History of the Netherlands (Holland and Belgium) Alexander Young 1899 The Werner Company, Akron Ohio
Before the decease of Charles V, the Netherlands were mainly Catholic and thus the Inquisition did not have a very drastic impact on people’s lives in general. However, with the rapid spread of Calvinism in the early years of the reign of Phillip II his son, its scope widened vastly. The Edicts of 1521 had banned all preaching or practice of the reformed religion, even in private dwellings, and this power was now brought into full swing. Now in the 1550s, the greatest of the Inquisitors was Peter Titelmann, a man described by his contemporaries as being of a demon-like Goblin temperament, knowing neither fear nor mercy.[2]
The people, protesting against the introductions of the Spanish Inquisitions in direct abeyance of all their charters and the oaths of Philip on his succession, were tranquilly told by that monarch that it was a Flemish, not a Spanish, Inquisition. Indeed, Philip had no cause to rue the fact that he had been unable to bring in the system of his own country, himself saying, “Wherefore introduce the Spanish inquisition? The inquisition of the Netherlands is much more pitiless than that of Spain." [1][3]
In fact the new Inquisition was an extraordinarily efficient system; the highest court in the land, it bypassed all common forms of justice, was without the option of appeal, and spared neither rich nor poor. It had the unlimited ability from the king to arrest, torture and execute at will. The powers invested in the Inquisition had been ratified by Philip in the first month of his reign. There were hundreds of cases in these early days of luckless individuals being dragged from their families and subjected to the most gruesome tortures, before being burnt alive at the stake, were they of the masculine sex, or buried alive in the case of women.[1]
Eventually, Flemmings became increasingly antipathetic towards the institution, but the resistance was initially impotent, its members being arrested for heretics. Titelmann himself averred that his person was comparatively safe, as he had to do only with “the innocent and virtuous, who make no resistance, and let themselves be taken like lambs”.[1]
Eventually the spirit of national resistance overcame this obstacle, and the inquisition was effectively withdrawn in 1564, but the troubles of these times did not pass until the lapse of nearly a century, and the end of the Eighty Years’ War.
