Under the Cross
An Analysis of the Effects of the Duke of Alba’s Reign of Terror in the Netherlands (1567-1573) on the Calvinist Churches
The Reformation set off a series of conflicts that raged across Europe for many decades after Luther’s famed theses. In the Netherlands, Calvinist theology spread from John Calvin’s Geneva. The Reformed Church in the Netherlands was in her infancy and was experiencing oppression from the Catholic Spanish authorities. These churches began organizing themselves and establishing classes, church order, and doctrines.[1]
In this essay, I will showcase the scope and nature of the Spanish oppression, specifically by the Duke of Alba, and how the Calvinists were not deterred from their worship of God and the formulation of their church during Alba’s reign of tyranny. First, I will explain some geo-political aspects of the Calvinists in the mid-late 16th Century. I will summarize the life, achievements, and tyranny of the Duke of Alba and, finally, expand on the aforementioned ideas of how his oppression did little to suppress the church.
Geo-Political Context
During the mid-1500s, Calvinism spread throughout France and the Netherlands. Catholic monarchs oppressed both the French Huguenots and Dutch Calvinists. When King Philip II succeeded Charles V, he increased the persecution of Protestants. The Dutch did not favour Philip[2] and were especially fond of suppressing heresy throughout his kingdom.
The Calvinist church was growing, and by 1566, some larger Calvinist churches were beginning to move into the open and preach publicly.[3] The churches were growing due to organization and an influx of Walloon churches and Huguenots fleeing oppression in France.[4] Margaret of Parma seemed successful in her oppression of the Calvinists. Yet, the churches remained[5], and resistance swelled against her. By 1566, pamphlets and placards were published about resisting the Inquisition. In a dramatic act of resistance, Netherlanders of all stripes began to tear down statues and icons in blatant revolt against the Catholics.[6] The church was growing, and the Calvinists were beginning to assert their desire for religious liberty in the Low Countries.
The Iron Duke[7]
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the Duke of Alba, was born at Piedrahita[8] on October 29, 1507.[9] The de Toledo family was a historic and noble family within the Spanish kingdom with a strong military history. Alba became a successful military commander by age fourteen and served Emperor Charles V in his battles against the French. Most of his life was spent on or near the battlefield. When Philip II became king of Spain, Fernando was appointed Governor of Milan and Commander in Italy.[10] During his military conquests, Alba became known for his superior militaristic intellect, ruthlessness, and dedication to the Catholic faith.[11]
When the beeldenstorm riots occurred throughout the Netherlands in 1566, Margaret of Parma struggled to suppress the Calvinists and wrote letters to Philip requesting aid.[12] Based on these letters, King Philip II and Alba regarded the iconoclasm and riots as rebellion[13]. They devised a plan to send Alba there with an army to root out the Protestants and restore order. The Low Countries were chaotic, with the armies of Margaret of Parma, William of Orange’s noblemen, and the Sea Beggars all creating and contributing to the unrest and conflict. The Dutch began to tire of unjust Spanish oppression, and Calvinist theology became common among the people. On August 22, 1567, Alba arrived in the Netherlands with an army of twelve thousand and the authority to remove as many Protestants as possible.[14] Alba spent six years in the Netherlands and was unsuccessful in restoring Catholic worship and eliminating the Calvinists; his rule “marked the most turbulent period of the Dutch Revolt.”[15]
The Duke of Alba’s reputation for his hatred of heresy and ruthlessness continued. Shortly after arriving and condemning the Calvinists to death, he specifically arrested the counts of Egmont and Hoorn, two Dutch noblemen and supposed leaders of the revolt, and executed them.[16] This angered the Dutch population and ended hopes of convivial relations between Alba and the Dutch nobles. In a letter from William I to the Netherlanders, he says, “Awake therefore and do not allow yourself to be further deceived by those totally false and vain promises…do all you can to obviate and resist such manifest and violent infringements of your privileges, such suppression of your liberties, such massacre of yourselves and ravishing of your possessions and to exert yourself to the utmost to chase away those foreign and tyrannical invaders.”[17]
Alba strategized to remove heresy and establish Spanish control by regulating public spaces, reasserting Catholic religious services, and establishing a court to punish wrongdoers.[18] His notable works that resulted in his failed mission were the Council of Troubles and the Tenth-Penny Tax. The Council of Troubles quickly became known as the ‘Blood Council’ because of the number of deaths it wrought. The Tenth Penny Tax[19] was a sales tax that sought to gain profits from every transaction in the Netherlands to fund his conquest. King Philip was spending far beyond his means at this time, and Alba’s work in the Netherlands was the most expensive.[20]
William of Orange, the leading nobleman, emerged as the leader of the Netherlanders and fought to resist Alba. Due to the harshness of Alba’s rule, few were willing to resist, but William gathered an army of Germans and French Huguenots.[21] In 1572, Orange launched his attack against Alba, and the end was near. After a season of fierce fighting, Alba was recalled and eventually departed the Low Countries on December 18, 1573. The estimated total deaths under Alba’s tyranny ranged from six to eighteen thousand souls.
Alba continued his military career in Spain’s war against Portugal. While he is remembered as a keen military strategist, he is most commonly known for his harsh tyranny in the Netherlands and the reason for Spain’s loss of the region. Alba died in Lisbon on December 11, 1582.[22]
How God’s Church Fared Under Oppression
Determining whether the Dutch Revolt was religious, economic, or political is near impossible. [23] However, just as all elements (religious, economic, and political) of oppression were centred within one man, namely the Duke of Alba, the multi-faceted resistance was also centred in a singular figure, William of Orange. Orange, like many of his countrymen, left the Netherlands to escape the tyranny, but returned later to liberate the Netherlands.
William of Orange[24] represented a common ethos among the Netherlanders; he was protestant, patriotic, and stately.[25] Orange resisted Alba’s rule because it was unjust against the historical practices of the Netherlands. Further, as his theology developed, he felt it impossible to live as a protestant among such oppression. While his letters show that he was submissive to the will of God, he sought mainly for the good of the Netherlanders and not for the ill of the Spaniards. Orange maintained a strong conviction in the Lord[26] and never wavered from his newfound protestant convictions. However, William of Orange, and indeed the wider Calvinist leaders[27], sought to enjoy liberty so they could practice their faith in public while still submitting to the rule of the King.
This strong conviction to maintain doctrine and the church is echoed in the minutes of Acts of the Synod, 1571[28]. This synod was held during the oppression of Alba. There is a singular mention of the oppression in the entire document, “The Heer van St. Aldegonde [Marnix van Sinte Aldegonde] shall be asked on behalf of this synod to write an account of recent events in the Low Countries…”[29] While many of the churches and ministers present were scattered outside of the Low Countries for fear of persecution, they maintained their duty and conviction to maintain the ministry of word and deed in the church.
Conclusion
The Duke of Alba remains an important figure in the history of the Reformed Church. While he is most definitely not a hero, his six-year reign of terror lives in infamy, as his efforts to dispel and suppress the Calvinists were entirely in vain despite the significant loss of life. It is a remarkable testimony to the resolve and will of the 16th Century Netherlanders to commit themselves so bravely to such a horrid enemy and unite as a common people for the liberty of their seventeen provinces.
Spain’s oppression of the Calvinists did very little to erase them from the earth or discourage them. Instead, it seemed to strengthen their resolve and trust in God's providence and lay the necessary groundwork for a Reformed church that still exists to glorify God today.
Bibliography
“Acts of the Synod of the Netherlands Churches Both under the Cross and Scattered through Germany and East Friesland, Held at Emden, 4 October 1571.” University of Leiden. Accessed April 8, 2024. https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/english/sources/Pages/15711004.aspx.
BENEDICT, PHILIP. Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed. Yale University Press, 2002. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1nph3x.
Burkholder, Suzanne Hiles. “Philip II of Spain (1527?1598).” In Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, edited by Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer, 2nd ed., 5:218–19. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2008. https://link-gale-com.lib-proxy.calvin.edu/apps/doc/CX3078904366/GVRL?u=lom_calvincoll&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=7615eabd.
“Duke of Alba.” In Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., 1:103–4. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004. https://link-gale-com.lib-proxy.calvin.edu/apps/doc/CX3404700099/GVRL?u=lom_calvincoll&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=2f6678fa.
HARRELD, DONALD J. “Dutch Revolt (1568?1648).” In Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, 2:209–15. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. https://link-gale-com.lib-proxy.calvin.edu/apps/doc/CX3404900325/GVRL?u=lom_calvincoll&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=185c326a.
Kamen, Henry. The Duke of Alba. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2004.
Kleyn, Diana, Joel R. Beeke, and Richard Newton. Reformation Heroes: A Simple, Illustrated Overview of People Who Assisted in the Great Work of the Reformation. 2nd ed., with Study questions. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2009.
Kossmann, E. H., and Albert Fredrik Mellink. Texts Concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
MALTBY, WILLIAM S. “Alba, Fernando �lvarez De Toledo, Duke of (Also Alva; 1507?1582).” In Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, 1:31–32. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004. https://link-gale-com.lib-proxy.calvin.edu/apps/doc/CX3404900028/GVRL?u=lom_calvincoll&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=bb5a2145.
Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources: Including the Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013.
Thea B. Van Halsema. Three Men Came to Heidelberg and Glorious Heretic: The Story of Guido de Brès. Third Printing. I.D.E.A. Ministries, 1963.
[1] “Acts of the Synod of the Netherlands Churches Both under the Cross and Scattered through Germany and East Friesland, Held at Emden, 4 October 1571” (University of Leiden), accessed April 8, 2024, https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/english/sources/Pages/15711004.aspx.
[2] DONALD J. HARRELD, “Dutch Revolt (1568?1648),” in Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, ed. Jonathan Dewald, vol. 2 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004), 209–15.
[3] PHILIP BENEDICT, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed (Yale University Press, 2002), 178.
[4] Ibid, 180.
[5] The historical account of Margaret of Parma and Guido de Brès is well summarized and dramatized in Thea B. Van Halsema, Three Men Came to Heidelberg and Glorious Heretic: The Story of Guido de Brès, Third Printing (I.D.E.A. Ministries, 1963).
[6] PHILIP BENEDICT, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed (Yale University Press, 2002), 180.
[7] Diana Kleyn, Joel R. Beeke, and Richard Newton, Reformation Heroes: A Simple, Illustrated Overview of People Who Assisted in the Great Work of the Reformation, 2nd ed., with study questions (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2009), 137.
[8] A town in the province of Avila, equidistant between the modern border of Portugal and the city of Madrid.
[9] Biographic information is comes mainly from WILLIAM S. MALTBY, “Alba, Fernando �lvarez De Toledo, Duke of (Also Alva; 1507?1582),” in Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, ed. Jonathan Dewald, vol. 1 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004), 31–32, “Duke of Alba,” in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004), 103–4, and Henry Kamen, The Duke of Alba (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2004).
[10] “Duke of Alba,” in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004), 103–4.
[11] He was known for his hatred of heresy. WILLIAM S. MALTBY, “Alba, Fernando �lvarez De Toledo, Duke of (Also Alva; 1507?1582),” in Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, ed. Jonathan Dewald, vol. 1 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004), 31–32.
[12] Peter Arnade, Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt (Cornell University Press, 2008), 167.
[13] WILLIAM S. MALTBY, “Alba, Fernando �lvarez De Toledo, Duke of (Also Alva; 1507?1582),” in Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, ed. Jonathan Dewald, vol. 1 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004), 31–32.
[14] Diana Kleyn, Joel R. Beeke, and Richard Newton, Reformation Heroes: A Simple, Illustrated Overview of People Who Assisted in the Great Work of the Reformation, 2nd ed., with study questions (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2009) 136.
[15] Peter Arnade, Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt (Cornell University Press, 2008), 168.
[16] Ibid, 52.
[17] E. H. Kossmann and Albert Fredrik Mellink, Texts Concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 86-88.
[18] Peter Arnade, Beggars, Iconoclasts, and Civic Patriots: The Political Culture of the Dutch Revolt (Cornell University Press, 2008), 168-169.
[19] Ibid, 203.
[20] Suzanne Hiles Burkholder, “Philip II of Spain (1527?1598),” in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, ed. Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer, 2nd ed., vol. 5 (Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2008), 218–19.
[21] DONALD J. HARRELD, “Dutch Revolt (1568?1648),” in Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, ed. Jonathan Dewald, vol. 2 (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004), 209–15.
[22] “Duke of Alba,” in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004), 103–4.
[23] E. H. Kossmann and Albert Fredrik Mellink, Texts Concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008).
[24] William of Orange seems to be a clear example of the mindset of the Dutch Calvinists. They were resolute in their convictions, willing to submit to the king on civic matters and die for the freedom of religious practice.
[25] Ibid, 15.
[26] William of Orange wrote these words in a letter addressed to the inhabitants of the Netherlands on September 1, 1568, just one year and nine days after the arrival of the Duke of Alba, “We and the other seigniors and brethren who sought and are seeking only to serve God…” Ibid, 85.
[27] This is seen in the introduction to de Brès’ confession, “To protest against this cruel oppression, and to prove to the persecutors that the adherents of the Reformed faith were not rebels, as was laid to their charge, but law-abiding citizens who professed the true Christian doctrine according to the Holy Scriptures, de Brès prepared this confession in the year 1561. In the following year a copy was sent to King Philip II, together with an address in which the petitioners declared that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire,” rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession.” Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources: Including the Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013), 25. This same theme is present in the Calvinist minister Francis Junius’ 1566 letter to King Philip advocating for religious liberty. E. H. Kossmann and Albert Fredrik Mellink, Texts Concerning the Revolt of the Netherlands (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 56-59.
[28] “Acts of the Synod of the Netherlands Churches Both under the Cross and Scattered through Germany and East Friesland, Held at Emden, 4 October 1571” (University of Leiden), accessed April 8, 2024, https://dutchrevolt.leiden.edu/english/sources/Pages/15711004.aspx.
[29] Ibid, Article 48.