INTRODUCTION

As was indicated by the momentous decision of the Antwerp synod in 1566 to approve armed resistance against the government, the vehemence of the Wingean disputes, the repudiation of the 1568 London theses by Marnix van St Aldegonde and Pneumenander's appeal to the Joyous Entry of Brabant, in the justification of the resistance against the government of Philip II arguments based on the rights and privileges of the Low Countries began to play an eminent role in the 1560s.

This chapter reconstructs the political justification of the Dutch Revolt. The focus is on the articulation of the political right of resistance against Philip II, which finally led to his abjuration as lord of the Dutch Provinces.

THE EARLY PROTESTS OF THE 1560S

On 5 April 1566 about 300 nobles marched through the streets of Brussels. The impressive procession was heading for the court of Margaret of Parma, where they offered the famous Petition to the governess. The Petition was an initiative of the so-called Compromise, a group of nobles whose main objective was to save the Low Countries from falling under the yoke of the Inquisition. As the constitutive document of the Compromise argued, a number of foreigners, driven by private avarice and ambition, had misled the king and, under the pretension of protecting the Roman Catholic religion, had introduced the Inquisition. This form of ‘barbarism’ exceeded the worst acts of tyranny.