Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt (review)

In the last decade, the interpretation of the Dutch Revolt as a trigger for modernity and as a triumph of political and religious freedom has been falling apart. Instead, the conflict is now regarded as a civil war, with recurrent reminiscences of medieval traditions of dissent and striking similarities to the contemporary French civil wars. Subscribing to this newer analysis, Peter Arnade offers a cultural history of the beginning years of the revolt, starting with the iconoclastic fury in 1566 and ending with the fall of Antwerp in 1585. While bringing together varied sources such as pamphlets, engravings, ballads, chronicles, and court correspondence, the book offers much more than a mere reconstruction of the “political culture” of the conflict. Overall, it clarifies the rapidly shifting allegiances during this initial phase of the Revolt, when identities of the insurgents were reshaped over and again by blending and re-enacting fragments of tradition, rituals, and symbols. Fortunately, the focus on political culture never rules out religious motivations, even if the main argument concentrates on the antagonism between princely lordship and civic republicanism.

After a panorama of the dilemma of authority and dissent in the Burgundian-Habsburg Netherlands, the author carefully analyzes how in 1566 iconoclast rioters in the Netherlands seized upon existing politics of inversion to express religious convictions, political protest, and socioeconomic discontent (chap. 3). This “taste for protest through inversion” (p. 124) was subject to regional differences: in Ypres rioters appropriated the festive days of local Mary devotion, in Antwerp they purloined the sacred space of the cathedral, and in Ghent the historical references to the punishment by Emperor Charles V (chap. 4).The ensuing Habsburg repression and exemplary punishments carried out by Alba, however, had the reverse effect: The insurgents succeeded in presenting themselves as the defenders of the “old order” and the duke as the usurper of royal privileges (chap. 5). Much in the same way, the mutinies, sacks, and rapes by the royal army were inverted to represent the uprising cities as the real protectors of constitutionalism and civic patriotism (chap. 6).This shift in representation and propaganda enabled the rise of Prince William of Orange to the position of Father of the Fatherland—the only leader able to bridge princely, patriotic, and civic loyalties at the same time (chap. 7). Nonetheless, even the Abjuration of Philip II in 1581 did not bring consensus on the dilemma of authority among the insurgents. In any case, the reconquista of Farnese did make clear that the Habsburg dynasty still attached uttermost importance “to Burgundian triumph and Catholic reconsecration” (p. 324). Some readers might find it disappointing that the author reiterates the traditional sharp polarization between the Habsburg repression and the rebel uprising, whereas in the last decades several historians have pointed to the existence of large political and religious “middle groups,” peace seekers, and loyal opposition. Their political actions sparked a stream of attempts at reconciliation, peace negotiations, and even amnesty-like measures, of which no track is to be found in this account. Nevertheless, the book shows that the political culture of the rebels proved to be a determining factor for the success of the Dutch Revolt.