University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository History ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 6-24-2015 WE SUBDUED THE BODY BUT NOT THE COURAGE': POPULAR LITERATURE, SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, AND CEREMONIAL RITES OF POWER DURING THE DUTCH REVOLT, 1550-1598' Breanna Griego-Schmitt Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds Recommended Citation Griego-Schmitt, Breanna. "WE SUBDUED THE BODY BUT NOT THE COURAGE': POPULAR LITERATURE, SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, AND CEREMONIAL RITES OF POWER DURING THE DUTCH REVOLT, 1550-1598'." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/34 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in History ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Breanna S. Griego-Schmitt Candidate History Department This dissertation is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Dissertation Committee: Dr. Charlie Steen, Chairperson Dr. Timothy Graham Dr. Michael Ryan Dr. Els Stronks ii “WE SUBDUED THE BODY BUT NOT THE COURAGE”: POPULAR LITERATURE, SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, AND CEREMONIAL RITES OF POWER DURING THE DUTCH REVOLT, 1550-1598 By BREANNA S. GRIEGO-SCHMITT B.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2003 M.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy History The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2015 iii Dedication for Jason iv Acknowledgements I owe thanks to a great number of people for their intellectual, emotional, and financial support during the creation, execution, and completion of my doctoral dissertation. First and foremost, I owe special thanks to my dissertation chair, Dr. Charlie Steen, for supporting my research interests over the past thirteen years. His class on the French Revolution was the first course that I took as an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico and I immediately knew that I would be a historian of early modern Europe. Our meetings always cover a range of subjects: from argumentative structures to gardening tips to archival advice. Additionally, he always provided the emotional support that I needed during the dissertation writing process. Dr. Steen always encourages me to trust my interpretation of the documents and to above all “go to the primary sources!” I am grateful to all of the members of my dissertation committee. My project began while I was completing my Master’s thesis on constitutionalism and resistance-right theory during the French Wars of Religion. Dr. Steen’s enthusiasm for the direction of my dissertation served as critical catalyst, and the allure of the sixteenth-century Low Countries determined the focus of this project. Dr. Timothy Graham has guided my professional trajectory for over twelve years and I consider his advice to be worth its weight in gold. Dr. Graham always treated me like a scholar and he greatly helped refine my archival research methodology. Dr. Mike Ryan joined my committee at a critical moment and from that time forward gave me his full support and attention. I wrote one of my chapters in Dr. Ryan’s Professionalization course and he pushed me to refine the conceptual framework that I used in my dissertation. I am extremely thankful for his generosity of time and spirit. Dr. Els Stronks of the University of Utrecht agreed to serve on my committee as an outside reader v and I am thankful for her candid questions and feedback during the writing process. Her willingness to help a PhD candidate from the University of New Mexico while she worked at the University of Utrecht is an incredible honor for me. Other colleagues have supported my dissertation at different stages. A special thanks belongs to Dr. Charles Paine, Dr. Cristyn Elder, and Dr. Beth Davila. They hired me as an interdepartmental teaching assistant with the University of New Mexico English Department in 2010 and supported my growth as an instructor in the Stretch Composition program. My position as an ITA gave me financial means to continue pursuing my PhD and is the bedrock of my formidable teaching experience. Professor Judy Bieber has been an indefatigable source of motivation and support. My first project on the Netherlands was written for Dr. Bieber’s Atlantic World seminar course. My colleagues Justin Barber, Colin Snider, Lisa Brown, Shawn Austin, and Justin Larsen have provided tremendous support to me over the years. Whether I was teaching myself to read and translate early modern Dutch, struggling to decipher heavy Gothic sixteenth-century French script, or presenting at critical scholarly conferences, each of these individuals has given me the encouragement to keep going. My research was supported financially by a variety of organizations. The UNM History Department awarded me several travel grants to present at academic conferences. I expanded my archival experience during my tenure as a Junior Fellow in the Geography and Maps division of the Library of Congress. The New Mexico Department of Higher Education awarded me a generous four-year grant during which time I worked in the collections at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The HED grant also allowed me to travel to the University of Glasgow and the University of St. Andrews where I worked with Dr. Alison Adams and Dr. Andrew Pettegree on the focus and scope of my dissertation. Most recently I received the vi UNM Office of Graduate Studies Graduate Student Success Scholarship Dissertation Travel Award and traveled to Belgium to finish my archival work in the achives in Brussels and Antwerp. The documents and images collected during this trip changed the scope of several of my chapters. I have also had tremendous help from my friends and family. I have been in graduate school for as long as I have known Christy and Brian Kearney. They continue to encourage me and provide emotional support every day. My Company dancers are important sources of inspiration to me as well. I’m grateful to have another career that allows me to work with enthusiastic students and to physically express my stormy emotions. Family members have been a wonderful support to me. Thank you to my parents, Russell and Susan Griego, for their encouragement throughout the entirety of my graduate career. My sister, Erin Griego, is an incredible example of the vast capabilities of a strong and fierce woman. Bob and Tina Schmitt continue to push me to do my best work and are important sources of inspiration for me. My sister-in-law Kelsey and her husband Edgar always remind me to see the beauty and humor in the world. My sweet grandparents, Ray and Carol Smith, have always stood by my side. Without their support, I would not have made it this far. Thank you for helping me pursue this dream. I am grateful for my sweet dogs, Maddie and Bailey, for enduring years of long writing sessions with me. I spent more time with them while writing in the past three years than I have anyone else. They remind me that sometimes playing ball and enjoying the sunshine are the most important things of all. To the love of my life and my best friend, I owe a lifetime’s worth of thanks. Jason’s emotional support during lonely research trips, late- night translation sessions, and his loving guidance are the reasons I was able to work so hard vii for so long. He brought me back when I drifted and reminded me that even in dark moments I was never alone. viii “WE SUBDUED THE BODY BUT NOT THE COURAGE”: POPULAR LITERATURE, SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, AND CEREMONIAL RITES OF POWER DURING THE DUTCH REVOLT, 1550-1598 by Breanna S. Griego-Schmitt B.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2003 M.A., History, University of New Mexico, 2007 Ph.D., History, University of New Mexico, 2015 ABSTRACT By engaging with the vast body of pamphlet literature, rarely seen engravings and images, personal and official correspondence between leading figures, edicts and proclamations, visual renderings and written accounts of public ceremonials, and songs, poems, and placards published between 1550 and 1598, this dissertation creates a comprehensive analysis of the religio-political relations and social change in the Low Countries. My work draws upon the premises that appeared most consistently in the literature and images circulated during the Dutch Revolt: strategy and communication, sovereignty and constitutionalism, freedom of conscience, political theory in the Low Countries, rites of power, and the creation of popular mythology. Whether within the borders of the individual provinces or the vaderland of the Low Countries at large, the conscious creation of Protestant identity and authority demonstrated how communication between the Low Countries’ subjects, their representative institutions, and their sovereign came to define the development of the Dutch Revolt. ix Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ xii Archival Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xiv Notes on References and Translations ................................................................................ xv Maps .................................................................................................................................... xvi Preface