Compromise of Nobles (whenever she needed money) she convened the States- General of the Netherlands in which the several estates of the provinces were represented, such as the lesser nobil- ity and the cities, but most of the time the States-General was not in session and the Regent ruled alone, together with her Council. Like his father Charles V, Philip was very much op- posed to the Protestant teachings of Martin Luther, John Calvin and the Anabaptists, which had gained many ad- herents in the Netherlands by the early 1560s. To sup- press Protestantism he had promulgated extraordinary or- dinances, called placards, that outlawed them and made them capital offenses. Because of their severity these placards caused growing opposition among the popula- tion, both Catholic and Protestant. Opposition, even among Catholics, was generated because the placards were seen as breaches of the constitutional privileges of the local authorities and the civil liberties of the peo- ple, like the Jus de non evocando, as enshrined in the "Joyous Entry", the constitution of the Duchy of Bra- bant, to mention a prominent example. For that reason local authorities regularly protested against the placards and the way they were implemented in 1564 and later years. That these protests were systematically ignored and the placards stringently enforced only helped inten- sify the opposition.[2] Eedverbond der Edelen, from Hendrik Conscience Geschiedenis van België, 1859 2 Compromise The Compromise[1] of Nobles (Dutch: Eedverbond der Edelen; French: Compromis des Nobles) was This unrest motivated the Brussels government to send a covenant of members of the lesser nobility in the Lamoral, Count of Egmont, to Spain to plead for relax- Habsburg Netherlands who came together to submit a ation of the ordinances. Philip replied negatively in his petition to the Regent Margaret of Parma on 5 April Letters from the Segovia Woods of October 1565. That 1566, with the objective of obtaining a moderation of the led to a gathering of some members of the lesser nobility placards against heresy in the Netherlands. This petition at the house of Floris, Count of Culemborg, in December played a crucial role in the events leading up to the Dutch 1565. There, they drew up a petition containing a protest Revolt and the Eighty Years’ War. against the enforcement of the placards. It was probably drafted by Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde, and it was initially signed by Henry, Count of Bréderode, 1 Background Louis of Nassau and Count Charles of Mansfeld.[3] The draft was widely circulated and gathered a large num- The ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands, a conglomerate ber of signatures. The magnates of the nobility at first of duchies and counties and lesser fiefs, was Philip II kept aloof (though Orange must have been in the know of Spain. He had appointed his half-sister Margaret of through his brother Louis). On 24 January 1566, how- Parma as his Regent. She ruled with the assistance of a ever, Orange addressed a letter to the Regent, as a mem- Council of State which included a number of the high no- ber of the Council, in which he offered his unsolicited bility of the country, like the Prince of Orange, Egmont, opinion that a moderation of the placards would be desir- Horne, Aerschot and Noircarmes. From time to time able, in view of the toleration now practiced in neighbor- 1 2 5 SOURCES 3 Aftermath The king took a long time to react to the petition, and when he finally did, he rejected its requests. Mean- while a large number of Protestants had returned from exile, and other Protestants now dared come out into the open. Large numbers of Protestants, especially Calvin- ists, started holding prayer meetings outside the walls of many cities. These open-air sermons by Calvinist preach- ers, though initially peaceful, caused much anxiety for the local and central authorities. In August 1566, in the depressed industrial area around Steenvoorde a rash of attacks on Catholic church property started, in which Compromise of nobles by Edouard de Bièfve, 1841 religious statuary was destroyed by irate Calvinists, for whom those statues contravened the Second Command- ment against graven images. Soon this Beeldenstorm or Iconoclastic Fury engulfed the entire country. Though the central authorities eventually suppressed this insurrec- tion, it led to the severe repression by the Duke of Alba that would precipitate the Dutch Revolt and Eighty Years’ War. ing lands, like France. He also pointed to the social un- rest caused by the famine that scourged the country in that year and remarked that the placards were bound to cause 4 Notes trouble in this context. For good measure he threatened to resign if something along these lines was not done.[4] [1] The word “compromise” appears to be an overly-literal The leaders of the association that supported the draft pe- translation of the French word compromis by the 19th- tition met in Breda at the house of Antoine II de Lalaing, century English-language historians who introduced the Count of Hoogstraten (another member of the Council concept into anglophone historiography. A better trans- of State) to work out a way that was acceptable to the lation might have been used, like “covenant”. However, government to present the petition. Finally, on 5 April the phrase “Compromise of nobles” gained currency and 1566, a long procession of 300 signers of the petition has by now achieved the status of a proper name in En- walked through Brussels to the Regent’s court. There glish. For that reason many modern historians of the Brederode read the petition aloud to the Regent, who be- Dutch Revolt use the term, like Jonathan Israel, Martin came very agitated. Afterwards, when the Regent met van Gelderen and H. G. Koenigsberger. For that reason the term is retained here. with the Council of State, Orange tried to calm her, and another member, Charles de Berlaymont, allegedly re- [2] Van Gelderen, pp. 111–115. marked “N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux” (fear not madam, they are nothing but beggars).[5] [3] Putnam, p. 161. In the petition the nobles, who presented themselves as [4] Putnam, pp. 162–164. loyal subjects of the king, asked him to suspend the Inquisition and the enforcement of the placards against [5] Putnam, pp. 165–166. heresy. They also urged the convening of the States- General so that “better legislation” could be devised to [6] Van Gelderen, p. 111. address the matter.[6] [7] Putnam, pp. 166–167. On the advice of the moderates in the Council, like Or- ange, the Regent replied to the petitioners that she would forward it to the king and that she would support its re- quests. Brederode handed over a supplementary petition 5 Sources on 8 April, in which the petitioners promised to keep the peace while the petition was being sent to Spain, a • Gelderen, M. van (1992) The Political Thought of journey that could take weeks. He assumed that mean- the Dutch Revolt 1555-1590 Cambridge U.P., ISBN while the requested suspension of enforcement would be 0-521-89163-9 paperback. in effect. That evening the petitioners held a banquet at which they toasted the king and themselves as “beg- • Putnam, R. (1911) William the Silent, Prince of Or- gars”. Henceforth the Geuzen would be the name of their ange (1533-1584) and the Revolt of the Netherlands, party.[7] pp. 161ff. 3 6 External links • (Dutch) Text of the Petition 4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 7.1 Text • Compromise of Nobles Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_Nobles?oldid=713632016 Contributors: Wetman, Rjwilmsi, Joel7687, Afasmit, Filiep, Richard Keatinge, Oreo Priest, DuncanHill, R'n'B, Johnbod, Anietor, Omegastar, TXiKiBoT, UES- PArules, Ereunetes, MystBot, Addbot, DrJos, Luckas-bot, Rubinbot, Wikiain, HandsomeFella, Marcocapelle, Sermadison, Esszet, Doewi- ets and Anonymous: 6 7.2 Images • File:De_Biefve_Compromise_of_Dutch_nobles_1849.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/De_ Biefve_Compromise_of_Dutch_nobles_1849.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.kunst-fuer-alle.de/english/art/ artist/image/edouard-de-biefve/16109/1/111377/the-compromise-of-the-dutch-nobles/index.htm# Original artist: Édouard de Biefve (1808-1882) • File:Eedverbond.gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Eedverbond.gif License: Public domain Contribu- tors: http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/cons001gesc01_01/cons001gesc01_01_0026.htm Original artist: Hendrik Conscience 7.3 Content license • Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.