A short history of Belgium

by Léon van der Essen

ANTWERP
The oldest part of the city, the Scheldt, and the Town Hall

By way of reply to this misadventure of William the Silent came the execution of the counts of Egmont and Horn. The “Council of Blood” charged them with high treason and ordered them to be put to death, on the Place du Sablon, in the heart of Brussels. Their death stupefied the people and disheartened the nationalists. Both counts fell victims to the hatred of the terrible duke, for they were guilty only of weakness and imprudence—they never really were traitors to their sovereign. The Belgians always regarded them as martyrs for their country. Alva now proceeded to introduce into the Netherlands the features of the Spanish régime, while his condemnations continued. For the first time since 1561 the new bishops were able to occupy their bishoprics, the Catholic faith was everywhere re-established, the University of Louvain was visited in order to determine whether it was sufficiently orthodox, the Council of State was no more called together or given over to Spaniards. In order to secure supplies and money for his administration and to crush the country economically, Alva introduced unheard-of taxes, called the centième, vingtième, et dixième denier. This meant a permanent impost, which the Belgians had always stoutly resisted. A revolt broke out all over the country. What the appeals of William the Silent did not effect, the attack upon the people’s privileges and wealth did. The Prince of Orange cleverly took advantage of it, and, needing the help of the heretics to fight the enemy, gave the direction of the movement into the hands of the Calvinists. Meanwhile a storm of recrimination and complaints, among which the protests of the bishops and of the University of Louvain were not the weakest, reached Philip II. The King understood that he had gone to work the wrong way, and that the policy of terrorism had not brought him any real success. He changed his mind and recalled Alva. The terrible duke left Belgium pursued by the maledictions of the whole people.

His successor, Don Luis de Requesens, was a better man. The change in the King’s attitude was immediately revealed by the measures taken by the new governor. Requesens abolished the “Council of Blood,” proclaimed a general amnesty, and opened negotiations at Breda with the rebellious provinces. These negotiations failed, however, and the struggle continued on both sides with alternating successes and reverses. Requesens died suddenly in 1575, at a moment when the government was facing an appalling financial crisis. The Council of State immediately took over the regency, till the King should send a new governor.

The Prince of Orange, however, had decided that there should be no peace and that the revolutionary movement should be agitated as much as possible. He had completely gained the confidence of Holland and Zeeland, where he was the real master, and he planned to extend his control over the rest of the Seventeen Provinces. Deeply compromised as he was, any agreement with the King would mean disaster and the end of his plans, which aimed at the separation of the Belgian provinces from the Spanish monarchy. Owing to personal circumstances he had first endeavored to resist Philip II by legal means. During his exile and under the government of Alva he had gone farther and had planned a general revolt, and now that the milder attitude of the King threatened to win back some sympathy in Belgium, especially among the Catholics, he foresaw that only the most daring policy would save the revolutionary movement. Agents were therefore sent to the southern provinces to stir up the people against any attempt at conciliation. As a result of their intrigues, the members of the Council of State were arrested by a furious mob and imprisoned. By the time they were liberated they had fallen completely under the influence of the revolutionary leaders. The States-General were called together by the friendly members of the Council of State, and for nine years exercised the chief power in Belgium. It was during their government, which proved on the whole to be Catholic and loyalist, that the Spanish soldiers, deprived of their pay, arose and sacked the city of Antwerp, killing nearly seven thousand people. This event is known as the “Spanish Fury.”

This, of course, gave the anti-Spanish party an excellent chance. Under the pressure of William the Silent, the States-General met at Ghent in 1575, and out of their deliberations was born the famous “Pacification of Ghent.” This act was the work of the Prince of Orange, and was intended to reconcile Catholics and Protestants and to settle their religious differences, in order that they might be united in the political struggle against Spain. This attempt at establishing a “peace of religion” was unfortunately premature and provisional. The hostilities between Catholics and Protestants were suspended and religious tolerance was proclaimed; but in Holland and Zeeland, the political sphere of influence of the Prince of Orange, the Catholic worship was provisionally forbidden. The States-General would, it was promised, later on reconsider the whole problem and settle the religious differences definitely. This agreement was, of course, unfavorable to the Catholics, but union was temporarily restored.

Meanwhile Don Juan, the new Spanish governor, had been appointed by Philip II and had arrived in Belgium. Don Juan was the son of Charles V, and the celebrated victor over the Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto (1571). He had no sympathy for the Belgians and did not like the task which was intrusted to him. He attempted, of course, though against his convictions, to negotiate with the rebels, but failed. As we have seen, the Prince of Orange had determined that there should be no peace until his plans had been carried out. By surprising and occupying the fortress of Namur, contrary to the conventions but in order to obtain a stronghold for his protection, Don Juan played, as a matter of fact, into the hands of his enemies. Under the influence of William the Silent the States-General declared the governor a traitor to the country, and called upon Archduke Mathias, brother of Emperor Rodolphe, to be their new governor. Mathias became practically an instrument in the hands of the Prince of Orange, who was appointed as his lieutenant-general.

Now followed a period of anarchy and misrule. Germany, England, and France sent into Belgium a host of sectarians and adventurers; these aided the Calvinists in taking Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent. Ghent became the center of a Calvinistic republic, where the leaders ruled by terror and began a rigorous persecution of the Catholics. It was now quite clear that the Protestants had gained the upper hand in the struggle and that the national revolt had turned into a war against Catholicism. In the midst of these troubles, Don Juan of Austria died at Bouges, near Namur (1578).

At this very moment, events of great importance took place. The Prince of Orange, contrary to the provisions of the Pacification of Ghent, had again endeavored to introduce a new “peace of religion,” which had for its object the introduction of Protestantism into the Belgian provinces other than Holland and Zeeland. The Protestant ministers rejected his proposal. What they wanted was not co-ordinate recognition of Catholicism and Protestantism, but the complete supremacy of their own religion. Seeing that his attempts brought about only discontent of both parties, Catholics and Protestants, William the Silent finally declared himself openly as a Calvinist (1578). His rupture with the Catholics was now complete.

This induced the southern provinces, where Catholicism was still in control, to withdraw their support and to reconcile themselves with the Spanish King. The sole motive of this decision was a religious one. There could be no talk of hostility between the Walloons of the south and the Flemings of the north. This was not a question of racial or linguistic difference. The people of Artois, Hainaut, and French Flanders were disgusted at the excesses committed by the Calvinists of Ghent and the position taken by William the Silent in religious matters. The Catholic spirit of Belgium, imposed on the country ever since the Middle Ages, weighed more strongly in their minds than their national hostility to the Spanish rule. Moreover, two other provinces which joined them—Namur and Luxemburg—had never taken part in the revolt. As we have seen, the province of Brabant, more independent than any other, and, since the fourteenth century, determined in its opposition to foreign interference, had taken the real leadership in the struggle against Spain.

The movement in the south in favor of a reconciliation with Philip II was an essentially popular movement. The nobles of Artois and Hainaut still wavered in their sympathies.[14] The clever policy of the new governor, Alexander Farnese, who succeeded Don Juan of Austria after the death of the latter (1578), overcame their last hesitation.[15]