The civic militia in the County of Holland, 1560-81. Politics and public order in the Dutch Revolt

Abstract

The social history of the Revolt of the Netherlands remains relatively unexplored. This is especially so in the northern provinces where archives are fewer, and society was less complex than the south. Yet it was in the 'backward' north that a new state, the Dutch Republic, was created and the local history of its core-province, Holland, is of particular interest. It is difficult to study the towns of Holland without feeling that though a certain amount can be learned about the patrician elite including the 'vroedschappen', or councils, the social levels below them are obscure. Yet the political developments of 1560-81 cannot be understood without some reference to these lower groups. Historians have consistently recognised that the attitude of the civic militia in particular was decisive in the iconoclastic riots of 1566 and the revolution of 1572 in Holland, but no detailed study of these bodies has previously been undertaken. The militia were in theory, the only force available to the patricians to maintain their authority against internal and external threats. In 1566 and 1572 it was vital to know how far the magistrates could rely on them. In this sense, the magistrates were confronted by various demands from above, they faced the central