History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2

by William Hickling Prescott

A Confession of Faith, which appeared in 1563, was revised by a Calvinistic synod, and reprinted in Antwerp, in May of the present year, 1566. The prefatory letter addressed to King Philip, in which the Reformers appealed to their creed and to their general conduct as affording the best refutation of the calumnies of their enemies, boldly asserted that their number in the Netherlands at that time was at least a hundred thousand. Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 158.

[770] "La Duquesa, ya demasiado informada de las platicas inclinaciones y disimulaciones de este Principe, defirió á resolverse en ello." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, cap. 15, MS.

[771] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244.

[772] A mob of no less than thirty thousand men, according to William's own statement. "A mon semblant, trouvis, tant hors que dedans la ville, plus de trente mil hommes." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 136.

[773] "Viderent, per Deum, quid agerent: ne, si pergerent, eos aliquando pœniteret." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244.

[774] For the account of the proceedings at Antwerp, see Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 136, 138, 140 et seq.—Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 244-248.—Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 42.—Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, pp. 90, 91.—Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. pp. 173-176.—Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.

[775] "Insignia etiam à mercatoribus usurpari cœpta." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 238.

[776] "Ils auraient prêché hors de Bruxelles, si Madame n'y avait pourvu, allant jusqu'à dire qu'avec sa personne, sa maison et sa garde, elle s'y opposerait, et ferait pendre en sa présence les ministres." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 447.

[777] "So pena de proceder contra los Predicadores ministros y semejantes con el ultimo suplicio y confiscacion de hacienda por aplicarlo al provecho de los que havian la apprehension de ellos y por falta de hacienda, su magestad madará librar del suyo seiscientos florines." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.

[778] "Je suis forcée avecq douleur et angoisse d'esprit lui dire de rechief que nonobstant tous les debvoirs que je fais journellement, ... je ne puis remédier ny empescher les assemblées des presches publicques." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 72.