This thesis conducts a case study of news in early modern Europe. It examines Dutch and English news pamphlets about the assassination of King Henry IV of France in 1610. The thesis argues that...Show moreThis thesis conducts a case study of news in early modern Europe. It examines Dutch and English news pamphlets about the assassination of King Henry IV of France in 1610. The thesis argues that news about the assassination circulated in an international public sphere. This international public sphere was characterized by a large appetite for foreign news, a well-informed ‘public’ and most importantly, a commonly established international anti-Catholic discourse, which enabled news to travel across national boundaries. The Dutch discourse depicted Henry’s assassination as a joint papal and Spanish plot to depose Henry and to reclaim the rebellious Netherlands. In England, news about Henry’s death was explicitly linked to the debate about the Oath of Allegiance. Despite these national differences, both discourses drew on a socially constructed image of the Jesuits as a tightly organized conspiratorial group. It referred to a standardized set of beliefs, stereotypes and sentiments that epitomized a view of militant Catholicism, commanded by the pope, the Jesuits and Spain. This anti-Catholic discourse was based on a transnational Protestant mentality, as it consistently referred to key moments in the Protestant history of persecution, plots and assassinations. The thesis also expresses some reservations about the level of participation in this international public sphere. Particularly in England, pamphleteering was confined to the capital, and the central government seemed to have played an active part in regulating access to the international public sphere, both by practices of censorship and propaganda. It hence follows that news about the assassination of Henry IV was debated in an international public sphere, but that the level of access to this public sphere strongly depended on the specific national context.Show less
