The Dutch Revolt and Catholic Exile in Reformation Europe

Description

The Dutch Revolt of the sixteenth century sparked one of the largest refugee crises of Reformation Europe. This book explores the flight, exile and eventual return of Catholic men and women during the war. By mapping the Catholic diaspora across Europe, Geert H. Janssen explains how exile worked as a catalyst of religious radicalisation and transformed the world views, networks and identities of the refugees. Like their Protestant counterparts, the displaced Catholic communities became the mobilising forces behind a militant International Catholicism. The Catholic exile experience thus facilitated the permanent separation of the northern and southern Netherlands. Drawing on diaries, letters and evidence from material culture, this book offers a penetrating picture of the lives of early modern refugees and their agency in the Counter-Reformation.

Geert H. Janssen is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of Princely Power in the Dutch Republic: Patronage and William Frederick of Nassau (1613-64) (2008).

'Janssen combines sharp analysis, clear writing, and archival depth in a compelling narrative that puts a human face on the wrenching experience of flight, exile, and return for Dutch Catholic refugees in the Reformation. The subject matter is new and important, and Janssen's treatment of it is original and first rate.' Nicholas Terpstra, University of Toronto 'This wide-ranging and original study offers an intriguing mirror-image of a familiar story: the Dutch Revolt, but from the point of view of Catholics who were forced out of the newly independent state to exile or an eventual home in a Catholic South. Reading Janssen, it is fascinating to appreciate the international dimension of the Catholic exile experience which was formative in the Counter-Reformation of the Low Countries, and to realise how much myth-making has gone into the later history of this accidentally divided land.' Diarmaid MacCulloch, University of Oxford 'The Dutch Revolt and Catholic Exile in Reformation Europe is a work both of synthesis and of exploration. Summarising much recent research on the revolt, Geert H. Janssen also opens up one of its neglected areas - the experience of Catholics who fled into exile from their native country, later returning with their religious attitudes transformed. Richly informative, this valuable study will appeal to students of Netherlands history and equally to all interested in migration and exile as pervasive features of the European past.' Hugh Dunthorne, Swansea University 'Geert H. Janssen's work deeply impressed the committee. It incorporates a fine balance of original research on published and unpublished sources along with a remarkably broad and thorough engagement of recent scholarship ... His multi-confessional and transnational approach [is] equally compelling ... this [is] a powerfully illuminating work which makes a great contribution to studies of the Reformation.' Gerald Strauss Prize committee, Sixteenth Century Society and Conference 'Janssen's book fills an important gap in our knowledge, and does so very effectively.' Benjamin J. Kaplan, American Historical Review