This research is about the local significance of the Pacification of Ghent in Utrecht between 1576 and 1581. It argues that the Pacification was the crucial treaty for the participation of the...Show moreThis research is about the local significance of the Pacification of Ghent in Utrecht between 1576 and 1581. It argues that the Pacification was the crucial treaty for the participation of the States and city of Utrecht in the Dutch Revolt because of its lack of coherency and clarity. This thesis explores the competing narratives about the meaning of this peace. The analysis focusses on the interests of different groups in city and the reinterpretations of the peace terms in the Pacification within the rapidly developing circumstances of the Dutch Revolt. The main argument is that the act of oblivion in the Pacification was the tacit driving force behind the competition of narratives about legitimacy. The Pacification successfully offered a tabula rasa for the previous decade and became the most important reference for peace negotiation between 1576 and 1581. The “originalist” narrative tried to stay with the Pacification terms as intended when it was signed in 1576; the “clarifying” narrative argued that the cherry-picked peace violations of the royal party – together with the changed circumstances – necessitated an elaboration of the original peace treaty; the “abnegation” narrative used these cherry-picked peace violations of the royal party to highlight the obsolesce of the treaty and framed the treaty’s failure as a reason to abjure king Philip. This last narrative flipped the Pacification on its head; the new continuity with the present was not based on the treaty’s terms but on its violation and frame of belonging to the past.Show less
The Vindiciae contra tyrannos by Stephanus Brutus Junius and the Apologie by William of Orange are two works of resistance theory written in the late sixteenth century. The works are among the most...Show moreThe Vindiciae contra tyrannos by Stephanus Brutus Junius and the Apologie by William of Orange are two works of resistance theory written in the late sixteenth century. The works are among the most important publications in the French Civil Wars and the Dutch Revolt respectively. The Vindiciae was published first and several historians have argued that it has influenced the Apologie. Both documents justify resistance against tyrants but their similarities remain limited. They argue that the people as a whole are superior to the king but it are magistrates of the kings who have the duty to offer active resistance to a tyrant. The works are different in how they formulate their resistance. The Vindiciae is a prescriptive document which offers a theory of resistance that is mouldable to different situations. The Apologie, on the other hand, is a descriptive document. It justifies the resistance that has already taken place and therefore adapts to the situation at hand. The Apologie features a more radical justification. The former appeals to a much wider audience and tries to reach both Catholics and Calvinists. The Apologie focusses on a narrower audience and – as a result – antagonises many other groups. The influence of the Vindiciae on the Apologie is – therefore – more limited than historians have argued.Show less
This thesis explores the role that museums in the provinces of North and South Holland play in the formation of Dutch national and local identity. The Dutch Revolt and Dutch Golden Age were crucial...Show moreThis thesis explores the role that museums in the provinces of North and South Holland play in the formation of Dutch national and local identity. The Dutch Revolt and Dutch Golden Age were crucial times for the formation of Dutch national identity. Museums play an important role in negotiating historical fact and myth. The first chapter of the thesis explores the themes of "Geography", or how museums define "The Netherlands", "Location and Experience", or how museums create a sense of place, "Chronology" or how museums present the passage of time and "Interactivity" or how museums involve visitor interaction with the exhibits. The second chapter explores the subject of William of Orange as a national hero in the Rijksmusem and compares this with how the Princenhof museum in Delft uses biographical information to humanize William. The third chapter compares how two museums, the Lakenhal in Leiden and Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, present the subject of the Dutch Revolt. In Alkmaar the museum explores sites of cultural memory of the revolt in several places in the city. In the Lakenhal, memories of the revolt and local hero Pieter Adriansz. van der Werf are renegotiated in light of historical fact. In all these examples, the role that national and local myths play is explored.Show less
