Books: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555 59

J >> John Lothrop Motley >> The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555 59

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[Bentivoglio. Guerra di Fiandra, i. 9 (Opere, Parigi, 1648), gives
a different report, which ends with a distinct promise on the part
of the King to dismiss the troops as soon as possible: "--in segno
di the spetialmente havrebbe quanto prima, a fatti uscire i presidij
stranieri dalle fortezze a levata ogn' insolita contributione al
paese." It is almost superfluous to state that the Cardinal is no
authority for speeches, except, indeed, for those which were never
made. Long orations by generals upon the battle-field, by royal
personages in their cabinets, by conspirators in secret conclave,
are reported by him with muck minuteness, and none can gainsay the
accuracy with which these harangues, which never had any existence,
except in the author's imagination, are placed before the reader.
Bentivoglio's stately and graceful style, elegant descriptions, and
general acquaintance with his subject will always make his works
attractive, but the classic and conventional system of inventing
long speeches for historical characters has fortunately gone out of
fashion. It is very interesting to know what an important personage
really did say or write upon remarkable occasions; but it is less
instructive to be told what the historian thinks might have been a
good speech or epistle for him to utter or indito.]

Not a hint was held out that a reduction of the taxation, under which the
provinces had so long been groaning, was likely to take place; but, on
the contrary, the King had demanded a new levy of considerable amount. A
few well-turned paragraphs were added on the subject of the
administration of justice--"without which the republic was a dead body
without a soul"--in the Bishop's most approved style, and the discourse
concluded with a fervent exhortation to the provinces to trample heresy
and heretics out of existence, and with the hope that the Lord God, in
such case, would bestow upon the Netherlands health and happiness.

After the address had been concluded, the deputies, according to ancient
form, requested permission to adjourn, that the representatives of each
province might deliberate among themselves on the point of granting or
withholding the Request for the three millions. On the following day
they again assembled in the presence of the King, for the purpose of
returning their separate answers to the propositions.

The address first read was that of the Estates of Artois. The chairman
of the deputies from that province read a series of resolutions, drawn
up, says a contemporary, "with that elegance which characterized all the
public acts of the Artesians; bearing witness to the vivacity of their
wits." The deputies spoke of the extreme affection which their province
had always borne to his Majesty and to the Emperor. They had proved it
by the constancy with which they had endured the calamities of war so
long, and they now cheerfully consented to the Request, so far as their
contingent went. They were willing to place at his Majesty's disposal,
not only the remains of their property, but even the last drop of their
blood. As the eloquent chairman reached this point in his discourse,
Philip, who was standing with his arm resting upon Egmont's shoulder,
listening eagerly to the Artesian address, looked upon the deputies of
the province with a smiling face, expressing by the unwonted benignity of
his countenance the satisfaction which he received from these loyal
expressions of affection, and this dutiful compliance with his Request.

The deputy, however, proceeded to an unexpected conclusion, by earnestly
entreating his Majesty, as a compensation for the readiness thus evinced
in the royal service, forthwith to order the departure of all foreign
troops then in the Netherlands. Their presence, it was added, was now
rendered completely superfluous by the ratification of the treaty of
peace so fortunately arranged with all the world.

At this sudden change in the deputy's language, the King, no longer
smiling, threw himself violently upon his chair of state, where he
remained, brooding with a gloomy countenance upon the language which had
been addressed to him. It was evident, said an eye-witness, that he was
deeply offended. He changed color frequently, so that all present "could
remark, from the working of his face, how much his mind was agitated."

The rest of the provinces were even more explicit than the deputies of
Artois. All had voted their contingents to the Request, but all had made
the withdrawal of the troops an express antecedent condition to the
payment of their respective quotas.

The King did not affect to conceal his rage at these conditions,
exclaiming bitterly to Count Egmont and other seignors near the throne
that it was very easy to estimate, by these proceedings, the value of
the protestations made by the provinces of their loyalty and affection.

Besides, however, the answers thus addressed by the separate states to
the royal address, a formal remonstrance had also been drawn up in the
name of the States General, and signed by the Prince of Orange, Count
Egmont, and many of the leading patricians of the Netherlands. This
document, which was formally presented to the King before the adjournment
of the assembly, represented the infamous "pillaging, insults, and
disorders" daily exercised by the foreign soldiery; stating that the
burthen had become intolerable, and that the inhabitants of Marienburg,
and of many other large towns and villages had absolutely abandoned their
homes rather than remain any longer exposed to such insolence and
oppression.

The king, already enraged, was furious at the presentation of this
petition. He arose from his seat, and rushed impetuously from the
assembly, demanding of the members as he went, whether he too, as a
Spaniard, was expected immediately to leave the land, and to resign all
authority over it. The Duke of Savoy made use of this last occasion in
which he appeared in public as Regent, violently to rebuke the estates
for the indignity thus offered to their sovereign.

It could not be forgotten, however, by nobles and burghers, who had not
yet been crushed by the long course of oppression which was in store for
them, that there had been a day when Philip's ancestors had been more
humble in their deportment in the face of the provincial authorities.
His great-grandfather, Maximilian, kept in durance by the citizens of
Bruges; his great-grandmother, Mary of Burgundy, with streaming eyes and
dishevelled hair, supplicating in the market-place for the lives of her
treacherous ambassadors, were wont to hold a less imperious language to
the delegates of the states.

This burst of ill temper on the part of the monarch was, however,
succeeded by a different humor. It was still thought advisable to
dissemble, and to return rather an expostulatory than a peremptory answer
to the remonstrance of the States General. Accordingly a paper of a
singular tone was, after the delay of a few days, sent into the assembly.
In this message it was stated that the King was not desirous of placing
strangers in the government--a fact which was proved by the appointment
of the Duchess Margaret; that the Spanish infantry was necessary to
protect the land from invasion; that the remnant of foreign troops only
amounted to three or four thousand men, who claimed considerable arrears
of pay, but that the amount due would be forwarded to them immediately
after his Majesty's return to Spain. It was suggested that the troops
would serve as an escort for Don Carlos when he should arrive in the
Netherlands, although the King would have been glad to carry them to
Spain in his fleet, had he known the wishes of the estates in time.
He would, however, pay for their support himself, although they were
to act solely for the good of the provinces. He observed, moreover,
that he had selected two seignors of the provinces, the Prince of Orange
and Count Egmont, to take command of these foreign troops, and he
promised faithfully that, in the course of three or four months at
furthest, they should all be withdrawn.

On the same day in which the estates had assembled at Ghent, Philip had
addressed an elaborate letter to the grand council of Mechlin, the
supreme court of the provinces, and to the various provincial councils
and tribunals of the whole country. The object of the communication was
to give his final orders on the subject of the edicts, and for the
execution of all heretics in the most universal and summary manner.
He gave stringent and unequivocal instructions that these decrees for
burning, strangling, and burying alive, should be fulfilled to the
letter. He ordered all judicial officers and magistrates "to be curious
to enquire on all sides as to the execution of the placards," stating his
intention that "the utmost rigor should be employed without any respect
of persons," and that not only the transgressors should be proceeded
against, but also the judges who should prove remiss in their prosecution
of heretics. He alluded to a false opinion which had gained currency
that the edicts were only intended against anabaptists. Correcting this
error, he stated that they were to be "enforced against all sectaries,
without any distinction or mercy, who might be spotted merely with the
errors introduced by Luther."

The King, notwithstanding the violent scenes in the assembly, took leave
of the estates at another meeting with apparent cordiality. His
dissatisfaction was sufficiently manifest, but it expressed itself
principally against individuals. His displeasure at the course pursued
by the leading nobles, particularly by the Prince of Orange, was already
no secret.

Philip, soon after the adjournment of the assembly, had completed the
preparations for his departure. At Middelburg he was met by the
agreeable intelligence that the Pope had consented to issue a bull for
the creation of the new bishoprics which he desired for the Netherlands.
--This important subject will be resumed in another chapter; for the
present we accompany the King to Flushing, whence the fleet was to set
sail for Spain. He was escorted thither by the Duchess Regent, the Duke
of Savoy, and by many of the most eminent personages of the provinces.
Among others William of Orange was in attendance to witness the final
departure of the King, and to pay him his farewell respects. As Philip
was proceeding on board the ship which was to bear him forever from the
Netherlands, his eyes lighted upon the Prince. His displeasure could no
longer be restrained. With angry face he turned upon him, and bitterly
reproached him for having thwarted all his plans by means of his secret
intrigues. William replied with humility that every thing which had
taken place had been done through the regular and natural movements of
the states. Upon this the King, boiling with rage, seized the Prince by
the wrist, and shaking it violently, exclaimed in Spanish, "No los
estados, ma vos, vos, vos!--Not the estates, but you, you, you!"
repeating thrice the word vos, which is as disrespectful and uncourteous
in Spanish as "toi" in French.

After this severe and public insult, the Prince of Orange did not go on
board his Majesty's vessel, but contented himself with wishing Philip,
from the shore, a fortunate journey. It may be doubted, moreover,
whether he would not have made a sudden and compulsory voyage to Spain
had he ventured his person in the ship, and whether, under the
circumstances, he would have been likely to effect as speedy a return.
His caution served him then as it was destined to do on many future
occasions, and Philip left the Netherlands with this parting explosion
of hatred against the man who, as he perhaps instinctively felt, was
destined to circumvent his measures and resist his tyranny to the last.

The fleet, which consisted of ninety vessels, so well provisioned that,
among other matters, fifteen thousand capons were put on board, according
to the Antwerp chronicler, set sail upon the 26th August (1559), from
Flushing. The voyage proved tempestuous, so that much of the rich
tapestry and other merchandise which had been accumulated by Charles and
Philip was lost. Some of the vessels foundered; to save others it was
necessary to lighten the cargo, and "to enrobe the roaring waters with
the silks," for which the Netherlands were so famous; so that it was said
that Philip and his father had impoverished the earth only to enrich the
ocean. The fleet had been laden with much valuable property, because the
King had determined to fix for the future the wandering capital of his
dominions in Spain. Philip landed in safety, however, at Laredo, on the
8th September. His escape from imminent peril confirmed him in the great
purpose to which he had consecrated his existence. He believed himself
to have been reserved from shipwreck only because a mighty mission had
been confided to him, and lest his enthusiasm against heresy should
languish, his eyes were soon feasted, upon his arrival in his native
country, with the spectacle of an auto-da fe.

Early in January of this year the King being persuaded that it was
necessary every where to use additional means to check the alarming
spread of Lutheran opinions, had written to the Pope for authority to
increase, if that were possible, the stringency of the Spanish
inquisition. The pontiff, nothing loath, had accordingly issued a bull
directed to the inquisitor general, Valdez, by which he was instructed
to consign to the flames all prisoners whatever, even those who were not
accused of having "relapsed." Great preparations had been made to strike
terror into the hearts of heretics by a series of horrible exhibitions,
in the course of which the numerous victims, many of them persons of high
rank, distinguished learning, and exemplary lives, who had long been
languishing in the dungeons of the holy office, were to be consigned to
the flames. The first auto-da fe had been consummated at Valladolid on
the 21st May (1559), in the absence of the King, of course, but in the
presence of the royal family and the principal notabilities, civil,
ecclesiastical, and military. The Princess Regent, seated on her throne,
close to the scaffold, had held on high the holy sword. The Archbishop
of Seville, followed by the ministers of the inquisition and by the
victims, had arrived in solemn procession at the "cadahalso," where,
after the usual sermon in praise of the holy office and in denunciation
of heresy, he had administered the oath to the Intante, who had duly
sworn upon the crucifix to maintain forever the sacred inquisition and
the apostolic decrees. The Archbishop had then cried aloud, "So may God
prosper your Highnesses and your estates;" after which the men and women
who formed the object of the show had been cast into the flames.--
[Cabrera]. It being afterwards ascertained that the King himself would
soon be enabled to return to Spain, the next festival was reserved as a
fitting celebration for his arrival. Upon the 8th October, accordingly,
another auto-da fe took place at Valladolid. The King, with his sister
and his son, the high officers of state, the foreign ministers, and all
the nobility of the kingdom, were present, together with an immense
concourse of soldiery, clergy, and populace. The sermon was preached by
the Bishop of Cuenga. When it was finished, Inquisitor General Valdez
cried with a loud voice, "Oh God, make speed to help us!" The King then
drew his sword. Valdez, advancing to the platform upon which Philip was
seated, proceeded to read the protestation: "Your Majesty swears by the
cross of the sword, whereon your royal hand reposes, that you will give
all necessary favor to the holy office of the inquisition against
heretics, apostates, and those who favor them, and will denounce and
inform against all those who, to your royal knowledge, shall act or speak
against the faith." The King answered aloud, "I swear it," and signed
the paper. The oath was read to the whole assembly by an officer of the
inquisition. Thirteen distinguished victims were then burned before the
monarch's eyes, besides one body which a friendly death had snatched from
the hands of the holy office, and the effigy of another person who had
been condemned, although not yet tried or even apprehended. Among the
sufferers was Carlos de Sessa, a young noble of distinguished character
and abilities, who said to the King as he passed by the throne to the
stake, "How can you thus look on and permit me to be burned?" Philip
then made the memorable reply, carefully recorded by his historiographer
and panegyrist; "I would carry the wood to burn my own son withal, were
he as wicked as you."

In Seville, immediately afterwards, another auto-da fe was held,
in which fifty living heretics were burned, besides the bones of Doctor
Constantine Ponce de la Fuente, once the friend, chaplain, and almoner of
Philip's father. This learned and distinguished ecclesiastic had been
released from a dreadful dungeon by a fortunate fever. The holy office,
however, not content with punishing his corpse, wreaked also an impotent
and ludicrous malice upon his effigy. A stuffed figure, attired in his
robes and with its arms extended in the attitude which was habitual with
him in prayer, was placed upon the scaffold among the living victims, and
then cast into the flames, that bigotry might enjoy a fantastic triumph
over the grave.

Such were the religious ceremonies with which Philip celebrated his
escape from shipwreck, and his marriage with Isabella of France,
immediately afterwards solemnized. These human victims, chained and
burning at the stake, were the blazing torches which lighted the monarch
to his nuptial couch.

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Consign to the flames all prisoners whatever (Papal letter)
Courage of despair inflamed the French
Decrees for burning, strangling, and burying alive
I would carry the wood to burn my own son withal
Inventing long speeches for historical characters
Let us fool these poor creatures to their heart's content
Petty passion for contemptible details
Promises which he knew to be binding only upon the weak
Rashness alternating with hesitation
These human victims, chained and burning at the stake

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