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 Dutch glassmaker’s son and rector of the Latin school in Zutphen, Marcellus Franckheim (Zutphen 1587- Dunkirk 1644), converted from Calvinism to Catholicism in 1614 and became secretary to...Show moreThe Dutch glassmaker’s son and rector of the Latin school in Zutphen, Marcellus Franckheim (Zutphen 1587- Dunkirk 1644), converted from Calvinism to Catholicism in 1614 and became secretary to Cardinal Melchior Khlesl at the court of the Habsburg Emperor Matthias. He ended his life as councillor to the Spanish King Philip IV in the admiralty of the Flanders fleet. By analysing Franckheim’s surviving correspondence and publications, this thesis shows that while Franckheim’s life on first sight seems full of unexpected moves and change, there is a remarkable continuity in his faith, his contacts and his opinions. It also shows that the Dutch Gomarist-Arminian controversy during the Twelve Years Truce directly influenced his decision to convert and that a group of engaged Zutphen Catholic citizens connected him to the Counter-Reformation world of the Habsburg courts in Europe. Using Marcellus Franckheim as an exemplary case, this thesis addresses the broader question of how Dutch Catholics in the early seventeenth century, both in the Low Countries and in exile, participated in local and transnational networks to promote and consolidate their faith. It also provides insight in the interconnectedness of the political and religious conflicts in the Low Countries and the Holy Roman Empire, in particular with regard to the ways in which individuals felt involved and tried to influence these events.Show less
