1577 - Confusion in Belgium
The cities of Belgium which were free from the domination of Spain were all more or less subject to the most violent political agitations, the bad effects of which were not lightened, but rather increased, by being mixed up with the prevailing religious differences of the times. The evils of this state of public feeling displayed themselves more extensively, and during a longer period, in the city of Ghent, the capital of the province of West Flanders, than in any other part of the Netherlands. The persecutions of the Spaniards had driven the Flemings to a state of frenzy, which destroyed the exercise of reflection. Hatred to Spain begat hatred to that which Spain most cherished, the Catholic religion; and it is not to be wondered that the lower classes in the cities should, from passion rather than from reason, have taken part with those more intelligent persons who had embraced the Protestant religion; and it must be added, that the persons who envied the property of the convents and churches, and who were anxious to seize upon that wealth and convert it to their own use, vastly augmented the adherents of the Protestant party.
In Ghent, two men had taken advantage of these circumstances, and thereby gained an unbounded and most noxious ascendancy over the public mind. John de Hembyse is described by Vandervynkt as a man descended from a junior branch of a good family, educated, fluent and even eloquent, and well informed on every subject relating to his own country; but, on the other hand, a skeptic, destitute of morals, capable of assuming any character either sacred or profane, impatient of all control, and treating with contempt all who were in superior stations. Besides these qualities, his history shows that he was bold, despotic, and imperious in prosperity, but did not exhibit the same courage in adversity. The other, Francis de Kethulle, lord of Ryhove, was also of a distinguished family, but of a character similar to Hembise, only much more violent and imprudent; but those qualities were somewhat checked by his adherence to the Prince of Orange, whose calm wisdom exercised at times some influence on his conduct.
These two men, with all the qualifications necessary for demagogues, were allied with many of the respectable families of the city, among whom they gained some partisans; but their chief adherents were furnished in part by the burghers, and by almost all the mere populace. Though afterwards they differed, at first they acted in concert; and as they most vehemently preached nothing but liberty, they were soon regarded by the populace as the heroes and the liberators of their country. The Duke of Arschot had been appointed governor of the city, with the approbation of the Prince of Orange; and, though opposed by both the demagogues, he was seated in the dignity. He had drawn to him as a council the Bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high bailiffs of Ghent and Courtray, and the governor of Oudenarde, and other eminent magistrates.
While they were assembled in council, the popular leaders collected a force of the lower classes, and, without even allowing him to dress himself, led him away to prison. They then seized the arsenal, armed the population, and soon had under their command a body of 20,000 well-armed and resolute men. The constitution of the city was changed, and the public treasury was seized upon, by the new rulers, who assumed the title of consuls; Ryhove being placed in the command of the military, and Hembise at the head of the civil power. The two consuls then nominated eighteen of their own partisans, to whom was entrusted the supreme power of what they denominated the republic. The several guilds were ordered to elect officers, amongst whom the ranks of colonels, captains, and other grades, were distributed; and the more wealthy and respectable inhabitants were excluded from any participation in power.
The influence of the other states of Belgium, headed by the Prince of Orange, was ineffectual in checking the violent proceedings of the city, further than in procuring the release of the imprisoned duke. The two heads of the democracy fortified the city, and thus gave employment to the poor, and extracted from the rich the means of paying them. The rich abbeys and other religious houses were plundered, the occupiers turned out destitute, and the buildings converted into barracks for the troops and laborers. Whilst one of the consuls ruled in the city, the other issued forth with detachments of troops, laid waste the surrounding country, and subjected several of the towns in the vicinity to the horrid despotism exercised in the name of liberty.
While these negotiations were in progress, the Prince of Parma on his side was active and acute, and contrived to enter into treaties with some of the leading inhabitants of those cities in Flanders which had hitherto resisted the Spanish dominion. By various measures, applied in various ways, he obtained possession, first of Ypres, and afterwards of Bruges and some other places, by which he was enabled to cut off the supply of stores and provisions from Ghent. He then formed a camp sufficiently near to complete the blockade. Scarcity soon appeared, and was followed by almost absolute famine. Agitations and factions reigned in the city; yet, by flattering reports of succors expected, the orators of the populace were for a time enabled to delay surrendering.
But at length a capitulation was agreed to in September 1584. The terms were, that in future the Catholic worship alone should he performed, and no other be tolerated; that all who chose to do so should be allowed two years to dispose of their property and to leave the city; that the clergy should be established in their property as before the troubles, and the city should pay as a contribution the sum of two hundred thousand florins, and allot quarters to the troops. A few of the most violent of the partisans were excepted from the general indemnity. At first the number of exceptions were limited to six, and then reduced to three; but these persons were, after an imprisonment of a few weeks, liberated, and allowed to depart from the city.
During the operations against Ghent, the Prince of Parma had begun his preparations for the most important of all his military designs, the capture of Antwerp. With this view his army was gradually drawn around it, and a camp formed at Bevern, near the city. As a part of the preparation for this object, it was necessary to menace the large cities of the province of Brabant which still repudiated the Spanish power, such as Brussels and Mechlin, and to seize upon those which were less formidable. Parma took first Vilvorde, and then Willebrocke; and the capture of these places soon caused scarcity to be felt in the cities. Brabant, now so well cultivated and fertile, had suffered most severely during the troubles; and, for some months after the last harvest, whatever could be obtained was conveyed to the city of Antwerp, to provide against the impending siege by the one party, or to furnish the army destined to attack it by the other.
Brussels first felt the misery of famine, and the interception of a convoy destined to supply its wants raised the discontent of the inhabitants to such a height, that Temple, an English officer in command of the garrison, and the civil governor, were obliged to send deputies to the camp of the Prince of Parma to treat for the surrender. A capitulation was signed on the 10th of March 1585, the garrison retired, and the inhabitants submitted to Spain. The same causes produced the same effects a few weeks afterwards in the city of Mechlin and the smaller fortified town of Brabant; and thus, Maestricht having been captured five years before, the whole of the ten southern provinces of the Netherlands, except the city of Antwerp, were subjected, after a most vehement struggle of twenty years’ duration, to their former cruel and intolerant sovereign.
