(Friesland).Towns such as Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam,
Dordrecht, and Antwerp were wealthy centers under the leadership of merchant
families. Dutch burghers were educated, energetic, and independent minded
people.
Reformation in the Netherlands was initiated by popular
movements and reinforced by the arrival of Protestant refugees from Germany and
France and later from England under Mary Tudor. Charles V, the Holy Roman
Emperor, issued strict orders against the printing and preaching of the works
of Luther, but records of the period name numerous people suspected of
heretical opinions.
The earliest presence of the Reformation was in the form of
Lutheranism, and two monks who had read Luther’s works were burned at the stake
in Brussels in 1523. Followers of Luther, however, active in the 1520s did not
develop into a popular movement and remained small and intellectual. The first
expression of the new religion came from Anabaptists in the 1530s who followed
the leadership of Menno Simons from Friesland, ordained in the Catholic
priesthood. Influenced by Luther’s works, he left the Church to become an
evangelical preacher and allied himself with the Dutch Anabaptists. Teaching
that neither baptism nor Communion conferred grace upon an individual and that
Grace was bestowed only through faith in Jesus Christ, he attracted large
audiences. Although not the founder of the sect, his influence was such that
many Dutch Anabaptists adopted his name, and became known as Mennonites.
Meanwhile, Dutch publishers, risking their lives in major
cities, clandestinely took on the dangerous but lucrative work of publishing
heretical works for a growing market.
In the 1540s, Calvinism took root in the French-speaking
south, imported by missionaries from Geneva, and grew rapidly. Charles V
proclaimed two brutal edicts in 1550 whereby mere suspicion of heresy was
enough to burn the suspect at the stake.
When his son, Felipe II, a Spaniard and Catholic through
and through, took over his share of the Habsburg Empire, which included Spain
and the Netherlands in 1556, he was even less tolerant and installed the
Inquisition while curbing the traditional rights of the nobility and townsmen.
Felipe’s methods to bring the Netherlands to heel increased
the unpopularity of Spain and the Catholic Church, equated as the same
oppressors. In 1566, a radical mob of Protestants looted and destroyed hundreds
of churches, and anti-Catholic riots spread across the country.
Felipe II unleashed Spanish troops on the Netherlands under
the command of the bloodthirsty duke of Alba whose barbaric actions resulted in
open revolt. Between 1567 and 1573, thousands of Protestant leaders were
executed. The war of independence waged by the Dutch against Spain began in
1568.
William I, prince of Orange, led the revolt and eventually
took control of most northern towns. In 1579 the Union of Utrecht, an alliance
of all northern and some southern provinces, was formed. Those that joined the
union would become the Netherlands; those that did not would become Belgium. In
1581, the Union of Utrecht proclaimed independence from Spain. The new nation
suffered a series of reverses in the ensuing war. Alba’s firm grip impelled the
southern regions back to Catholicism causing a flood of refugees to the north
where Protestantism flourished and where the sea beggars with attacks on
Spanish shipping and troops in the north helped secure quasi independence.
Meanwhile, the Dutch were turning to Calvinism as refugees
from Flanders and the Brabant poured in. The seven Northern provinces that
eluded the Spanish grasp came to be recognized by England as independent
Protestant states.
With a spirit of toleration in the Dutch Netherlands, the
region came to be recognized as a safe haven for persecuted people of all kinds
of religious shades and attitudes.
In 1573, William I proclaimed himself a Calvinist. In 1584,
Balthasar Gerard, a supporter of Felipe, felt that William of
Dordrecht, and Antwerp were wealthy centers under the leadership of merchant
families. Dutch burghers were educated, energetic, and independent minded
people.
Reformation in the Netherlands was initiated by popular
movements and reinforced by the arrival of Protestant refugees from Germany and
France and later from England under Mary Tudor. Charles V, the Holy Roman
Emperor, issued strict orders against the printing and preaching of the works
of Luther, but records of the period name numerous people suspected of
heretical opinions.
The earliest presence of the Reformation was in the form of
Lutheranism, and two monks who had read Luther’s works were burned at the stake
in Brussels in 1523. Followers of Luther, however, active in the 1520s did not
develop into a popular movement and remained small and intellectual. The first
expression of the new religion came from Anabaptists in the 1530s who followed
the leadership of Menno Simons from Friesland, ordained in the Catholic
priesthood. Influenced by Luther’s works, he left the Church to become an
evangelical preacher and allied himself with the Dutch Anabaptists. Teaching
that neither baptism nor Communion conferred grace upon an individual and that
Grace was bestowed only through faith in Jesus Christ, he attracted large
audiences. Although not the founder of the sect, his influence was such that
many Dutch Anabaptists adopted his name, and became known as Mennonites.
Meanwhile, Dutch publishers, risking their lives in major
cities, clandestinely took on the dangerous but lucrative work of publishing
heretical works for a growing market.
In the 1540s, Calvinism took root in the French-speaking
south, imported by missionaries from Geneva, and grew rapidly. Charles V
proclaimed two brutal edicts in 1550 whereby mere suspicion of heresy was
enough to burn the suspect at the stake.
When his son, Felipe II, a Spaniard and Catholic through
and through, took over his share of the Habsburg Empire, which included Spain
and the Netherlands in 1556, he was even less tolerant and installed the
Inquisition while curbing the traditional rights of the nobility and townsmen.
Felipe’s methods to bring the Netherlands to heel increased
the unpopularity of Spain and the Catholic Church, equated as the same
oppressors. In 1566, a radical mob of Protestants looted and destroyed hundreds
of churches, and anti-Catholic riots spread across the country.
Felipe II unleashed Spanish troops on the Netherlands under
the command of the bloodthirsty duke of Alba whose barbaric actions resulted in
open revolt. Between 1567 and 1573, thousands of Protestant leaders were
executed. The war of independence waged by the Dutch against Spain began in
1568.
William I, prince of Orange, led the revolt and eventually
took control of most northern towns. In 1579 the Union of Utrecht, an alliance
of all northern and some southern provinces, was formed. Those that joined the
union would become the Netherlands; those that did not would become Belgium. In
1581, the Union of Utrecht proclaimed independence from Spain. The new nation
suffered a series of reverses in the ensuing war. Alba’s firm grip impelled the
southern regions back to Catholicism causing a flood of refugees to the north
where Protestantism flourished and where the sea beggars with attacks on
Spanish shipping and troops in the north helped secure quasi independence.
Meanwhile, the Dutch were turning to Calvinism as refugees
from Flanders and the Brabant poured in. The seven Northern provinces that
eluded the Spanish grasp came to be recognized by England as independent
Protestant states.
With a spirit of toleration in the Dutch Netherlands, the
region came to be recognized as a safe haven for persecuted people of all kinds
of religious shades and attitudes.
In 1573, William I proclaimed himself a Calvinist. In 1584,
Balthasar Gerard, a supporter of Felipe, felt that William of
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