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Home , Austrian Netherlands, Henri Van der Noot

JOSEPH II:

AN IMPERIAL REFORMER FOR THE JOSEPH II:

AN IMPERIAL REFORMER FOR THE AUSTRIAN NETHERLANDS

by WALTER W. DAVIS

II

MARTINUS NIJHOFF / THE HAGUE / 1974 I dedicate this book to my parents, the Rev. J. Daryl and Mrs. Mary Ellen Davis, whose example, prayers, and firm faith in God have always inspired me.

© [974 by Martinus Nijhojf, The Hague, Netherlands All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form ISBN 978-94-011-8505-9 ISBN 978-94-011-9241-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-9241-5 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE...... • .• XI

Chapter Page 1. The Emperor's Legacy. Part one: The Political and Economic Legacy ...... I

(I) The Austrian Netherlands - geographic description; (3) The and commerce, the , internal transit system, the fishing industry, wartime commercial prosperity, internal trade, provincial particularism, tariffs; (8) industry, government subsidies, royal manufacturers, home textile industries, metallurgical industries, mining, guilds, problems inhibiting industrialization; (II) agriculture, reclamation and conservation; (13) political rights, the Joyeuse Entree, the estates, the municipal corporations, approval of subsidies; (16) fiscal affairs, sources of revenue, expenditures, bor• rowing, the government lottery, fiscal reforms; (20) judicial system, Great Council of Malines, the Council of Brabant, the councils of Hainaut, the Council of , the councils of Luxemburg, Na• mur, and , feudal courts; (22) administration - municipal, provincial, the central government; Austrian administrators and administrative bodies - the governor-general, the minister plenipo• tentiary, the Supreme Council of the Lowlands in Vienna; the ad• ministrative reorganization of 1757 in Vienna, the administrative machinery in - the State and War Secretariat, the Council of State, the Privy Council, the Finance Council and the treasurer• general, the Chamber of Accounts, subsidiary commissions - the Commission of Administration and the Business of Subsidies, the Commission for Charitable Lending Associations, the Monetary Commission, the Water Commission, the Royal Commission of Studies; influence of the nobility, governmental centralization. VI T ABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page II. The Emperor's Legacy. Part Two: The Religious, Cultural, and Intellectual Legacy ...... 32

(32) Religious currents in in the eighteenth century, Jan• senism, 's independent stance toward Rome, dissolu• tion of the Jesuit Order, Maria Theresa's intolerance of religious dissidents; (36) intellectual awakening in the latter half of the century, the roles of Charles de Cobenzl and Charles of Lorraine, relaxation of censorship, founding of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters, institution of public libraries, music and the theater, Brussels' salons, patronage of the fine arts, architecture, the French influence, the vs. question; (43) education, the role of the church, primary schools, secondary schools, the University of Louvain, boarding schools, proposed educational reforms at all levels, results; (48) attempted reforms in criminal law, (58) evaluation of Maria Theresa's rule in the Netherlands.

III. The Emperor: His Motivations, Character, and Intellectual Heritage...... 59

(59) Character of Joseph II, contrast with Maria Theresa, Joseph and Maria Theresa's similarity of purpose; (63) education of Joseph II, his cultural and intellectual interests, the intellectual milieu of Vienna - anticurial sentiments; (69) origins of "state ecclesiasticism," Jansenism in France and the Austrian Lowlands, "Febronianism," anticurialism in the hereditary lands, Jansenist currents from Bohemia, early anticurialism in Vienna, traditional political reasons for opposing Rome, anticurial currents from the Italian states, state ecclesiasticism in Tuscany and Lombardy, the role of Kaunitz, Muratori and his influence, Maguald Ziegelbauer, the Societas incognitorum in terris austriacis, anti-Jesuit currents and the suppression of the order, Jansenism in university circles, Gerhard Van Swieten and censorship, Kaunitz and state restriction or regula• tion of church authority, anticurialism in Viennese court circles, the philosophers and the church - Hobbes, Pufendorf, Thomasius, Leibniz, Wolff: (96) French "philosophism," Joseph II's visit to France (1777) and his impressions, other currents of "enlighten• ment"; (100) Freemasonry and its influence, the Illuminati, Austrian freemasonry and Joseph's attitudes toward it; (102) Sonnenfels and populationist theories, Joseph's attitude toward Cameralism and agrarian theories, comparison of Maria Theresa's economic policies with Joseph's, the general welfare as a determinant of Imperial policies in every sphere - religious, economic, educational, judicial, social; (II I) utilitarianism and Joseph II. TABLE OF CONTENTS VII

Chapter Page IV. The Emperor, the Lowlands, and the Nations II4

(114) Joseph II assumes authority in the Belgian , his visit of 1781; (120) the Scheidt question and the barrier fortresses, Dutch resistance and French perfidy, the Bavarian exchange schemes, the Fiirstenbund, the Treaty of Fontainebleau (Nov. 8, 1785) and its results.

V. The Economic Reformer. 134

(134) Joseph II's utilitarian economic views, Joseph requires an inventory of the government's assets and expenses (January II, 1781), his inability to undertake immediate reforms; (137) Belgian neutrality during hostilities involving neighboring states brings commercial prosperity, Imperial measures to stimulate or maintain commerce, privately financed commercial ventures, endeavors to establish trade with the United States of America; (146) liberalization of traffic in grains; (148) tariffs and protectionism, customs admin• istration; (150) internal traffic; (152) liberalization of marketing regulations and regulation of the guilds; (154) government encour• agement of industries; (159) government encouragement of agri• culture, conservation measures; (162) concluding remarks.

VI. The General Welfare ...... 163

(163) Joseph II's concern for the public welfare, police regulations, assistance to the indigent, workhouses for the indolent, gambling prohibitions; (165) measures in behalf of public health; (166) state censorship policies; (173) welfare programs, care of orphans, medical care, insane asylums; (175) regulation of charitable, religious brotherhoods, supervision and regulation of freemasonry; (176) medical training and the establishment of hospitals, - difficulties in implementing the Emperor's programs; (179) attempted educational reforms, the elementary schools, certification of teachers, secondary schools, attempt to streamline educational administration; (185) resistance to Joseph's innovations by the University of Louvain, failure of government efforts to renovate legal studies, the furor over the general seminaries, estimate of the Emperor's educational innovations. VIn T ABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page VII. The Religious Reformer r89

(189) Joseph II's views concerning the role of religion within the state: his sympathy for some Febronian principles, political Jan• senism, and those opposed to the Jesuits; (193) Joseph and religious toleration, religious minorities in Belgium, policies undertaken in behalf of Protestants and Jews, episcopal protests; (199) Imperial measures designed to insure the independence of the Belgian church from Rome, episcopal complaints; (200) Pius VI's visit to Vienna; (202) suppression of "useless" or "unnecessary" religious houses and plans to reorganize the parishes, protests, the case of the Bol• landisls; (212) further restriction of papal prerogatives in Belgium and governmental regulation of clerical activities; (217) replacement of the episcopal seminaries by two government-supervised general seminaries, protests and opposition.

VIII. The Political Reformer 220

(220) The Austrian regime's desire for administrative centralization, supervision of public officials, secret agents, Joseph II considers fusing the Belgian Privy Council and the Secretariat of State and War; (223) question of the church's right to grant asylum, the abolition of torture, other judicial measures, study commission considers revamping the entire legal system, Joseph II determines to institute a new system of justice; (228) the revolutionary admin• istrative and judicial diplomas (Jan. I, 1787), description of the "new order," opposition, Joseph's distress.

IX. Reaction and Revolution

(236) Opposition to administrative and judicial reorganization mounts, weakness of the governors-general, disaffection becomes widespread, the governors-general suspend the decrees of Jan. I, 1787; (240) reaction of the Emperor, recall of the governors-general and the minister plenipotentiary, appointment of General Murray as military governor, convocation of delegates from the Belgian estates in Vienna, Joseph refuses to bargain and stipulates "indispensable preliminaries" to any concessions; (243) Murray attempts to im• plement the royal will but capitulates to the Brussels citizenry (Sept. 21, 1787), Joseph's diplomatic woes and involvement in war against the Turks preclude a decisive response; (245) General d'Alton assumes Murray's command and Count Trauttmansdorff is appointed minister plenipotentiary - neither is given overall T ABLE OF CONTENTS IX

Chapter Page authority but order is temporarily restored; (246) trouble at the general seminary at Louvain, clerical opposition, discontent among the peasants and the urban workers, dissatisfaction among segments of the nobility, reasons for the general unrest; (250) temporary pacification of the country, return of the governors-general, con• tinued incidents and refusal of subsidies by some of the provincial estates (Nov. 1788), abrogation of the Joyeuse Entree; (252) the religious issue, determined opposition of Archbishop Frankenberg and the Belgian episcopacy; (254) news of events in France and their impact; (254) revolution in Liege and its influence upon Bel• gium; (257) mobilization of a patriots' army under Jean Andre Van der Mersch, Jean Fram,ois Vonck and the Pro aris et fods society, establishment of revolutionary headquarters in Liege and the United Provinces, 's search for foreign assis• tance, alliance of the Vonckists with Van der Noot's partisans, the "Manifesto of the People of Brabant" (Oct. 24, 1789), patriot victories at Turnhout and , general rebellion, departure of the governors-general; (260) wrangling between D'Alton and Trautt• mansdorff, the latter belatedly receives full powers, the collapse of the Imperial regime and the withdrawal to Luxemburg, Van der Noot and his partisans enter Brussels in triumph, disappoint• ment of the Vonckists, bewilderment of the Emperor.

X. The End of a Dream .

(265) The disillusioned Emperor; the disillusioned Vonckists; (266) declaration of Belgian independence, institution of the United Belgian States; (268) the new government, political struggle between the Vonckists and the statists, attitudes of the nations, Prussia lends token support to the revolutionary government, humiliation of Van der Mersch and failure of Vonck to seize the initiative, pro• French factions, Van der Noot's partisans suppress their rivals by mob action, flight of the democrats; (272) death of Joseph II, failure of his programs and the reasons; (277) accession of Leopold II to the Habsburg throne, assessment of him, his appeal to the Belgian estates, rejection of his overtures, the changing situation, the Con• vention of Reichenbach (July 27, 1790), the Austrian restoration, repudiation of Joseph II's reforms; (282) final assessment of Joseph II's reign in the Austrian Netherlands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX ...• 322 PREFACE

It has been said that never has a monarch so narrowly missed "greatness" as did the Joseph II. An idealistic, sincere, and hardworking monarch whose ultilitarian bent, humanitarian instincts, and ambitious programs of reform in every area of public concern have prompted historians to term him an "enlightened despot," "revolutionary Emperor," "philosopher on a throne," and a ruler ahead of his time, Joseph has also been condemned for being insensitive to the phobias and follies of his subjects, essentially unrealistic, almost utopian, in establishing his goals, and dogmatic and overly precipitous in trying to achieve them. Efforts to analyze and explain the actions of this complex and controversial personality have involved a number of savants in investigations of "Josephinism" (or as I prefer to call it, "Josephism"), dealing in great detail with the motiva• tions, substance, and influence of his innovations. The roots of Josephism run deep, but can be observed emerging here and there from the intellectual and political soil that nourished them, before joining the central trunk of the system formulated during the latter years of Maria Theresa's reign to grow to an ephemeral and stunted maturity under Joseph II. The harsh winds of opposition denuded many of its branches before they could bear fruit, the storms of revolution and warfare removed entire limbs, and Metternichian conservatism permitted only an imbalanced, sometimes grotesque develop• ment; yet nineteenth-century liberals were able to graft onto the battered tree which began to produce a variety of fruit, seldom, if ever, fullgrown. Not all have observed Josephism from the same vantage point; never• theless, scholars such as Ferdinand Maass, Fritz Valjavec, and Eduard Winter have done much to explain and clarify its inspiration, characteristics, and influence. The ideology and its manifestations are so complex and diverse that simplistic explanations are sterile and inadequate: to treat even a small segment of it - the motivations of Joseph II - could easily become a frus• trating task defying full and certain analysis. Confronted by this staggering problem, I at first sought to ignore it, only to discover that one can not understand Joseph's programs apart from the man. It is for this reason, that I have presented a fairly comprehensive summary of the myriad currents XII PREFACE and considerations that must have activated him. To do less would be dereliction of the historian's duty. Therefore, I do not apologize for what appears to be a rather lengthy Chapter Three; for whole volumes have been written on this subject which is far from being exhausted. Indeed, I suspect that the tools of pychoanalysis could uncover much concerning Joseph's childhood and adolescence - his grooming for the throne as a not unloved but, in many respects, neglected member of the royal family in the hothouse atmosphere of the court - which would go far toward explaining his emo• tional makeup and the personality quirks that colored his reforms and, to a significant degree, explain his failures. But this is a means of investigation in which there are others far more competent than I; therefore I am content simply to sketch outstanding character traits and suggest motivations of which I am reasonably certain. The "Revolutionary Emperor's" reforms for the Austrian Netherlands were much the same as for the monarchy as a whole, although local condi• tions, customs, and "constitutions" minimized the need for some and delayed the implementation of others, while coincidentally helping to shape the opposition to them. To explain why this land - the only one to carry out a successful rebellion against the Austrian regime - reacted as it did to the "enlightened absolutism" of Joseph II, it has been necessary to present a fairly comprehensive treatment of the situation that he inherited. Conse• quently, the broad picture of the entire period of Habsburg hegemony has been portrayed (and some inkling given of how events in the Belgian prov• inces were shaped by policies and circumstances affecting the entire mon• archy), but the primary emphasis has been placed upon the relatively short but crucial ten-year period from 1780 to 1790 when Joseph ruled without any inhibiting restraints. Not until now has a detailed and comprehensive account of Joseph's reign in the Austrian Lowlands been written. Hanns Schlitter's Die Regierung Josephs II. und den osterreichischen Niederlanden (Wien: Adolf Holzhausen, 1900) is strictly a political history and deals only with the years 1780 to 1787. Heinrich Benedikt's Als Belgien osterreichisch war (Wien & Munchen: Verlag Herold, 1965) provides an interesting, popular summary, based on secondary sources, of the entire era of Austrian rule in the Belgian provinces, but does not emphasize the key innovator - Joseph II. Again, Henri Pirenne's Histoire de Belgique des origines a nos jours (Bruxelles: La Renaissance du Livre, 1948-1953), t. III presents some admirable insights and provides a sound short rendition of the subject at hand but is not intended to be a study in depth and is essentially "anti-Joseph." Aside from these, there are a number of monographs - some of them quite good - concerning economic, PREFACE xm religious, or administrative matters, but they do not even attempt to depict more than some minute aspect of the subject as a whole. Many of these specialized works were extremely valuable to me; for no historian could possibly examine all the archival and documentary materials that relate to a subject of this scope. For this reason, I have devoted much more attention to its relatively obscure, little documented phases than to those which have already been accorded extensive treatment. An obvious case in point is the Brabant Revolution on which more than adequate detailed information has been written by others. Therefore, I have composed only an interpretive summary of the revolution sufficient to reveal the reaction to Vienna's programs. To attempt to do more would simply throw my rendition of Joseph's rule out of balance and edify no one. In composing this history, I have purposely sought to stand aside from the narrative as much as possible in order to allow my interpretations or evaluations to emerge more or less naturally. To a large extent, therefore, the "facts" seem to speak for themselves, though actually they are frequently pregnant with ideas which I wish to convey unobtrusively and thus more convincingly than by bludgeoning my readers over the head with a highly opinionated, "conceptual" account. Analysis is not lacking, but it is pur• posely kept somewhat submerged until the final chapter or two in order to substantiate my views and win acceptance for them without engaging in a great deal of special pleading or ponderous argumentation. At the same time, I have utilized copious citations that I trust will enable scholars to evaluate my conclusions or build upon my work. Since every author uses certain pet phrases or terms, a few remarks con• cerning terminology appear to be in order. The term "Josephinism" has always struck me as being a bit florid (after all, it has nothing to do with Josephine); consequently, I have substituted "Josephism." However, I must confess to being less than a purist in occasionally alluding to the central government of the as the "Imperial regime" or the "Imperial administration." Belgium was not a part of the , so that technically speaking it could not be subject to "Imperial rule" (if indeed one can speak of Imperial rule in the eighteenth century) even though Joseph II held the title "Holy Roman Emperor." In the same vein, it is appropriate to say that Maria Theresa (due to her sex) was never crowned "Empress" though her husband Francis I was officially entrusted with the Imperial dignity. Nevertheless, she is commonly referred to as "the Empress," and I have followed this usage for the sake of convenience. Likewise, for the sake of brevity and in order to decrease the cost of publishing a lengthy monograph of this sort, I have utilized an abbreviated XIV PREFACE

form for citing my sources. Admittedly, the system does not always enable the reader to ascertain at a glance the exact nature of a particular source; however, he may obtain this information by consulting the bibliography. Finally, I wish to acknowledge with gratitude my debt to the many individuals and organizations whose assistance of one type or another has contributed to the publication of this history. To the University of Colorado whose graduate fellowships provided the means to complete the research for the original work - a dissertation submitted to the institution in partial fulfillment of the Ph.D. in history in 1965; to the University of Arizona's Graduate College Committee for Faculty Research Support in the Human• ities and Social Sciences for the research fellowship awarded me in 1968; to the same university's Graduate College Research Support Committee for a timely stipend that enabled me to photocopy numerous valuable materials; and to the American Council of Learned Societies whose grant-in-aid in 1968 made possible the completion of my research - to all of these, I offer my profound thanks. I wish to express warm appreciation to my esteemed mentor, Professor S. Harrison Thomson, who, in the year of his retirement when busy with his own research and ten Ph.D. candidates, gave freely of his time and seldom took longer than twelve hours to read and comment upon the indi• vidual chapters of the original manuscript. A special word of thanks is due also to Professor William Slottman of the University of California at Berkeley whose thoughtful critique of the revised manuscript saved me from several errors and provided me with a number of thoughts that I have gratefully incorporated in this work. The debt owed to archivists and librarians is somewhat more intangible but, nevertheless, of great importance. I wish to thank the personnel at the Archives generales du Royaume and the Bibliotheque royale de Belgique for their unfailing courtesy and excellent service. Special thanks are due to Dr. A. Cockx who helped orient me to the Bibliotheque in 1963 and sub• sequently mailed some important microfilms to me, and to Monsieur X. Knops-Bailleul who, in 1963 and again in 1968, cheerfully obtained hundreds of volumes for my perusal. In Vienna, the efficiency of the entire staff at the Haus-, Hoj-, und Staatsarchiv made such a favorable impression upon me that I hesitate to single out individuals. Nevertheless, at the very real risk of overlooking some members of this splendid team, I can not fail to express my most sincere appreciation to doctors Benna, Coreth, and Thomas for their kindness and invaluable helpfulness. Nor can I forget the services of Herren Nemeth, Pillich, and Stropp who pointed out valuable inventories of specific materials and assisted me to procure xerox or microfilm repro- PREFACE xv ductions. For all of those named and for the many unnamed friends who have encouraged me, acknowledgements of assistance are but inadequate expression of what 1 feel. I know that my wife, Dorothy, who has typed several versions of the manuscript, has often endured my ill humor and borne with me the discouragements accompanying eight years of writing and revision, shares my gratitude and deserves in her own right a very special place in these expressions of appreciation, as in my heart.