expressive name, under which their adherents can rally, and it was at
this time that the opponents of despotic government took to themselves
the renowned title of Beggars, that was to be heard as a war cry on land
and sea long years afterwards. On the 8th of April 1566 three hundred
gentlemen presented a petition to the duchess Margaret, when a member of
her council spoke of them as beggars. That evening at a banquet Count
Brederode proposed that the title should be adopted, which was
enthusiastically agreed to by those present, and quickly spread over the
provinces. At first it had no religious signification, for both
Catholics and Protestants who favoured the preservation of
constitutional rights termed themselves Gueux, but in course of time it
was applied almost exclusively to the adherents of the reformed or
Calvinistic faith.
In such circumstances as those in which the Netherlands were then
placed, excesses are usually committed by the most fanatical section of
the suffering party, and it was so in this instance. In August 1566 a
disorderly mob took possession of the great cathedral of Antwerp, one of
the most beautiful and stately buildings in Europe, threw down all the
statues in it, broke the stained glass windows, demolished the ornaments
of every kind, and generally wrecked the interior of the edifice. Only a
few hundred men were actually engaged in the work of destruction, but
many thousands looked on with indifference, and many more with
satisfaction, accounting the decorations of the cathedral as symbols of
the terrible inquisition. This example was followed throughout the
southern provinces, and a great number of churches were treated in the
same manner as Antwerp cathedral had been. Yet there was not a single
instance of violence offered to any individual, or of plunder of any
article whatever. The gold and silver implements of the churches were
battered and made useless, but were then thrown on the floors and left.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
The fury of Philippe was now thoroughly aroused, and means were
forwarded to the regent Margaret to raise a body of troops and suppress
disorder. The most powerful of the southern nobles ranged themselves on
the side of despotism. On the 13th of March 1567 a body of three
thousand Beggars who were posted near Antwerp was utterly annihilated,
and on the 23rd of the same month the ancient city of Valenciennes,
which had defied the government, was taken and reduced to submission.
The factions in Antwerp were ready to spring at each other’s throats,
but were induced by the prince of Orange to keep the peace. The regent
Margaret agreed to conditions which gave the Protestants some
protection, but her word was not to be depended upon, and much less was
that of King Philippe, who was the very incarnation of deceit and
treachery. For a few weeks now there was an appearance of calm, but it
was only the prelude to the most terrible storm that ever swept over any
portion of modern Europe.
Ten thousand veteran Spanish troops, the most highly disciplined and
best armed soldiers in the world, were sent by Philippe as the nucleus
of a powerful army to subjugate the Netherlands. At their head was the
bloodthirsty duke of Alva, then sixty years of age, whose life had been
spent in war, and who was the most skilful strategist of his day. Alva!
what a curse rests upon his name in all countries where men set a value
upon justice and freedom! As pitiless as Tshaka in South Africa, as
treacherous as Dingan, he stands out in the history of the Netherlands
as a cold-blooded murderer, a malignant fiend in human form. His
commission as the king’s captain-general was issued on the 31st of
January 1567, and his instructions were in keeping with his disposition
and character.
The nucleus or advance guard of the army was assembled in Italy, and
marched by way of Mont Cenis and through Savoy, Burgundy, and Lorraine
to Thionville, then a town of the Netherlands, now included in France.
In August 1567 it crossed the border, and continued its march to
Brussels, meeting with no opposition on the way. Alva at once placed
garrisons in the principal towns, and commenced the erection of
fortresses to overawe them, the principal of which was the famous
citadel of Antwerp. He sent letters to the different cities, signed by
the king, commanding them to render absolute obedience to him. The next
step was the arrest and close confinement of as many of the nobles as he
could get hold of who had at any time opposed any arbitrary act of the
sovereign. The counts Egmont and Hoorn were entrapped by letters to them
from the king, praising their conduct and declaring his confidence in
them. Conscious of having done no wrong, and lulled into a feeling of
security by these assurances from Philippe, they placed themselves in
the power of Alva, and found themselves his prisoners.
[Sidenote: Proceedings of the Duke of Alva.]
Then was established that murderous mockery of a tribunal, known as the
Council of Blood. It was composed of a number of creatures of Alva, some
of whom were Flemish nobles of the worst type ready to pour out the
blood of their countrymen at his bidding, others Spaniards of the same
character. It dispensed with legal formalities, and made nought of
charters and privileges. The whole population of the Netherlands was at
its mercy. Its agents sent in lists of names, and with hardly a pretence
of examination, men, scores of men at a time, were sentenced to
confiscation of all their property and death on the scaffold. This
infamous Council of Blood met for the first time on the 20th of
September 1567 in an apartment of Alva’s residence in Brussels. His
intention was to crush out all opposition to absolutism, to exterminate
all adherents of the reformed religion, and to raise a large revenue by
confiscation of property.
Everyone who valued freedom and could flee from the provinces did so now
without delay. The neighbouring German states were crowded with
refugees, and in many Flemish and Dutch towns industry entirely ceased,
for artisans and mechanics had abandoned them in despair. It is highly
probable that the larger number of those so-called Germans who settled
in South Africa in later years were really descendants of Netherlanders
who left their fatherland at this time.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
Margaret of Parma was nominally regent still, but on the 9th of December
1567 she resigned, and the monster Alva became governor-general of the
provinces.
The prince of Orange, his brothers Louis and Adolf of Nassau, Count
Hoogstraaten, and several other nobles of less note had retired into
Germany before the arrival of the Spanish troops. Alva confiscated their
property in the Netherlands, but they had possessions beyond the border
which he could not reach. They had been faithful subjects of Philippe to
this time, though they had striven by peaceful means to preserve the
constitutions of the provinces, but now they could not look calmly on
while the very life was being trampled out of their country. In April
1568 Orange engaged troops in Germany, and sent three small armies into
the Netherlands in hope that the people would rise in a body and assist
to drive the Spaniards out. But he was disappointed. The people were for
the moment completely cowed. Two of his armies were utterly annihilated
by the disciplined Spanish troops, and though the third, commanded by
his brother Louis, gained a victory at Heiligerlee, near Winschoten, in
the province of Groningen, it led to no substantial result. Count Adolf
of Nassau fell in this battle. So the war for freedom began, a war that
was carried on without intermission for forty-one years.
Alva with an overpowering force marched against Count Louis, and on the
21st of July 1568 attacked him at Jemmingen, a village on the left bank
of the Ems near its entrance into the Dollart, within the German border.
It was not so much a battle as a slaughter that followed. Of ten
thousand men under his command, the count lost seven thousand slain, and
with difficulty made his escape from the disastrous field while the
remainder were scattering in every direction. Alva then proceeded to
Utrecht, where he reviewed an army of thirty thousand infantry and seven
thousand cavalry, a force that he believed sufficient to overawe the
whole of the northern provinces.
[Sidenote: Successes of Alva.]
Early in October the prince of Orange invaded Brabant from Germany with
thirty thousand men, of whom nine thousand were cavalry. Many of these
were undisciplined refugees, but some were trained German soldiers.
Several smaller bands joined the prince subsequently, though not a city
opened its gates to him, so great was the terror that Alva inspired. The
difficulty of providing food for such a number of men for any length of
time was insurmountable, and the Spanish general therefore did not
choose to risk an engagement, but watched his opponent closely. On one
occasion, on the 20th of October, he was able to cut off a rearguard of
three thousand men under Count Hoogstraaten, and nearly exterminated
them. Hoogstraaten himself escaped, but died of a wound a few days
afterwards. The prince of Orange, disappointed in his expectation of a
general rising, and without a single stronghold as a base of operations,
was obliged to retreat to Germany and disband his troops. He had spent
all the money he could raise, and was heavily in debt. Nothing could
have been gloomier than the prospect then before him, but he still
cherished hope and trusted in God. He had passed through different
stages of religious belief, but did not openly join the Calvinist church
until October 1573.
The first campaign in the war of freedom had thus terminated entirely in
favour of the Spaniards.
On the 5th of June of this year 1568 an event took place which more than
all the blood of humble citizens that had been shed drew the attention
of civilised Europe to what was transpiring in the Netherlands. This was
the death on the scaffold in the great square of Brussels of the counts
Egmont and Hoorn, who had been condemned by the Council of Blood for
having been somewhat dilatory in upholding despotism. They were both
earnest Catholics, and Egmont in particular had rendered great services
to the king. He was the general who had won the victories of Saint
Quentin and Gravelines. But the death of these prominent noblemen was
resolved upon by Philippe, because it would strike terror into all
classes, and would prove that the least hesitation to carry out any of
his wishes would meet with the most terrible punishment. All their
possessions were confiscated. Their death had no effect upon the
patriotic cause, except for the horror which it created abroad, as they
were not the men to throw in their lot with William of Orange in
resistance to tyranny.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
The baron Montigny, brother of Count Hoorn, had been sent with the
marquis Berghen to Madrid in May 1566 by the regent Margaret of Parma to
represent to Philippe the ruin which the inquisition was bringing upon
the Netherlands and the difficulty caused by it to her administration.
They were instructed to suggest its abolition and the modification of
the king’s edicts. Both of these noblemen were devout Catholics, and
were most faithful subjects of their sovereign. They might have reasoned
that if his sister and representative was compelled by force of
circumstances to pause in the deadly work, they could not be blamed for
acting under her instructions. The king received them apparently in a
friendly manner. But they were not permitted to return, and after a time
were placed in confinement. Berghen died, it was reported of home
sickness, but many believed by violent means. Montigny was kept a
prisoner more than four years, was then in his absence condemned to
death by the Council of Blood for favouring heresy, and on the 16th of
October 1570 was strangled privately by order of the king.
An awful calamity, but not by the hand of man, overtook the Northern
Netherlands in the year 1570. In a gale of tremendous violence on the
first and second of November of this year the sea was driven high upon
the coast, the dykes burst in many places, and the waters poured over
the land. Fully a hundred thousand persons were drowned, and property to
an immense amount was destroyed.
[Sidenote: Imposition of Heavy Taxes.]
And now came another trouble. Alva had been disappointed in his
expectations of an abundant revenue from the confiscation of property,
for much as he gathered by that means, the cost of maintenance of his
army and the charges of his administration were so enormous that his
treasury was always empty, and creditors had become clamorous. To remedy
this defect, he imposed taxes of one per cent of the value of all
property in the country, to be paid only once, of five per cent transfer
duty on all land and houses sold thereafter, and of ten per cent on
every movable article that should be sold. This last tax was regarded by
the people as equivalent to a prohibition to carry on trade of any kind,
it affected every one, and in many of the towns the shops as well as the
wholesale stores, even the breweries, the butcheries, and the bakeries
were closed. The streets swarmed with mendicants, and riots were only
suppressed by military force. If he had tried to compel the people to
take part with William of Orange, the governor-general could not have
devised a more efficient plan.
II.
THE WAR IN THE NETHERLANDS TO THE UNION OF UTRECHT.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
Many of the men who had been obliged to leave their homes had turned to
the sea for refuge. Legitimate commerce could not absorb them all, even
if it had been flourishing as formerly, and so in their desperate
condition they became buccaneers. The prince of Orange took advantage of
this, and issued a commission to a reckless fugitive noble named William
de la Marck to act as his admiral and attack Spanish ships wherever he
could find them. De la Marck was a distant relative of Egmont, and had
sworn not to clip his hair or beard till he had avenged the count’s
death. In March 1572 he was lying at anchor at Dover with a fleet of
twenty-four vessels, when by order of Queen Elizabeth all supplies of
provisions were refused to him. He was then compelled to do something
desperate at once, or starve, so he resolved to sail to Enkhuizen, and
try to get possession of that port. The wind failed him, however, so on
the 1st of April he put into the Maas and anchored in front of Brill
(Brielle), a walled and fortified town on the island of Voorne. The
Spanish garrison had just been sent to Utrecht. The Sea Beggars were
only a few hundred in number, but Pieter Koppelstok, who was sent by De
la Marck to demand the surrender of the town, when questioned as to
their strength replied about five thousand. The authorities and
adherents of the government fled in fear, and the half-famished rovers
battered in the gates and took possession of the place. This was the
beginning of the second campaign against the Spaniards.
It could not be expected that the Sea Beggars, after their wrongs and
their sufferings, would act very gently with their opponents, but the
ferocity which they displayed on this occasion cannot be excused or
passed lightly over. They broke all the altars, statues, and ornaments
in the churches, dressed themselves in clerical robes, and barbarously
put to death thirteen priests and monks who had not been able to make
their escape. A Spanish force was sent from Utrecht to recover Brill,
but was beaten off with considerable loss. De la Marck was then of
opinion that the place should be abandoned, but Captain Treslong, whose
father had once been governor of the town, induced him to continue to
hold it and to rally the patriots around him there, who quickly came in
and joined him.
[Sidenote: Successes of the Sea Beggars.]
As soon as intelligence of the repulse of the Spaniards from Brill
reached Flushing (Vlissingen), that important town declared for the
prince of Orange, and sent to De la Marck to beg for assistance. Two
hundred Sea Beggars, all in clerical garments, were thereupon forwarded
in three vessels, and quickly reached their destination. Here also an
act of inexcusable barbarity took place. The engineer who had
constructed the citadel of Antwerp, Pacheco by name, had just arrived in
Flushing to erect a fortress there. He was seized and at once hanged
with two other Spanish officers. With the town half the island of
Walcheren went over to the patriot cause, and very shortly a strong
force of Beggars, aided by some French soldiers and English volunteers,
assembled there to protect it.
The example thus set was speedily followed by most of the towns that
were not overawed by powerful Spanish garrisons in the provinces of
Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overyssel, and Friesland.
Amsterdam, Middelburg, Goes, Arnemuide, Utrecht, and a few others were
too strongly garrisoned to be able to rise. In some of the towns the
change was made without bloodshed, in others the most barbarous
cruelties were practised on both sides, for passion had taken the place
of reason and charity. The revolted towns declared that they remained
faithful to King Philippe as count of Holland, etc., that the ancient
charters conferring rights and privileges were restored, that there was
perfect freedom for both the Roman Catholic and Reformed religions, that
they accepted the prince of Orange as stadholder for the sovereign of
the provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and Friesland, and that they
repudiated the duke of Alva, the inquisition, and the tax on commerce.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
Other successes awaited the patriot cause. On the 24th of May 1572 Count
Louis of Nassau with a small band obtained possession of the important
town of Mons in Hainaut. And on the 10th of June a richly laden Spanish
fleet from Lisbon arrived at Flushing and cast anchor, being unaware of
what had occurred there. Most of the ships were captured, a thousand
Spanish soldiers on board were made prisoners, five hundred thousand
crowns of gold sent by Philippe for his army chest and a large quantity
of ammunition became prize to the Beggars, and much spice and other
valuable merchandise was secured.
On the 15th of July the estates of Holland, consisting of the nobles and
deputies from eight cities, met at Dordrecht. The prince of Orange was
in Germany, where he had engaged an army of fifteen thousand infantry
and seven thousand cavalry, besides three thousand refugee Walloons. The
estates adopted measures for raising all the money that they could to
pay these troops for three months, and Orange then entered the southern
provinces. His first object was to relieve Mons, which was besieged by a
strong Spanish army, and to effect a junction with Admiral Coligny, who
with the approval of the king of France was to aid him with ten thousand
Huguenots. After crossing the border, town after town opened its gates
to him, and received the garrisons he placed in them. Everything looked
bright before him, when suddenly, without the slightest warning, a
thunderbolt fell which utterly destroyed his hopes and those of the
patriot party.
A contingent of Huguenots was cut to pieces when attempting to enter
Mons, but the main body under Coligny was believed to be ready to
advance, when tidings were received of the fearful Massacre of Saint
Bartholomew on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of August 1572. The treacherous
Charles IX of France, by an act of savage cruelty without parallel in a
Christian state, had betrayed the cause it was his interest to favour,
and had murdered a hundred thousand of his Protestant subjects. Admiral
Coligny was among the victims. Orange realised at once that his cause
was shattered, his German troops had not been fully paid, and were
almost mutinous, so he was obliged to retire and disband them. The towns
that had welcomed him now hastened to disown him, and returned to their
obedience to Alva. On the 20th of September Mons capitulated on
honourable terms, which were not, however, faithfully observed by the
conquerors, and all the southern provinces were again under the Spanish
yoke.
[Sidenote: Sack of Mechlin.]
Alva had reinforced his army very largely with German mercenaries, the
same class of men that Orange had raised his forces from, and he had
enlisted a great many Walloons. He was without money to pay either them
or his Spanish veterans. He gave them instead the city of Mechlin to
plunder for three days, the Spaniards to have it for the first day, the
Germans for the second, and the Walloons for the third. Mechlin was
almost entirely a Catholic city, but it had welcomed the prince of
Orange, and had received a garrison from him. This was to be its
punishment by Alva. The horrors of the sack of the doomed city cannot be
fully told, but they can be imagined. The Spaniards knew that the
richest spoil would be found in the churches, and they resolved not to
leave it for others. In their lust for spoil the churches, the
monasteries, and the convents of Mechlin were treated by these Catholics
as the cathedral of Antwerp had been by the fanatic Protestants. Then
the citizens were tortured and murdered, and nameless horrors were
perpetrated upon females, until the first day ended. On the second day
the Germans, and on the third the debased Walloons, followed in the sack
of Mechlin, leaving it desolate, plundered, and utterly forlorn. Such
was Alva’s punishment of a disobedient city.
[Sidenote: Historical Sketches.]
The tide of fortune was now setting as strong against the patriot cause
as it had been in its favour during the earlier months of the year. On
the 26th of August the Beggars laid siege to Goes in Zeeland, which was
defended by a Spanish garrison, but must have fallen if it had not been
relieved on the 21st of October by an army that had made a wonderful
march through shallow water. The besiegers were then obliged to flee,
but they were pursued, and their rearguard was completely destroyed.
Alva now sent a strong army under his son Don Frederic de Toledo to
reduce the northern provinces to subjection. Don Frederic directed his
march to Gelderland, where the town of Zutphen attempted to resist him.
It was easily taken, however, when all its adult male inhabitants were
put to the sword, and most of its buildings were destroyed by fire. The
whole of the provinces east and south of the Zuider Zee now submitted to
Alva, only Holland and Zeeland still holding out, and even of these the
largest towns--Amsterdam and Middelburg--were occupied by Spanish
garrisons. There was no national army in existence, and each town was
politically isolated from all the others, a condition of things which
made defence extremely difficult.
Don Frederic now marched towards North Holland, meeting no opposition
until he reached the little town of Naarden, on the shore of the Zuider
Zee, south-east of Amsterdam. Naarden offered a feeble resistance, but
on a verbal promise from General Julian Romero that life and property
would be spared, it surrendered. Every man in the place and nearly every
woman was put to death, and the little town was set on fire and razed to
the ground.