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The king took a long time to react to the petition, and when he finally did, he rejected its requests. Meanwhile, a large number of
Protestants had returned from exile, and other Protestants now dared come out into the open. Large numbers of Protestants, especially Calvinists, started holding prayer
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The draft was widely circulated and gathered a large number of signatures. The magnates of the nobility at first kept aloof (though Orange must have been in the know through his brother Louis). On 24 January 1566, however, Orange addressed a letter to the Regent, as a member of the
Council, in which
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by the 19th-century
English-language historians who introduced the concept into anglophone historiography. A better translation might have been used, like "covenant". However, the phrase "Compromise of nobles" gained currency and has by now achieved the status of a proper name in English. For that
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On the advice of the moderates in the
Council, like Orange, the Regent replied to the petitioners that she would forward it to the king and that she would support its requests. Brederode handed over a supplementary petition on 8 April, in which the petitioners promised to keep the peace while the
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petition was being sent to Spain, a journey that could take weeks. He assumed that meanwhile, the requested suspension of enforcement would be in effect. That evening the petitioners held a banquet at which they toasted the king and themselves as "beggars". Henceforth the
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meetings outside the walls of many cities. These open-air sermons by
Calvinist preachers, though initially peaceful, caused much anxiety for the local and central authorities. In August 1566, in the depressed industrial area around
273:(another member of the Council of State) to work out a way that was acceptable to the government to present the petition. Finally, on 5 April 1566, a long procession of 300 signers of the petition walked through
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would be desirable, given the toleration now practiced in neighboring lands, like France. He also pointed to the social unrest caused by the famine that scourged the country in that year and remarked that the
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to the Regent's court. There
Brederode read the petition aloud to the Regent, who became very agitated. Afterward, when the Regent met with the Council of State, Orange tried to calm her, and another member,
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of the provinces were represented, such as the lesser nobility and the cities, but most of the time the States-General was not in session and the Regent ruled alone, together with her
Council.
116:. He had appointed his half-sister Margaret of Parma as his Regent. She ruled with the assistance of a Council of State which included a number of the high nobility of the country, like the
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a rash of attacks on
Catholic church property started, in which religious statuary was destroyed by irate Calvinists, for whom those statues contravened the
163:, which had gained many adherents in the Netherlands by the early 1560s. To suppress Protestantism he had promulgated extraordinary ordinances, called
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caused growing opposition among the population, both
Catholic and Protestant. The opposition, even among Catholics, was generated because the
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against heresy. They also urged the convening of the States-General so that "better legislation" could be devised to address the matter.
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engulfed the entire country. Though the central authorities eventually suppressed this insurrection, it led to severe repression by the
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were bound to cause trouble in this context. For good measure, he threatened to resign if something along these lines was not done.
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were seen as breaches of the constitutional privileges of the local authorities and the civil liberties of the people, like the
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and the way they were implemented in 1564 and later years. That these protests were systematically ignored and the
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of
October 1565. That led to a gathering of some members of the lesser nobility at the house of Floris, Count of
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282:, allegedly remarked: "N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux" (fear not madam, they are nothing but
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In the petition, the nobles, who presented themselves as loyal subjects of the king, asked him to suspend the
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587:, Bulletin de l'Association de la Noblesse du Royaume de Belgique, avril 2023, n° 314, pp. 11–56
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1566 group of Dutch nobles who petitioned the monarchy to lighten its anti-heresy statutes
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481:, Martin van Gelderen and H. G. Koenigsberger. For that reason the term is retained here.
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The ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands, a conglomerate of duchies and counties and lesser
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in the Netherlands. This petition played a crucial role in the events leading up to the
213:, to Spain to plead for relaxation of the ordinances. Philip replied negatively in his
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580:, Société d'Histoire du Protestantisme Belge, Série V, Livraison 3, Bruxelles, 1968.
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William the Silent, Prince of Orange (1533–1584) and the Revolt of the Netherlands
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The leaders of the association that supported the draft petition met in
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on 5 April 1566, with the objective of obtaining a moderation of the
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appears to be an overly-literal translation of the French word
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stringently enforced only helped intensify the opposition.
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he offered his unsolicited opinion that moderation of the
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Liste critique des signataires du Compromis des Nobles
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This unrest motivated the Brussels government to send
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The Political Thought of the Dutch Revolt 1555–1590
585:Le Compromis des nobles et le Conseil des troubles
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444:that would precipitate the Dutch Revolt and
347:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
271:Antoine II de Lalaing, Count of Hoogstraten
227:Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde
411:Learn how and when to remove this message
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603:Translation of the Petition (English)
473:reason many modern historians of the
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171:. Because of their severity, these
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432:against graven images. Soon this
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628:Political compromises in Europe
237:and Count Charles of Mansfeld.
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76:who came together to submit a
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583:Charles-Albert de Behault,
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490:Van Gelderen, pp. 111–115.
231:Henry, Count of Bréderode
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244:Compromise of Nobles by
211:Lamoral, Count of Egmont
185:, as enshrined in the "
31:Geschiedenis van België
360:"Compromise of Nobles"
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526:Van Gelderen, p. 111.
280:Charles de Berlaymont
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140:in which the several
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24:Eedverbond der Edelen
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535:Putnam, pp. 166–167.
517:Putnam, pp. 165–166.
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341:improve this section
74:Habsburg Netherlands
61:Compromis des Nobles
477:use the term, like
182:Jus de non evocando
576:G. Bonnevie-Noel,
430:Second Commandment
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114:Philip II of Spain
68:of members of the
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28:Hendrik Conscience
623:Eighty Years' War
446:Eighty Years' War
438:Iconoclastic Fury
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269:at the house of
246:Edouard de Bièfve
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466:compromise
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205:Compromise
159:, and the
134:Noircarmes
104:Background
39:Compromise
470:compromis
464:The word
328:does not
309:Aftermath
219:Culemborg
149:Charles V
42:of Nobles
295:placards
275:Brussels
260:placards
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223:placards
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130:Aerschot
96:and the
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70:nobility
66:covenant
64:) was a
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349:removed
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284:beggars
142:estates
72:in the
26:, from
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303:Geuzen
248:, 1841
132:, and
122:Egmont
112:, was
90:heresy
56:French
33:, 1859
452:Notes
392:JSTOR
378:books
267:Breda
126:Horne
110:fiefs
46:Dutch
557:ISBN
364:news
332:any
330:cite
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37:The
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