THE HISTORY OF BELGIUM 411567 The Duke of Alba
sets up the Council of
Troubles to eradicate
Protestantism and dissent1610–11 Rubens, back
from Italy, launches his
career in Antwerp with
Raising of the Cross
for the cathedral1601–04 Archduke Albert
lays siege to Oostende to
oust the geuzen1598 Isabella and Albert
are installed as rulers of
the Netherlands and run a
strong anti-Protestant regime1577 Birth of
Peter Paul
RubensThe Triumph of the Archduchess Isabella, by Dennis van Alsloot, detailing a procession through Brussels in 16151560 1580 1600
doing so, he fractured the empire’s
unity, leaving the Holy Roman Empire
to his brother Ferdinand and all other
dominions, which included the Low
Countries, to his devoutly Catholic
son, Philip II of Spain. Philip’s perse-
cution of Protestants finally sparked
the Revolt of the Netherlands (the
Eighty Years’ War), led by the House
of Orange. Protestant rebel leaders
were mockingly labelled gueux or
geuzen (beggars), but the “sea beg-
gars” started an effective campaign of
naval raids that disrupted shipping.
Protestant iconoclasts made their mark
by smashing and vandalizing church
decorations that offended their sense
of spiritual purity. A wealth of medie-
val sculptures, paintings and treasures
were destroyed during this time.
The Duke of Alba, Governor of the
Netherlands, responded
with a campaign of harsh
retribution, in which he
was assisted by the much
feared Inquisition. Some
8,000 death sentences
were issued; among the
victims were two concilia-
tory negotiators, the counts
Hornes and Egmont, who
were executed in Brussels’s
Grand Place in 1568.Protestant forces gained ground in the
1570s, until troops loyal to Spain and
led by the Duke of Parma regained
control over 1578–85. Philip’s ambi-
tion to crush Protestantism was only
curbed when the English defeated the
Spanish Armada in 1588.THE COUNTER-REFORMATION
In 1598, Philip’s daughter, Isabella,
and her husband, the Archduke
Albert, became rulers of the Spanish
Netherlands. Their war on Protestants
caused tens of thousands to flee north
across the Scheldt estuary to the
United Provinces of the Netherlands,
which had declared independence
from Spain in 1585. The Low Countries
had essentially split along this reli-
gious divide. Peace intervened briefly
after 1609 as, launched by the Council
of Trent, the Counter-
Reformation turned the
tide for Catholicism.
Isabella and Albert over-
saw a glorious rise in the
prosperity of the Spanish
Netherlands. This was
reflected in the dyna-
mism and swagger of
the work of their court
painter Rubens, and his
fellow artists in Antwerp.Philip II (1527–98) in 1628, an
oil on canvas by RubensDetail from Rubens’s
Raising of the CrossFernando Alvarez, Duke of Alba (1507–82)1568–1648
The Eighty
Years’ War