Geuzen
Geuzen (Dutch pronunciation:
Origin of the name
The leaders of the nobles who signed a solemn league known as the Compromise of Nobles, by which they bound themselves to assist in defending the rights and liberties of the Netherlands against the civil and religious despotism of Philip II of Spain, were Louis of Nassau and Hendrick van Brederode. On 5 April 1566, permission was obtained for the confederates to present a petition of grievances, called the Request, to the regent, Margaret, Duchess of Parma. About 250 nobles marched to the palace accompanied by Louis of Nassau and Brederode. The regent was at first alarmed at the appearance of so large a body, but one of her councillors, Berlaymont, allegedly remarked "N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux" ("Fear not madam, they are only beggars").
The appellation was not forgotten. In a speech at a great feast held by some 300 confederates at the Hotel Culemburg three days later, Brederode declared that if need be they were all ready to become beggars in their country's cause. Henceforward the name became a party title. The patriot party adopted the emblems of beggary, the wallet and the bowl, as trinkets to be worn on their hats or their girdles, and a medal was struck having on one side the head of Philip II, on the other two clasped hands with the motto Fidèle au roy, jusqu'à porter la besace ("Loyal to the King, up to carrying the beggar's pouch"). The original league of Beggars was short-lived, crushed by Alba, but its principles survived and were to be ultimately triumphant.
In the Dutch language the word geuzennaam is used for linguistic reappropriation: a pejorative term used with pride by the people called that way.
"Sea Beggars"
In 1569
These
However, in 1572, Queen
In 1573 the Sea Beggars defeated a Spanish squadron under the command of
In 1574 the Sea Beggars, under Admiral Louis de Boisot participated in the lifting of the Siege of Leiden.
Some of the forefathers of the
Geuzen symbols
As part of a propaganda campaign including prints, pamphlets and much else, many
The "Geuzen" were expressing their anti-Spanish and anti-Catholic sentiments. They considered the Turks to be less threatening than the Spaniards. During the years between 1579 and 1582, representatives from Grand Vizier
There were, in fact, objective grounds for such an alliance. At the same time that the Dutch rebels were conducting their raids on Spanish shipping, the Ottoman Empire was involved in its own naval war with Spain, culminating in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto in Greece. For Spain to face a coordinated double-pronged naval challenge, by the Ottomans in the Mediterranean and the Dutch in north European waters, would be to the advantage of both of its foes.
The slogan Liever Turks dan Paaps seems to have been largely rhetorical, and their beggars medals in the form of a half moon were meant symbolically. The Dutch hardly contemplated life under the Sultan. Moreover, there was no direct contact between the Geuzen and the Turkish authorities. The Turks were considered infidels, and the heresy of Islam alone disqualified them from assuming a more central (or consistent) role in the rebels' propaganda.[9]
In popular culture
- The Geuzen are featured very prominently in Dutch and Flemish popular novels, such as Bob De Moor, Tijl Uilenspiegel and De Geuzen by Willy Vandersteen and Gilles de Geus by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit. In English they appear in Cecelia Holland's novel The Sea Beggars.
- During the German occupation of The Netherlands in 1940–1945 an anti-German resistance group in the area of Vlaardingen, Maassluis and Rotterdam adopted the name of Geuzen.
- The Sea Beggars are also a unique unit of the Dutch Empire in Civilization V.
- The Sea Beggar is the mascot of Providence Christian College.
Gallery
-
The Siege of Leiden
-
The Prince of Orange and Watergeuzen enter Leiden after its Siege.
See also
- Dutch Revolt
- Sea Dogs
Notes
- ISBN 9780814766781. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
- ISBN 9780313305474.
- ^ ISBN 9780486411293. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
- ISBN 9780521045438. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
- ^ De Opstand 1568–1648: De strijd in de Zuidelijke en Noordelijke Nederlanden, by Arnout van Cruyningen
- ^ Chronicles of the Dutch Republic 1567–1702, by Albert Valente
- ISBN 9780754650225. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
- ISBN 9789750804403.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 9780521804080. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
References
- Kervyn de Lettenhove, Les Huguenots et les Gueux, (six volumes, Brussels, 1882–85)
- Renon de France, Histoire des causes de la désunion ... des Pays-Bas, (three volumes, Brussels, 1886–91)
- Jurien de la Gravìere, "Les gueux de mer" in Revue des Deux Mondes (Paris, 1891–92).
- Van der Horst (2005) Nederland: de vaderlandse geschiedenis van de prehistorie tot nu. (3rd edition; in Dutch). Amsterdam, Bert Bakker. ISBN 90-351-2722-6. p. 132
- McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz (2008) Orientalism in early Modern France, Berg. ISBN 978-1-84520-374-0
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gueux, Les". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the