The Story of Nations - Holland/Chapter 8

The regent who administered the Netherlands for eight years was the eldest natural child of Charles. She had been married, first to Alexander de Medici, when she was twelve years old. He was assassinated after a year. At twenty she was married to the nephew of another Pope, Paul the Third. Ottavio Farnese was only thirteen years old. By him she became the mother of the celebrated Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma. She was a woman of masculine and imperious temper, a mighty huntress, and celebrated in her time for two unfeminine characteristics—a well-defined moustache and the gout.

Margaret of Parma’s mother was a Flemish woman. She could, however, be entirely trusted in carrying out her brother’s designs in establishing the Inquisition, in retaining the foreign garrisons, and in crushing the liberties of the Netherlands. Her counsellors were Berlaymont, who, though a Fleming, was the persistent enemy of his country; Viglius, who composed the famous persecuting edict of 1550; the Bishop of Arras afterwards the celebrated Cardinal Granvelle, the able and unscrupulous enemy of every Flemish liberty; Egmont, who had won the battles of St. Quentin and Gravelines, and thereby humiliated France; and William the Silent, Prince of Orange.

The family of Nassau had done the most important services to the house of Burgundy. It had supplied warriors and counsellors to Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, and Philip the Handsome. The influence of Henry of Nassau put the imperial crown on the head of Charles the Fifth. He died in war at the emperor’s side, and his titles and estates passed to his nephew William. There was every reason why the descendants of Charles V. should make much of, and trust the house of Nassau. William, who was only eleven years old at the time when he succeeded to his cousin’s inheritance, was the eldest of five sons, all of whom did noble work in the great war of independence. William was educated at Brussels under the eye of an old emperor, and from fifteen years of age was his constant attendant. At twenty-one he was appointed to command the army. He was now one of Margaret’s council and Stadtholder, i.e., the king’s representative in Holland, Zeland, and Utrecht.

William negotiated the treaty of Cateau Cambresis, and, with the Duke of Alva, was one of the hostages appointed to guarantee the due execution of the treaty. It was in France, and while he was hunting with Henry II. in the Forest of Vincennes, that the French king incautiously communicated to William the plan which he and Philip had concocted for massacring all the Protestants in France and the Netherlands. His motive was not religion, but a determination to extirpate all whose tenets, as he justly thought, would lead them to resist arbitrary power. To effect this the maintenance of the Spanish troops in the Netherlands was necessary. William received these communications without any appearance of surprise, and thereafter gained the name of William the Silent. But his mind was made up. He determined to do all that he could to get rid of the Spanish garrisons, to obstruct the establishment of the Inquisition, and to preserve the liberties of the Netherlands. It appears to me that Philip had divined his purposes at the epoch of that celebrated leave-taking. Had he given evidence of them, short work would have been made of him.

William was still a Catholic. Indeed at that time it may be doubted whether there was a single Flemish noble who had embraced the reformed faith. The prospect of such a conversion was not as yet attractive in the Netherlands, as it was in Northern Germany where the Reformation had given the princes independence and plunder. The dissidents from the old faith were artisans and priests whom the freedom of the new opinions had attracted. William was young, rich, and profuse. His wealth was great, his expenses greater. He kept open house at Brussels. But he did not, like one of his colleagues, speak of his poorer fellow countrymen as “that vile and mischievous animal called the people.” He was an enemy to the edict of 1550, and to the Spanish policy.

There had been but four bishops in the Netherlands. Philip had induced the Pope to enlarge the number to eighteen, and to make three of them archbishops. The motive of this change was to strengthen the machinery for extirpating heresy. In order to assist them the four thousand Spanish troops were to be kept indefinitely in the Netherlands, of course at the expense of the Estates. Here then was plenty of material for discontent, for agitation, and finally for revolt. The cities again resolved to appeal to their charters. The charter of Brabant expressly disabled the ruler from increasing the power of the clergy.

The unpopularity of these measures fell on Granvelle, as he was subsequently called. The old habit of loyalty was not yet worn out, and it was therefore expedient to transfer the odium from Philip to his minister. William led the opposition, and most of the nobles sided with him. At last Philip yielded, and withdrew the Spanish soldiers for a time in 1560. But the Inquisition kept to its work. On the other hand, the States were very reluctant to grant subsidies, and the king was at his wits’ end for money. At this time (1561) William married the Princess Anna of Saxony, daughter of the celebrated Maurice. She was a Lutheran and the negotiations as to the exercise of her religion were protracted. Meanwhile the Inquisition with Titelmann at its head continued its office, and in 1564 Granvelle was superseded.

The Netherlanders were under the impression, and for a long time remained under it, that the severity of the government was not due to Philip, but to his ministers in the Netherlands. For this reason they hated Granvelle, with this view they sent deputations to Madrid—Egmont first, Montigny and Berghen afterwards. At last, in the beginning of 1566, some of the Flemish nobles drew up the Compromise, by which they pledged themselves to resist the Inquisition. Orange took no part in it, but he did more. Remembering his conversation with Henry of France, he resolved to know Philip’s mind. He therefore established such a system of espionage over Philip, that he got copies of all Philip’s most secret despatches. It is the lot of despots to be ill served. Worse than that, it is their lot to be betrayed. Placing no trust in any man, they gain the genuine confidence of none. Meanwhile thousands of Flemish weavers emigrated to England, especially to the Eastern Counties, transferred their skill and industry thither, and soon became the successful rivals of the land of their birth.

The new league determined to present a “Request” to Margaret, and Orange so far acted with the leaders as to counsel them as to the language of the document. On April 5, 1566, the request was read to the Duchess and her council by Brederode. The purport of this document was that it was necessary to the peace of the country that the edicts and the Inquisition should be withdrawn, and that the management of affairs should be remitted to the States-General. The petitioners left, and the council debated it. Then it is that Berlaymont, always consistently hostile to his countrymen, exclaimed, “Is it possible that your Highness can be afraid of these beggars!” As the confederates passed his house afterwards, he is said to have repeated the insult. The confederates reiterated their requests on April 8th.

In the evening of that day Brederode prepared great banquet for three hundred guests at his mansion. The Flemings did much in the way of eating and drinking, and when they were warm with wine, the guests debated what name they should give their association. The host rose and told them, to their indignation, what was the name which the councillor had given them. He then suggested that they should adopt the name, instantly seized a beggar’s wallet and bowl, filled the latter with wine, put the former on, and passed both to his next neighbour. The name was adopted with shouts of applause, and thenceforward the Netherland patriots went by the name.

Orange, Egmont, and Horn entered the apartment when the revelry was at its height. They were constrained to drink the new toast and instantly left. Their momentary presence at this orgie caused soon after the deaths of the last two, a fate which Orange would have shared had he come into his enemies'’ hands. In the morning a new costume, imitating in quality and appearance the beggars’ clothing and appendages, was adopted by them. The common folk the Netherlands now believed that they had leaders, and crowded to listen to the preachers.

Shortly after these events, in August, occurred the image breaking in the Netherlands churches. But no injury was done to anything else, not to any person. The only objects on which the mobs wreaked their wrath were the symbols of the ancient religion. The confederate nobles took no part in the outrage. For a time the violence seemed to be an advantage. On August 25th, the Duchess signed the Accord, under which the Inquisition was abolished, and a general toleration accorded. The nobles did their best to quiet the disturbances. But while Philip temporised he had made up his mind. He collected an army in Spain, put it under the command of Alva, gave his commander instructions, and the war began.