-known Brederode.
They kept up the agitation and demanded fresh concessions day by day. They insisted upon the recall of the Spanish soldiers, and the king yielded (1561). They demanded more moderate language in the public placard against heresy, and even sent the Count of Egmont to Spain to obtain it (1565); and Egmont, having been flattered and feted at the Spanish Court, came back convinced that his mission had been successful. Soon, however, royal letters dated from the Forest of Segovia, 17 and 20 October, 1565, brought the king's formal refusal to abate one jot in the repression of heresy.
The irreconcilable attitude of the king created a situation of increasing difficulty for the government of Margaret of Parma. Heresy was spreading every day, and it was no longer confined to the cities but was obtaining a foothold in the smaller towns and even in country places. Protestant preachers, for the most part renegade monks or priests, like the famous Dathenus, assembled the people at "sermons" in which they were exhorted to open war on the Catholic religion.
Calvinism, a sect better organized than Lutheranism, became the popular heresy in the Low Countries. It had supporters in every grade of society; and although its members continued to be a small minority, their daring and clever propaganda made them a most dangerous force in presence of the inaction and sluggishness of the Catholics. Stirred up by these Calvinist preachers, Catholic and Protestant nobles formed an alliance which was called Le Compromis des Nobles, with the object of obtaining the suppression of the Inquisition. A body of them numbering several hundred came to present a petition to that effect to the regent (5 April, 1566).
Up to that time the Gueux meant to remain faithful to the king, jusqu'â la besace (to beggary), as one of their mottoes had it. They seemed to have been made up of Catholics and Protestants, indiscriminately, who were partisans of religious tolerance; and Vive les Gueux was originally the rally-cry of a sort of national party. This, however, was a delusion soon apparent. The Calvinist leaders held the movement in their hands, and did not hesitate when sure of their own strength to disclose its real fanatical opposition to the Catholic Church. Roused and excited by the impassioned appeals of the preachers, the rowdy element of the people perpetrated unheard-of excesses. In the latter part of August, 1566, bands of iconoclasts scoured the country, wrecking and pillaging churches, and in a few days they had plundered four hundred, among them the magnificent cathedral of Antwerp. These crimes opened the eyes of many who up to that time had been too lenient with the sectarians. Public opinion condemned the iconoclastic outrages and sided with the Government, which thus suddenly found its position greatly strengthened.
Once more, unfortunately, Philip II was not equal to the occasion. Instead of skilfully profiting by this turn of events to win back those who were shocked by the violence of the heretics, he looked on all his subjects in the Netherlands as equally guilty, and he swore by his father's soul that he would make an example of them. Against the advice of the regent, despite faithful Granvelle, in spite of the pope, who exhorted him to clemency, he dispatched the Duke of Alva to the Low Countries on a punitive expedition (1567).
Straightway William of Orange and the more compromised nobles went into exile. Recklessly and trusting to his past services, the Count of Egmont had refused to follow them, His mistake cost him dear, for Alva caused him and Count de Hornes to be arrested and brought before a sort of court martial which he called the Conseil des Troubles, but known more more popularly as the Conseil du Sang (Blood Tribunal).
The accused men, being members of the Golden Fleece, could be punished only by their order; but in spite of this privilege they were judged, condemned, and executed (1568).
When the two counts were arrested, Margaret of Parma resigned her office, and the Duke of Alva was appointed her successor; with him began a System of merciless repression. Blood flowed freely, and all the traditional rights of the people were discarded; the Spaniards Juan Vargas, chief-justice of the Council of Troubles, replied to complaint of the University of Louvain that its privileges had been violated: non curamus privilegios vestros. (We are not concerned with your privileges.) Besides this, heavy taxes, 10 per cent on the sales of chattels, 5 per cent on the sale of real estate, and l per cent on all property, completed the popular discontent, and turned even a number of good Catholics against the Government.
The Protestants, encouraged by these events, began military operations by land and sea, and the gueux des bois (Land-Beggars) and the gueux de mer (Water-Beggars) started a guerilla warfare and a campaign of pillage which were soon followed by the more serious attack of the Prince of Orange and his brother, Louis of Nassau. But the Duke of Alva frustrated all their efforts, and when he had repulsed Louis at Jemmingen, and prevented William from crossing the Geete, he caused a statue of himself to be set up at Antwerp representing him crushing under foot the hydra of anarchy.
At last Philip II realized that the duke's mission had failed. Yielding to the entreaty of his most faithful subjects-the bishops and the University of Louvain — he recalled Alva and appointed as his successor Don Luis of Requesens. During his brief regency (1573-75) Don Luis did not succeed in restoring royal authority in the revolted districts, although he showed greater humanity and an inclination to conciliate the disaffected. Nor was he more successful in capturing the town of Leyden which withstood one of the most heroic sieges in history. His death left the country in a state of anarchy.
The Council of State took over the reins of government pending the arrival of the new regent. Don John of Austria, brother of Philip II. It was a favourable moment for the ambitious schemes of William of Orange. Thanks to the intrigues of his agents, the members of the Council of State were arrested and did not regain their freedom till those most attached to the king's interests had been removed and others appointed in their places. This packed council was but a tool of the Prince of Orange, and its first act was to convene the States-General to deal with the affairs of the country, without any reference to the king. On the motion of the Prince of Orange the delegates met at Ghent the representatives of the rebel provinces of Holland and Zealand, where the authority of the prince was still unquestioned, and together they debated a scheme for securing tolerance for all forms of worship until such time as the States-General should have finally decided the matter, also for obtaining the removal of the Spanish troops. During the course of these deliberations an event happened which filled the whole country with fear and horror. The Spanish soldiers, who for a long time had received no pay, mutinied, seized the city of Antwerp, and pillaged it ruthlessly, seven thousand persons perishing during these disorders, which are usually referred to as the Spanish Fury. The provinces no longer hesitated, and their delegates signed the famous Pacification of Ghent on 8 November, 1576.
Thus triumphed the crafty and artful diplomacy of the Prince of Orange. He had succeeded in causing the loyal provinces to vote toleration of worship, while the provinces of Holland and Zealand of which he was master, formally refused to allow within their limits the practice of the Catholic religion. No doubt it was stipulated that this refusal was only provisional, and that the States-General of the seventeen provinces would finally settle the question; but meanwhile Protestantism gained an immense advantage in the Catholic provinces without giving anything in return. Furthermore the prince had taken the precaution to have it stipulated that he should remain admiral and regent of Holland and Zealand, and all these measures were passed in the name of the king whose authority they completely defied.
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This plaque is located in the Gran Place, the place where the Counts Lamoral d'Egmont and Philippe d'Hornes where decapitated.
In the plaque can be read:
Devant cet edifice furent decapites, le 5 Juin 1568, pendant la rebellion contre l'autorite du roi d'espagne philippe II, le Comtes d'Egmont el de hornes illustres victimes de la repression
In front of this building were decapitated, in June 5, 1568, during the rebellion against the authority of King Philip II of Spain, the Counts of Egmont and Hornes illustrious victims of the repression.