History and Antiquities of Dutch Catholicism in Jacobus de la Torre’s 1656 Relatio seu descriptio status religionis Catholicae in Hollandia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Created to provide the papal curia with an update on Catholicism in the nominally Protestant Dutch Republic, the 1656 Relatio seu descriptio status religionis Catholicae in Hollandia of Jacobus de la Torre, the third apostolic vicar of the Holland Mission, offers far more than an administrative report. Through an extensive series of historical digressions, he sets up a detailed account of the history of the Holland Mission, chronicling not only its recent political and religious history, but also inventorying its historical heritage. Drawing inspiration from contemporary secular historiography, de la Torre thus creates a “national history” of the Holland Mission that not only celebrates the religious heritage of Dutch Catholicism, but also deftly mobilises history to influence ongoing church-political debates. Using historical arguments, he sets the Holland Mission up as the legitimate successor of the Archdiocese of Utrecht and defines relations between various groups of clerics active in its territories.