Texts concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands

61 A remonstrance to the States General about the restoration and the maintenance of the State of the Netherlands (by a nobleman of Flanders), 1584 ¹

This remonstrance dates from about the middle of August 1584, more than a month after the assassination of William of Orange. The situation of the towns of Flanders and Brabant which still held to the Union was then becoming more and more threatening.

It is already a month, or rather almost six weeks ago since our wise prince departed this life.² He was the true father and protector of our fatherland and by his unique wisdom and deliberation he was able to steer our vessel like a good and sure helmsman in the midst of the terrible thunderstorm and tempest in which we are in danger of being shipwrecked. With God's help he was able to protect us from being lost. Now the body is without a head, the ship adrift without a helmsman. We will inevitably perish unless in your wisdom you take the necessary measures as soon as possible.

You know, gentlemen, that nowadays every one has his eyes fixed on you. You must put the helm in its right place again, and appoint a good new helmsman. You must ensure that the ship is navigated into a good port in spite of this tempest and that Ghent is relieved, and that Antwerp and Dendermonde are set free from the fetters of the enemies and that wherever necessary everything is put in order.³ The way to do this is to

1 Vertooch aen mijn heeren de Staten Generael op de wederoprichtinghe ende behoudenisse van den staet van de Nederlanden (door eenen edelman uut Vlaenderen) (Knuttel, no. 700).

2 On 10 July 1584 the prince of Orange was murdered at Delft, a month after the duke of Anjou had died in France.

3 Bruges surrendered to Parma in May 1584, Dendermonde capitulated on 17 August 1584 and Ghent in September of the same year.

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establish immediately a good Council of State,⁴ made up of honourable God-fearing men, who understand political and state-affairs as well as warfare, and whose election is not brought about by any sort of favouritism or nepotism. It will be vital too to establish a good council of war of reputable, properly qualified persons, noblemen, colonels, captains as well as other commanders, who are skilled in warfare, as the well-known proverb goes: Ut tractent fabrilia fabri.⁵ This council must be entrusted with full power and sovereign authority, so that it will no longer be necessary to report back each time to the provinces for this is one of the chief reasons of our present decline. The council of war must restore strict military discipline, for the soldiers have become intolerably disorderly because of the protracted wars, and reform is urgently required.

If we start in this way, things may go well. But what is most necessary, too, is to collect adequate finance immediately so that we can enlist without further delay a large troop of soldiers, foot as well as horse. If you levy about eighteen or twenty thousand men, enough to defeat the enemy or beat him out of the field, it has been calculated it will cost you at most 300,000 guilders a month, including the pay of the commander-in-chief, the fieldmarshal, the artillery commander, the quartermaster-general, and other army officers. Is this sum not very small, I pray you, when you consider that these provinces have a very large number of very rich people, and fine towns too? These towns are still in our possession and if we look for them seriously we shall undoubtedly find there more than 500 rich and prosperous citizens. These will, of course, be prepared to bear the costs of this war for six months; this will not force them to reduce their state of living and daily expenses. If they are made to see, both through written and verbal discourses, what frightful and totally destructive consequences the enemy's victory would have for them and their descendants, their readiness to help and their generosity will increase yet more. All we can expect from the enemy is the cruellest bloodshed, the looting of our possessions and perpetual banishment; and people so foolish as to prefer to await the course of events at home, will every moment of the day suffer pains a thousand times harder to bear than the misery of being banished forever from the country. But what honest man, however rich he may be in ready money as well as in other possessions, would like to banish himself forever from his dear fatherland, from his houses and estates, from daily contact and conversation with all his friends and relations, if by

4 A new Council of State headed by Prince Maurice was established by the States General on 18 August 1584.

5 Every man to his trade.

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adopting a sensible policy and spending a small sum of money on it he may live in safety? And, what is even more important, who is so evil and has so little fear of God that he would abandon his religion rather than suffer the vexation of making a small contribution, when so many thousands of martyrs in the early days of the Church, and even recently in this world of ours, have maintained it unto death at the price of bloodshed, the loss of their possessions and the complete ruin of their families? I am firmly convinced that it will be possible to find as many as fifty thousand men on our side, whose religious zeal is such that they would not think of abandoning their faith for such a trifle as a small contribution of money. And therefore I would think it advisable to look thoroughly for such men, not only among the adherents of our religion, but also among Roman Catholics. For many Roman Catholics are undoubtedly honest men and God-fearing patriots who would be as distressed as many of us to see their fatherland heading for ruin...⁶

The imposts, excises, tolls and other public revenues⁷ will bring in a surprisingly large sum of money during these six months. They must be collected in an orderly way without deceit or fraudulence, and the money must really be used for the purpose for which it was collected: the welfare of the commonwealth. We must prevent private persons from enriching themselves with it at the expense of the poor common people. When the money has been levied and collected, it must be put away and kept in the public treasury and used to pay the garrisons. Part of it must be used for defraying the expenses incurred by the army and by the artillery if we should happen to take the offensive in this war. A fairly large sum will still be left to start enlisting a large troop of men next spring, without having to burden the people too much. If we thus succeed in keeping the field for two seasons, we shall bring our enemies to reason whether they like it or not.

After this it will be very necessary to restore the administration of justice. During these wars the law was totally disregarded not only by the soldiers but also by the magistrates, who were apparently blindfolded for they stopped punishing criminals, even though these were caught treating with the enemy, robbing and stealing money from the public purse and perpetrating many other kinds of pillage and plunder. This caused countless disturbances both in the towns and in the country, and in all places where a considerable number of people were clearly enriching themselves

6 For an opposite opinion of the Roman Catholics see Document 51.

7 See Document 59, note 7.

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to the unspeakable damage of the poor people. But whereas the malefactors are to be punished, the worthy must be honoured and rewarded. Most of these have received little but ingratitude, all kinds of slander and a bad reputation with the common people in return for their good and faithful services during the domestic wars.

This is the foundation we must establish. Moreover, it is most important, too, to maintain good relations with the neighbouring princes of our religion, to wit the queen of England, the kings of Scotland, of Denmark and of Navarre,⁸ the electors and protestants of the Empire, from whom we may expect nothing but friendliness, and from some even assistance. And it would be a very good and necessary thing to have a capable and respectable ambassador who understands state-affairs and intercourse with princes, accredited to the most important of them, especially to the queen of England. And though it is true that the king of France might have scruples about coming to an agreement with us, and in consequence might not want to aid our cause, nevertheless we should not fail to seek his favour and friendship again,⁹ and pray him very humbly that, if he will not help us, at least he will not harm us and that it may please him to live with us as a good neighbour.

8 Henri Bourbon.

9 At the end of 1584 the States General offered the sovereignty of the Netherlands to king Henri III who, however, declined it.