Memory Wars in the Low Countries, 1566-1700

369 Pages·2015·5.613 MB·English

by  Jasper Van Der Steen

Memory Wars in the Low Countries, 1566–1700
Studies in Medieval and
Reformation Traditions
General Editor
Andrew Colin Gow (Edmonton, Alberta)
Editorial Board
Sylvia Brown (Edmonton, Alberta)
Falk Eisermann (Berlin)
Berndt Hamm (Erlangen)
Johannes Heil (Heidelberg)
Susan C. Karant-Nunn (Tucson, Arizona)
Martin Kaufhold (Augsburg)
Erik Kwakkel (Leiden)
Jürgen Miethke (Heidelberg)
Christopher Ocker (San Anselmo and Berkeley, California)
Founding Editor
Heiko A. Oberman †
VOLUME 190
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/smrt
Memory Wars in the
Low Countries, 1566–1700
By
Jasper van der Steen

LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: An Allegory of the Netherlandish War (c. 1599), by Hendrik de Clerck, Courtesy of
The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steen, Jasper van der, author.
 Memory wars in the low countries, 1566–1700 / by Jasper van der Steen.
  pages cm. — (Studies in medieval and reformation traditions ISSN 1573-4188 volume 190)
 Includes bibliographical references.
 ISBN 978-90-04-30048-4 (hardcover : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30049-1 (e-book)
1. Netherlands—History—Eighty Years’ War, 1568–1648. 2. Belgium—History—1555–1648. 3. War and
society—Benelux countries—17th century. 4. Collective memory—Benelux countries. 5. Social change—
Benelux countries—History. 6. Regionalism—Benelux countries—History. 7. Nationalism—Benelux
countries—History. I. Title.
 DH186.5.S73 2015
 949.2’03—dc23
2015021119
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1573-4188
isbn 978-90-04-30048-4 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30049-1 (e-book)
Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Illustrations viii
List of Maps ix
List of Abbreviations x
A Note on Terminology xi
Introduction 1
1 Memory in the Making: The First Decades 31
2 Two Historical Canons 63
3 Dynastic Identity and the Revolt 108
4 A Contested Past 141
5 Stakeholders 179
6 Memories after Westphalia 216
7 Remediating the War 256
Conclusion 286
Bibliography 299
Index 347

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Judith Pollmann, who has provided invaluable feedback
and generously shared her ideas with me when I wrote my PhD dissertation
under her supervision. This monograph is the revised edition of that disser-
tation. Furthermore I would like to thank the project members of the NWO
Vici project ‘Tales of the Revolt: Memory, Oblivion and Identity in the Low
Countries, 1566–1700’ Judith Pollmann (principal investigator), Erika Kuijpers,
Marianne Eekhout and Johannes Müller for their comments on earlier drafts
of this book. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research has gener-
ously supported the research for this monograph, for which I am grateful. This
study has benefitted from comments, advice and other input from colleagues
at the Institute for History at Leiden University and at other universities in
the Netherlands and abroad. I thank Henk van Nierop, Philip Benedict, Jeroen
Duindam, Geert Janssen, Luc Duerloo, René Vermeir, Raingard Esser, Elmer
Kolfin, Alastair Duke, Donald Haks, Anton van der Lem, Lotte Jensen, Henk
te Velde, Mark Greengrass, Howard Louthan, Anita Boele, Mark Leon de Vries,
and Bart van der Steen. I am also grateful to the editorial board of the Studies
in Medieval and Reformation Traditions and to the anonymous peer reviewers,
who improved this monograph by their critical comments. Ivo Romein and
Paige Sammartino provided enthusiastic and helpful support in seeing this
book through press. Thanks are also due to copy editor Kate Delaney. Roos
Danse and Verena Demoed checked Latin translations. Finally, I would like to
thank my parents Clara van der Wel and Piet van der Steen for their support.
List of Illustrations
1 Romeyn de Hooghe. Allegory of the Eighty Years’ War (1704).
Rijkmuseum Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-55.156. 2
2 Column of Culemborg. Algemeen Rijksarchief, Brussels. Kaarten en
plannen in handschrift, nr 2.810. 33
3 Frans Hogenberg. The nobles offer their petition to Margaret of
Parma (1566). Rijksmuseum RP-P-OB-78.623–2. 44
4 Display of the War of Nassau (1625). Rijksmuseum,
RP-P-OB-81.112A. 64
5 Allegory of the Deceptive Peace Proposals in 1598 (1598).
Rijksmuseum, RP-P-OB-80.731. 67
6 Jan Peeters. preparations for the Battle of Lepanto (1671). Sint
Pauluskerk, Antwerpen © KIK-IRPA, Brussel. 89
7 An image of Jesus Christ on the gallows at Brill. Print in: Richard
Verstegan, Theatre des Cruautez des Heretiques de nostre temps
(Antwerp: Adrien Hubert, 1588), p. 59. Leiden University Library,
1366 F 11. 94
8 Hendrik de Clerck. An Allegory of the Netherlandish War (c. 1599).
The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, GE-15123. 113
9 Rudolf I of Habsburg worships the viaticum. Print from: Théodore
Piespordius. Serenissimorvm Potentissimorvmqve Principvm
Habsbvrgi-Avstriacorvm Stemma (Brussels: s.n., 1616). Universitäts-
und Landesbibliothek Saxony-Anhalt. 122
10 William of Orange’s grave in Delft’s New Church, before the comple-
tion of Hendrick de Keyser’s ornate tomb. Leiden University Library,
P323N171. 133
11–12 Image of the Old and New Time. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
RP-P-OB-50.584–585. By flipping over the top half the duke of Alba
appears in conference with his Council of Troubles. 156–157
13 Upper stories of the Arcus Caroli. Rijkmuseum Amsterdam,
RP-P-OB-76.440. 199
14 Bartholomeus van Bassen, The Great Hall of the Inner Court
(‘Binnenhof’) in The Hague during the Great Assembly of the States
General of 1651 (c. 1651), Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, SK-C-1350. 243
List of Maps
1 The Low Countries in 1584–1589. Map from Geoffrey Parker, The Dutch
Revolt (Harmondsworth: Pelican, 1979), p. 212, by permission of Geoffrey
Parker. 8
2 The Low Countries in 1590–1604. Map from Jonthan I. Israel, The Dutch
Republic: Its Greatness, Rise, and Fall (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995),
p. 243, by permission of Oxford University Press. 9
List of Abbreviations
ARA Algemeen Rijksarchief, Brussels
BL British Library
BMGN Bijdragen en mededelingen betreffende de geschiedenis der
Nederlanden / Low Countries Historical Review
KB National Library of the Netherlands
KBR Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels
Knuttel [number] Pamphlet in the Royal Library in The Hague, ordered
according to the catalogue: W.P.C. Knuttel, Catalogus van
de pamfletten-verzameling berustende in de Koninklijke
Bibliotheek (Utrecht: HES Publishers, 1978)
NA Nationaal Archief, The Netherlands
TNA The National Archives at Kew, United Kingdom