Habsburg period

The Habsburg Netherlands was a name for the Low Countries during the time when they were ruled by monarchs from the House of Habsburg. This period started in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1795.
The term Habsburg Netherlands has been used in two senses. At first it referred to a period when all the Netherlands had a Habsburg overlord. Later, when only the Southern Netherlands fell under the House of Habsburg, it became a synonym for 'Southern Netherlands'.
Since the accession of King Philip II of Spain in 1555, people also speak of the Spanish Netherlands. Until 1581, this also applied to all Seventeen Provinces, but in that year the northern provinces separated themselves. After a partial Spanish reconquest, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was also internationally recognized as independent at the Peace of Münster in 1648. The Spanish Netherlands thus also became a synonym for the Southern or Habsburg Netherlands, ruled by the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg. In 1713 they fell to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg and were often called the Austrian Netherlands (Latin: Belgium Austriacum) until 1795, sometimes also referred to as the Imperial Netherlands because the Habsburg ruler was usually also emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, to which these countries belonged. belong anyway. These were then annexed by the First French Republic together with the Northern Republic.

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Concessio Carolina 30 April 1540 / Noose Bearers

With the so-called Concessio Carolina of April 30, 1540, Charles V put an end to the power of the guilds and punished the town regents by having them barefoot in a penitent and with a noose around their neck asking forgiveness for their actions. That's why people from Ghent are still called noose bearers. He had some of them executed.

At the court of his aunt Margaret, Charles was practically educated from 1507 onwards by Willem II van Croÿ, lord of Chièvres and Adriaan van Utrecht, later Pope Adrian VI. In addition to the classical knightly skills, such as sword fighting and hunting, they also tried to teach him the new humanistic ideals, but the young Karel was less interested in that. Grand Chancellor Jean le Sauvage taught him the principles of politics and administration.

At the Burgundian court, French was the language of communication, making it Charles's mother tongue. For daily interaction he had also learned Diets or Nederduits, the language of his subjects in the Netherlands. During his first trip to Spain, he also learned Spanish. According to tradition, in later years he would have said: I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and Low German to my horse.

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Columbus 1451-1506 / Amerika 1492

Christoffel Columbus (Italiaans Cristoforo Colombo, Spaans Cristóbal Colón, Portugees Cristóvão Colombo, Latijn Christophorus Columbus; Genua, 1451 – Valladolid, 20 mei 1506) is de beroemdste ontdekkingsreiziger uit het tijdperk van de grote ontdekkingen. Hij maakte naam door zijn 'ontdekking' van Amerika onder Spaanse vlag in 1492.

Pope Adrian VI (1459 –1523)
1490-1515 Professor, vice chancellor, rector as well as canon and dean[Edit] edit source text]
Adrianus' ecclesiastical career began with his ordination as a priest on 30 June 1490. He was affiliated with the Groot Begijnhof and sat in the chapter of St. Peter's Church in Leuven. In addition, from 1492 to 1507 he became pastor extra locum, that is to say: without living there, of Goedereede and Ouddorp on Westvoorn. He was also connected as a canon with the chapter of the Church of Our Lady in Antwerp, that of Anderlecht and of Utrecht. In 1497 he became dean of St. Peter's Church in Leuven and therefore also vice-chancellor of the university.[7] Due to the frequent absence of the chancellor, this was a very important position.
As a professor he published two theological works: the Quaestiones Sententiarum and the Quaestiones Quodlibeticae.[8] These works were reprinted at the University of Paris and led to contacts with the then Pope Julius II on theological questions.
He was also rector there twice (in 1493 and 1500-1501 respectively). In 1515 he left the University of Louvain (see below).

He made a name for himself through his edifying and pious lifestyle. This quality led to Emperor Maximilian I appointing him in 1507 as educator and one of the tutors of his then 7-year-old grandson Prince Charles, later Emperor Charles V, also grandson of Ferdinand II of Aragon,[4] who died a year earlier. monarch of most of the Dutch provinces. Karel stayed at the ducal castle of the Keizersberg in Leuven with his aunt Margaret of Austria, together with his young brother Ferdinand. Adrianus taught the young Karel there. Later, the friendship that then developed with Charles would prove to be an obstacle to the reconciliation of the French king Francis I of France with Charles.
 

In the late summer of 1515, Boeyens was appointed by Pope Leo X as papal commissioner (supervisor) of the trade in dyke indulgences, an innovation of the young ruler Charles V. Under his supervision, churches were designated where believers could obtain the indulgences. He also had to ensure that no abuse was made of the trade in indulgences and that the collected funds would reach their ultimate goal: 1/3 was for the Vatican for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, 2/3 part went to the treasury of Charles V with the intended purpose of improving the dikes.

In 1512, after the death of Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic King Ferdinand II of Aragon had made a will in which he appointed his namesake Ferdinand, Charles' brother, as regent and successor. For Karel, much was at stake: the loss of the Spanish lands, the two Sicilies and America.
Karel asked Adrian if he would try to have the will changed and make Karel an heir. In 1515 Adrian left for Spain, where he was received with suspicion by Ferdinand of Aragon. It is not clear how the negotiations went. Some sources claim that Adrianus was famous for his negotiating skills. He would have done a good job now too. Other sources claim the opposite. According to them, many were disappointed with the results that had been achieved and they therefore accused him of clumsiness and incompetence. However, this was his first diplomatic experience.

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Desiderius Erasmus van Rotterdam
Erasmus owes his first name to the saint Erasmus van Formiae, who was popular in the 15th century,[2] of whom his father Gerard was also a devout worshipper.[note 1] That he was first called Geert Geerts (also Gerhard Gerhards or Gerrit Gerritsz) ,[3] is a legend that only originated in the 17th century.[4] His birthplace is Rotterdam, but a well-known wooden bust shows Goudæ conceptus, Roterodami natus (Latin: begotten in Gouda; born in Rotterdam). According to a note by the Gouda historian Renier Snooy (1478-1537), Erasmus is said to have been born in Gouda. However, Erasmus himself wrote (in Latin) that he was born in Rotterdam.
Erasmus was an illegitimate child; at that time one spoke of a defectus natalis. His father, whom he calls Gerardus, was a priest in Gouda and his mother his housekeeper. Erasmus's mother, Margaretha, whose family name would have been Rogerius (Rutgers), was the daughter of a surgeon from Zevenbergen. His father Gerardus was the second youngest of ten brothers and it was decided that "out of so many one should be consecrated to God" – and he was.[5]
The mother probably spent her pregnancy in Rotterdam to hide the 'accident'. A year before Erasmus was born, his parents already had a child together: Pieter.
Erasmus lived in Rotterdam for three years and then left for Gouda. All his life he had to bear the idea of his illegitimate birth and the consequences of the 'spiritual' status in which he had been placed by his upbringing. It was not until around the age of fifty (1517) that Erasmus was released from the serious social consequences of his illegitimate birth thanks to a papal dispensation. He has played around with his life story quite a bit, using a surname that may have come from his mother's side in his letters to the pope. In doing so, he has mystified his childhood years and shrouded his year of birth with uncertainties.

Between 1473 and 1478 Erasmus was a pupil of the parish school - the forerunner of the Latin school and the Coornhert Gymnasium - in Gouda, where he was taught by his uncle Pieter Winckel, later vicar of the Sint-Janskerkhofkerk.[6] It is during this period that Erasmus in Utrecht, capital of the diocese of the same name, is said to have received lessons in music, among other things, from the singing master and composer Jacob Obrecht.
After 1478 he took lessons at the Latin school in Deventer, which was influenced in a humanistic sense by the Brothers of Common Life, which, with the Latin school in Zwolle, was known as the best educational institution in the northern Netherlands. He first received a typical medieval education with a relatively large amount of Latin. From 1483 the humanist Alexander Hegius was rector in Deventer. Hegius introduced an important curriculum innovation: he added Greek, a subject that until then had only been taught as a further specialization at universities (Leuven, Cologne). In this way, Erasmus received his first lessons in Greek. He also saw and heard Rudolf Agricola here, whom he continued to see as an example and inspiration throughout his life. Erasmus fled the city of Deventer in 1485 because of a plague outbreak. He continued his studies at the Latin school in 's-Hertogenbosch.
In 1487, under pressure from his guardians, Erasmus entered the Monastery of Emmaüs in Stein near Gouda. Here he wrote his declamatio (practice speech) and De contemptu mundi, a sincere plea for monastic life. Erasmus did not criticize the ideal, but he did criticize the petty rules and the curtailment of human freedom. A second youth work, published later, betrayed his extensive knowledge of ancient and humanistic literature. The theme is the relationship between profane literature and Christian piety, the book was titled Liber Antibarbarorum (Antibarbari). The work was probably created in the spring of 1495 in the castle of Halsteren in the village of Lepelstraat or the castle of Borgvliet in Bergen op Zoom, where he regularly stayed with friend Jacobus Battus (1465-1502).
The ordination of Erasmus to the priesthood on April 24, 1492 (feast day of the evangelist Marcus) by the then suffragan bishop Jan van Tiel in the Dom of Utrecht bound him more to the spiritual life, but also offered him more opportunities for study. He was given the opportunity to become chancellor (secretary) of Hendrik van Bergen, the archbishop of Cambrai. In order to make this possible and still remain a priest, partly because of his weak health and his studies, he was given a temporary dispensation from certain religious obligations, such as reading mass and leading masses – normally core tasks of a priest. Pope Leo X later made this dispensation permanent.
With permission and a stipend from Bishop Van Bergen, Erasmus was allowed to start a theological study in Paris in 1495. Education was dominated by the Scotists, scholastic theologians who lost themselves in endless sophistry which, according to Erasmus, had little in common with the basic Christian writings. Here he met the doyen of the Parisian humanists, Robert Gaguin. Because he also taught, he got to know many people.

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Quinten Metsys (Massijs), bronze medallion of 105 mm, made in 1519 on behalf of Erasmus

In England, where he stayed for six months, he came into contact with the son of the English king, the later Henry VIII, and with important humanists such as John Colet and Thomas More, the author of 'Utopia'. He taught at the University of Oxford. Back in Paris, in 1500 he wrote his first book, a collection of Adagia, proverbs. The first successful book in the young history of printing after a major setback: he was desperate for money after English customs officials confiscated all the English money in his luggage.
Humanist[edit | edit source text]

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In 1502, through the intercession of the theologian Adriaan Boeyens, later Pope Adrian VI, Erasmus was offered a post at the University of Louvain, which he did not accept. He specialized in translations from Greek.
In 1506 Erasmus left for Italy for three years. On his way back (to England) he wrote his Praise of Folly. By assuming a fool as speaker, he was able in this declamatio to mock the misplaced seriousness with which all men, regardless of profession, class, or position, pursued their own interests, and the grotesque shortsightedness with which they were ready to judge each other.

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The University of Basel (Switzerland), where Erasmus worked for several years
The copy of the Adagia reprint accidentally ended up with the Basel printer Johannes Froben. Erasmus liked his work so well that he traveled to Basel and there also wrote (translated) and published his two great philological works, the bilingual edition of the New Testament and his edition of the letters of the church father Jerome. On his return he was appointed councilor of Emperor Charles V and settled in the Netherlands (1516-1521), staying in Antwerp, Bruges, Leuven and Mechelen. In 1519 he had Quinten Metsys (Massijs) make a medal about himself in Antwerp; one of the earliest pennies made in the Netherlands. In 1521 he also lived in Anderlecht for some time, as a guest of his friend Pieter Wyckman.
During this 'Southern Netherlands period', Erasmus realized the plan of his friend Jeroen van Busleyden: the foundation of the Leuven Collegium Trilingue. This course would contribute to the dissemination of Erasmus' views on the study of the classical languages. He also devoted himself to the establishment of a modern priestly training in Leuven. His activities and writings were followed with suspicion by conservative clergy and theologians, and when in 1521 Erasmus' critics Jacques Masson and Nicolaas Baechem were appointed as inquisitors of the Low Countries, he fled to Basel.[7] In France he was investigated by the Inquisitor Noel Beda, who in 1527 presented a list of heresies to the Parliament of Paris. In 1529, Louis de Berquin, translator of Erasmus's works, was burned on the Place Maubert. In 1531 the circulation of Erasmus's books was banned in France, and in 1559 his name appeared in the Index librorum prohibitorum as "auctor damnatus" (convicted writer). References to him could no longer be made in books, and even in already printed books his name had to be made illegible.
Erasmus maintained an extensive correspondence with several prominent humanists, including Viglius. He spent the last years of his life in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany.

In 1535 he returned to Basel in Switzerland. There he died on July 12, 1536. His grave is in the Münster of Basel. His last words, according to tradition, were: 'Dear God'.

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​Maarten Luther

Martin Luther (German: Martin Luther) (10 November 1483 in Eisleben – 18 February 1546) was a German Protestant theologian and reformer. Beginning as an Augustinian friar (1506) who had received the sacrament of Holy Orders (1507), after his appointment in 1508 as professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, he developed into the leading personality of the Reformation in the German Empire. The formulation of his academic theses against the trade in indulgences in a letter to Archbishop Albrecht of Brandenburg on October 31, 1517, is the symbolic beginning of Protestantism. Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521.

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Anglican Schism 1534 (Henry VIII)
Already in the first centuries after Christ there is talk of an ordered church community with a bishop in London. From the nuclei in the north (Lindisfarne, York) and in the south (Salisbury, Canterbury) grew under Saint Augustine of Canterbury (597-604), founder of the Catholic Church in England, a (in today's terms) more national church federation, which focused strongly on Rome. The term "Ecclesia Anglicana" ("English Church") appears as early as the Magna Carta (1215).
The Genesis of the Anglican Church[edit | edit source text]
Thomas Cranmer at the stake
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556, Oxford) was the first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Kings Henry VIII and Edward VI.
In 1533 Cranmer brought about the annulment of the marriage between Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon and declared Henry's second marriage, to Anna Boleyn, valid. That same year, a new princess was born, Elizabeth I, and Cranmer was excommunicated by Pope Clement VII.

In 1533 Hendrik introduced the Act of Supremacy to parliament. This asks parliament to make Henry head of the church and thereby recognize that the king of England is the man who had the most power on earth, directly under God and therefore also the head of the Church of England.
As a first measure of the new head of the church, a more liberal marriage law was promulgated.
After that, the monastic orders were dissolved and Henry obliged the monks to remove the roofs of the churches and monasteries, so that they soon fell into disrepair. Hendrik confiscated the goods of the Catholic Church and those of the monasteries and congregations. The proceeds were for the English crown and for his close associates. The aversion that many Englishmen had of Rome played into his hands in all this.
One year later, in 1534, the Act of Supremacy was passed, establishing the Anglican Church as an independent institution.

Cranmer was pro-reform and encouraged new communities of Protestant refugees. He favored a rapid Protestantization of the Anglican Church and pursued a strongly anti-Roman course. The pope's universal authority was denied and in 1534 the link with Rome was severed. In that year, compulsory celibacy was also abolished.

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Theologically, Henry VIII was conservative and averse to reformational ideas. The liturgy therefore remained almost the same as that of the Roman Catholic Church. In these early days, therefore, there was much controversy about the internal positions of the 'new church' to be determined. The Protestants (Reformation) gained influence and relations with the Catholics were tense.
Hendriks lord chancellor Thomas More, who was also a prominent humanist scholar and friend of Erasmus, stubbornly opposed both the divorce of Catherine of Aragon and the break with Rome. However, this did not deter Hendrik from his plans.

Thomas More fell, was tried for high treason and beheaded in 1535. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was also arrested for opposing Henry; when the pope subsequently elevated Fisher to the rank of cardinal, he too ended up on the scaffold that same year.
There was some scattered Roman Catholic resistance, but those Catholics who accepted were left undisturbed. The Protestants, meanwhile, were severely persecuted. Later there was a little more rapprochement with the Protestants. Henry eventually lost the title 'Fidei defensor' granted by Rome and he was even excommunicated in 1538, but that title was again hereditarily awarded by the English Parliament to the crown prince, his 7-year-old son Eduard VI, in 1544. To this day, the English/British head of state bears this title, but not, as originally intended, as a defender of the Catholic faith, but of that of the Anglican Church, of which he/she is formally the head.

In 1548 Cranmer introduces the English Book of Common Prayer, which replaced the old Latin liturgy. He can be regarded as the founder of Anglican theology. Ultimately, the influences of the English Reformation led to a middle ground between Romanists and Protestants. The Anglican Church was born. Religious disputes will eventually lead to the English Civil War in the 17th century.
After Thomas Cranmer played an important political role during the short reign of Edward VI and Jane Grey, Mary Tudor came to power in 1553.
Its chief aim was to restore England to the Catholic Church, and it did not shy away from any means; thus she acquired the nickname 'Bloody Mary'. Many opponents were burned at the stake. Her campaign also led to Cranmer being tried as a heretic and sentenced to be burned at the stake. In the Anglican tradition he has thus acquired the status of a martyr and a kind of saint.
Ultimately, the influences of the English Reformation led to a middle way ("via media"), which positioned itself between Romanists and Puritans. Richard Hooker has been an influential theologian in this regard. In the tradition of the Church, therefore, she unites evangelical and Catholic elements of faith. She calls herself "catholic and reformed", one could also say "catholic but not roman". The religion follows the forms of the Church of England, as formulated especially in the Book of Common Prayer by Thomas Cranmer. The hierarchical order is typically Catholic, the freedom in beliefs, worship and the doctrine of justification are based rather on the Reformation. The Anglican Church has not known compulsory celibacy since 1534.
 

The Church of England today has approximately 13.4 million members.[1] The entire Anglican Communion is estimated to have approximately 85 million members.[2]
The "Church of England" with its two ecclesiastical provinces (York and Canterbury) forms a worldwide Anglican Communion with a large number of other Anglican churches. The legal independence and the lack of a formal teaching authority at the highest level can lead to tensions. For example, the Episcopal Church (the Anglican Church of the USA) caused great tension by ordaining a bishop who was ineligible for ordination by general Anglican standards. A special committee conducted extensive research and its recommendations in the so-called Windsor Report (2004) are now being studied worldwide and will probably lead to further regulations and/or measures in 2008 (Lambeth conference of all bishops).
In a larger context one can speak of other Churches that are Anglican in doctrine or liturgical tradition, but still form a separation from them, such as the Free Church of England (Free Church of England), or a number of "continuing churches" ) which arose, for example, out of dissatisfaction with the priestly ordination of women. The Traditional Anglican Communion is the best known of these.
 

After the King or Queen of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church. He does not have the same authority over his church as the Pope of Rome.
Two main schools of thought within the Anglican Church are the High Church, which has a "high" or objectifying doctrinal view of the nature of the Church and of the sacraments, and is more Catholic in doctrine, and the Lower Church ( Low Church), which has more evangelical and subjectivizing characteristics and, for example, strongly emphasizes the personal choice of faith.

The Anglican Church - like most denominations - has sacraments. To the extent that these are considered or not to be based on the Gospel, a distinction is made in the Anglican Church between the sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist are considered to be Evangelical sacraments, Confession, Marriage, Confirmation, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick as non-evangelical . It depends on the current within the Anglican Church how important the place of sacraments is within the liturgy. In the High Church, which is very similar in form to Catholicism, the sacraments play a more important role than in the Low Church, where preaching is more central.

Priesthood[edit | edit source text]
The priesthood or sacrament of ordination is similar to that of the Catholic Church. In the Anglican Church, too, the office of ordination has three degrees, namely that of deacon, presbyter and bishop. However, there are also differences. Since 1534, celibacy is no longer compulsory. In the 20th century, the office was also opened to women. That happened in steps. Women have been ordained as deacons since 1986, as priests since 1993 and as bishops since 2005.

Map of the dioceses of the Anglican Church in England.■ Ecclesiastical Province of York■ Ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury
The Anglican Church is organized into dioceses. The dioceses are united in an ecclesiastical province. Within an ecclesiastical province there is only one archdiocese whose archbishop is also automatically metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province. In addition, the Anglican Church also has suffragan bishops. These are bishops attached to a diocesan bishop, similar to the auxiliary bishops in the Catholic Church. Above that, the Anglican Church recognizes thirty-eight primates. They are the supreme body of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Some of these primaries are linked to a particular diocese, such as that of Canterbury. Others are not, such as Canada's primacy.

Belgium and the Netherlands[edit | edit source text]
In Belgium, the Church of England has an estimated 10,000 members, mainly concentrated in large cities such as Brussels and Antwerp.[3] The Church of England has approximately 30,000 members in the Netherlands. [source?] A total of 2,000 to 3,000 people come to the twelve Anglican churches in the Netherlands every week.
The Episcopal Church of the United States, the Anglican Church of America, has one parish in Waterloo.[4]

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The Seventeen Provinces 1543 - 1585
The Seventeen Provinces was a term used to designate the Habsburg Netherlands between approximately 1543 and 1585. After Emperor Charles V had annexed the Duchy of Guelders in 1543, a more or less continuous and rounded set of seigneuries had arisen.
Only in the southern part did the prince-bishopric of Liège and the abbey principality of Stavelot-Malmedy still form large enclaves, there were also numerous smaller enclaves such as Ravenstein and Culemborg, in addition to border regions such as the Cambrai and seigneury of Borculo. They belonged to the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Kreits.
Thus, through the Transaction of Augsburg (1548) and the Pragmatic Sanction (1549), the Habsburg territories were forged into a political unity within the Burgundian Kreits with a common succession under the House of Habsburg. This whole of Dutch regions has since been referred to as 'the Seventeen Provinces'. In summary, these were on October 25, 1555 during the abdication of Charles V as lord of the Dutch provinces:

1 county of Artois
2 County of Flanders
3 Lille-Flanders (the castellated rows of Lille, Dowaai and Orchies)
4 Glory of Mechelen
5 County of Namur
6 County of Hainaut
7 County of Zeeland
8 County of Holland
9 Duchy of Brabant (with Margraviate of Antwerp)
10 Duchy of Limburg and the lands of Overmaas
11 Duchy of Luxembourg
12 Tournai and Tournai (since 1521)
13 seigneury of Friesland (since 1524)
14 seigneury of Utrecht (since 1528)
15 seigneury of Overijssel, incl. Drenthe, Lingen, Wedde and Westwoldingerland (since 1528)
16 Glory of Groningen and Ommelanden (since 1536)
17 Duchy of Guelders and County of Zutphen (since 1543)[1]

However, the enumeration followed above was not entirely fixed. At one point, seventeen was the number of state representatives at the States General in Brussels and, partly because of the symbolic nature of that number, people kept calling it that. But the representations could sometimes change because a certain glory sometimes depended on another. For example, Zutphen belonged to Gelre and Limburg to Brabant. Charles V, however, held the title of Count of Zutphen as a separate province. On the other hand, the marquisate of Antwerp, Tournai or Rijsels-Vlaanderen sometimes had its own delegation.

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The Spanish Netherlands 1556-1715