Part 2 — Chapter III. (These four articles abrogated by the four articles following them, 118-122.) Article 118. The Federal Constitution may at any time be amended. (continued 116)

T. Wright, History of Ireland, book 1, chapter 2.

NEMEAN AND ISTHMIAN GAMES.

"The Nemean and Isthmian [games in ancient. Greece] were celebrated each twice in every Olympiad, at different seasons of the year: the former in the plain of Nemea, in Argolis, under the presidency of Argos; the latter in the Corinthian isthmus, under the presidency of Corinth. These, like the Pythian and Olympic games, claimed a very high antiquity, though the form in which they were finally established was of late institution; and it is highly probable that they were really suggested by the tradition of ancient festivals, which had served to cement an Amphictyonic confederacy."

C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, chapter 10.

NEMETACUM.

Modern Arras.

See BELGÆ.

NEMETES, The.

See VANGIONES.

NEMI, Priest of.

See ARICIAN GROVE.

NEMOURS, Treaty and Edict of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1584-1589.

NEODAMODES.

Enfranchised helots, in ancient Sparta.

G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 73.

NEOLITHIC PERIOD.

See STONE AGE.

NEOPLATONICS, The.

"There now [in the third century after Christ] arose another school, which from its first beginnings announced itself as a reform and support of the ancient faith, and, consequently, as an enemy of the new religion. This was the Neoplatonic school of Alexandria, founded by Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus, and which was afterwards represented by Porphyrius, Amelius, and Iamblicus. The doctrine of this school was the last, and in many respects the best production of paganism, now in its final struggle; the effort of a society, which acknowledged its own defects, to regenerate and to purify itself. Philosophy, and the religion of the vulgar, hitherto separated and irreconcilable, joined in harmony together for mutual support, and for a new existence. The Neoplatonics endeavoured, therefore, to unite the different systems of philosophy, especially the Pythagorean, Platonic, and Aristotelean, in one body with the principles of oriental learning, and thus to raise an edifice of universal, absolute truth. In the same manner they represented the varied forms of eastern and western religious worship as one entire whole, which had manifested itself indeed in different ways, but at the foundation of which there lay the same true faith. They taught that 'every kind of homage and adoration, which men offer to superior beings, is referred to heroes, demons, or Gods, but, finally, to the one most-high God, the author of all: that these demons are the chiefs and genii of the different parts, elements, and powers of the world, of people, countries, and cities, to obtain whose favour and protection, it behoved men to honour them according to the rites and customs of the ancients.' {2248} It is, therefore, manifest that these philosophers were essentially hostile to the Christian religion,—the exclusive character of which, and tendency to destroy all other religions, stood in direct contrast with their doctrines: and as their school was in its vigour at the very time in which Christianity made its most rapid advances, and had struck Paganism with a mortal wound, they employed themselves especially, and more earnestly, than other philosophers, to maintain their own tenets, and to destroy Christianity. They in nowise, however, desired to defend heathenism, or its worship, in their then degenerate and degrading state: their ideal was a more pure, more noble, spiritualized, polytheism, to establish which was the object which they had proposed to themselves. Whilst, therefore, on the one hand, they preserved the ancient and genuine truths which had sprung from primitive tradition, and purified them from recent errors and deformations; on the other, they adopted many of the doctrines of the hated Christianity, and sought to reform paganism by the aid of light which had streamed upon them from the sanctuary of the Church. This admission and employment of Christian truths are easily explained, if it be true, that two of their chiefs, Ammonius and Porphyrius, had been Christians. It is well known that they received instructions from Christian masters. … This uniformity, or imitation, consists not only in the use of terms, but in essential dogmas. The Neoplatonic idea of three hypostases in one Godhead would not have been heard of, if the Christian doctrine of the Trinity had not preceded it. … Their doctrines respecting the minor Gods, their influence and connexion with the supreme Being, approached near to the Christian dogma of the angels. Nor is the influence of Christianity less evident in the pure and grave morality of the Neoplatonics: in their lessons which teach the purifying of fallen souls, the detachment from the senses, the crucifying … of the affections and passions, it is easy to distinguish the Christian, from the commingled pagan, elements. The Neoplatonics endeavoured to reform polytheism by giving to men a doctrine more pure concerning the Gods, by attributing an allegorical sense to the fables, and a moral signification to the forms and ceremonies of religion: they sought to raise the souls of men to piety, and rejected from their mythology many of the degrading narrations with which it had before abounded. It was their desire also to abolish the sacrifices, for the Gods could only abhor the slaughter, the dismemberment and the burning of animals. But at the same time they reduced to a theory the apparitions of the Gods; they declared magic to be the most divine of sciences; they taught and defended theurgy, or the art of invoking the Gods (those of an inferior order, who were united to matter), and of compelling them to comply with the desires of men."

J. J. I. Döllinger, History of the Church, volume 1, pages 70-73.

ALSO IN: F. Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, sections 66-70 (volume 1).

C. Kingsley, Alexandria and Her Schools.

NEPAUL, OR NIPAL, English war with the Ghorkas of.

See INDIA: A. D. 1805-1816.

NEPHTHALITES, The.

See HUNS, THE WHITE.

NÉRAC, Treaty of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1578-1580.

NERESHEIM, Battle of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1796 (APRIL-OCTOBER).

NERI AND BIANCHI (Blacks and Whites), The.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1295-1300, and 1301-1313.

NERIUM, Headland of.

The ancient name of Cape Finisterre.

NERO, Roman Emperor, A. D. 54-68.

NERONIA.

Games instituted by Nero, to be conducted in the Greek fashion and to recur periodically, like the Olympian.

NERVA, Roman Emperor, A. D. 96-98.

NERVII, The.

A tribe in Belgic Gaul, at the time of Cæsar's conquest, which occupied the country "between the Sambre and the Scheldt (French and Belgic Hainaut, provinces of Southern Brabant, of Antwerp, and part of Eastern Flanders). The writers posterior to Cæsar mention Bagacum (Bavay) as their principal town."

Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, foot-note (volume 2).

The tribe was destroyed by Cæsar.

See BELGÆ, CÆSAR'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE.

NESSA: Destruction by the Mongols (1220).

See KHORASSAN: A. D. 1220-1221.

NESTORIAN AND MONOPHYSITE CONTROVERSY.

The great religious controversy of the Christian world in the fourth century, relating to the mystery of the Trinity, having been settled by the triumph of the doctrine of Athanasius over the doctrine of Arius, it was succeeded in the fifth century by a still more violent disputation, which concerned the yet profounder mystery of the Incarnation. To the dogmatists of one party it was wickedness to distinguish the divine nature and the human nature which they believed to be united in Christ; to the dogmatists of the other side it was sin to confound them. Cyril of Alexandria became the implacable leader of the first party. Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, was forced to the front of the battle on the other side and became its martyr. The opponents of Nestorius gained advantages in the contest from the then rapidly growing tendency in the Christian world to pay divine honors to the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. To Nestorius and those who believed with him, this was abhorrent. "Like can but bear like," said Nestorius in one of his sermons; "a human mother can only bear a human being. God was not born—he dwelt in that which was born." But the mob was too easily charmed with Mariolatry to be moved by reasoning on the subject, and Cyril led the mob, not only in Alexandria, where it murdered Hypatia and massacred Jews at his bidding, but generally throughout the Christian world. A Council called at Ephesus in 431 and recognized as the third Œcumenical Council, condemned Nestorius and degraded him from his episcopal throne; but a minority disputed its procedure and organized a rival Council, which retorted anathemas and excommunications against Cyril and his friends. The emperor at last interfered and dissolved both; but Nestorius, four years later, was exiled to the Libyan desert and persecuted remorselessly until he died. Meantime the doctrine of Cyril had been carried to another stage of development by one of his most ardent supporters, the Egyptian monk Eutyches, who maintained that the human nature of Christ was absorbed in the divine nature. Both forms of the doctrine of one nature in the Son of God seem to have acquired somewhat confusedly the name of Monophysite, though the latter tenet is more often called Eutychian, from the name of its chief promulgator. {2249} It kindled new fires in the controversy. In 449, a second Council at Ephesus, which is called the "Robber Synod" on account of the peculiar violence and indecency of its proceedings, sustained the Monophysites. But two years later, in 451, the vanquished party, supported by Pope Leo the Great, at Rome, succeeded in assembling a Council at Chalcedon which laid down a definition of the Christian faith affirming the existence of two natures in one person, and which nevertheless condemned Nestorianism and Monophysitism, alike. Their success only inflamed the passions of the worshippers of the Virgin as the "Mother of God." "Everywhere monks were at the head of the religious revolution which threw off the yoke of the Council of Chalcedon." In Jerusalem "the very scenes of the Saviour's mercies ran with blood shed in his name by his ferocious self-called disciples." At Alexandria, a bishop was murdered in the baptistery of his church. At Constantinople, for sixty years, there went on a succession of bloody tumults and fierce revolutionary conspiracies which continually shook the imperial throne and disorganized every part of society, all turning upon the theological question of one nature or two in the incarnate Son of God. The Emperor Zeno "after a vain attempt to obtain the opinions of the chief ecclesiastical dignitaries, without assembling a new Council, a measure which experience had shown to exasperate rather than appease the strife, Zeno issued his famous Henoticon, or Edict of Union. … It aimed not at the reconcilement of the conflicting opinions, but hoped, by avoiding all expressions offensive to either party, to allow them to meet together in Christian amity." The Henoticon only multiplied the factions in number and heated the strife between them. The successor of Zeno, Anastasius, became a partisan in the fray, and through much of his reign of twenty-seven years the conflict raged more fiercely than ever. Constantinople was twice, at least, in insurrection. "The blue and green factions of the Circus—such is the language of the times—gave place to these more maddening conflicts. The hymn of the Angels in Heaven [the Trisagion] was the battle-cry on earth." At length the death of Anastasius ended the strife. His successor Justin (A. D. 518), bowed to the authority of the Bishop of Rome—the Pope Hormisdas—and invoked his aid. The Eastern world, exhausted, followed generally the emperor's example in taking the orthodoxy of Rome for the orthodoxy of Christianity. Nestorianism and Monophysitism in their extreme forms were driven from the open field in the Christian world, but both survived and have transmitted their remains to the present day.

H. H. Milman, History of Latin Christianity, book 2, chapters 3-4, book 3, chapter 1, and 3.

ALSO IN: E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 47.

J. Alzog, Universal Church History, 2d epoch, chapter 2.

See, also, NESTORIANS; JACOBITE CHURCH; and MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY.

NESTORIANS, The.

"Within the limits of the Roman empire … this sect was rapidly extirpated by persecution [see above, NESTORIAN AND MONOPHYSITE CONTROVERSY]; and even in the patriarchate of Antioch, where, as we have seen, the tenets of Nestorius at first found greatest favour, it had disappeared as early as the time of Justinian [A. D. 527-565]. But another field lay open to it in the Persian kingdom of the Sassanidæ, and in this it ultimately struck its roots deeply. The Chaldæan church, which at the beginning of the fifth century was in a flourishing condition, had been founded by missionaries from Syria; its primate, or Catholicos, was dependent on the patriarch of Antioch, and in respect of language and discipline it was closely connected with the Syrian church. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that some of its members lent a ready ear to the Nestorian doctrines. This was especially the case with the church-teachers of the famous seminary at Edessa in Mesopotamia. … One of their number, Barsumas, who was bishop of the city of Nisibis from 435 to 489, by his long and active labours contributed most of all to the establishment of the Nestorian church in Persia. He persuaded the king Pherozes (Firuz) that the antagonism of his own sect to the doctrine of the established church of the Roman empire would prove a safeguard for Persia. … From that time Nestorianism became the only form of Christianity tolerated in Persia. … The Catholicos of Chaldæa now threw off his dependence on Antioch, and assumed the title of Patriarch of Babylon. The school of Edessa, which in 489 was again broken up by the Greek emperor, Zeno, was transferred to Nisibis, and in that place continued for several centuries to be an important centre of theological learning, and especially of biblical studies. … In the sixth century the Nestorians had established churches from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, and had preached the Gospel to the Medes, the Bactrians, the Huns, and the Indians, and as far as the coast of Malabar and the island of Ceylon. At a later period, starting from Balk and Samarcand, they spread Christianity among the nomad Tartar tribes in the remote valleys of the Imaus; and the inscription of Siganfu, which was discovered in China, and the genuineness of which is considered to be above suspicion, describes the fortunes of the Nestorian church in that country from the first mission, A. D. 636, to the year in which that monument was set up, A. D. 781. In the ninth century, during the rule of the caliphs at Bagdad, the patriarch removed to that city, and at this period twenty-five metropolitans were subject to him. … From the eleventh century onwards the prosperity of the Chaldæan church declined, owing to the terrible persecutions to which its members were exposed. Foremost among these was the attack of Timour the Tartar, who almost exterminated them. Within the present century their diminished numbers have been still further thinned by frightful massacres inflicted by the Kurds. Their headquarters now are a remote and rugged valley in the mountains of Kurdistan, on the banks of the Greater Zab. … Beyond the boundary which separates Turkey from Persia to the southward of Mount Ararat, a similar community is settled on the shores of Lake Urumia. A still larger colony is found at Mosul, and others … elsewhere in the neighbourhood of the Tigris. … Of their widely extended missions only one fragment now remains, in the Christians of St. Thomas on the Malabar coast of India."

H. F. Tozer, The Church and the Eastern Empire, chapter 5.

ALSO IN: E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 47.

NETAD, Battle of.

See HUNS: A. D. 453.

{2250}

—————NETHERLANDS: Start————

NETHERLANDS. The Land.

"The north-western corner of the vast plain which extends from the German ocean to the Ural mountains is occupied by the countries called the Netherlands [Low Countries]. This small triangle, enclosed between France, Germany, and the sea, is divided by the modern kingdoms of Belgium and Holland into two nearly equal portions. … Geographically and ethnographically, the Low Countries belong both to Gaul and to Germany. It is even doubtful to which of the two the Batavian island, which is the core of the whole country, was reckoned by the Romans. It is, however, most probable that all the land, with the exception of Friesland, was considered a part of Gaul. Three great rivers—the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheld—had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes and sandbanks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths. A delta was thus formed, habitable at last for man. It was by nature a wide morass, in which oozy islands and savage forests were interspersed among lagoons and shallows; a district lying partly below the level of the ocean at its higher tides, subject to constant overflow from the rivers, and to frequent and terrible inundations by the sea. … Here, within a half-submerged territory, a race of wretched icthyophagi dwelt upon 'terpen,' or mounds, which they had raised, like beavers, above the almost fluid soil. Here, at a later day, the same race chained the tyrant Ocean and his mighty streams into subserviency, forcing them to fertilize, to render commodious, to cover with a beneficent network of veins and arteries, and to bind by watery highways with the farthest ends of the world, a country disinherited by nature of its rights. A region, outcast of ocean and earth, wrested at last from both domains their richest treasures. A race, engaged for generations in stubborn conflict with the angry elements, was unconsciously educating itself for its great struggle with the still more savage despotism of man. The whole territory of the Netherlands was girt with forests. An extensive belt of woodland skirted the sea-coast, reaching beyond the mouths of the Rhine. Along the outer edge of this barrier, the dunes cast up by the sea were prevented by the close tangle of thickets from drifting further inward, and thus formed a breastwork which time and art were to strengthen. The groves of Haarlem and the Hague are relics of this ancient forest. The Badahuenna wood, horrid with Druidic sacrifices, extended along the eastern line of the vanished lake of Flevo. The vast Hercynian forest, nine days' journey in breadth, closed in the country on the German side, stretching from the banks of the Rhine to the remote regions of the Dacians, in such vague immensity (says the conqueror of the whole country) that no German, after traveling sixty days, had ever reached, or even heard of, its commencement. On the south, the famous groves of Ardennes, haunted by faun and satyr, embowered the country, and separated it from Celtic Gaul. Thus inundated by mighty rivers, quaking beneath the level of the ocean, belted about by hirsute forests, this low land, nether land, hollow land, or Holland, seemed hardly deserving the arms of the all-accomplished Roman."

J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, introduction, section 1.

NETHERLANDS: The early inhabitants.

See BELGÆ; NERVII; BATAVIANS; and FRISIANS.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 69. Revolt of the Batavians under Civilis.

See BATAVIANS.

NETHERLANDS: 4-9th Centuries. Settlement and domination of the Franks.

See FRANKS; also, GAUL: A. D. 355-361.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 843-870. Partly embraced in the kingdom of Lotharingia. The partitioning.

See LORRAINE: A. D. 843-870.

NETHERLANDS: (Flanders): A. D. 863-1383. The Flemish towns and counts.

See FLANDERS.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 922-1345. The early Counts of Holland.

"It was in the year 922 that Charles the Simple [of France] presented to Count Dirk the territory of Holland, by letters patent. This narrow hook of land, destined, in future ages, to be the cradle of a considerable empire, stretching through both hemispheres, was, thenceforth, the inheritance of Dirk's descendants. Historically, therefore, he is Dirk I., Count of Holland. … From the time of the first Dirk to the close of the 13th century there were nearly four hundred years of unbroken male descent, a long line of Dirks and Florences. This iron-handed, hot-headed, adventurous race, placed as sovereign upon its little sandy hook, making ferocious exertions to swell into large consequence, conquering a mile or two of morass or barren furze, after harder blows and bloodier encounters than might have established an empire under more favorable circumstances, at last dies out. The countship falls to the house of Avennes, Counts of Hainault. Holland, together with Zeland, which it had annexed, is thus joined to the province of Hainault. At the end of another half century the Hainault line expires. William the Fourth died childless in 1355 [1345?]."

J. L. Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, introduction, sections 5-6.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 13-15th Centuries. Relations with the Hanseatic League.

See HANSA TOWNS.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland): A. D. 1345-1354. The Rise of the Hooks and the Kabeljauws, or Cods.

"On the death of William IV. [Count of Holland] without issue in 1345, his sister, married to the Emperor Louis, became Countess of Zealand, Holland, Friezland and Hainault. But her husband dying soon afterwards, many of the noblesse, whom she had offended by the attempt to restrain their excesses, instigated her son to assume the sovereignty. In the sanguinary struggle which ensued, the people generally adhered to the cause of Margaret." They "looked forward to the necessities of a female reign as likely to afford them opportunities to win further immunities, as the condition of their support against the turbulent nobles. Did not these live, like the great fish, by devouring the smaller ones? And how could they be checked but by the hooks which, though insignificant in appearance, when aptly used would be too strong for them. Such was the talk of the people; and from these household words arose the memorable epithets, which in after years were heard in every civic brawl, and above the din and death-cry of many a battle-field. Certain of the nobles adhered to the cause of the Hooks, while some of the cities, among which were Delft, Haarlem, Dort, and Rotterdam, supported the Kabeljauws [or Cods]. {2251} The community was divided into parties rather than into classes. … In the exasperation of mutual injury, the primary cause of quarrel was soon forgotten. The Hooks were proud of the accession of a lord to their ranks; and the Kabeljauws were equally glad of the valuable aid which a wealthy and populous town was able to afford. The majority of the cities,—perhaps the majority of the inhabitants in all of them,—favoured the Hook party, as the preponderance of the landowners lay in the opposite scale. But no adherence to antagonistic principles, or even a systematic profession of them, is traceable throughout the varying struggle. … In Friezland the two factions were designated by the recriminative epithets of 'Vet-Koopers' and 'Schieringers,'—terms hardly translatable. In the conflict which first marshalled the two parties in hostile array, the Hooks were utterly defeated;—their leaders who survived were banished, their property confiscated, and their dwellings razed to the ground. Margaret was forced to take refuge in England, where she remained until a short time previous to her death in 1354, when the four provinces acknowledged William V. as their undisputed lord. The succeeding reigns are chiefly characterised by the incessant struggles of the embittered factions. … Whatever progress was made during the latter half of the 14th century was municipal and commercial. In a national view the government was helpless and inefficient, entangled by ambitious family alliances with France, England, and Germany, and distracted by the rival powers and pretensions of domestic factions. Under the administration of the ill-fated Jacoba [or Jacqueline] these evils reached their full maturity."

W. T. McCullagh, Industrial History of Free Nations, chapter 9 (volume 2).

NETHERLANDS: 14-15th Centuries. Commercial and industrial superiority. Advance in learning and art.

"What a scene as compared with the rest of Northern Europe, and especially with England … must have been presented by the Low Countries during the 14th century! In 1370, there are 3,200 woollen-factories at Malines and on its territory. One of its merchants carries on an immense trade with Damascus and Alexandria. Another, of Valenciennes, being at Paris during a fair, buys up an the provisions exposed for sale in order to display his wealth. Ghent, in 1340, contains 40,000 weavers. In 1389, it has 189,000 men bearing arms; the drapers alone furnish 18,000 in a revolt. In 1380, the goldsmiths of Bruges are numerous enough to form in war time an entire division of the army. At a repast given by one of the Counts of Flanders to the Flemish magistrates, the seats provided for the guests being unfurnished with cushions, they quietly folded up their sumptuous cloaks, richly embroidered and trimmed with fur, and placed them on the wooden benches. When leaving the table at the conclusion of the feast, a courtier called their attention to the fact that they were going without their cloaks. The burgomaster of Bruges replied: 'We Flemings are not in the habit of carrying away the cushions after dinner.' … Commines, the French chronicler, writing in the 15th century, says that the traveller, leaving France and crossing the frontiers of Flanders, compared himself to the Israelites when they had quitted the desert and entered the borders of the Promised Land. Philip the Good kept up a court which surpassed every other in Europe for luxury and magnificence. … In all such matters of luxury and display, England of the 16th or 17th century had nothing to compare with the Netherlands a hundred or even two hundred years before. After luxury, come comfort, intelligence, morality, and learning, which develop under very different conditions. In the course of time even Italy was outstripped in the commercial race. The conquest of Egypt by the Turks, and the discovery of a water passage to the Indies, broke up the overland trade with the East, and destroyed the Italian and German cities which had flourished on it. … Passing from the dominion of the House of Burgundy to that of the House of Austria, which also numbered Spain among its vast possessions, proved to them in the end an event fraught with momentous evil. Still for a time, and from a mere material point of view it was an evil not unmixed with good. The Netherlanders were better sailors and keener merchants than the Spaniards, and, being under the same rulers, gained substantial advantages from the close connection. The new commerce of Portugal also filled their coffers; so that while Italy and Germany were impoverished, they became wealthier and more prosperous than ever. … With wealth pouring in from all quarters, art naturally followed in the wake of commerce. Architecture was first developed, and nowhere was its cultivation more general than in the Netherlands."

D. Campbell, The Puritan in Holland, &c., volume 1, chapter 1.

NETHERLANDS: (Holland and Hainault): A. D. 1417-1430. The despoiling of Countess Jaqueline.

In 1417, Count William VI. of Holland, Hainault and Friesland, died, leaving no male heirs, but a daughter, Jacoba, or Jaqueline, whom most of the nobles and towns of the several states had already acknowledged as the heiress of her father's sovereignty. Though barely seventeen years of age, the countess Jake, as she was sometimes called, wore a widow's weeds. She had been married two years before to John, the second son of the king of France, who became presently thereafter, by his brother's death, the dauphin of France. John had died, a few months before Count William's death, and the young countess, fair in person and well endowed in mind, was left with no male support, to contend with the rapacity of an unscrupulous bishop-uncle (John, called The Godless, Bishop of Liege), who strove to rob her of her heritage. "Henry V. [of England] had then stood her friend, brought about a reconciliation, established her rights and proposed a marriage between her and his brother John, Duke of Bedford, who was then a fine young man of five or six and twenty. … But she was a high-spirited, wilful damsel, and preferred her first cousin, the Duke of Brabant, whose father was a brother of Jean Sans Peur [Duke of Burgundy]. … The young Duke was only sixteen, and was a weak-minded, passionate youth. Sharp quarrels took place between the young pair; the Duchess was violent and headstrong, and accused her husband of allowing himself to be governed by favourites of low degree. The Duke of Burgundy interfered in vain. … After three years of quarrelling, in the July of 1421 Jaqueline rode out early one morning, met a knight of Hainault called Escaillon, 'who had long been an Englishman at heart,' and who brought her sixty horsemen, and galloped off for Calais, whence she came to England, where Henry received her with the courtesy due to a distressed dame-errant, and she became a most intimate companion of the Queen. … {2252} She loudly gave out that she intended to obtain a separation from her husband on the plea of consanguinity, although a dispensation had been granted by the Council of Constance, and 'that she would marry some one who would pay her the respect due to her rank.' This person soon presented himself in the shape of Humfrey, duke of Gloucester, the King's youngest brother, handsome, graceful, accomplished, but far less patient and conscientious than any of his three elders." Benedict XIII., the anti-pope, was persuaded to pronounce the marriage of Jaqueline and John of Brabant null and void; "but Henry V. knew that this was a vain sentence, and intimated to his brother that he would never consent to his espousing the Duchess of Brabant; showing him that the wedlock could not be legal, and that to claim the lady's inheritance would lead to a certain rupture with the Duke of Burgundy, who could not but uphold the cause of his cousin of Brabant." Notwithstanding these remonstrances, the Duke Humfrey did marry the seductive Jaqueline, early in 1424. "He then sent to demand from the Duke of Brabant the possession of the lady's inheritance; and on his refusal the Hainaulters espoused whichever party they preferred and began a warfare among themselves." Soon afterwards the godless bishop of Liege died and "bequeathed the rights he pretended to have to Hainault, not to his niece, but to the Duke of Burgundy. Gloucester in the meantime invaded Hainault and carried on a 'bitter war there.' Burgundy assembled men-at-arms for its protection; and letters passed between the Dukes, ending in a challenge—not between Jaqueline's two husbands, who would have seemed the fittest persons to have fought out the quarrel, but between Gloucester and Burgundy." It was arranged that the question of the possession of Hainault should be decided by single combat. Humfrey returned to England to make preparations, leaving Jaqueline at Mons, with her mother. The latter proved false and allowed the citizens of Mons to deliver up the unhappy lady to Philip of Burgundy. Her English husband found himself powerless to render her much aid, and was possibly indifferent to her fate, since another woman had caught his fancy. Jaqueline, after a time, escaped from her captivity, and revived the war in Hainault, Gloucester sending her 500 men. "The Duke of Brabant died, and reports reached her that Gloucester had married Eleanor Cobham; but she continued to battle for her county till 1428, when she finally came to terms with Philippe [of Burgundy], let him garrison her fortresses, appointed him her heir, and promised not to marry without his consent. A year or two after, however, she married a gentleman of Holland called Frank of Burslem, upon which he was seized by the Burgundians. To purchase his liberty she yielded all her dominions, and only received an annual pension until 1436, when she died, having brought about as much strife and dissension as any woman of her time."

C. M. Yonge, Cameos of English History, series 2, chapter 33.

ALSO IN: E. de Monstrelet, Chronicles (translated by Johnes), book 1, chapters 164, 181, 234, book 2, chapters 22-32, 48-49.

C. M. Davies, History of Holland, part 1, chapters 5-6.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1428-1430. The sovereignty of the House of Burgundy established.

"Upon the surrender of Holland, Zealand, Friezland, and Hainault by Jacoba, Philip [the duke of Burgundy called Philip the Good] became possessed of the most considerable states of the Netherlands. John, duke of Burgundy, his father, had succeeded to Flanders and Artois, in right of his mother Margaret, sole heiress of Louis van der Male, count of Flanders. In the year 1429, Philip entered into possession of the county of Namur, by the death of Theodore, its last native prince, without issue, of whom he had purchased it during his lifetime for 132,000 crowns of gold. To Namur was added in the next year the neighbouring duchy of Brabant, by the death [A. D. 1430] of Philip (brother of John, who married Jacoba of Holland), without issue; although Margaret, countess-dowager of Holland, aunt of the late duke, stood the next in succession, since the right extended to females, Philip prevailed with the states of Brabant to confer on him, as the true heir, that duchy and Limburg, to which the Margraviate of Antwerp and the lordship of Mechlin were annexed. … The accession of a powerful and ambitious prince to the government of the county was anything but a source of advantage to the Dutch, excepting, perhaps, in a commercial point of view."

C. M. Davies, History of Holland, part 2, chapter 1 (volume 1).

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1451-1453. Revolt of Ghent.

See GHENT: A. D. 1451-1453.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1456. The Burgundian hand laid on Utrecht.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1456.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1473. Guelderland taken into the Burgundian dominion.

See GUELDERLAND: A. D. 1079-1473.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1477. The severance from Burgundy. Accession of the Duchess Mary. The grant of the "Great Privilege."

On the fifth of January, 1477, Charles the Bold of Burgundy came to his end at Nancy, and Louis XI. of France laid prompt and sure hands on the Burgundian duchy, which remained thenceforth united to the French crown. It was the further intention of Louis to secure more or less of the Netherland domain of the late duke, and he began seizures to that end. But the Netherland states much preferred to acknowledge the sovereignty of the young duchess Mary, daughter and sole heiress of Charles the Bold, provided she would make proper terms with them. "Shortly after her accession, the nobles, to whose guardianship she had been committed by Charles before his departure, summoned a general assembly of the states of the Netherlands at Ghent, to devise means for arresting the enterprises of Louis, and for raising funds to support the war with France, as well as to consider the state of affairs in the provinces. … This is the first regular assembly of the states-general of the Netherlands. … Charles, and his father, Philip, had exercised in the Netherlands a species of government far more arbitrary than the inhabitants had until then been accustomed to. … It now appeared that a favourable opportunity offered itself for rectifying these abuses; and the assembly, therefore, made the consideration of them a preliminary to the grant of any supplies for the war. … They insisted so firmly on this resolution that Mary, finding they were determined to refuse any subsidies till their grievances were redressed, consented to grant charters of privileges to all the states of the Netherlands. That of Holland and Zealand [was] commonly called the Great Charter."

C. M. Davies, History of Holland, part 2, chapter 2 (volume 1), with foot-note.

{2253}

"The result of the deliberations [of the assembly of the states, in 1477] is the formal grant by Duchess Mary of the 'Groot Privilegie,' or Great Privilege, the Magna Charta of Holland. Although this instrument was afterwards violated, and indeed abolished, it became the foundation of the republic. It was a recapitulation and recognition of ancient rights, not an acquisition of new privileges. It was a restoration, not a revolution. Its principal points deserve attention from those interested in the political progress of mankind. 'The duchess shall not marry without consent of the estates of her provinces. All offices in her gift shall be conferred on natives only. No man shall fill two offices. No office shall be farmed. The Great Council and Supreme Court of Holland is re-established. Causes shall be brought before it on appeal from the ordinary courts. It shall have no original jurisdiction of matters within the cognizance of the provincial and municipal tribunals. The estates and cities are guaranteed in their right not to be summoned to justice beyond the limits of their territory. The cities, in common with all the provinces of the Netherlands, may hold diets as often and at such places as they choose. No new taxes shall be imposed but by consent of the provincial estates. Neither the duchess nor her descendants shall begin either an offensive or defensive war without consent of the estates. In case a war be illegally undertaken, the estates are not bound to contribute to its maintenance. In all public and legal documents, the Netherland language shall be employed. The commands of the duchess shall be invalid, if conflicting with the privileges of a city. The seat of the Supreme Council is transferred from Mechlin to the Hague. No money shall be coined, nor its value raised or lowered, but by consent of the estates. Cities are not to be compelled to contribute to requests which they have not voted. The Sovereign shall come in person before the estates, to make his request for supplies.' … Certainly, for the fifteenth century, the 'Great Privilege' was a reasonably liberal constitution. Where else upon earth, at that day, was there half so much liberty as was thus guaranteed?"

J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, introduction, section 8.

ALSO IN: L. S. Costello, Memoirs of Mary of Burgundy, chapters 28-30.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1477. The Austrian marriage of Mary of Burgundy.

"Several husbands were proposed to the Princess of Burgundy, and every one was of opinion there was a necessity of her marrying, to defend those territories that she had left to her, or (by marrying the dauphin), to recover what she had lost.

See BURGUNDY: A. D. 1477.

Several were entirely for this match, and she was as earnest for it as anybody, before the letters she had sent by the Lord of Humbercourt and the chancellor to the king [Louis XI.] were betrayed to the ambassadors from Ghent. Some opposed the match, and urged the disproportion of their age, the dauphin being but nine years old, and besides engaged to the King of England's daughter; and these suggested the son of the Duke of Cleves. Others recommended Maximilian, the emperor's son, who is at present King of the Romans." Duchess Mary made choice presently of Maximilian, then Archduke of Austria, afterwards King of the Romans and finally emperor. The husband-elect "came to Cologne, where several of the princess's servants went to meet him, and carry him money, with which, as I have been told, he was but very slenderly furnished; for his father was the stingiest and most covetous prince, or person, of his time. The Duke of Austria was conducted to Ghent, with about 700 or 800 horse in his retinue, and this marriage was consummated [August 18, 1477], which at first sight brought no great advantage to the subjects of the young princess; for, instead of his supporting her, she was forced to supply him with money. His armies were neither strong enough nor in a condition to face the king's; besides which, the humour of the house of Austria was not pleasing to the subjects of the house of Burgundy, who had been bred up under wealthy princes, that had lucrative offices and employments to dispose of; whose palaces were sumptuous, whose tables were nobly served, whose dress was magnificent, and whose liveries were pompous and splendid. But the Germans are of quite a contrary temper; boorish in their manners and rude in their way of living."

Philip de Commines, Memoirs, book 6, chapter 2 (volume 2).

ALSO IN: L. S. Costello, Memoirs of Mary of Burgundy, chapter 31.

See, also, AUSTRIA: A. D. 1477-1495.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1482-1493. Maximilian and the Flemings. The end of the Hook party in Holland.

"According to the terms of the marriage treaty between Maximilian and Mary, their eldest son, Philip, succeeded to the sovereignty of the Netherlands immediately upon the death of his mother [March 26, 1482]. As he was at this time only four years of age, Maximilian obtained the acknowledgment of himself as guardian of the young count's person, and protector of his states, by all the provinces except Flanders and Guelderland. The Flemings having secured the person of Philip at Ghent, appointed a regency." To reduce the Flemings to obedience, Maximilian carried on two campaigns in their country, during 1484 and 1485, as the result of which Ghent and Bruges surrendered. "Maximilian was acknowledged protector of Flanders during the minority of Philip, who was delivered by the Ghenters into the hands of his father, and by him entrusted to the care of Margaret of York, Duchess-dowager of Burgundy, until he became of age." Three years later (1488)—Maximilian having been, in the meantime, crowned "King of the Romans," at Aix la Chapelle, and thus cadetted, so to speak, for his subsequent coronation as emperor—the Flemings rose again in revolt, Maximilian was at Bruges, and rumor accused him of a design to occupy the city with German troops. The men of Bruges forestalled the attempt by seizing him personally and making him a prisoner. They kept him in durance for nearly four months, until he had signed a treaty, agreeing to surrender the government of the Netherlands to the young Duke Philip, his son; to place the latter under the care of the princes of the blood (his relatives on the Burgundian side); to withdraw all foreign troops, and to use his endeavors to preserve peace with France. {2254} On these terms Maximilian obtained his liberty; but, meantime, his father, the Emperor Frederic, had marched an army to the frontiers of Brabant for his deliverance, and the very honorable King of the Romans, making haste to the shelter of these forces, repudiated with alacrity all the engagements he had sworn to. His imperial father led the army he had brought into Flanders and laid siege to Ghent; but tired of the undertaking after six weeks and returned to Germany, leaving his forces to prosecute the siege and the war. The commotions in Flanders now brought to life the popular party of the "Hooks" in Holland, and war broke out in that province. In neither part of the Netherlands were the insurgents successful. The Flemings had been helped by France, and when the French king abandoned them they were forced to buy a peace on humiliating terms and for a heavy price in cash. In Holland, the revolt languished for a time, but broke out with fresh spirit in 1490, excited by an edict which summarily altered the value of the coin. In the next year it took the name of the "Casembrotspel," or Bread and Cheese War. This insurrection was suppressed in 1492, with the help of German troops, and proved only disastrous to the province. "It was the last effort made for a considerable time by the Hollanders against the increasing power and extortion of their counts. … The miserable remnant of the Hook or popular party melted so entirely away that we hear of them no more in Holland: the county, formerly a power respected in itself, was now become a small and despised portion of an overgrown state." In 1494, Philip having reached the age of seventeen, and Maximilian having become emperor by the death of his father, the latter surrendered and the former was installed in the government of the Netherlands.

C. M. Davies, History of Holland, part 2, chapter 3 (volume 1).

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1494-1519. Beginning of the Austro-Spanish tyranny. Absorption in the vast dominion of Charles V. The seventeen Provinces, their independent constitutions and their States-General.

"In 1494, Philip, now 17 years of age, became sovereign of the Netherlands. But he would only swear to maintain the privileges granted by his grandfather and great-grandfather, Charles and Philip, and refused to acquiesce in the Great Privilege of his mother. The Estates acquiesced. For a time, Friesland, the outlying province of Holland, was severed from it. It was free, and it chose as its elective sovereign the Duke of Saxony. After a time he sold his sovereignty to the House of Hapsburg. The dissensions of the Estates had put them at the mercy of an autocratic family. Philip of Burgundy, in 1496, married Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1500 his son Charles was born, who was afterwards Charles V., Duke of the Netherlands, but also King of Spain, Emperor of Germany, King of Jerusalem, and, by the grant of Alexander VI., alias Roderic Borgia and Pope, lord of the whole new world. Joanna, his mother, through whom he had this vast inheritance, went mad, and remained mad during her life and his.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1496-1517.

Charles not only inherited his mother's and father's sovereignties, but his grandfather's also.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1496-1526].

… The peril which the liberties of the Netherlands were now running was greater than ever. They had been drawn into the hands of that dynasty which, beginning with two little Spanish kingdoms [Castile and Aragon], had in a generation developed into the mightiest of monarchies. … Charles succeeded his father Philip as Count of Flanders in 1506. His father, Philip the Handsome, was at Burgos in Castile, where he was attacked by fever, and died when only 28 years of age. Ten years afterwards Charles became King of Spain (1516). When he was 19 years of age (1519) he was elected emperor.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1519.

The three nations over whom he was destined to rule hated each other cordially. There was antipathy from the beginning between Flemings and Spaniards. The Netherlands nobles were detested in Spain, the Spaniards in the Low Countries were equally abhorred. … Charles was born in Flanders, and during his whole career was much more a Fleming than a Spaniard. This did not, however, prevent him from considering his Flemish subjects as mainly destined to supply his wants, and submit to his exactions. He was always hard pressed for money. The Germans were poor and turbulent. The conquest and subjection of the Moorish population in Spain had seriously injured the industrial wealth of that country. But the Flemings were increasing in riches, particularly the inhabitants of Ghent. They had to supply the funds which Charles required in order to carry out the operations which his necessities or his policy rendered urgent. He had been taught, and he readily believed, that his subjects' money was his own. Now just as Charles had come to the empire, two circumstances had occurred which have had a lasting influence over the affairs of Western Europe. The first of these was the conquest of Egypt by the Turks under Selim I (1512-20). … Egypt had for nearly two centuries been the only route by which Eastern produce, so much valued by European nations, could reach the consumer. … Now this trade, trifling to be sure to our present experience, was of the highest importance to the trading towns of Italy, the Rhine, and the Netherlands. … But the Netherlands had two industries which saved them from the losses which affected the Germans and Italians. They were still the weavers of the world. They still had the most successful fisheries. … The other cause was the revolt against the papacy" [the Reformation—see PAPACY: A. D. 1516-1517, and after].

J. E. T. Rogers, The Story of Holland, chapters 5-6.

The seventeen provinces comprehended under the name of the Netherlands, as ruled by Charles V., were the four duchies of Brabant, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Guelderland; the seven counties of Artois, Hainault, Flanders, Namur, Zutphen, Holland, and Zealand; the five seigniories or lordships of Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen; and the margraviate of Antwerp. "Of these provinces, the four which adjoined the French border, and in which a French dialect was spoken, were called Walloon [see WALLOONS]; in the other provinces a dialect, more or less resembling German, prevailed, that of the midland ones being Flemish, that of the northern, Dutch. They differed still more in their laws and customs than in language. Each province was an independent state, having its own constitution, which secured more liberty to those who lived under it than was then commonly enjoyed in most other parts of Europe. … {2255} The only institutions which supplied any links of union among the different provinces were the States-General, or assembly of deputies sent from each, and the Supreme Tribunal established at Mechlin, having an appellate jurisdiction over them all. The States-General, however, had no legislative authority, nor power to impose taxes, and were but rarely convened. … The members of the States-General were not representatives chosen by the people, but deputies, or ambassadors, from certain provinces. The different provinces had also their own States."

T. H. Dyer, History of Modern Europe, volume 2, pages 221-222.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1512. Burgundian provinces included in the Circle of Burgundy.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1493-1519.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1521-1555. The Reformation in the Provinces. The "Placards" and Persecutions of Charles V. The Edict of 1550. The Planting of the Inquisition.

"The people of the Netherlands were noted not less for their ingenuity shown in the invention of machines and implements, and for their proficiency in science and letters, than for their opulence and enterprise. It was their boast that common laborers, even the fishermen who dwelt in the huts of Friesland, could read and write, and discuss the interpretation of Scripture. … In such a population, among the countrymen of Erasmus, where, too, in previous ages, various forms of innovation and dissent had arisen, the doctrines of Luther must inevitably find an entrance. They were brought in by foreign merchants, 'together with whose commodities,' writes the old Jesuit historian Strada, 'this plague often sails.' They were introduced with the German and Swiss soldiers, whom Charles V. had occasion to bring into the country. Protestantism was also transplanted from England by numerous exiles who fled from the persecution of Mary. The contiguity of the country to Germany and France provided abundant avenues for the incoming of the new opinions. 'Nor did the Rhine from Germany, or the Meuse from France,' to quote the regretful language of Strada, 'send more water into the Low Countries, than by the one the contagion of Luther, by the other of Calvin, was imported into the same Belgic provinces.' The spirit and occupations of the people, the whole atmosphere of the country, were singularly propitious for the spread of the Protestant movement. The cities of Flanders and Brabant, especially Antwerp, very early furnished professors of the new faith. Charles V. issued, in 1521, from Worms, an edict, the first of a series of barbarous enactments or 'Placards,' for the extinguishing of heresy in the Netherlands; and it did not remain a dead letter. In 1523, two Augustinian monks were burned at the stake in Brussels. … The edicts against heresy were imperfectly executed. The Regent, Margaret of Savoy, was lukewarm in the business of persecution; and her successor, Maria, the Emperor's sister, the widowed Queen of Hungary, was still more leniently disposed. The Protestants rapidly increased in number. Calvinism, from the influence of France, and of Geneva, where young men were sent to be educated, came to prevail among them. Anabaptists and other licentious or fanatical sectaries, such as appeared elsewhere in the wake of the Reformation, were numerous; and their excesses afforded a plausible pretext for violent measures of repression against all who departed from the old faith. In 1550, Charles V. issued a new Placard, in which the former persecuting edicts were confirmed, and in which a reference was made to Inquisitors of the faith, as well as to the ordinary judges of the bishops. This excited great alarm, since the Inquisition was an object of extreme aversion and dread. The foreign merchants prepared to leave Antwerp, prices fell, trade was to a great extent suspended; and such was the disaffection excited, that the Regent Maria interceded for some modification of the obnoxious decree. Verbal changes were made, but the fears of the people were not quieted; and it was published at Antwerp in connection with a protest of the magistrates in behalf of the liberties which were put in peril by a tribunal of the character threatened. 'And,' says the learned Arminian historian, 'as this affair of the Inquisition and the oppression from Spain prevailed more and more, all men began to be convinced that they were destined to perpetual slavery.' Although there was much persecution in the Netherlands during the long reign of Charles, yet the number of martyrs could not have been so great as 50,000, the number mentioned by one writer, much less 100,000, the number given by Grotius."

G. P. Fisher, The Reformation, chapter 9.

"His hand [that of Charles V.] planted the inquisition in the Netherlands. Before his day it is idle to say that the diabolical institution ever had a place there. The isolated cases in which inquisitors had exercised functions proved the absence and not the presence of the system. … Charles introduced and organized a papal inquisition, side by side with those terrible 'placards' of his invention, which constituted a masked inquisition even more cruel than that of Spain. … The number of Netherlanders who were burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive, in obedience to his edicts … has been placed as high as 100,000 by distinguished authorities, and have never been put at a lower mark than 50,000. The Venetian envoy Navigero placed the number of victims in the provinces of Holland and Friesland alone at 30,000, and this in 1546, ten years before the abdication, and five before the promulgation of the hideous edict of 1550. … 'No one,' said the edict [of 1550], 'shall print, write, copy, keep, conceal, sell, buy, or give in churches, streets, or other places, any book or writing made by Martin Luther, John Ecolampadius, Ulrich Zwinglius, Martin Bucer, John Calvin, or other heretics reprobated by the Holy Church; … nor break, or otherwise injure the images of the holy virgin or canonized saints; … nor in his house hold conventicles, or illegal gatherings, or be present at any such in which the adherents of the above-mentioned heretics teach, baptize, and form conspiracies against the Holy Church and the general welfare. … Moreover, we forbid … all lay persons to converse or dispute concerning the Holy Scriptures, openly or secretly, especially on any doubtful or difficult matters, or to read, teach, or expound the Scriptures, unless they have duly studied theology and been approved by some renowned university; … or to preach secretly, or openly, or to entertain any of the opinions of the above-mentioned heretics. … Such perturbators of the general quiet are to be executed, to wit: the men with the sword and the women to be buried alive, if they do not persist in their errors; if they do persist in them they are to be executed with fire; all their property in both cases being confiscated to the crown.'"

The horrible edict further bribed informers, by promising to them half the goods of a convicted heretic, while, at the same time, it forbade, under sharp penalties, any petitioning for pardon in favor of such heretics.

J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, part 1, chapter 1, and part 2, chapter 1 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: J. H. Merle d'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, book 13, chapters 9-11 (volume 7).

{2265}

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1539-1540. The revolt and enslavement of Ghent.

See GHENT: A. D. 1539-1540.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1547. Pragmatic Sanction of Charles V. changing the Relations of his Burgundian inheritance to the Empire.

In the Germanic diet assembled at Augsburg in 1547, after the Emperor's defeat of the Protestant princes at Muhlberg (see GERMANY: A. D. 1546-1552), he was able to exercise his will almost without opposition and decree arbitrarily whatever he chose. He there "proclaimed the Pragmatic Sanction for the Netherlands, whereby his old Burgundian inheritance was declared by his own law to be indivisible, the succession settled on the house of Hapsburg, it was attached to the German empire as a tenth district, had to pay certain contributions, but was not to be subject to the Imperial Chamber or the Imperial Court of Judicature. He thus secured the personal union of these territories with his house, and made it the duty of the empire to defend them, while at the same time he withdrew them from the jurisdiction of the empire; it was a union by which the private interests of the house of Hapsburg had everything to gain, but which was of no advantage to the empire."

L. Häusser, The Period of the Reformation, chapter 16.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1555. The Abdication of Charles V. Accession of Philip II. His sworn promises.

"In the autumn of this year [1555] the world was astonished by the declaration of the emperor's intention to resign all his vast dominions, and spend the remainder of his days in a cloister. … On the 25th of October, the day appointed for the ceremony [of the surrender of the sovereignty of the Netherlands], the knights of the Golden Fleece, and the deputies of all the states of the Netherlands assembled at Brussels. … On the day after the emperor's resignation the mutual oaths were taken by Philip and the states of Holland; the former swore to maintain all the privileges which they now enjoyed, including those granted or confirmed at his installation as heir in 1549. He afterwards renewed the promise made by Charles in the month of May preceding, that no office in Holland, except that of stadtholder, should be given to foreigners or to Netherlanders of those provinces in which Hollanders were excluded from offices. In the January of the next year [1556] the emperor resigned the crown of Spain to his son, reserving only an annuity of 100,000 crowns, and on the 7th of September following, having proceeded to Zealand to join the fleet destined to carry him to Spain, he surrendered the imperial dignity to his brother Ferdinand." He then proceeded to the cloister of St. Just, near Piacenza, where he lived in retirement until his death, which occurred August 21, 1558.

C. M. Davies, History of Holland, part 2, chapter 6 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: W. Stirling, Cloister Life of Charles V.

O. Delepierre, Historical Difficulties, chapter 10.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1555-1559. Opening of the dark and bloody reign of Philip II. of Spain. His malignity. His perfidy. His evil and plotting industry.

"Philip, bred in this [Spanish] school of slavish superstition, taught that he was the despot for whom it was formed, familiar with the degrading tactics of eastern tyranny, was at once the most contemptible and unfortunate of men. … He was perpetually filled with one idea—that of his greatness; he had but one ambition—that of command; but one enjoyment—that of exciting fear. … Deceit and blood were his greatest, if not his only, delights. The religious zeal which he affected, or felt, showed itself but in acts of cruelty; and the fanatic bigotry which inspired him formed the strongest contrast to the divine spirit of Christianity. … Although ignorant, he had a prodigious instinct of cunning. He wanted courage, but its place was supplied by the harsh obstinacy of wounded pride. All the corruptions of intrigue were familiar to him; yet he often failed in his most deep-laid designs, at the very moment of their apparent success, by the recoil of the bad faith and treachery with which his plans were overcharged. Such was the man who now began that terrible reign which menaced utter ruin to the national prosperity of the Netherlands. … Philip had only once visited the Netherlands before his accession to sovereign power. … Every thing that he observed on this visit was calculated to revolt both [his opinions and his prejudices]. The frank cordiality of the people appeared too familiar. The expression of popular rights sounded like the voice of rebellion. Even the magnificence displayed in his honour offended his jealous vanity. From that moment he seems to have conceived an implacable aversion to the country, in which alone, of all his vast possessions, he could not display the power or inspire the terror of despotism. The sovereign's dislike was fully equalled by the disgust of his subjects. … Yet Philip did not at first act in a way to make himself more particularly hated. He rather, by an apparent consideration for a few points of political interest and individual privilege, and particularly by the revocation of some of the edicts against heretics, removed the suspicions his earlier conduct had excited; and his intended victims did not perceive that the despot sought to lull them to sleep, in the hopes of making them an easier prey. Philip knew well that force alone was insufficient to reduce such a people to slavery. He succeeded in persuading the states to grant him considerable subsidies, some of which were to be paid by instalments during a period of nine years. That was gaining a great step towards his designs. … At the same time he sent secret agents to Rome, to obtain the approbation of the pope to his insidious but most effective plan for placing the whole of the clergy in dependence upon the crown. He also kept up the army of Spaniards and Germans which his father had formed on the frontiers of France; and although he did not remove from their employments the functionaries already in place, he took care to make no new appointments to office among the natives of the Netherlands. … To lead his already, deceived subjects the more surely into the snare, he announced his intended departure on a short visit to Spain; and created for the period of his absence a provisional government, chiefly composed of the leading men among the Belgian nobility. {2257} He flattered himself that the states, dazzled by the illustrious illusion thus prepared, would cheerfully grant to this provisional government the right of levying taxes during the temporary absence of the sovereign. He also reckoned on the influence of the clergy in the national assembly, to procure the revival of the edicts against heresy, which he had gained the merit of suspending. … As soon as the states had consented to place the whole powers of government in the hands of the new administration for the period of the king's absence, the royal hypocrite believed his scheme secure, and flattered himself he had established an instrument of durable despotism. … The edicts against heresy, soon adopted [including a re-enactment of the terrible edict of 1550—see above], gave to the clergy an almost unlimited power over the lives and fortunes of the people. But almost all the dignitaries of the church being men of great respectability and moderation, chosen by the body of the inferior clergy, these extraordinary powers excited little alarm. Philip's project was suddenly to replace these virtuous ecclesiastics by others of his own choice [through a creation of new bishoprics], as soon as the states broke up from their annual meeting; and for this intention he had procured the secret consent and authority of the court of Rome. In support of these combinations, the Belgian troops were completely broken up and scattered in small bodies over the country. … To complete the execution of this system of perfidy, Philip convened an assembly of all the states at Ghent, in the month of July, 1559. … Anthony Perrenotte de Granvelle, bishop of Arras [afterwards cardinal], who was considered as Philip's favorite counsellor, but who was in reality no more than his docile agent, was commissioned to address the assembly in the name of his master, who spoke only Spanish. His oration was one of cautious deception." It announced the appointment of Margaret, duchess of Parma, a natural daughter of Charles V., and therefore half-sister of Philip, to preside as regent over the government of the Netherlands during the absence of the sovereign. It also urged with skilful plausibility certain requests for money on the part of the latter. "But notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the mystery of Philip and his minister, there was among the nobles one man [William of Nassau, prince of Orange and stadtholder, or governor, of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht] who saw through all. Without making himself suspiciously prominent, he privately warned some members of the states of the coming danger. Those in whom he confided did not betray the trust. They spread among the other deputies the alarm, and pointed out the danger to which they had been so judiciously awakened. The consequence was, a reply to Philip's demand, in vague and general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge; and an unanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, withdraw the foreign troops, and entrust no official employments to any but natives of the country. The object of this last request was the removal of Granvelle, who was born in Franche-Comte. Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment of his vexation he imprudently cried out, 'Would ye, then, also bereave me of my place; I, who am a Spaniard?' But he soon recovered his self-command, and resumed his usual mask; expressed his regret at not having sooner learned the wishes of the state; promised to remove the foreign troops within three months; and set off for Zealand, with assumed composure, but filled with the fury of a discovered traitor and a humiliated despot." In August, 1559, he sailed for Spain.

T. C. Grattan, History of the Netherlands, chapter 7.

"Crafty, saturnine, atrabilious, always dissembling and suspecting, sombre, and silent like night when brooding over the hatching storm, he lived shrunk within himself, with only the fellowship of his gloomy thoughts and cruel resolves. … There is something terrific in the secrecy, dissimulation and dogged perseverance with which Philip would, during a series of years, meditate and prepare the destruction of one man, or of a whole population, and something still more awful in the icy indifference, the superhuman insensibility, the accumulated cold-blooded energy of hoarded-up vengeance with which, at the opportune moment, he would issue a dry sentence of extermination. … He seemed to take pleasure in distilling, slowly and chemically, the poison which, Python-like, he darted at every object which he detested or feared, or which he considered an obstacle in his path."

C. Gayarre, Philip II. of Spain, chapter 1.

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1559-1562. The Spanish troops, the new bishoprics, and the shadow of the Inquisition. The appeal of Brabant to its ancient "Joyeuse Entrée."

"The first cause of trouble, after Philip's departure from the Netherlands, arose from the detention of the Spanish troops there. The king had pledged his word … that they should leave the country by the end of four months, at farthest. Yet that period had long since passed, and no preparations were made for their departure. The indignation of the people rose higher and higher at the insult thus offered by the presence of these detested foreigners. It was a season of peace. No invasion was threatened from abroad; no insurrection existed at home. … Granvelle himself, who would willingly have pleased his master by retaining a force in the country on which he could rely, admitted that the project was impracticable. 'The troops must be withdrawn,' he wrote, 'and that speedily, or the consequence will be an insurrection.' … The Prince of Orange and Count Egmont threw up the commands intrusted to them by the king. They dared no longer hold them, as the minister added, it was so unpopular. … Yet Philip was slow in returning an answer to the importunate letters of the regent and the minister; and when he did reply, it was to evade their request. … The regent, however, saw that, with or without instructions, it was necessary to act. … The troops were ordered to Zealand, in order to embark for Spain. But the winds proved unfavorable. Two months longer they were detained, on shore or on board the transports. They soon got into brawls with the workmen employed on the dikes; and the inhabitants, still apprehensive of orders from the king countermanding the departure of the Spaniards, resolved, in such an event, to abandon the dikes, and lay the country under water! Fortunately, they were not driven to this extremity. {2258} In January, 1561, more than a year after the date assigned by Philip, the nation was relieved of the presence of the intruders. … This difficulty was no sooner settled than it was followed by another scarcely less serious." Arrangements had been made for "adding 13 new bishoprics to the four already existing in the Netherlands. … The whole affair had been kept profoundly secret by the government. It was not till 1561 that Philip disclosed his views, in a letter to some of the principal nobles in the council of state. But, long before that time, the project had taken wind, and created a general sensation through the country. The people looked on it as an attempt to subject them to the same ecclesiastical system which existed in Spain. The bishops, by virtue of their office, were possessed of certain inquisitorial powers, and these were still further enlarged by the provisions of the royal edicts. … The present changes were regarded as part of a great scheme for introducing the Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands. … The nobles had other reasons for opposing the measure. The bishops would occupy in the legislature the place formerly held by the abbots, who were indebted for their election to the religious houses over which they presided. The new prelates, on the contrary, would receive their nomination from the crown; and the nobles saw with alarm their own independence menaced by the accession of an order of men who would naturally be subservient to the interests of the monarch. … But the greatest opposition arose from the manner in which the new dignitaries were to be maintained. This was to be done by suppressing the offices of the abbots, and by appropriating the revenues of their houses to the maintenance of the bishops. … Just before Philip's departure from the Netherlands, a bull arrived from Rome authorizing the erection of the new bishoprics. This was but the initiatory step. Many other proceedings were necessary before the consummation of the affair. Owing to impediments thrown in the way by the provinces, and the habitual tardiness of the court of Rome, nearly three years elapsed before the final briefs were expedited by Pius IV."

W. H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II., book 2, chapter 6 (volume 1).

"Against the arbitrary policy embodied in the edicts, the new bishoprics and the foreign soldiery, the Netherlanders appealed to their ancient constitutions. These charters were called 'handvests', in the vernacular Dutch and Flemish, because the sovereign made them fast with his hand. As already stated, Philip had made them faster than any of the princes of his house had ever done, so far as oath and signature could accomplish that purpose, both as hereditary prince in 1549, and as monarch in 1555. … Of these constitutions, that of Brabant, known by the title of the 'joyeuse entrée' 'blyde inkomst,' or blythe entrance, furnished the most decisive barrier against the present wholesale tyranny. First and foremost, the 'joyous entry' provided, 'that the prince of the land should not elevate the clerical state higher than of old has been customary and by former princes settled; unless by consent of the other two estates, the nobility and the cities.' Again, 'the prince can prosecute no one of his subjects, nor any foreign resident, civilly or criminally, except in the ordinary and open courts of justice in the province, where the accused may answer and defend himself with the help of advocates.' Further, 'the prince shall appoint no foreigners to office in Brabant.' Lastly 'should the prince, by force or otherwise, violate any of these privileges, the inhabitants of Brabant, after regular protest entered, are discharged of their oaths of allegiance, and, as free, independent, and unbound people, may conduct themselves exactly as seems to them best.' Such were the leading features, so far as they regarded the points now at issue, of that famous constitution which was so highly esteemed in the Netherlands, that mothers came to the province in order to give birth to their children, who might thus enjoy, as a birthright, the privileges of Brabant. Yet the charters of the other provinces ought to have been as effective against the arbitrary course of the government. 'No foreigner,' said the constitution of Holland, 'is eligible as councillor, financier, magistrate, or member of a court. Justice can be administered only by the ordinary tribunals and magistrates. The ancient laws and customs shall remain inviolable. Should the prince infringe any of these provisions, no one is bound to obey him.' These provisions from the Brabant and Holland charters are only cited as illustrative of the general spirit of the provincial constitutions. Nearly all the provinces possessed privileges equally ample, duly signed and sealed."

J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, part 2, chapter 2 (volume 1).

ALSO IN: E. E. Crowe, Cardinal Granvelle (Eminent Foreign Statesmen, volume 1).

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1562-1566. Beginning of organized resistance to the tyranny and persecution of Philip. The signing of the Compromise. The League of the Gueux.

William of Orange now "claimed, in the name of the whole country, the convocation of the states-general. This assembly alone was competent to decide what was just, legal, and obligatory for each province and every town. … The ministers endeavored to evade a demand which they were at first unwilling openly to refuse. But the firm demeanor and persuasive eloquence of the prince of Orange carried before them all who were not actually bought by the crown; and Granvelle found himself at length forced to avow that an express order from the king forbade the convocation of the states, on any pretext, during his absence. The veil was thus rent asunder, which had in some measure concealed the deformity of Philip's despotism. The result was a powerful confederacy among all who held it odious, for the overthrow of Granvelle, to whom they chose to attribute the king's conduct. … Those who composed this confederacy against the minister were actuated by a great variety of motives. … It is doubtful if any of the confederates except the prince of Orange clearly saw that they were putting themselves in direct and personal opposition to the king himself. William alone, clear-sighted in politics and profound in his views, knew, in thus devoting himself to the public cause, the adversary with whom he entered the lists. This great man, for whom the national traditions still preserve the sacred title of 'father' (Vader-Willem), and who was in truth not merely the parent but the political creator of the country, was at this period in his 30th year. … Philip, … driven before the popular voice, found himself forced to the choice of throwing off the mask at once, or of sacrificing Granvelle. {2259} An invincible inclination for manœuvring and deceit decided him on the latter measure; and the cardinal, recalled but not disgraced, quitted the Netherlands on the 10th of March, 1564. The secret instructions to the government remained unrevoked; the president Viglius succeeded to the post which Granvelle had occupied; and it was clear that the projects of the king had suffered no change. Nevertheless some good resulted from the departure of the unpopular minister. The public fermentation subsided; the patriot lords reappeared at court; and the prince of Orange acquired an increasing influence in the council and over the government. … It was resolved to dispatch a special envoy to Spain, to explain to Philip the views of the council. … The count of Egmont, chosen by the council for this important mission, set out for Madrid in the month of February, 1565. Philip received him with profound hypocrisy; loaded him with the most flattering promises; sent him back in the utmost elation: and when the credulous count returned to Brussels, he found that the written orders, of which he was the bearer, were in direct variance with every word which the king had uttered. These orders were chiefly concerning the reiterated subject of the persecution to be inflexibly pursued against the religious reformers. Not satisfied with the hitherto established forms of punishment, Philip now expressly commanded that the more revolting means decreed by his father in the rigor of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, and the like, should be adopted. … Even Viglius was terrified by the nature of Philip's commands; and the patriot lords once more withdrew from all share in the government, leaving to the duchess of Parma and her ministers the whole responsibility of the new measures. They were at length put into actual and vigorous execution in the beginning of the year 1566. The inquisitors of the faith, with their familiars, stalked abroad boldly in the devoted provinces, carrying persecution and death in their train. Numerous but partial insurrections opposed these odious intruders. Every district and town became the scene of frightful executions or tumultuous resistance."

T. C. Grattan, History of the Netherlands, chapter 7.

In November, 1565, a meeting of Flemish nobles was held at Culenborg House, Brussels, where they formed a league, in which Philip de Marnix, Lord of Ste. Aldegonde, Count Louis of Nassau, a younger brother of the Prince of Orange, and Viscount Brederode, were the foremost leaders. "In a meeting held at Breda, in January 1566, the league promulgated their views in a paper called the Compromise, attributed to the hand of Ste. Aldegonde. The document contained a severe denunciation of the inquisition as an illegal, pernicious and iniquitous tribunal; the subscribers swore to defend one another against any attack that might be made upon them; and declared, at the same time, that they did not mean to throw off their allegiance to the King. … In the course of two months the Compromise was signed by about 2,000 persons, including many Catholics; but only a few of the great nobles could be prevailed on to subscribe it. … The Prince of Orange at first kept aloof from the league, and at this period Egmont, who was of a more impulsive temper, seemed to act the leading part; but the nation relied solely upon William. The latter gave at least a tacit sanction to the league in the spring of 1566, by joining the members of it in a petition to the Regent which he had himself revised."

T. H. Dyer, History of Modern Europe, book 3, chapter 7 (volume 2).

"The league had its origin in banquets, and a banquet gave it form and perfection. … Brederode entertained the confederates in Kuilemberg House; about 300 guests assembled; intoxication gave them courage, and their audacity rose with their numbers. During the conversation, one of their number happened to remark that he had overheard the Count of Barlaimont whisper in French to the regent, who was seen to turn pale on the delivery of the petitions, that 'she need not be afraid of a band of beggars (gueux).' … Now, as the very name for their fraternity was the very thing which had most perplexed them, an expression was eagerly caught up, which, while it cloaked the presumption of their enterprise in humility, was at the same time appropriate to them as petitioners. Immediately they drank to one another under this name, and the cry 'Long live the gueux!' was accompanied with a general shout of applause. … What they had resolved on in the moment of intoxication they attempted, when sober, to carry into execution. … In a few days, the town of Brussels, swarmed with ash-gray garments, such as were usually worn by mendicant friars and penitents. Every confederate put his whole family and domestics in this dress. Some carried wooden bowls thinly overlaid with plates of silver, cups of the same kind, and wooden knives; in short, the whole paraphernalia of the beggar tribe, which they either fixed round their hats or suspended from their girdles. … Hence the origin of the name 'Gueux,' which was subsequently borne in the Netherlands by all who seceded from popery, and took up arms against the king."

F. Schiller, History of the Revolt of the Netherlands, book 3.

ALSO IN: J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, part 2, chapters 3-6 (volume 1).

F. von Raumer, History of the 16th and 17th Centuries illustrated by original documents, letter 16 (volume 1).

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1566-1568. Field preaching under arms. The riots of the Image-breakers. Philip's schemes of revenge. Discouragement and retirement of Orange. Blindness of Egmont and Horn, and their fate.

"While the Privy Council was endeavouring to obtain a 'Moderation' of the Edicts, and … effected that the heretics should be no longer burnt but hung, and that the Inquisition should proceed 'prudently, and with circumspection,' a movement broke out among the people which mocked at all Edicts. The open country was suddenly covered with thousands of armed noblemen, citizens, and peasants, who assembled in large crowds in the open air to listen to some heretical preacher, Lutheran, Calvinist, or even an Anabaptist, and to hold forbidden services, with prayers and hymns, in the mother tongue. They sallied forth with pistols, arquebuses, flails, and pitchforks; the place of meeting was marked out like a camp, and surrounded by guards; from 10,000 to 20,000 assembled, the armed men outside, the women and children within. {2260} After the immense choir had sung a psalm, one of the excommunicated preachers appeared between two pikes (according to the 'Moderation' a price was set upon the head of everyone of them), and expounded the new doctrine from the Scriptures; the assembly listened in devout silence, and when the service was ended separated quietly, but defiantly. This was repeated day after day throughout the country, and nobody dared to attack the armed field preachers. The Regent was in a painful situation; she was always having it proclaimed that the Edicts were in force, but nobody cared. … It was all in vain unless foreign troops came to enforce obedience, and these she had neither power nor funds to procure. The King hesitated in his usual fashion, and left the Regent to the torments of powerlessness and uncertainty. Meanwhile the universal excitement bore fatal fruit. Instead of the dignified preachings and peaceful assemblies of May, in June and July there were wild excesses and furious mobs. Orange had just persuaded the Regent to permit the field preaching in the open country, if they avoided the towns, when the first great outbreak occurred in Antwerp. Two days after a great procession, on the 18th of August, 1566, at which the Catholic clergy of Antwerp had made a pompous display to the annoyance of the numerous Protestants, the beautiful cathedral was invaded by a furious mob, who destroyed without mercy all the images, pictures, and objects of art that it contained. This demolition of images, the stripping of churches, desecration of chapels, and destruction of all symbols of the ancient faith, spread from Antwerp to other places, Tournay, Valenciennes, &c. It was done with a certain moderation, for neither personal violence nor theft took place anywhere, though innumerable costly articles were lying about. Still, these fanatical scenes not only excited the ire of Catholics, but of every religious man; in Antwerp, especially, the seafaring mob had rushed upon everything that had been held sacred for centuries. In her distress the Regent wished to flee from Brussels, but Orange, Egmont, and Horn compelled her to remain, and induced her to proclaim the Act of the 25th of August, by which an armistice was decided on between Spain and the Beggars. In this the Government conceded the abolition of the Inquisition and the toleration of the new doctrines, and the Beggars declared that for so long as this promise was kept their league was dissolved. In consideration of this, the first men in the country agreed to quell the disturbances in Flanders, Antwerp, Tournay; and Malines, and to restore peace. Orange effected this in Antwerp like a true statesman, who knew how to keep himself above party spirit; but in Flanders, Egmont, on the contrary, went to work like a brutal soldier; he stormed against the heretics like Philip's Spanish executioners, and the scales fell from the eyes of the bitterly disappointed people. Meanwhile a decision had been come to at Madrid. … When at length the irresolute King had determined to proclaim an amnesty, though it was really rather a proscription, and to promise indulgence, while he was assuring the Pope by protocol before notaries that he never would grant any, the news came of the image riots of August, and a report from the Duchess in which she humbly begged the King's pardon for having allowed a kind of religious peace to be extorted from her, but she was entirely innocent; they had forced it from her as a prisoner in her palace, and there was one comfort, that the King was not bound by a promise made only in her name. Philip's rage was boundless. … He was resolved upon fearful revenge, even when he was writing that he should know how to restore order in his provinces by means of grace and mercy. … Well-informed as Orange was, he understood the whole situation perfectly; he knew that while the Regent was heaping flattery upon him, she and Philip were compassing his destruction; that her only object could be to keep the peace until the Spanish preparations were complete, and meanwhile, if possible, to compromise him with the people. He wrote to Egmont, and laid the dangers of their situation before him, and communicated his resolve either to escape Philip's revenge by flight, or to join with his friends in armed resistance to the expected attack of the Spanish army. But Egmont in his unhappy blindness had resolved to side with the Government which was more than ever determined on his destruction, and the meeting at Dendermonde, October, 1566, when Orange consulted him, Louis of Nassau, and Hogstraaten, as to u plan of united action, was entirely fruitless. … Admiral Horn, who had staked large property in the service of the Emperor and King, and had never received the least return in answer to his just demands, gave up his office, and, like a weary philosopher, retired into solitude. Left entirely alone, Orange thought of emigrating; in short, the upper circle of the previous party of opposition no longer existed. But it was not so with the mad leaders of the Beggars. While the zealous inhabitants of Valenciennes, incited by two of the most dauntless Calvinistic preachers, undertook to defend themselves against the royal troops with desperate bravery, Count Brederode went about the country with a clang of sabres, exciting disturbances in order to give the heretics at Valenciennes breathing-time by a happy diversion. … All that Philip wanted to enable him to gain the day was an unsuccessful attempt at revolt. The attack upon images and the Beggars' volunteer march did more for the Government than all Granvella's system; … drove every one who favoured the Catholics and loved peace into the arms of the Government., The reaction set in with the sanguinary defeat of the rebels at Valenciennes, who never again even made an attempt at resistance. Orange gave up the liberties of his country for lost. … Stating that he could never take the new oath of fealty which was required, because it would oblige him to become the executioner of his Protestant countrymen, he renounced his offices and dignities, … made a last attempt to save his friend Egmont, … and retired to Dillenburg, the ancient property of the family. He wished to be spared for better times; he saw the storm coming, and was too cool-headed to offer himself as the first sacrifice. In fact, just when he was travelling towards Germany, Duke Alba [more commonly called Alva], the hangman of the Netherlands, was on his way to his destination." Alva arrived in August, 1567, with an army of 10,000 carefully picked veterans, fully empowered to make the Netherlands a conquered territory and deal with it as such. His first important act was the treacherous seizure and imprisonment of Egmont and Horn. Then the organization of terror began. The imprisonment and the mockery of a trial of the two most distinguished victims was protracted until the 5th of June, 1568, when they were beheaded in the great square at Brussels.

L. Häusser, The Period of the Reformation, chapters 22-23.

ALSO IN: J. L. Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, part 2, chapters 6-10, and part 3, chapters 1-2.

F. Schiller, History of the Revolt of the Netherlands, books 3-4.

{2261}

NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1567. The Council of Blood.

"In the same despatch of the 9th September [1567], in which the Duke communicated to Philip the capture of Egmont and Horn, he announced to him his determination to establish a new court for the trial of crimes committed during the recent period of troubles. This wonderful tribunal was accordingly created with the least possible delay. It was called the Council of Troubles, but it soon acquired the terrible name, by which it will be forever known in history, of the Blood-Council. It superseded all other institutions. Every court, from those of the municipal magistracies up to the supreme councils of the provinces, were forbidden to take cognisance in future of any cause growing out of the late troubles. The Council of State, although it was not formally disbanded, fell into complete desuetude, its members being occasionally summoned into Alva's private chambers in an irregular manner, while its principal functions were usurped by the Blood-Council. Not only citizens of every province, but the municipal bodies, and even the sovereign provincial Estates themselves, were compelled to plead, like humble individuals, before this new and extraordinary tribunal. It is unnecessary to allude to the absolute violation which was thus committed of all charters, laws, and privileges, because the very creation of the Council was a bold and brutal proclamation that those laws and privileges were at an end. … So well … did this new and terrible engine perform its work, that in less than three months from the time of its erection, 1,800 human beings had suffered death by its summary proceedings; some of the highest, the noblest, and the most virtuous in the land among the number; nor had it then manifested the slightest indication of faltering in its dread career. Yet, strange to say, this tremendous court, thus established upon the ruins of all the ancient institutions of the country, had not been provided with even a nominal authority from any source whatever. The King had granted it no letters patent or charter, nor had even the Duke of Alva thought it worth while to grant any commissions, either in his own name or as Captain-General, to any of the members composing the board. The Blood-Council was merely an informal club, of which the Duke was perpetual president, while the other members were all appointed by himself. Of these subordinate councillors, two had the right of voting, subject, however, in all cases, to his final decision, while the rest of the number did not vote at all. It had not, therefore, in any sense, the character of a judicial, legislative, or executive tribunal, but was purely a board of advice by which the bloody labours of the Duke were occasionally lightened as to detail, while not a feather's weight of power or of responsibility was removed from his shoulders. He reserved for himself the final decision upon all causes which should come before the Council, and stated his motives for so doing with grim simplicity. 'Two reasons,' he wrote to the King, 'have determined me thus to limit the power of the tribunal; the first that, not knowing its members, I might be easily deceived by them; the second, that the men of law only condemn for crimes which are proved; whereas your Majesty knows that affairs of state are governed by very different rules from the laws which they have here.' It being, therefore, the object of the Duke to compose a body of men who would be of assistance to him in condemning for crimes which could not be proved, and in slipping over statutes which were not to be recognised, it must be confessed that he was not unfortunate in the appointments which he made to the office of councillors. … No one who was offered the office refused it. Noircarmes and Berlaymont accepted with very great eagerness. Several presidents and councillors of the different provincial tribunals were appointed, but all the Netherlanders were men of straw. Two Spaniards, Del Rio and Vargas, were the only members who could vote, while their decisions, as already stated, were subject to reversal by Alva. Del Rio was a man without character or talent, a mere tool in the hands of his superiors, but Juan de Vargas was a terrible reality. No better man could have been found in Europe, for the post to which he was thus elevated. To shed human blood was, in his opinion, the only important business and the only exhilarating pastime of life. … It was the duty of the different subalterns, who, as already stated, had no right of voting, to prepare reports upon the cases. Nothing could be more summary. Information was lodged against a man, or against a hundred men, in one document. The Duke sent the papers to the Council, and the inferior councillors reported at once to Vargas. If the report concluded with a recommendation of death to the man or the hundred men in question, Vargas instantly approved it, and execution was done upon the man, or the hundred men, within 48 hours. If the report had any other conclusion, it was immediately sent back for revision, and the reporters were overwhelmed with reproaches by the President. Such being the method of operation, it may be supposed that the councillors were not allowed to slacken in their terrible industry. The register of every city, village, and hamlet throughout the Netherlands showed the daily lists of men, women, and children thus sacrificed at the shrine of the demon who had obtained the mastery over this unhappy land. It was not often that an individual was of sufficient importance to be tried—if trial it could be called—by himself. It was found more expeditious to send them in batches to the furnace. Thus, for example, on the 4th of January, 84 inhabitants of Valenciennes were condemned; on another day, 95 miscellaneous individuals from different places in Flanders; on another, 46 inhabitants of Malines; on another, 35 persons from different localities, and so on. … Thus the whole country became a charnel-house; the death-bell tolled hourly in every village; not a family but was called to mourn for its dearest relatives, while the survivors stalked listlessly about, the ghosts of their former selves, among the wrecks of their former homes. The spirit of the nation, within a few months after the arrival of Alva, seemed hopelessly broken. The blood of its best and bravest had already stained the scaffold; men to whom it had been accustomed to look for guidance and protection, were dead, in prison, or in exile. Submission had ceased to be of any avail, flight was impossible, and the spirit of vengeance had alighted at every fireside. {2262} The mourners went daily about the streets, for there was hardly a house which had not been made desolate. The scaffolds, the gallows, the funeral piles which had been sufficient in ordinary times, furnished now an entirely inadequate machinery for the incessant executions. Columns and stakes in every street, the door-posts of private houses, the fences in the fields, were laden with human carcases, strangled, burned, beheaded. The orchards in the country bore on many a tree the hideous fruit of human bodies. Thus the Netherlands were crushed, and, but for the stringency of the tyranny which had now closed their gates, would have been depopulated."