ij
•{otft^^i
., including
the bishops of Treves, as also bishops of Tongres),
was one of the fifteen bishops who composed the
Council of Auvergne, a.d. 535, and his signature is
found among those of forty-nine other bishops at the
Fifth Council of Orleans. He was a learned man,
and enjoyed the favour of Theodebert, King of
Austrasia, who made an edict for the restoration of
all episcopal property which had been seized during
the troubles of the barbarian invasion. He is re-
garded as the patron saint of the town of Hui, where
he is said to have slain a dragon which troubled the
neighbourhood, and died a.d. 538.
S. Monulphus succeeded him, a man of noble birth,
a clever theologian, and zealous apostle. He built a
church at Maestricht, dedicated to S. Bartholomew.
Travelling one day to Dinant he beheld the beautiful
country where the city of Liege was destined to arise,
and it is recorded that God revealed to him that it
would be the site of a noble town, which should be
honoured by a martyr's blood. Where the present
cathedral church now stands he built a chapel in
c
34 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
which S. Lambert was destined to suffer martyrdom.
He died a.d. 597.
Of the next four succeeding bishops we know
nothing except their names, and that they were noble,
learned, and pious prelates ; ^ but of the zealous mis-
sionary labours of S. Amand, the twenty-sixth bishop,
there are voluminous records. Some account of his
career as a preacher and apostle has already been
given. He did not occupy the See many years. After
his appointment in 647 by Sigebert, he at once visited
his diocese, and found that grave disorders and scandals
existed among his clergy. He endeavoured with all
the energy and power of his impetuous character to
correct them ; but all his efforts were in vain, and he
was obliged to confess that it was far easier to convert
idolatrous pagans than to reform scandalous priests.
He longed to retire from a position which had become
so distasteful to him, and begged the Pope to release
him from his episcopal duties, and to allow him to
pursue his missionary labours, and seek the retire-
ment and solitude which he so dearly loved. The
Pope tried to comfort him in his work, and advised
him to remain. He further requested that some
Belgian priests might be sent to the East to counter-
act the heresy of Monothelism which then prevailed.
Amand wished to undertake this work, and went to
Rome to reiterate his reasons for resigning his See.
At length he was released from the duties which, on
^ Their names were Gondulphus, S. Perpetuus (patron saint of
Dinant), vS. Elregise, and S. Jonnes, called the Lamb, from his sweet-
ness and modesty, died 649.
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION, 35
account of the laxity of his clergy, had become so
distasteful, and resumed his missionary labours,
preaching to the Basques and subsequently returning
to Belgium.
Many are the monuments of S. Amand's zeal
scattered over the country, and numerous are the
abbeys and churches which he built, or which were
built at his instigation. The preachers of these times
built, monasteries as the Norman conquerors built
castles to protect a conquered country ; and wherever
missionary enterprise had gained converts to the faith,
there they built some monastic house to preserve
their work and maintain the hold they had gained on
the people. We will now enumerate some of these
centres of religious life which owe their origin to
S. Amand.
At Ghent, the capital of Flanders, but at that time
consisting of a few huts, he founded a monastery
known afterwards by the name of S. Bavon, who is
regarded as the patron saint of that town. He was
a man of illustrious family in Hesbaye ; after a
wild youth he was converted by his daughter,
described as " an angel of candour and piety," with
the help of S. Amand, whom he followed in his mis-
sionary journeys. Then he retired to the new
monastery at Ghent, where he practised every kind
of austerity in order to atone for the errors of his
past life. He lived for some time as a hermit in
the hollow of a large tree, and finally begged to be
allowed to live as a recluse in a walled-up cell, in which
he died a.d. 654. S. Amand founded also a second
36 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
monastery on a hill named Blandinium, which was
afterwards known as Montagne de S. Pierre ; and a
third on the banks of the Lys, named Tronchiennes.
The monastery of Ghent was really the foundation
of the great city, which in after ages became so
famous and so powerful as to be able to resist the
armies of kings and emperors, and to play no small
part in the troublous history of the Netherlands.
At Renaix, in Brabant, S. Amand raised a fourth
monastery, and another also at Leuxe. At Forest,
near the present city of Brussels, he consecrated for
a church the house of a rich Christian. By his
advice Ida, the pious widow of Pepin, built a nunnery
at Nivelles, and Gertrude, her daughter, who had
refused many offers of marriage, became the abbess
at twenty-six years of age. She exercised a kind
yet firm rule over the large community of sisters,
and was learned in the Scriptures, knowing them by
heart. She invited two Irish missionaries to aid her
by their advice, S. Follianus or Faelan, and S. Outain
or Ultain ; the former was the head of a monastic house
and was assassinated a.d. 655, the latter was abbot
of Peronne and died a.d. 680.
Many of the towns of Belgium owe their origin
to the monasteries which were established in the
wild wildernesses and pathless forests. We have seen
that the town of Ghent arose round the walls of the
religious houses built by S. Amand ; and Antwerp
likewise dates its history from the time when the
saint raised a church to the honour of SS. Peter and
Paul on the spot where the city now stands. At
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. ^y
Marchiennes a monastery was founded by S. Adal-
bald, which Amand especially loved, and another at
Maroilles. During this period were founded also
Malonne, of which the abbey buildings still remain,
Mons, Haumont, S. Ghislain, Soigniers, dedicated to
S. Vincent, which still remains but was rebuilt in the
twelfth century. S. Begge, a daughter of Pepin of
Heristal, built a nunnery at Andenne, in which the
nuns were not bound to abstain from matrimony ;
and this religious house existed until a.d. 1785.
These were only a few of the famous monastic
institutions which arose at this time, and which owe
their origin chiefly to the zeal of the good Bishop
of Maestricht.
The country around Tourna}' had been evangelised
by S. Piatus, a.d. 287. We have already noticed
that the city was laid in ruins by the Vandals ; after-
wards it became the principal residence of the chief-
tains of the Salian Franks. In the time of Childeric
there were a few Christian families, amongst which
was that of Serenus and Blanda, the parents of the
future Bishop S. Eleutherius. In the year 484, while
Clovis was marching on Soissons, a cruel tribune
banished all Christians from the city and seized their
goods. They settled at a place two leagues from
Tournay, called afterwards Blandinium ; they built a
church, and a numerous company of Christians soon
gathered together and requested a bishop for their
community. A man named Theodore was appointed,
but he soon died, and, with the consent of the whole
body, Eleutherius was made bishop, a.d. 487. A
38 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS,
terrible plague raged at Tournay, which was attributed
to the Bishop for having offended the ancient deities
and evil spirits. He was seized and thrown into .
prison. It is recorded that he was released by an
angel. Subsequently his persecutors were converted
and S. Eleutherius was hailed as the father in the
faith, as an angel sent from heaven in presage of
more happy da3^s. The idols were overthrown ;
converts flocked to the baptismal font ; and the
onward course of Christianity was only interrupted
b}^ the Arian heresy, which vaunted itself at Tournay,
its partizans being most vehement persecutors.
Eleutherius maintained the true faith, and at a public
synod confuted the heretics. He fell a victim to the
sword of an assassin, a.d. 532.
His friend S. Medardus was chosen to succeed him.
He was Bishop of Noyon ; so the two dioceses of
Tournay and Noyon were united under one bishop,
and were not separated until a.d. i 146, when Eugenius
HI. gave a separate bishop to Tournay. S. Medardus
converted many to Christianity ; he was the friend
and adviser of Clothaire, who regarded him as a
protector ; and when he died, after fifteen years of
episcopacy, the King removed his body to Soissons,
and built a church and monastery in his honour.
Of S. Eloi, Bishop of Tournay and Noyon, a.d.
640, we have already spoken in the previous chapter,
whose loving discourses turned the hard hearts of
idolatrous barbarians on the sea coasts, and made
converts among the peoples of Ghent, Courtray,
Antwerp, and among the Frisii and Suevi. He was
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. 39
succeeded by S. Mommolin, a monk of Luxeuil, who
had been one of the companions and friends of
S. Omer, or Audomar.
The diocese of Therouanne was of vast extent, and
was divided by Charles V., who destroyed the city,
into three other dioceses — Boulogne, Ypres, and
S. Omer. S. Victricius had evangelised this part
of the country. A chieftain of the Franks named
Cararic lived here, and was probably a Christian,
for when Clovis attacked the city and defeated him,
taking possession of his property and kingdom, he
compelled Cararic to enter a monastery. Two
priests, Antimond and Athalbert, were sent by S.
Remigius to preach the Gospel, and some writers have
wrongly regarded them as the first bishops of Therou-
anne. S. Omer was really the first bishop. He
was born in the diocese of Constance, and went with
his father to the famous monastery of Luxeuil, where
he was so distinguished for his piety and learning
that S. Achaire, Bishop of Noyon, persuaded Dago-
bert, A.D. 637, to appoint him to the bishopric of
Therouanne and Boulogne. This was then almost an
uncultivated field for Christian enterprise ; the faith
which had been planted had almost been stifled by
vices and superstition. But S. Omer made religion
to flower again, aided by three zealous workers, who
were also monks of Luxeuil — S. Bertin, S. Mom-
molin, and Ebertram. They founded the monastery
of Sithiu, which afterwards bore the name of S.
Bertin, and became very famous during the time of
S. Amand.
40 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
One other diocese remains to be described, that
of Arras and Cambray. When Clovis conquered the
country, S. Remigius of Rheims ordained S. Vaast,
Bishop of Arras. This prelate was much esteemed
by Clovis, and was remarkable for his piety and
zeal. When he came to the city he found the ruins
of a church which Attila had destroyed, and gave
vent to the devout words: ''Alas! all these evils
have fallen upon us because we have sinned, we and
our fathers. Remember us, great God, of Thy pity !
Spare poor sinners, spare them always." He gained
all hearts and firmly established Christianity in his
diocese. After administering the affairs of the See
for forty years he died a.d. 540. He was succeeded
by S. Dominicus, and then S. Venulfus was appointed,
who transferred the episcopal seat to Cambray, The
two towns formed one diocese until 1094, when Pope
Paul n. gave a bishop to each. S. Gerius was the
fourth bishop. As a child he was considered "an
angel of piety," and during his early life won golden
opinions from every one. He was received by the
people with acclamations, and with much pomp and
ceremony by the authorities of the city. Amid the
cheers of the crowd which greeted his arrival, the
story relates that groanings were heard issuing from
the ground. The Bishop asked whence these strange
sounds proceeded, and was informed that they were
the cries of twelve prisoners incarcerated in some
terrible subterranean vaults. He asked if it were not
possible that the poor men might share in the rejoicings
of the day ; and when the stern jailer refused to release
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. 41
them, the bishop prayed, the chains fell from the limbs
of the prisoners, their prison doors flew open, and the
poor men cast themselves at the feet of the good
bishop. He said to the astonished jailer, ''You see,
sir, that God is more merciful than we are." Over the
ruins of an idol temple which stood outside the town
he raised a church, where day and night hymns of
praise rose in homage to the one true God. He ruled
the See for thirty-nine years.
We have now described the early diocesan history
of the southern portion of the Netherlands, a land rich
in saints, by whose labours the people were rescued
from idolatry. Belgium owes much to the race of
Pepin for the aid which they accorded to the Christian
preachers, especially to Pepin of Heristal, to whose
court flocked not only the holy men of his own country,
but saints from other lands, who found in him a pro-
tector and a friend. At the end of the seventh century
began the influx of faithful and eager missionaries from
England to Holland, of which we shall speak in the
next chapter. Belgium also partook in the benefits
which they conferred upon the countries they visited.
Among those who came to the court of Pepin were two
bishops from Scotland, Wiron and Plechelme, accom-
panied by a deacon named Othger. Pepin sent them
to evangehse Saxony and Frisia, and on their return
gave them S. Odile, near Ruremonde, where was an
oratory. He regarded Wiron as his spiritual adviser,
and visited the oratory every Lent, coming as a penitent,
■with bare feet, to pray to God and seek pardon for his
sins. Wiron died A.D. 700.
42 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Of the remaining Bishops of Maestricht who belong
to this period we will now proceed to give some account.
S. Remaclus, who succeeded S. Amand, was a noble of
Aquitain and Abbot of Solignac, a monastery founded
by S. Eloi, and began to rule the See A.D. 650. He
enlarged Liege^ the future seat of his bishopric^ which
then consisted of only a few houses. He went to the
court of King Sigebert, and told him the Ardennes
were alone destitute of monastic institutions, and that
there idolatry had made its last retreat. " Holy
Father," said the King, '* it is for you to teach us our
duty, it is for us to fulfil it. Choose what you please
in the Ardennes ; my help will not be lacking to you."
Aided by Sigebert, the Bishop built a monastery at
Malmedi and also at Stavelot.i S. Trond, a rich lord
in Hesbaye, came to the Bishop and offered to give
to God according to his direction. Remaclus advised
him to build a monastery on his estate for clerics who
should assist the Bishop in his duties. This was the
origin of the famous abbey of S. Trond. Remaclus
resigned the See in 653 and retired to Stavelot, which
he governed, together with Malmedi, during the re-
mainder of his life. These two monasteries became
very rich in possessions, and were always governed by
one abbot, who ruled as temporal lord of the country
attached to the monasteries, and was accounted as
a Prince of the Empire.
S. Thcodard succeeded Remaclus, a zealous pre-
late, who exercised wise disciphne over his clergy, and
^ The name is derived from Staljulum, because the place seemed to
be a very lair of wild beasts, which roamed the dense woods, and often
frightened the monks by their savage cries.
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. 43
required that they should perform their duties. He
visited all the churches of his diocese, and ordered
those to be rebuilt which the pagans had destroyed.
Fie was much grieved at the rapacity of powerful lords
who had seized the property which belonged to the
Church, and by his censures incurred their displeasure.
The good Bishop was massacred in the forest of Bie-
vault, near Worms, by an ambuscade prepared for him
by his enemies, A.D. 655.
During his time there were sad troubles on account
of the succession to the kingdom of Austrasia. Sigebert
left his young son, Dagobert, as his successor, and thus
annulled a previous disposition that the son of Grimo-
ald, a descendant of the race of Pepin, should succeed
him in case he died without children. Though Sigebert
was a very religious prince, he was not always a wise
pohtician, and foolishly left his son in the charge of
Grimoald, who had expected the throne for his son.
When the old king died Grimoald seized the young
king, caused him to be tonsured by Didon, Bishop of
Poitiers, and banished him to Scotland, causing his own
son to be proclaimed king under the title of Childebert.
But the Franks did not brook this high-handed proceed-
ing. They seized Grimoald and put him to death, and
Childeric, the brother of Sigebert, was proclaimed King
of Austrasia. Further troubles followed. Childeric
invaded Neustria, of which his brother Thyerri was
king, hated by his people on account of his cruelties ;
and seizing him confined him and Ebroin, mayor of the
Palace, in the monastery of Luxeuil, where he com-
pelled them to become monks. In 668 Childeric, with
44 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
one of his sons, was attacked by one of his subjects
and imprisoned ; then Thyerri and Ebroin escaped and
retook the kingdom of Neustria. Young Dagobert,
who had been allowed by his uncle to reign in Alsace
and the Rhenish provinces, having returned from
banishment; thought this a favourable opportunity to
regain the throne of Austrasia ; but after a few years'
rule he was killed in the hunting-field by some of the
partisans of his old enemy Grimoald. Thus the
country was in a sad state of turmoil and confusion.
Ebroin, a proud and cruel man, avenged himself not
only on those who had exiled him, but also on all those
who had enjo3^ed the favour of Childeric. Amongst
these was Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht, who had
succeeded Theodard. Bishop Amat of Sens, and Leger
of Autun also suffered from Ebroin's wrath. The
latter was beheaded, and Lambert and Amat retired to
Stavelot, and an usurper, Faramond, was foisted into
the See of Maestricht. The Archbishop of Cologne,
Albuin, was a party to this conspiracy, for he urged
Ebroin to suppress Lambert because his holy life was
a cause of reproach to that of the Archbishop.
Lambert remained five years at Stavelot, patiently
and resignedly. The people soon saw that God had
sent him there to comfort the solitary monks, as He
had made him a bishop for the honour of the ministry,
the glory of the Church, and the salvation of the
people. A touching story is told of his humility. He
was praying in his chamber one night, and continued
his prayer after the time appointed for rest. The
abbot, hearing a voice, and thinking it was one of his
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. 45
monks holding conversation with some neighbour,
ordered the offender to go to the foot of the cross, at
some distance from the monastery, and pray. Im-
mediately Lambert arose in the dead of night ; the snow
was falling heavily; but laboriously he wended his
way through the terrible snowstorm to the foot of the
cross, and knelt in prayer In the morning the names
of the monks were read in the choir, and all except the
good bishop were present. They searched for him
everywhere, and found him at last at the cross deep in
prayer. The abbot rushed to meet him and implored
pardon ; but Lambert remained in the same posture,
and asked pardon of the monks as if he had offended
grievously against the monastic rules.
When young Dagobert was killed, Pepin of Heristal
was elected governor of Austrasia, under whose care
the Church flourished. He drove the usurper Fara-
mond from the bishopric and reinstated Lambert. He
restored religion, which, during the troublous times,
had almost died. Lambert was contemporary with
Willebrord of Utrecht, of whom we shall read in the
next chapter, with whom he had frequent conferences
and joined in his missionary labours. During the
intervals between his journeys he used to reside at his
house at Liege, which had become a considerable town,
partly on account of the presence of the bishop and its
nearness to the court of Pepin at Heristal and Jupile.
As we have already stated, Pepin, although he did not
assume kingly rank, acquired authority over the whole
kingdom by driving out Berthram, the new mayor of
the Palace of the Neustrian kingdom.
46 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
One sin stained the memory of this prince, his
adultery with Alpaide. S. Lambert boldly rebuked
Pepin for his conduct, and some historians narrate
that the woman, desiring to be revenged on the Bishop,
urged her brother Dodon to kill him. It is not certain
whether this was the actual cause of Lambert's death,
as opinions are divided upon this point. At any rate,
Dodon accomplished the cruel deed. He came by
night with his companions, and attacked the church
at Liege when the Bishop was about to recite the
office. The murderers rushed into the sacred building
as the holy man was reading the words, ^'The Lord
will avenge the death of His saints," and with a javelin
quickly despatched him. His body was carried with
great pomp to Maestricht, but after three 3^ears was
removed to Liege.
He was succeeded by S. Hubert, a friend of the
holy Lambert, who had fled from Neustria on account
of the persecution of Ebroin, and received a welcome
at the court of Pepin. While hunting in a wood, he
saw a stag with a cross between its antlers ; and this
strange vision is commonly reported to have been the
cause of his conversion. But his deep sorrow on ac-
count of the premature death of his wife, the Princess
Floribane, and constant intercourse with the holy
Lambert, probably caused him to turn his thoughts
to religion. He left the court, and retired to the
monastery of Stavelot. According to the custom of
the times, he went to Rome to pray at the sepulchre
of the Apostles, to behold their relics, and to resolve
to copy their examples. After the murder of Lambert,
DIOCESAN ORGANISATION. 47
he was elected bishop by the clergy and people, A.D.
Liege had now become a town, and one of the first
acts of the new bishop was to transfer the episcopal
seat from Maestricht to that place. On the spot where
Moniilphus had built his small chapel he raised the
magnificent church of Notre Dame and S. Lambert.
When Charles Martel held the chief rule, he gave to
S. Hubert and his successors territorial jurisdiction
over the neighbouring country. This was the origin
of the vast power of this important See, whose bishops
in later times ruled as great temporal princes. The
town continued to increase rapidly, and the Church
became very rich in possessions. Hubert proved him-
self a wise and capable ruler. He drew up a code
of laws for the inhabitants, fixed the weights and
measures for their use in commerce, built strong walls
round the town with three gates, and provided well
for the temporal affairs of his cathedral city. Nor
was the Church forgotten in the midst of all his
secular duties ; he established in his cathedral church
a body of twenty canons, who lived in common, and
observed monastic rules; and also founded a lower
order of clerks, who were called Canons of the Small
Table. He built a monastery for fifty monks, which
was known as the famous monastery of S. Hubert;
and, for the better regulation of his province, he insti-
tuted the office of Grand Mayor, who should attend
to temporal affairs. Nor were his labours confined
to Liege alone. He frequently went on missionary
journeys through his diocese, evangelising the people ;
48 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS,
he pierced the wild forests of the Ardennes, and
softened the ferocity of the rustics. During his epis-
copacy two councils were held at Liege in his new
church, the first in 710 and the second in 720, which
decided in favour of the faction in the Church called
Iconoduli, or image-worshippers, and condemned the
teaching of the Iconoclasts, who numbered many
adherents in his diocese. After an arduous episcopal
life of twenty-nine years he died, A.D. 728.
Little is known of the two successors of S. Hubert,
Floribert and Fulcaire, except that during their time
the revenues of the Church increased and its power was
magnified. The latter died A.D. 769. During his rule
Mayence became a Metropolitan See, and Liege was
placed under its jurisdiction. We have now traced
the first beginnings of the growth of this important
diocese, w^hich owed much of its greatness to the
wisdom of S. Hubert, and the holy lives of his pre-
decessors. They inspired in the minds of kings and
warriors a reverence for holy things, and respect and
honour for the Church whose officers and representa-
tives they were.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONVERSION OF THE NORTHERN PRO-
VINCES AND FOUNDATION OF THE UTRECHT
BISHOPRIC.
Early apostles of Frisia — Saxon missionaries— S. Wilfrid— S. Willibrord
— Causes of their success — Life of Willibrord — Utrecht made an
archbishopric — S. Acca and other companions of Willibrord
Labours of S. Boniface in Frisia — His martyrdom — Decline of
Christianity and degradation of the Church in eighth century
Revival — Synods and reforms of Boniface — Foundation of monastic
school at Utrecht — Gregory — Curriculum of the school — Ludger
Lebvinus at Daventer — Albricius — Saxon hatred of Christianity
Alcuin's verses in praise of Ludger— Revolt of Widukind— Con-
quest of Charlemagne — Utrecht loses its metropolitan rank, and is
assigned to the province of Cologne.
Although the cross had triumphed in the south, the
" free Frisians " in the north resisted for a long time
the advent of Christianity. As we have already seen,
several attempts had been made during the seventh
century, with partial success, to spread the Gospel
among these worshippers of Thor and Woden. Even
the zealous labours of Wolfram, Archbishop of Sens,
and his monks from the abbey of Fontenelle, aided by
the powerful sword of Charles Martel, only produced
a transitory eifect. Before him S. Eloi strove to con-
vert these people who clung so perseveringly to their
old superstitions. S. Wilfrid, Bishop of York, who
through diverse persecutions was obliged to implore
the protection of Dagobert II., laboured zealously
'' D
50 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
among them ; but it was not until the advent of S.
WilHbrord (A.D. 690) and his eleven companions from
England that any permanent work was accomplished.
Indeed, the Church in Holland owes its origin to
the Saxon missionaries from England, and the cause
of their success it is not difficult to determine. They
came not to strangers, nor as victors, but to brothers
who spoke a similar language, and had preserved the
traditions of their common ancestry. The Benedictine
rule of the Saxon monks, more practical and less
austere than that of the disciples of S. Columba, a
rule which did not so much ''take men out of the
world," or doom them to the peace of an eternal soH-
tude, was better suited to the freedom-loving Frisians.
Hence the English Saxons succeeded where S. Eloi
and others had failed. The Frisian chroniclers regard
with reverence these devoted Saxon missionaries,
and lovingly describe the ancient monastery at Ripon,
whence they came to the shores of Holland.
S. WilHbrord was born of pious Saxon parents in
Northumbria. Alcuin has recorded many details of
his life. Before he was born his mother in a dream
saw in the heavens a new moon, which gradually
increased in size until it became full, and shone upon
her countenance with rays of splendour. The dream
was interpreted to mean that a son should be born
to her who should disperse the shades of error and
enlighten the world. He is often called by early
writers "sol mundi," as in the following lines : —
" Quadrifidi Cosmi solem peperere Brittanni.
Solem Wilbrordum qui comit lumine mundum."
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 51
His father Wilgis was a devout man, and subse-
quently became a monk. Willibrord was educated
at Ripon, and passed his hfe in the school of the
monastery until he was twenty years of age with such
devotion that it was thought a new Samuel had arisen
*'in favour with God and also with men." His chief
monitor was S. Wilfrid, the Abbot of Ripon, who had
visited Frisia and fired the soul of the youthful saint
with the enthusiasm and zeal of a missionary. Having
heard of the fame of Egbert and Wigbert, and of the
learning of the monks in Hibernia, he migrated thither,
and " with the prudence of a bee he plucked the melli-
fluous flowers of piety, and constructed in his breast
the sweet honeycomb of virtues." ^ He seemed to hear
the Divine voice calling him to forget his own people
and his father's house, to leave the sweet fields of his
fatherland, his parents, kinsfolk, and friends, and to
convert the heathen to Christ. S. Egbert himself
desired to preach the Gospel in Frisia, but he was pre-
vented by a Divine intimation, and sent Willibrord and
his companions to accomplish the great work. The
names of the holy men who accompanied him were
Swibert — who was consecrated bishop by Wilfrid —
Wigbert, Acca, Wilibald, Winibald, two Ewalds, Wer-
enfrid, Marcellinus, Lebvinus, and Adelbert.
This faithful band of eager missionaries came to
Utrecht, the Trajectum ad Rhemmi of the Romans,
called by the Frisians Wiltaburg, the future seat of
a most powerful mediaeval bishopric. The heathen
^ "Diatribai de primis veleris Frisiee Apostolis," by F. Willibrord
Bosschaerts (Mechlin, 1650), p. 27.
52 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
prince, Radbod, received them, but was unmoved b}'
their preaching, and clave to his idols. Turning to
Pepin of Heristal, mayor of the Palace of the Merovin-
gian king, and the conqueror of Radbod, they received
the benefit of his protection,^ and whatever Willibrord
desired Pepin granted. Willibrord was sent to Rome
with presents and letters of recommendation from
Pepin, and consecrated Archbishop of the Frisians by
Pope Sergius I. When he returned the city of Utrecht
was assigned to him as his episcopal seat, and during
his fifty years of faithful ministration he converted
vast numbers, and firmly planted the Church in that
country.
His comrades were no less indefatigable in their
labours or less renowned for their holiness and zeal.
S. Acca, *^ vir strennissimus ct coram Deo et homifiibus
inagnificus !^ "a man skilled in music who taught the
people to sing hymns which they did not know before,"
accompanied Willibrord, but afterwards returned and
became Bishop of Hexham (Hagulstalde). Indeed,
there seems to have been continual communication
between England and Frisia, the missionaries coming
and going, and new labourers continually following
in the footsteps of S. Willibrord. The two Ewalds
preached among the Saxons and were martyred.
WiHbald and Winibald laboured in Friesland, the
former becoming the first Bishop of Aichstadt, and the
latter Abbot of Heydenheymensis. Lebvinus directed
his course to Deventer, where he built a church and
turned many to the Lord. S. Marcellinus preached in
^ Bede, v. ii.
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 53
Overyssel, and by degrees the whole of the northern
provinces which formed the great diocese of Utrecht
received the faith.
S. WiUibrord was succeeded by another Enghshman,
S. Winfrid, the apostle of the Germans, better known
by his adopted name Boniface. He was born at
Crediton, in the kingdom of Wessex, and received
instruction in the monasteries of Exeter and Nutcell.
Being fired with missionary enthusiasm he sailed to
Frisia ; but the time was not favourable to his enter-
prise, as the war between Charles Martel and Radbod
was in progress, so Winfrid retired to England. Then
he went to Rome, and received from the hands of Pope
Gregory a letter of authority " to carry the kingdom of
God to the infidel nations." Armed with this document
he went forth to the peoples of Germany, and ''as
a bee wandered from flower to flower without resting
long on any." At last he came to Frisia, offered his
services to WiUibrord, staying three years in that
country destroying the pagan altars, building churches,
and turning the people to Christ. He then wandered
into Germany; at Palatiolum, near Treves, by the
sweetness of his discourse, he attached to himself
a young man of royal birth, named Gregory, who
refused to leave him, and followed the saint through
all his wanderings. At Rome, in 723, the Pope
ordained him a regionary bishop. It is beyond the
scope of our history to record the labours of this holy
man amongst the German peoples, his valiant wrestling
with idolatry, his destruction of the Oak of Thor, the
monasteries he founded, his writings and preachings,
54 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
his elevation to the MetropoHtan See of Mayence. But
towards the end of his Hfe, at sixty-five years of age,
he resolved to devote his few remaining years to
his beloved Frisians. He resigned his archiepiscopal
dignity to his disciple Lull, and with a band of faithful
followers he sailed down the river to Utrecht. On the
5th of June A.D. 755 the Archbishop's tent was pitched at
Dokkum, in Friesland, near Leeuwarden; the Eucharist
was about to be celebrated, and a great multitude were
gathered together for confirmation. But bands of
armed pagans surrounded the camp; his followers
rushed to their weapons, but he said, '* Fear not those
who may kill the body, but cannot touch the soul.
Pass with boldness the narrow strait of death, that ye
may reign with Christ for ever." Falling on his knees
he awaited the attack of his murderers, who quickly
despatched him. The furious band rushed into the
tents in search of plunder, and finding only some
books and relics, began quarrelling among themselves,
and fell an easy prey to the Christians, who took up
arms and exterminated them.
It is evident from the writings of Boniface, and from
other sources of information, that at the beginning
of the eighth centur}^ there was a strong reaction in
favour of idolatry. After the defeat of the Saracens
by Charles Martel, his officers demanded rewards for
their services, and the bishoprics and abbeys were
assigned to them. The See of Mayence was held by
two soldiers ; the military element invaded the sacred
offices, and according to Hincmar Christianity was for
the moment abolished in the eastern provinces, and the
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 55
idols restored. The statutes which Boniface established
at various councils show the pitiable state of the
country and the corruption of manners which prevailed.
Persons who had been baptized adored trees and
founts, and abandoned themselves to augurs, divina-
tions, enchantments, adultery, and every kind of error.
Even the bishops and priests were no better; they
were addicted to the superstitious customs of the time,
abandoned themselves to immorality, and became
skilled in arms and in the chase. But the crisis
did not last long. Through the exertions of S. Boni-
face and Carloman, the son of Charles Martel, the
Church was saved and reformed. In the years 742,
743, and 744 synods were held, composed of the
bishops and chief officers of the Franks ; one of these
was held at Leptines, near Cambray, when S. Boniface
presided, and severe edicts were passed against
depraved manners and superstitious practices, and the
rights and powers of the Church established. 1 The
third synod was held at Soissons, under Pepin, which
ordered the publication in the country of the Nicene
Creed, and the observance of the canons of ancient
councils. The priests were ordered to teach the
people to say the creed and the Lord's Prayer in the
vulgar tongue.
Thus a great reformation was accomplished. The
Church and the State were united; the Church puri-
fied, the State christianised, and the sacred truths of
religion brought home to the hearts of the people.
And all this was due to the courage, energy, and
1 Cf. Bel. Cath., vol. i., p. 268.
56 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
devotion of S. Boniface, who crowned an heroic hfe
by a martyr's death. He was aided by several devout
coadjutors, Floribert of Liege, EHsius of Tournay,
Etherius of Therouanne, and Treward of Cambra3\
He regenerated society, transformed the State, estab-
Hshed the Church on a secure basis, and by his wise
counsels, his courteous manner and gentle considera-
tion for others, won the hearts of princes, popes, and
people. His name is venerated not only in Frisia, the
object of his early affections, whither he returned in
his old age to suffer and to die, but throughout Ger-
many, of which he was the first apostle.
His work was rendered permanent by the establish-
ment of a monastic school at Utrecht, where men were
trained for the ministry, and especially for missionary
labours.^ Gregory, the young man whom Boniface
attracted to himself by the beauty of his discourse,-
^ Heda, in his history of the bishops of Utrecht, states that the school
was founded by Willibrord. " Collocasse canonicos csenobitates, hoc
est, communem et apostolicum vivendi legum observantes. Non fuerant
monachi ; sed canonici, qui utique regulam divi Augustini aut beati
Isidori tunc profitebantur per universas Germanicoe et Galhte ecclesias."
To this college he added a seminary for the teaching of candidates for
the ministry, which was the origin of the famous Utrecht school.
'^ Ludgcr, a disciple of Gregory, describes the incident which took
place on his journey to Hesse at a nunnery on the Moselle. Boniface
was expounding the Scriptures, which the boy Gregory had read, and
"it was evident from what source the words came, for they passed
with such power and rapidity on Gregory's mind, that at a single ex-
hortation of this teacher, hitherto unknown to him, he forgot parents
and native land, and at once declared that he wished to go with this
man and learn from him to understand the Scriptures. It appears to
me that at that time the same Spirit was working in this young man
which inflamed the apostles, when at the word of the Lord they forsook
their nets and their father and followed their Redeemer. This was the
work of the Supreme Artificer, that same Divine Spirit who works all
and in all, imparting to every one as He will."
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 57
was appointed abbot, who sowed the seed in the
hearts of many scholars, which brought forth abun-
dant fruit in after years. Young men from France,
England, Saxony, and other countries flocked to him,
and formed '* a nursery for the kingdom of God."
Loving individual attention the good abbot gave to
each pupil, sitting in his cell early in the morning, and
imparting to each one as he came to him, the sacred
truths he knew so well. Not even a stroke of palsy,
which befell him in his seventieth year, dulled his
energies or dimmed his cheerfulness ; he continued to
teach his beloved scholars, who carried him whither he
would, and listened to the voice they loved so well.
Three years afterwards he died, having received the
Holy Eucharist in the church, where he breathed his
last — a man greatly beloved and honoured by all.
His most devoted disciple was Lindger, or Ludger,
a native of Friesland, who at an early age showed a
great thirst for knowledge, and was placed under the
care of Abbot Gregory. ^ The education imparted at
this school was of no mean order ; rhetoric, grammar,
arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy formed part of
the secular studies. Holy Scripture was read, studied,
and transcribed. Its library abounded with precious
manuscripts. Ludger tells us that Abbot Gregory
'' acquired at Rome very many volumes of the Holy
Scriptures, which he carried home with no slight
labour."- Altfrid states that Ludger returned to
Utrecht from York, bearing with him a great store of
1 Disquisitio de Ltidgero, Gerhardus, Paris; Amsterdam, 1859.
^ Greg. Vita, cap. 12.
58 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
books. The library, therefore, must have been well
filled. Possibly by one of the pupils of this school,
under the guidance of the good abbot, the famous
Utrecht Psalter, preserved in the University library,
was written. 1
Ludger remained many years at Utrecht. His gen-
tleness and cheerfulness made him a great favourite
among his companions ; and he was known to be a
devout and diligent student of Holy Scripture, and
remarkable for his prudence and temperance in all
things. The bishopric of Utrecht seems to have been
void at this time, after the death of Boniface;^ and
Ludger accompanied Alubert, an Englishman who de-
sired to evangelise the Frisians, to England, in order that
he might be ordained by the Bishop of York. He stayed
one year in our country in order to profit by the wisdom
of the great teacher Alcuin, whose school at York was
celebrated for its profound learning and deep studies.
So attracted was he by Alcuin's teaching, and by the
well-furnished library at York, that he did not wish to
accompany Alubert to Frisia ; but after three years of
happy intercourse with his beloved teacher he returned
to Utrecht, and was present to console his former
friend and the loving instructor of his youth, the good
Gregory, in his last hours.
It has already been recorded that the Englishman,
Lebvinus, preached the Gospel at Deventer. Accom-
panied by another Englishman, Marchelmus, he went
^ It certainly belongs to this period. At the end of the volume there
is a copy of the Athanasian Creed.
- Beka and Ileda state that Gregory was the third bishop of Utrecht
and the successor of Boniface, but this appears to be an error.
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 59
to the savage people, lived and worked amongst them,
and built a church ; but the wild Saxons resisted their
peaceful mission, and collecting an army, attacked the
place, burnt the church, and expelled Lebvinus and his
colleague. Afterw^ards he returned to the attack with
great boldness. Hearing that the Saxons were about
to hold their great assembly at Markelo, near Deventer,
he resolved to present himself and convince them of
their errors. A friend tried to prevent him from under-
taking the rash enterprise, because of the great dangers
which threatened him ; but Lebvinus knew no fear,
and arrayed in his priestly garments, bearing the cross
in his hands and a book of the Gospels under his arm,
he went to the place of assembly. His words were
not likely to appease the wrath of the Saxons. He
threatened them with the Divine displeasure, and
warned them that if they did not forsake their idols
and turn to the one true God, they would be punished
with great and terrible evils. ^' If you do not renounce
iniquity, I proclaim that a terrible misfortune awaits
you ; for the King of heaven has ordained that a
strong and indefatigable prince shall fall upon you like
a torrent, in order to soften the ferocity of your still
hardened hearts, and to m^ake your proud foreheads
bend. By one single effort he will invade your
country, lay it waste by fire and sword, and lead your
wives and children into slavery." The fierce warriors
were greatly enraged at his preaching, and desired to
slay him ; but, happily, gentler counsels prevailed.
They respected him as the ambassador of the great
God, and sent him away unhurt.
6o THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
In the year 775 Albricus succeeded Gregory at
Utrecht, and in the same year Lebvinus, the heroic
champion of God, died and was buried in his church
at Deventer. The Saxons again destroyed the church,
and inspired such fear among the Christians that the
devoted work of Lebvinus seemed to have been en-
tirely thrown away. At this crisis Albricus asked
Ludger to restore the tomb of the departed saint at
Deventer, and to rebuild the church over the body of
his beloved brother. Ludger faithfully accomplished
the task, and again reared the church which had so
often fallen a prey to the rage of the Saxons.
Afterwards he extended his labours to Ostraga, in
the country of Dokkun, where Boniface was murdered.
In the meantime Albricus was made Bishop of Cologne,
and seems to have been endowed with the gift of
organisation. To each cleric he assigned a district
or province. He regulated the Utrecht College, and
finding that the care of so many students taxed the
strength of one man, he divided the year into four
parts, and arranged that he, Adalger, Ludger, and
Thiatbrat should preside in turns for each quarter of
the year.
Ludger found a grateful welcome from the Christians
in Ostraga who had been converted by Boniface, and
greatly strengthened by the preaching of an English-
man named Willehad. There he laboured for seven
years, and the verses of Alcuin record his memory and
his zeal : —
" Fratcr, amorc Dei cognato dulcior omni
Et consanguincis merito pretiosior ipsis,
CONVERSION OF NORTHERN PROVINCES. 6i
Ludger amate mihi, Christi te gratia salvet ;
Vive tUc^ gentis Fresonum clara columna
Doctus in eloquio prudens, et mente profundus
Ipse gradum mentis ornas, et moribus almis."
But troubles came again upon the growing Church
and checked its growth. In 782 Widukind, the brave
Saxon chief, rebelled against the mighty power of
Charlemagne, and for three years carried on a vigorous
war. The Frisians, ever ready for revolt and the pur-
suit of freedom, made common cause with the Saxons.
Christianity was the religion of their enemies, which
the great Frank king forced his conquered foes to
embrace. They loved their old gods better than the
teaching of the Cross which was inculcated by such
means. No wonder, therefore, that in the disturbed
provinces Christians were persecuted by the savage
Saxons. Ludger was forced to leave Ostraga, and
went to Rome.
At length all Frisia was subject to the strong rule of
Charles the Great, and in the words of the chronicler,
''The sword of the victor fortified the way to the
messengers of the eternal peace, even to the *river
Laubachus." To Ludger Charles assigned five dis-
tricts in Frisia, where he laboured for many years.
He restored the sight of a bhnd bard, Bernlef, who
ever remained his faithful friend, learnt from him the
Psalms, and, instead of singing the fierce war-songs
and mythical adventures of the deified heroes of his
country, chanted the holy strains of the Hebrew
singers, and accustomed his countrymen to reverence
things divine. Ludger founded a Church in Heligo-
62 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
land, and subsequently became Bishop of Miinster,
where he died A.D. 809. The story of his life is given
as an example of the brave, eager, indefatigable Eng-
lish missionaries who in the ninth century evangehsed
Frisia, and, in spite of all opposition, founded the
Church among the restless, savage, and stubborn in-
habitants of the northern Netherlands.
Thus the ancient Bishopric of Utrecht was founded.
It has been recorded that Willibrord and Boniface
were the first bishops of the See, which at first was
independent of any other jurisdiction. It was the
Metropolitan See of the country; but after the death
of Boniface, the Bishop of Cologne claimed jurisdiction
over the new converts, and did not approve of the
archiepiscopal honours of his neighbouring prelate.
For a few years the Archbishopric of Utrecht was in
abeyance ; ^ the third bishop was Albricus, who was
translated to Cologne when, by a decree of the Pope,
that See was raised to metropolitan rank, and Utrecht
became a diocese within its province. Thus it con-
tinued to be until the reign of Phihp II. in the sixteenth
century, when it again became an Archiepiscopal See.
^ Cf. p. 58, note 2.
CHAPTER V.
CHARLEMA GNE.
Charlemagne's Christian empire — Lay element in Church government
— Character of the Emperor — Relation to Papacy — Founder of
political liberty of the Church — Conquest of the Saxons — At first
no compulsory acceptance of the faith — Subsequent massacre of
Verden — Alcuin's remonstrance — Its effect — Increased power of
the Church — Reforms — Synods — Capitularies — Synod at Aix-la-
Chapelle — Petition against militant bishops — Charlemagne respects
rights of the Church — Missi dominici — Promotion of education —
Alcuin — Charlemagne's studies — Geographical divisions of dioceses
— Careful selection of bishops— Increased privileges of Liege —
Charlemagne resigns his crown — His closing days — S. Gommar
and S. Rumold, the Apostle of Mechlin.
The great reforms in the Church instituted by Boni-
face were carried on with vigour by the Emperor
Charlemagne. Pepin had greatly strengthened it by
giving it the support of royalty ; Boniface had puri-
fied it by abolishing many abuses and corruptions
which the lawlessness and laxity of the times had
generated ; but it was left to Charlemagne to complete
the grand work, and to create a great Christian empire.
He infused into the affairs of the Church the lay
element. Hitherto the clergy and people, the two
orders of Christian society, had not acted together
for the good of the Church. Laymen had left the
clergy to manage ecclesiastical affairs, and did not
regard it as a duty to concern themselves in its wel-
63
64 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
fare. The two functions with which the secular power
was invested were to defend the Church against all
enemies from without, and to maintain its internal
constitution and laws. Constantine the Great, the
first Christian emperor, was the first to recognise this
duty, but it was left to Charlemagne to carry it into
practice. At the outset of his career he fully under-
stood the grand mission which was entrusted to him ;
and even in the full vigour of manhood and in all the
splendour of conquest, he reposed his trust in the
Almighty, and eagerly clung to other support than
that of victor}^ and might. Although fierce passions
assailed his heart, he fought against them as bravely
as he opposed the hosts of the Saxons. Many
writers have attributed the favour which he showed to
the Church to wise policy rather than to deep con-
viction and religious earnestness ; but this can scarcely
be regarded as a just view of the character of the great
Christian monarch. In his heart the claims of religion
ever held due sway. He ever tried to beat down the
violence of his own inclinations by prayer and fasting ;
he devoted his wealth to the cause of the Church, and
sent alms to Africa and Palestine to support the perse-
cuted faith of the Christian population. Respecting
the Papal See he listened to the appeal of the Pope,
and saved Rome from the Lombards. His father,
Pepin, had wrested from the Lombards the Exarchate
of Ravenna,^ the temporal sovereignty of which he
presented to Pope Stephen H. This celebrated dona-
tion Charlemagne confirmed in the year 774, when he
^ This included the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Ferrara.
CHARLEMAGNE. 65
defeated the Lombards and increased the grant by
additional territory. Thus he drew still closer the
bonds which allied him to the Bishop of Rome, and
secured for himself the zealous assistance of the Pope
in all his enterprises.
Charlemagne was the founder of the political liberty
of the Church, and by this means strengthened his
own authority. Assuming the functions of a patriarch,
he recognised the two main duties which his high
office entailed upon him — to strengthen Christianity
within the Church, and to extend its sphere without;
and '' as great duties make great men, the first made
him a legislator, the second made him a hero." ^
It is beyond the scope of this history to narrate the
events of the life of Charlemagne, to tell of his wars,
victories, and exploits. It is only in his relation to
the Church that we have to consider his actions and
career. Indeed, his wars against the Saxons, which
broke the power of that brave and stubborn race, were
regarded in after days of chivalry as a crusade; and
when Peter the Hermit stirred the popular mind with
the idea of rescuing the Holy Sepulchre from tlie
infidels, the report arose that Charlemagne was about
to rise from his grave at Aix-la-Chapelle, and lead the
Christian army against the infidels. The historians
of the age declare that the great Emperor was not
animated by any political motives, by any desire for
conquest or love of war, but solely by a devout pur-
pose to rescue the barbarous Saxons from heathen-
dom ; and since they would not listen to the gentle
^ Cf. Ozanani, vol. ii. p. 233.
E
66 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
persuasions and reasonings of the missionaries, he was
obhged to resort to the sterner lessons of war.
Doubtless Charlemagne was guided by two motives.
He saw that the suppression of the Saxons, their con-
tinual inroads, murders, rapine, and burnings of towns
and villages, was a political necessity ; and he hoped
at the same time to soften the manners of the wild
tribes, and convert them to Christianity. He did not
then contemplate that ruthless massacre of brave men
by which his memory is stained.
Soon the stern prophecy of Lebvin was fulfilled.
In spite of the brave resistance of the Saxons, led by
the hero Widukind, about whose memory romance has
woven many a legend, the royal arms prevailed. It
was far from the intention of the conquerors to enforce
Christianity by the sword. The treaties which followed
the first campaigns clearly show that the subdued
Saxons were not compelled to embrace the religion
of their conquerors. They were only obliged to take
the oath of fidelity to the Emperor Charles. When
the armies of the Franks withdrew, the priest was left
to instruct the Saxons, and to lead them to a holier
faith ; but at first there was no compulsion. At last,
however, the fatal error was committed. The labours
of the preachers were of no avail among the fierce
warriors of the Saxon hosts. Again and again they
returned to renew the war, breaking the treaties,
and refusing to listen to the Gospel messengers who
were sent by the Emperor ; it was tlien that he erred.
Wearied by the long struggle, disappointed in his
hopes of making the Saxons a Christian race, he
CHARLEMAGNE. 67
imagined that he had the right to punish them for
their disobedience and obstinacy, and the massacre
of Verden was the result of this fatal error, which has
stained the memory of a pious and religious sovereign.
The Saxons were forced to receive baptism at the hands
of the clergy who accompanied the conquerors, and
those who refused were condemned to death.
The severe measures of Charles were not regarded
favourably by the Church, and the learned Alcuin, who
had been invited by the Emperor to his court to promote
education in his empire, severely censured the stern
edicts of his master. He wrote : '' Faith, according
to the definition of S. Augustine, is a voluntary act and
not compulsory. You can draw a man to the faith,
you can never force him to it ; if you force men to
baptism, you do not make them take one step towards
religion. That is why those who convert the heathen
ought to use prudent and peaceful words ; for the
Saviour knows the hearts that He wants, and opens
them that they may understand. After baptism indul-
gent precepts are still necessary to weak souls. The
Apostle S. Paul wrote to the newly converted Chris-
tians of Corinth, ^ I have fed you with milk and not
bread.' . . . Let the propagators of the faith instruct
themselves, therefore, in the example of the Apostles ;
let them be preachers and not plunderers ; and let
them trust in Him of whom the prophet gives this
pledge, ' He never leaves those who hope in Him.'"
These remonstrances seem to have produced some
effect on the Emperor's mind. In the second capitu-
lary, 797 A.D., the harsh edicts were omitted. In 803
68 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
a reconciliation was agreed upon at the assembly at
Salz. The Saxons promised to renounce the worship
of idols, to obediently receive the bishops, from whom
they would learn what they ought to believe, and to
pa}^ the tithes prescribed by the law of God. In return
the monarch, reserving to himself the right of visiting
them by his commissioners, and of choosing their
judges, freed them from all kind of tribute, left them
the laws of their fathers, and all the honours of a free
people. The Frisians also obtained the same favour-
able conditions and preserved their freedom, upholding
the proud boast which forms the prelude to their statute-
book, ^' The Frisians shall be free as long as the wind
blows out of the clouds and the world stands."
The union of the Church and the State was well-
nigh complete, and conferred numerous privileges on
the hierarchy. The secular power enforced the decrees
of Church, compelled the observance of Sundays and
Holy Days, and recognised the right of asylum in
churches and other consecrated places. The bishops
and abbots of the principal monasteries were recognised
as a powerful aristocratic power, and enjoyed a rank
equal to that of the highest layman. The State be-
stowed special protection on all ecclesiastical property.
The system of the payment of tithes for the endowment
of cures was thoroughly organised, and all church pro-
perty was freed from taxation. All the education of
tlic country was conducted by the clergy, and in the
adniinistration of justice the bishops were not only the
exclusive judges of the clergy in spiritual, civil, and
criminal matters, but also exercised jurisdiction over
CHARLEMAGNE. 69
laymen in conjunction with the secular judges. Thus
the Church attained to a position of high dignity and
importance.
The chief benefit which Charlemagne conferred on
the Church was the great work of'^reformation which
he so zealously carried out. He wished to increase
the power of the Church, to augment its wealth, to
exalt the dignity of its prelates, and to enlarge their
privileges ; but he was not blind to the weaknesses
and lax manners which a corrupt age had spread
amongst the clergy. To correct these abuses, desiring
to strengthen the Church, he instituted certain vigorous
measures of reform in order to improve the condition
of the ecclesiastical power. He adopted the plan of
holding synods, which had proved so successful in
previous ages ; forty of these assembhes, at which the
Emperor himself generally presided, were held during
his reign, and helped to maintain the doctrine and
ancient disciphne of the Church. Sometimes at these
assemblies the representatives of the spiritual and
temporal powers held their sessions separately, the
bishops and priests arranging their ecclesiastical affairs,
and the earls devoting their plans for the political wel-
fare of the State. Sometimes the matters discussed
were entirely ecclesiastical, and the decisions of the
bishops were invested with the sanction of the Emperor,
and marked with his seal, in the famous ordinances
which were called capitularies. Among the sixty-five
acts which compose this collection, out of 1 1 5 1 articles,
no less than 477 relate to religious affairs.
An important synod was held at Aix-la-Chapelle in
70 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the year 789, when a capitulary was pubHshed in eighty
articles, with a view to restore the ancient discipline of
the Church. It was addressed to all ecclesiastics, and
was carried by the officers of the Emperor into all the
provinces of his enipire. The abuses which had arisen
are clearly shown in these instructions, which exhorted
the bishops to select their clergy from free men rather
than from slaves, and forbade all bishops, abbots, and
abbesses to possess dogs, or hawks, or buffoons, or
jugglers. At the council held at Frankfort in 794 the
great question of the adoption and worship of images
was discussed, and it was enacted that bishops should
not be translated from city to city ; that the Bishop
should never be absent from his church for more than
three weeks ; that he should diligently teach his clergy
in order that a worthy successor might ever be found
among them ; and that after his death his heirs should
only succeed to such portion of his property as he
possessed before his ordination — all acquisitions subse-
quently made were to return to his church. Other
articles regulated the discipline of the inferior clergy.
Fighting bishops were a cause of offence to the
devout laymen of this period, and when in 803 Char-
lemagne summoned a synod at Worms, the following
petition was presented to him by all the people of his
states.
"We pray your majesty that henceforth bishops
may not be constrained to join the army, as they have
been hitherto. But when we march with you against
the enemy, let them remain in their dioceses, occupied
with their holy ministry, and praying for you and your
CHARLEMAGNE. 71
army, singing masses, and making processions, and
almsgiving. For we have beheld some among them
wounded and killed in battle, God is our witness with
how much terror! And these accidents cause many
to fly before the enemy. So that you will have more
combatants if they remain in their dioceses, since many
are employed in guarding them ; and they will aid you
more effectually by their prayers, raising their hands
to heaven, after the manner of Moses. We make the
same petition with respect to the priests, that they
come not to the army, unless by the choice of their
bishops, and that those be such in learning and morals
that we may place full confidence in them."
The Emperor replied as follows : '^ In our desire to
reform ourselves, and to leave an example to our suc-
cessors, we ordain that no ecclesiastic shall join the
army, except two or three bishops chosen by the
others, to give the benediction, preach and concihate,
and with them some chosen priests to impose penance,
celebrate mass, take care of the sick, and give the
unction of holy oil and the viaticum. But these shall
carry no arms, neither shall they go to battle, nor shed
any blood, but shall be contented to carry the rehcs
and holy vessels, and to pray for the combatants.
The other bishops who remain at their churches shall
send their vassals well armed with us, or at our dis-
posal, and shall pray for us and our army. For the
people and the kings who have permitted their priests
to fight, have not gained the advantage in their wars,
as we know from what has occurred in Gaul, in Spain,
and in Lombardy. In adopting the contrary practice
72 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
we hope to obtain victory over the pagans, and finally
everlasting life."
Although Charlemagne used his autocratic power to
interfere greatly in ecclesiastical affairs, he did not
seek to estabhsh any royal supremacy in spiritual
matters. By his capitularies ^ he strove to extirpate
paganism, to reform the clergy, by punishing ignor-
ance among the priests, and by forbidding them
the pursuits of the chase and war. The election of
bishops was placed in the hands of the clergy and
people ; the rights of the metropolitans over their
suffragans, and of the bishops over their clergy, were
duly recognised and established ; and whatever in-
fluence Charlemagne exercised over ecclesiastical legis-
lation, it was directed towards the strengthening and
purifying of the Church, and not for the increase of
his own power or sovereignty. The following words
of the great Emperor reveal his humble mind and pure
intentions for the furthering of the cause of religion :
''It has pleased us to soHcit your wisdom, O pastors
of Christ, leaders of His flock, and shining Hghts of the
world, lest the infernal wolf devour those whom He
finds transgressing the canonical rules, and the tradi-
tions of the holy canons. For this purpose we have
subjoined several articles extracted from the canons
which have appeared to us more necessary." In
another passage he says, " It is our duty under the
good pleasure of the Divine mercy to protect every-
where the Holy Church of Christ, by defending it from
without by arms against the incursions of the heathen
^ C/. note at end of chapter.
CHARLEMAGNE.
/3
and the ravages of the unbehevers, and by strengthen-
ing it within by the profession of the Catholic faith."
In order that the decrees of the synods might be
observed throughout the states of his vast empire, he
appointed two commissioners, who were called Missi
dominici, to visit each diocese and province, to see that
the laws of the Church were duly observed, and to
report to him any cases of disobedience or neglect.
They were chosen from the two orders of prelates and
laymen of exalted rank ; and although their super-
vision may have been somewhat distasteful to those
clergy who held defective views of the duties of their
high office, it was in no way prejudicial to the regular
jurisdiction of the bishops.
The cause of education found in Charlemagne a keen
promoter. He induced the learned Englishman, Alcuin,
the most celebrated divine of his day, to forsake the
cloisters of York, and to help in the great work of the
restoration of learning. Alcuin loved the great Em-
peror, and consented to die in a foreign land on condi-
tion that he might live in solitude and have around
him his ^'English flowers," which name the learned
monk gave to his books. Although inferior to his
celebrated countryman, Bede, as a writer, nevertheless,
on account of his great love of teaching and his devo-
tion to books, he was well suited for the position
assigned to him by Charles. He took great pleasure
in correcting ancient manuscripts, restoring the text
which time had changed. When Charlemagne was
crowned at Rome, Alcuin presented him with one of
bis greatest treasures — a Bible annotated and corrected
74 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
by his own hand. Examples of his method of impart-
ing instruction have come down to us in his work De
Septem Artibus. His letters give us a picture of the
palace of his royal master, the centre of the enlighten-
ment of the age ; its academ}^, where the great scholars
met whom the Emperor called together to discuss
abstruse questions ; its Hbrary, containing a rich store
both of sacred and profane literature; and its school,
where the young were instructed. There Alcuin
hoped to revive once more the glories of ancient
Athens, purified and Christianised.
Charles himself set an example of patient study and
a desire for learning. He consulted his learned teacher
about difficult questions in grammar, arithmetic, and
astronom3^ He could converse in Latin, and set him-
self the task of learning Greek in order to correct the
Latin text of the Gospels with the help of the original
version. Learned men of all races flocked to his palace,
but their attainments did not always satisfy the high
ideal of their august patron, who, sighing after the
pursuit of more perfect knowledge, used to exclaim
with impatience, ''Would to God I had only a dozen
scholars like S. Augustine and S. Jerome." He was
very determined in his efforts to establish a learned
hierarchy, requiring the bishops to write theological
treatises, which if they were not considered satisfactory
were returned to their authors for reconstruction. He
reproved the Bishop of Treves for his devotion to secular
rather than to religious study, and exclaimed, '' Would
that the Bishop were as well acquainted with the four
Gospels as he is with the twelve books of the iEneid ! "
CHARLEMAGNE. 75
To this period of the history of the Netherlands may
be traced the complete organisation of the dioceses,
which was not changed until the stormy reign of
Philip II. The country was divided into six dioceses
— Cambray, Tournay, Therouanne, Arras, which were
in the province of the Metropolitan See of Rheims ;
and Liege and Utrecht, which for a short period were
in the province of the MetropoHtan See of Cologne,
and afterwards of Mayence. The geographical divisions
of the six dioceses were as follows : —
1. Cambray comprised the neighbourhood of that
city, the greater part of Hainault, part of Namur,
Brabant, on the left bank of the Dyle, Flanders, on
the right of the Schelde, and part of the province of
Antwerp, including Hooghstraeten and Turnhout.
2. The Bishop of Tournay exercised jurisdiction over
the Menapian State.
3. Arras comprised the ancient city of the Attribates.
4. To Therouanne was assigned the State of the
Morini.
5. The seat of the bishopric of Liege was first estab-
lished at Tongres, afterwards for a short time at
Maestricht, and finally at Liege by S. Hubert in 709.
It embraced a large amount of territory, and comprised
within its borders the country around Liege, the part
of Brabant on the right of the river Dyle, including
Louvain, part of the province of Antwerp, Limbourg,
Namur, Luxemburg, part of the Rhine province, and
the eastern part of Hainault.
6. The immense Utrecht diocese embraced all the
central and northern portions of the Netherlands.
76 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The extreme parts of the Netherlands on the east
and north were attached to other bishoprics. Nijmegen
and the country lying between the Meuse and the Waal
belonged to Cologne ; and some parishes on the eastern
side of the kingdom of Holland were under the juris-
diction of the Bishops of Munster, Minden, Paderborn,
and Osnabruck. Parts of Luxemburg belonged to the
dioceses of Treves, Rheims, Cologne, Metz, Toul, and
Verdun. Thus the ecclesiastical supervision of the
country was complete.
Charlemagne also took special care that those who
were nominated to vacant Sees should be men of piety
and zeal. On one occasion he nominated one of his
chaplains to a vacant bishopric. Rejoicing at his pro-
motion the Bishop designate invited his friends to a
banquet, and the festivities were prolonged so far into
the night that he did not appear in chapel on the
following morning at Matins, when he ought to have
been in his place to chant the response '' D online, si
adhuc poptilo tuo sum neces sarins!^ &:c. The service
was somewhat disarranged by his absence, and Charle-
magne, who was present, was so indignant that he
revoked the nomination, and gave the bishopric to a
poor priest who had chanted the response in place of
the defaulting chaplain. The story shows the almost
absolute power which the Emperor exercised in ecclesi-
astical affairs, and his earnest desire to reform the
clergy, and to nominate to bishoprics men worthy of
the office.
Under his fostering care the city and diocese of
Liege increased in size and power. During the
CHARLEMAGNE. yy
episcopacy of Agilfride, who wrote the main portion
of a ^' Life of S. Lambert," commenced by Godescalc or
Gotteschalck, the Emperor visited the city A.D. 769, to
celebrate Easter with great solemnity. On this occasion
he wore the insignia of royalty, and was attended by
all the officers of his court and the great men of the
kingdom. He beautified the church, enriched its pre-
rogatives, and granted privileges to the citizens. The
Pope also visited Liege and increased the privileges of
the church during the rule of Gerbald, the thirty-fourth
bishop. Here resided the dethroned king of the Lom-
bards with his wife and daughter, whom Charles had
defeated in his Italian war. The citizens of Liege
were ever ready to summon their forces, which they
did by ringing the bell in the clock-tower, and march
under the Emperor's banner ; and he, wishing to re-
quite them for their faithfulness, gave them the privilege
of freedom from toll, and to have escutcheons and
silver buttons as a mark of their nobility. Bishop
Gerbald, who was much beloved by the Emperor and
by the clergy and people, died 809 A.D.
When Charlemagne felt that his days were fast
drawing to a close, he ordered his son Louis to attend
an assembly at Aix-la-Chapelle ; and in the church
which he had built, he resigned his crown to his son,
bidding him to love and believe in Christ, to keep the
commandments, and to protect the Church ; to honour
the bishops as fathers, to love his people as children,
and to comfort the monks and the poor. The imperial
crown — placed by Charlemagne upon the altar as a
token that to God he resigned that rule which His
78 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Divine will had granted to him — was then received by
his son, amid the acclamations of the multitude, and
■ after a solemn celebration of the Eucharist, Charle-
magne returned to his palace.
He lived one 3^ear after this event, employing his
time in studying the New Testament in Greek, and
correcting the Latin version ; but he was attacked by
fever in January, A.D. 814. For seven days he lingered
in pain and weakness, and for a time bereft of reason ;
he recovered sufficiently to make the sign of the cross,
and to repeat the words of the Psalmist, ''Lord, into
Thy hands I commend my spirit," and then died. He
was buried in the magnificent church at Aix-la-Chapelle
which he had built, arrayed in his imperial robes, sitting
upon his throne, with a sceptre in his hand, and a book
of the Gospels bound in gold on his knees, and '' his
sepulchre remaineth until this day."^
Many illustrious and devoted men lived and worked
in the Netherlands in the time of Charlemagne. We
have already recorded the patient labours of S. Gregory
of Utrecht, and the indefatigable zeal of S. Ludger,
who extended his missionary enterprises far and wide.
The names of two other saints ought not to be omitted
— S. Gommar and S. Rumold. Gommar was born at
the village of Emblehem, near Lierre, where there is a
church dedicated to him. He served in the armies of
^ Here Ihc body of the great Emperor reposed for 350 years. The
tomb was opened by Otto III., a.d. iooo ; and also 150 years later by
Frederick Barbarossa ; and later still, th^ remains were placed in a reli-
quary made of gold and silver, still preserved in the Cathedral Treasury.
The throne on which the body of Charlemagne rested in his grave was
afterwards used for the coronation of the Emperors.
CHARLEMAGNE. 79
Pepin, and at the court ; but in an evil hour he had
the misfortune to marry a shrewish wife, who was
like a household fury, and during the absence of her
husband used to cruelly ill-treat his servants. He
finally retired into an oratory, which he built in honour
of S. Peter, where he devoted his life to pious works
and deeds of charity. S. Gommar is held in honour as
the patron saint of Lierre.
S. Rumold was of Saxon origin, and was ordained a
regionary bishop at Rome. He was the chief founder of
Christianity at the famous city of Malines or Mechlin;
S. Lambert had indeed done much to spread Chris-
tianity in the neighbourhood, but it was left to S.
Rumold to complete the work. He was received with
kindness by Count Odon and his wife, gnd prophesied
that God would give her a son, who would be renowned
for his piety and zeal for the honour of God and the
Church. The prophecy was fulfilled, and a child was
born, whom they named Libert. This boy fell into the
river, and was drowned ; but the saint, touched by the
great grief of the parents, restored him to life.
In gratitude the Count and Countess founded a
monastery, of which S. Libert was the abbot when the
savage Northmen invaded the land, who slew him at
the foot of the altar. Few details of S. Rumold's life
are given. He built a chapel, and was murdered by
two men whose anger he provoked by the boldness of
his reproofs, and who desired to possess themselves
of the treasures they imagined he had acquired. His
body was buried in the church which he had built,
upon the site of which now stands the grand cathedral
8o THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of S. Rumold, erected in the thirteenth century, and
afterwards restored. His memory has always been
venerated by the inhabitants of the important city of
Mahnes, which owes much of its former greatness to
the saint, and became one of the great centres of
monastic hfe in the Netherlands. Sohier, a Bollandist,
justly remarks that if Louvain holds the palm for
learning, and Antwerp for commerce, M alines is no
less distinguished for its piety.
JVoU' on Capitularies of Charlemagiie. — It is well to bear
in mind that all the capitularies of Charlemagne are not
genuine. After his death, when the Papal claim to universal
authority over the Church began to be formulated, in order to
prove that Charles had ever recognised that claim, it was found
necessary to forg^ a series of decrees and insert them amongst
the genuine capitulary decrees. Benedict the Levite, of May-
ence, was the author of these spurious documents, in which
Charles is represented as accepting the most astounding claims
formulated by the Pope. Cf. vol. i., " The Church in Germany,''
p. 115.
CHAPTER VI.
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS AND DEVASTATIONS
OF THE NORTHMEN.
Rule of Louis le Debonnaire — Favours the Church — Council at Aix-la-
Chapelle — Regulations for clergy — Reforms — Monastic rules — S.
Benedict — Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht — Martyrdom — Missions of
Belgic Church— S. Adalard — Ansker — Division of empire on death
of Louis — The power of the Counts — Theodore, Count of Holland
— Foundation of monastery of Egmond — Baldwin Bras-de-fer —
Inroads of the Northmen — Utrecht destroyed — Terrible devasta-
tions — Base conduct of Charles the Fat — End of Norman invasions
— Rebuilding of towns and monasteries — Increased power of the
bishops — Tournay loses temporal jurisdiction — Increased authority
of the Pope — His treatment of Lothaire II. — Liege rebuilt by
Bishop Franco — Bishop Stephen — Baldwin the Bald — Prosperity of
Flanders — Degeneracy of the times— Council of Trosli — Scandals —
S. Gerard.
Not many years elapsed before the grand empire
bequeathed by Charlemagne showed signs of disinte-
gration ; the race of kings degenerated ; the counts
and nobles frequently revolted, and wars and fightings
became general. Amidst the confusion which soon
reigned, the cause of religion suffered. Louis le
Debonnaire, the son of Charlemagne, began his rule
well, and continued the policy of his father in showing
favour to the Church, confirming the privileges granted
by his predecessors, and causing those who had seized
Church property to restore it. He summoned a Coun-
cil at Aix-la-Chapelle in order to reform abuses ; he
82 THE CHURCH- IN THE NETHERLANDS.
exhorted the bishops to attend to the education of their
clergy, and to reform the communities of canons and
female canons, whose discipHne had become lax. The
writings of the Fathers and the decrees of the Synods
were examined, and a code of rules drawn up for the
use of the clergy, of which the following are the chief
heads : —
After several quotations from the writings of Isidore,
Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Prosper, show-
ing the qualities required for the pastoral office, the
Council enjoined clerical celibacy, the fixity of the
pastoral charge except with leave from the bishop,
abstinence from public shows and trade of all kinds,
inns, &c. The canons were allowed to have their own
property and benefices, which were not permitted to
the monks, but the goods of the Church were only to
be regarded as the pay of the soldiers of Jesus Christ,
and for the nourishment of the poor. The bishops
were forbidden from appointing serfs to canonries;
this it appears they were in the habit of doing, in order
that no complaints might be made by these subservient
clerics. The canons were not to be idle, but to apply
themselves to reading, prayer, study, and the service
of the Church. They were to be present at all ^' the
hours," and at a conference every day, when Holy
Scripture and books of piety were ordered to be read,
disciplinary sentences pronounced, and the general
affairs of the community discussed. During meals
books of devotion were to be read aloud. The punish-
ments of whipping or imprisonment might be inflicted,
but the superiors were to remember that the '' Church
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 83
ought to be compared to a dove, because she does. not
tear with her claws, but strikes gently with her wings."
The erection of hospitals for the poor, houses of retreat
for infirm canons, and the education of children were
strictly enjoined.
Rules for the regulation of female canons were also
drawn up, principally taken from the writings of the
Fathers, and compared to '' a bouquet of flowers chosen
from a fine meadow."
These acts of the Council were sent to each bishop,
with instructions to see that they were duly enforced.
The capitularies were pubhshed ; liberty of elections
given to the Church, the bishops to be elected by the
clergy and people, the abbots by the monks. Two-
thirds of the donations of rich monasteries were ordered
to be given to the poor, and one-third to the mainte-
nance of the monks.
The result of these enactments was a considerable
improvement in the lives and conduct of the clergy.
Evidently some reforms were needed, as we may judge
from the words of a contemporary historian. ''Then
the clerks and bishops began to quit their scarfs of
gold and girdles charged with cutlasses garnished with
stones, as well as precious dresses and spurs ; and if
any ecclesiastics affected ornaments proper to laymen,
they were regarded as monsters."
A Synod was held at Aix-la-Chapelle composed of
abbots and monks, to draw up one uniform rule for the
various monasteries, when S. Benedict of Aniane was
the leading spirit. The old Benedictine rule was used
as a model of monastic government, and to it eighty
84 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
articles were added dealing with the niost minute
details of monastic life — the times for shaving, bath-
ing, eating fowls, fruits, dress, washing each other's
feet, &c.
In all the monasteries of Belgium these rules were
enforced, and discipline enjoined everywhere. Many
of the monks, accustomed to lax manners, found them
somewhat irksome, and became discontented and in-
clined to revolt ; but they were forced to comply with
the new regulations, and great improvements were
effected.
The diocese of Utrecht at this period was governed
by a good bishop named Frederick. For eighty-four
years after the martyrdom of S. Boniface, the chronicles
are silent concerning the achievements of the Utrecht
bishops. We are told that they were worthy of
their great predecessors, devout, pious, and faithful
men, who ruled their clergy and people well, and were
buried in their cathedral. Albricus, the fourth bishop,
was an Englishman from the diocese of York, who
urged Ludger to carry on the good work of Lebvinus
at Deventer. Of Theodard, an illustrious Frisian
preacher, who died A.D. 790, of Harmarkarus and
Rixfrid we know nothing. But of Frederick, the
eighth bishop, fuller details are recorded. He was the
adopted son of his predecessor, Rixfrid, and a brave,
fearless, and devout bishop. Before his election,
Louis le Debonnaire came with a great retinue to
Utrecht, demanded the bishopric for Frederick, and
ordered the consecration to be performed in his pre-
sence. A great banquet was held, which was attended
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 85
by the King, his nobles, and the chief men of the city.
On the following day Louis said to the new bishop,
'' My son, you have been chosen Bishop of Utrecht to
admonish profane people by your preaching. There
is the island of Walcheren, where fearful incest and
adultery are practised ; I call upon you to correct and
punish the offenders." The Bishop replied, ''Which
part of a fish ought one to eat first ? " '' The head, I
suppose," said the King, " for it is more full of marrow
than any other part." The Bishop answered, " You, O
king, are the chief and head of this people ; therefore
I would first reprove you before I go to the poor people
of Walcheren. You have married, against the decrees
of the canons, Judith, the sister of the Duke of Bavaria,
who is a blood-relation of yours. Abstain from inter-
course with this woman ; repent of your sin ; or terrible
danger and loss will befall you." Louis was humbled
by the stern reproof, and promised to put away his wife.
The good Bishop was renowned for his prayers,
charity, and fasting ; he prudently repaired the ruined
walls of the ancient camp near Utrecht ; he corrected
the scandalous crimes at Walcheren, visiting his diocese
and reforming abuses. But at last he fell a victim to
the anger of the enraged Judith, whose divorce from
Louis he had so strenuously advised. Two men came
to Utrecht on a pretended embassage from Louis.
Frederick, knowing by divine inspiration that his
martyrdom was at hand, told them to wait till the
close of the service. The Church of S. Salvator was
crowded with worshippers ; the Bishop preached, and
in an allegory spake of his approaching death. At the
86 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
end of the mass, when the words '' Ite viissa est " had
died away, he called the men, and bade them fulfil
their mission, which with swords they speedily accom-
plished, sa3dng, '' Now the Queen has her revenge ! "
Prophesying the scourge of the Danes as a punish-
ment for the unpurged adultery of Louis, he breathed
his last, and, amidst the lamentations of his flock,
was buried in the crypt of the church, A.D. 838.
Of Walcand and Pirard, bishops of Liege, there are
no records, except that they were good men ; but a
proof of the vitality of the Belgian Church at this time
exists in the fact that it sent forth missionaries to
other lands. S. Adalard or Adelhard, a Belgian, Abbot
of Corbie, sent a company of monks to reconvert the
Saxons and to found a monastery, which they called
New Corbie. This became a nursery of apostles and
missionaries. Adalard died A.D. 825. Ebbon, Arch-
bishop of Rheims, Halitgaire, afterwards Bishop of
Cambray, Ansker, of Corbie, endeavoured to convert
the Danes and Normans; if their labours had been
successful, they would have saved their country much
misery. Ansker, the apostle of Sweden, was remark-
able for his gentle, loving disposition, which resembled
that of S. John. King Harold of Denmark, when visit-
ing Louis, requested him to allow a zealous preacher
to accompany him and his warriors to their native
land. Ansker was chosen for this adventurous journey,
and won the hearts of the wild Danes ; he used to
purchase native children and train them as teachers.
Thence he sailed to Sweden ; by his prayers and
labours he softened the hearts of the pagans, and, after
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 87
thirty-four years of hard toil in his Master's service,
died there.
Louis le Debonnaire ruled the empire twenty-six
years without much strength or dignity. His own
children rebelled against him and imprisoned him in
a German monastery, where he died, A.D. 840. He
had three sons, Lothaire, Louis, and Charles, who
fought amongst themselves, and divided the monarchy
between them. Lothaire governed the largest part of
Belgium, between the Rhine and the Schelde ; the
country east of the Rhine fell to Louis ; that part
which lies on the west of the Schelde to Charles called
the Bald. Thus Belgium was separated into two
regions, divided by the Schelde, and governed by two
sovereigns. The new rulers seem to have wished well
to the Church, for the three brothers held an assembly
at Mersen, near Maestricht, where they endeavoured
to remedy the evils of the times, and enacted that the
churches should have all the possessions which they
held in time of the late king, and forbade all rapine
and violence.
Terrible times of confusion followed, and it needed
stronger hands than those of the feeble descendants of
the illustrious Charlemagne to direct the empire torn
and rent into shreds of sovereignty. The power of
the Counts arose, the chief nobles ruling Hke inde-
pendent princes, the sovereigns being too weak or
too distant to enforce obedience. Giselbert, Count of
Mansuaria, in the duchy of Lorraine, forcibly married
Ermengarde, daughter of Lothaire, and his son, Regi-
nald of the Long Neck, became very powerful, at one
88 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
time the '' faithful and unique " councillor of the German
emperor, at another time enjoying viceregal authority
under the French king. It is beyond the scope of
this history to narrate his adventurous life and that of
his successors : the quarrels and continuous fightings
between the Counts belong to secular rather than to
ecclesiastical history. Charles the Bald granted to
Theodore Egmond and the north-west territory of the
Netherlands/ which he held by feudal tenure. Theo-
dore was the first Count of Holland, a noble man, who
drove the Danes and Northmen from his territories.
His armour was made of gold, a red lion his device,
which often struck terror into the hearts of even the
brave Vikings. He married a noble lady, Ghena, and
begat an illustrious son, Theodore, who succeeded his
father as Count of Holland. He built the monastery
of Egmond, a wooden edifice, dedicated to S. Adelbert,
Archdeacon of Utrecht under S. Willibrord, and estab-
lished a colony of monks of the Benedictine Order.
This monastery was rebuilt in stone- b}^ his son
Theodore II., who endowed it with large possessions ;
its library contained a text of the four Gospels bound
in gold with precious stones; a gold altar, resplendent
with many gems, was given by his Countess. This
famous abbey, destroyed by the ruthless hands of the
fanatical iconoclasts in 1572, was a great centre of
^ It will be remembered that the Zuyder Zee did not exist at this
time. That inland sea, which divided Friesland into two parts, was
caused by a great physical convulsion in the thirteenth century.
- This must have been a work of importance in a country wholly
destitute of materials for such a purpose, and where from ihe nature of
the ground great skill was required for making secure foundations.
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS, 89
learning; its chronicles are most valuable, and from
them much of the early history of Holland is derived.^
The country on^the west of the Schelde was under
the rule of Charles the Bald, and Flanders was ori-
ginally a small countship in the neighbourhood of
Bruges; but it was governed by a valiant man, the
celebrated Baldwin, called Bras-de-fer, who carried off
Judith, the daughter of Charles, his sovereign, and
widow of an English prince. Charles was at first
furious ; but, at the intercession of Pope Nicholas I.,
he recognised Baldwin as his son-in-law, and gave
him the government of the whole country west of
the Schelde, which was then called the Countship
of Flanders. Baldwin governed vigorously and well,
fortifying his cities Ghent and Bruges against the
attacks of the dreaded Normans, and successfully drove
them from his shores.
A disastrous period ensued in the history of the
Netherlands, and left the country full of ruined cities,
desecrated churches and monasteries, and ravaged
homesteads. This desolation was caused by the in-
roads of the Northmen and Danes, who were the
scourge of this and other countries for so many years.
The fierce Vikings knew no pity, and, attracted by
the wealth of the churches and monasteries, animated
by a savage hatred of Christianity, the opposing force
of their old Scandinavian deities, who had inspired their
1 "Chronicon Egmundanum seu Annales Regalium Abbatum
Edmundensium, auctore Johanne de Leydis," &c. (Leyden). I have
found this chronicle full of materials for the early ecclesiastical history
of Holland.
90 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ancestors to deeds of glory and lived again in their
war-songs and were hym.ned by the Scalds, they
everywhere attacked the houses of God, plundered
the shrines and slaughtered the priests. While valiant
Baldwin lived, the blows of his iron arm struck such
terror into the hearts of the Northmen that they did
not attack Flanders ; but during the rule of his youthful
son they sailed up the rivers and committed fright-
ful ravages. It is needless to describe the successive
invasions of these ruthless devastators. During the
days of Hunger, the eleventh bishop, 856 A.D., Utrecht
w^as destroyed, in which there were said to be fifty-five
parish churches. They slew all the people and nearly
all the clergy. Hunger and a few canons escaped
the general massacre, and fled to Lothaire, who had
retired to the monastery at Prlim. He granted to the
weary exiles the monastery of Mount Odilie in the
Vosges Mountains, where they lived peacefully for
several years. Liege, where Franco was bishop,
Tongres, Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle and the palace of
the Emperor, were a prey to the flames. Hunfroi,
Bishop of Therouanne, was driven from his See and
his city destroyed. He desired to retire from his
bishopric, but the Pope told him '' that a good pilot
does not desert his vessel during the storm." S.
Edmond, Bishop of Tournay, was taken prisoner by the
Normans and massacred with other nobles, A.D. 860.
The monasteries especially suffered. In the diocese
of Cambray, of which Rothade was bishop, the monas-
teries of Gery, Conde, Mechlin, Gislain, Hautmont
(re-established in the eleventh century), Sogniers (re-
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 91
established in the tenth century), and many others
were utterly destroyed. • In the diocese of Tournay,
S. Bavon, S. Peter, Tronchiennes (soon rebuilt), Thou-
roult (restored A.D. 1073), and all the monasteries
along the Schelde and Lys, shared the same fate.
Stavelot and S. Trond, in the diocese of Liege, also
perished, and everywhere ruin and desolation reigned.
The conduct of Charles the Fat, who, after defeating
the Normans twice, purchased a dishonourable peace,
was base and pusillanimous. He gave to the Nor-
man chieftains Sigefroy and Godfrey immense wealth,
and to the latter the province of Friesland and the
hand of his daughter.
Disgusted with his cowardice, the Germans revolted
and chose Arnold as emperor, of the race of Charle-
magne, a brave and good prince, who, aided by Franco,
Bishop of Liege, defeated the Normans at Louvain,
and rescued Lorraine from them for ever. In the
tenth century their dreaded invasions ceased. They
ended, as they began, at Utrecht, during the rule of
Bishop Anfrid, A.D. loio. The Normans defeated the
Frisians and advanced on Utrecht. No resistance
was offered, the gates of the city opened, and the
bishop, arrayed in his episcopal vestments, attended by
his clergy, went forth to meet the conquerors. Ani-
mated by esteem for the sanctity of good Bishop
Anfrid, or by veneration of the See, the armed hosts
of warriors retired, and infested the country no more.
The indomitable perseverance and energy of the
people of the Netherlands and their patient industry,
which is evident in every page of their history, were
92 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
called into play to restore the ruined cities, churches,
and monasteries which the Normans had left, and it
is wonderful how soon the towns arose from their
ruinous heaps, and the hymns of the monks were again
heard in the abbey churches. During this period the
ecclesiastical power increased greatly. The bishops
of Utrecht, Liege, and Tournay attained a position of
high importance in the country. The Counts were
strong and mighty, but they could be removed accord-
ing to the pleasure of the sovereign ; whereas the
bishops held their possessions secure from any inter-
ference by the crown. The successors of Charlemagne
vied with each other in pouring wealth and lands into
the lap of the Church ; and the bishops supported the
royal authority, and were useful to the monarch in
checking the ever-increasing powder of the Counts.
They possessed temporal power as well as spiritual
authority ; they had vassals whom they could sum-
mon for mihtary service, and although they had not
yet attained to the summit of their power, year by year
their authority and their wealth were increasing.
After the sack of Tournay by the Normans, its bishop
never regained temporal jurisdiction, but the two great
dioceses of Liege and Utrecht were amassing lands,
wealth, and power. The bishops assembled at the
Council of Fimes, in the diocese of Rheims, A.D. 88 1,
told the young King Louis, the son of the Stammerer,
that the dignity of bishops was greater than that of
kings, because kings were consecrated by bishops.
It is evident also at this period in the history of the
Netherlands, as it is in the history of all countries when
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS.
93
governed by weak sovereigns, that the power of the
Pope increased enormously. In the times of Pepin
and Charlemagne, the Papal authority was scarcely
recognised by the sovereigns of the mighty empire ;
but during the reigns of their feeble successors that
authority increased amazingly.
An example of the exercise of this power may be
given. Lothaire II. sought to repudiate his wife and to
marry another. He persuaded some bishops to take
his side, but Pope Nicholas I. espoused the cause of the
injured wife, and excommunicated the bishops who
had favoured the king. The bishops of Cologne and
Treves denounced the Pope as the tyrant of Chris-
tians, and armed Louis against him. Nicholas was
chased from his See, but in the end Lothaire yielded
to the Pope's demands. When, however, Adrian
succeeded Nicholas, the king again deserted his wife.
A strange scene took place at Mont Cassin in Italy,
whither Lothaire and his nobles went to meet the
Pope. The sacrament was about to be administered.
The Pontiff warned all who had partaken in the un-
purged adultery of Lothaire to abstain from receiving
the sacred elements. Some drew back in fear, but
Lothaire and some of his nobles received the sacra-
ment from the hands of the Pope. All who did so
were attacked with fever on their journey homewards
and died. Such is the story, a solemn warning to
future emperors and kings who dared to act contrar}^
to the Papal decrees; and although in this instance
the Pope acted in the interests of justice and morality,
it was a new thing for those in whose veins ran the
94 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
blood of Charlemagne to humble themselves in the
presence of the Roman Pontiff.
The Belgian bishops, after the departure of the
Normans, set themselves to work to rebuild their
cities. Bishop Franco of Liege exhorted the people
to restore the waste places; he contributed largely
from his own purse, and in two years the city was
almost rebuilt. In consideration of his services the
Emperor Arnold gave back to the church of Liege
the Abbey of Lobbe, which had been seized by the
Duke of Lorraine. Zuentibold, the son and successor
of Arnold, a very religious prince, gave large posses-
sions to the church of Liege. Franco was succeeded
by Bishop Stephen, a man of noble birth, piety, and
learning. Abbot Trithenu, in his book on the lives
of illustrious men, speaks of him as ''a prelate who
was greatly skilled in all knowledge, both divine and
human, prudent in affairs, eloquent in his discourses,
pious and edifying in his manners. He composed many
works worthy of praise, amongst which were an office
of the Holy Trinity as chanted in the church of Liege,
and other pieces of that nature." He died A.D. 920.
The city of Utrecht was still in ruins when Radbod
was bishop, who died A.D. 917. He too was a holy,
learned, and high-born prelate, skilled in the seven
arts, and the author of several poems in praise of
Willibrord, Boniface, and Martin. He lived and died
at Deventer. Baldric, his successor, the fifteenth
bishop, rebuilt Utrecht, fortified it with towers and
walls, and restored the ruined churches and other
buildings. He died A.D. 977.
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 95
Under the able rule of the successors of the brave
Baldwin, Flanders soon recovered from the Norman
invasion and attained to great prosperity. Baldwin
the Bald, who married Alfritha, daughter of King
Alfred of England, repaired the fortifications of the
towns, and became a very powerful Count. His court
was very brilliant, in which twelve of the principal
nobles of Flanders occupied the first rank as peers.
He was not a very pious prince, and scrupled not
to take possession of Church property. He seized
the Abbey of S. Vaast and lands belonging to the
church of Noyon. But the Church had a brave de-
fender in the person of Foulques, Archbishop of
Rheims, who summoned a Council, and sent a letter
to Dodilon, Bishop of Cambray, charging him to
demand explanations from the powerful Count, and
restitution of all the lands which he had so unjustly
acquired. The Count refused ; and by the advice of
Foulques, Charles the Simple besieged Arras, and
seized the monastery of S. Vaast. Baldwin was so
enraged that he vowed vengeance against the Arch-
bishop, and ultimately caused him to be assassinated.
Hervee succeeded him, and his first act was to excom-
municate Baldwin, which sentence of excommunica-
tion was signed by Dodolon of Cambray, Heriland
of Therouanne, and other bishops. Terrible as the
sentence was, it does not seem to have had much
effect on the Count, nor reduced him to submission.
After forty years' reign, he was succeeded by Arnold
the Great, A.D. 918, the brave defender of the grand-
son of Charles the Bald, and the fearless enemy of
96 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the French lords, who were leagued against their king.
He defended himself against Otto the Great, who
possessed the rest of Belgium. Nothing seemed to
be able to check the growing power of the Counts of
Flanders. Baldwin III., who succeeded, A.D. 958,
favoured the progress of industry and commerce,
and his successor, Baldwin the Bearded, was able to
extend his territory across the Schelde.
In Flanders civilisation progressed rapidly, towns
multiplied, and commerce extended. Bruges was at
that time '' marvellously famous for multitudes of mer-
chants found there, and for the abundance which the
world has of precious things." The population of the
country increased rapidly, and the prosperity of Flanders
was established.
In spite of the increased secular power of the
bishops and the improved material condition of the
Flemings, the spiritual condition of the people was at
a low ebb in these times. The historian Fleury wrote
that in the tenth century it was as difficult to find a true
Christian as it was for Diogenes to find an honest man
in the open market. Some of the more religious clergy
realised fully the degenerate state of religion, and in
the acts of the few Councils which were held bewailed
their own shortcomings and the low moral condition
of their people. At Fimes they acknowledged their
neghgence, their disregard of preaching; they sought
honours, not virtues ; they were silent about open sins.
" Why do we not reform ourselves, if we cannot reform
others ? Mundane affairs occupy us ; therefore are our
towns burnt, our monasteries overthrown. We are the
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 97
cause, because we have not taught our people better.
If we are not able to preach, at least we can set an
example."
At the Council of Trosli, held some years later.
Archbishop Hervee addressed in mournful words the
assembled bishops : '' Religion appears on the verge
of ruin ; the whole world is dehvered to the evil
spirit. We do not blush to confess it ; it is our sins,
and those of the people whom we guard, which attract
on us cruel scourges. The voice of our iniquities has
reached to heaven. Fornication, adultery, sacrilege,
and homicide have deluged the face of the earth.
Every one enjoys to the full his passions. The most
powerful oppress the weak, and men are like the fishes
of the sea, of which the greater devour the less. In a
word, the whole order of the Church is confounded
and overthrown. And we who are honoured with
episcopacy — what can they not reproach us with ?
Alas ! we bear the glorious name of bishops, and we
do not fulfil the duties of it. We leave by our silence
the flock of the Lord to lose itself and miss its way.
We shall have a terrible account to render when at
the last day the pastors will appear in the presence
of the Eternal Pastor, to carry Him the profit of the
talent, that is, the increase of flock which He has
confided to their care. They call us pastors — how shall
we dare to appear without our lambs ? How can we
present ourselves ? "
In such pious words and mournful reflections did
the more earnest of the bishops show their reaHsa-
tion of the degeneracy of the times, which is further
98 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
depicted in the fifteen canons which they drew up at
Trosli. Amongst other scandals, they mention that
lay abbots were living in monasteries and nunneries
with their wives and children, their men-of-war and
dogs, unable even to read. They passed four heavy
maledictions on the appropriators of Church property.
'' May the door of heaven be closed to them ! may
the gates of hell be open to them ! may they be ex-
communicated from the society of all Christians, and
may dogs alone receive of their charity ! " To prevent
the goods of any bishop from being pillaged after
death, the neighbouring bishops were exhorted to
attend his funeral. They showed their adherence to
the doctrines of the Western Church by protesting
against the tenet of the Greek Church with regard to
the Procession of the Holy Ghost.
These articles, while they reflect very clearly the
errors of the times, at least show that the spirit of
religion was not dead, and that amongst the more
earnest bishops there was a strong desire for better
things. The decrees were signed by Stephen of Cam-
bray, Stephen of Therouanne and other bishops of the
province of Rheims.
The task of restoring the fabric and the discipline
of the monasteries was mainly accomplished by S.
Gerard, a native of Namur, of great piety and learn-
ing. He was materially aided by Arnold the Great,
Count of Flanders, and laboured with the sanction of
Transmaire, Bishop of Tournay. Arnold contributed
largely to the work of restoration, comparing himself
in his official act to Judas Maccabaeus, who re-estab-
THE RULE OF THE COUNTS. 99
lished the Temple which the impiety of Antiochus
had destroyed. S. Gerard rebuilt the monasteries of S.
Bavon at Ghent, Blandin, S. Bertin, and twelve others.
Another holy man, Count Guibert of Gembloux, de-
voted his life and possessions to God, and founded
monasteries. In A.D. 957 the famous S. Dunstan,
Abbot of Glastonbury, driven from England by Edwin,
took refuge at Blandin, and was received with affection
by its abbot, Womar, and the monks, who were struck
with admiration by his virtues.
Although the night was dark, and storms raged
wildly around the Church, its light still burned feebly ;
and men such as S. Gerard, Hervee, Arnold the Great,
and others, guarded well the sacred flame, and by the
mercy of God its light was not quenched.
CHAPTER VII.
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS AND THE TEM-
PORAL POWER OF THE HIERARCHY.
Civil wars — Ended by S. Bruno of Cologne— Duke Charles at Brussels
— End of Carlovingian race — Emperor's policy in building up
the power of the bishops — Degeneracy of the hierarchy — Num-
ber of vassals and slaves — Condition of Church slaves — The Liege
bishopric made subject to Emperor— Bishop Richaire— Irregularities
of election to bishoprics — Rathere of Liege — Count Reginald and
the monks of Lobbe — Liege a seat of learning under Eracle —
Bishop Notger, a warlike prelate— Expected end of the world,
A.D. looo — Calamities — Increase of wealth of Utrecht bishopric —
Adelbord, the first warrior-bishop — War with Count of Holland —
Degeneracy of the bishops — Possessions of the See — Wolbodon
of Liege — Gerard of Cambray and early heretics — Simony of
Reginald of Liege — Famine — "Peace of God" — "Tribunal of
Peace " — Bishop Wazon and ecclesiastical jurisdiction — Schism at
Rome — Reform of monasteries by S. Richard — Some lights in a
dark age.
We have already noticed the increased power of the
Count of Flanders and the flourishing condition of the
western towns. The affairs of the rest of the country
which w^as under the sovereignty of the Emperors
of Germany, and was called Lorraine, were not so
prosperous. The Carlovingian family had lost the
empire of Germany. Otho the Great, a prince worthy
of the title, gave the dukedom of Lorraine to Con-
rad of Franconia, which proved an unhappy choice.
The new Duke, like many of his predecessors, desired
to be independent, waged war against the lords of
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. loi
the province, and being worsted by them, invited the
hordes of the Huns to Southern Belgium, where they
committed great ravages, A.D. 954. The barbarians
did not succeed in gaining the towns, and were de-
feated in Westphaha, where Conrad was slain. Otho
gave the dukedom to S. Bruno, Archbishop of Col-
ogne, a wise and virtuous man, who put an end to the
civil wars which had so long harassed the country,
defeating Reginald III. and restoring peace where
anarchy prevailed. Unfortunately Bruno died young.
He had divided Lorraine into two provinces. High and
Low Lorraine. The latter, comprising the whole of
Belgium between the Rhine and the Schelde, v/as the
scene of war between two parties, one supported by
the King of France, the other by the Emperor of Ger-
many. The first party was composed of the friends
of Reginald III., whose sons, Reginald IV. and Lam-
bert, had fled to Paris. Reginald IV. married the
daughter of Hugh Capet, who helped him in his en-
deavours to take Hainault, A.D. 975, which was de-
fended by Godfrey of Ardenne, to whom the Emperor
Otho II. had given the province. War was imminent,
but a compromise was effected, Otho retaining the pro-
vince, but granting the government to Duke Charles,
the brother of the King of France.
This Duke came to reside at Brussels, where he
built a fortress and held his court. The grandeur of
the present capital of Belgium dates from this period.
He contended with Hugh Capet for the throne of
France, and was at first successful, but, A.D. 989, he
was surprised and died in imprisonment. In 1005 his
102 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS. ■
son, Duke Otho, died, and with him expired the Carlo-
vingian race. The sons of Reginald recovered their
lands, Lambert taking possession of Lorraine and
Reginald IV. of Mons; but Henry II. gave Lorraine to
Godfrey of Ardenne; hence a new war arose. In
the end Godfrey was victorious, and used his victory
well in endeavouring to promote peace between the
various contending parties. He earned the title of
" the Pacific," and gave his niece in" marriage to
Reginald V., the nephew of his old enemy. Thirty
years of peace ensued, which proved an immense bless-
ing to the country distracted by so many wars. God-
frey and his brother Gothelon, Dukes of Lorraine, did
not disturb the various Counts in their possessions, who
strengthened themselves in their sovereignty, fighting
occasionally among themselves. It is recorded as an
astonishing fact that Henry, Count of Louvain, who held
Brabant, with his brother Lambert III., reigned twenty-
three years without quarrelling with his neighbours.
In the midst of all the wars and fightings which
harassed the country during this period, the cause of
religion suffered, though the power of the bishops
increased enormously. In order to check the lawless
Counts the Emperor lavished wealth and honours on the
prelates, who lived as gallant knights and warriors
instead of ministers of the Church of Christ. They
loved to hunt the stag and fly their falcons rather than
to follow the example of the apostles as fishers for the
souls of men ; to feast and revel in the banqueting
hall, rather than to '' feed the lambs " and care for the
flock of Christ. The Emperor could always rely upon
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 103
the aid of the bishops, their vassals and men-at-arms,
in his struggles with the Counts ; and they were quite
willing to lend their aid in return for the wealth and
privileges which the Emperor lavished upon them.
They possessed enormous numbers of vassals, who
were bound to rally round the episcopal standard when-
ever war was declared. The Abbey of Nivelles alone
had 14,000 families of vassals. The bishops and power-
ful abbots had a large number of slaves. Church
slaves enjoyed much greater privileges than those who
were in the ordinary position of bondage. They could
inherit goods, make wills, and plead for justice; in
days of violence, and especially during the Norman
invasions, people sold themselves into slavery to the
Church in order to gain protection. The Bishop of
Utrecht had an enormous number of slaves. It was
part of the episcopal policy to grant privileges to
plebeian vassals in order to create opposition to the
Counts and lords; thus the bishops helped to build up
the power of the burghers in order to place a barrier
to the lawlessness of their opponents.
The appropriation of the revenues of the abbeys by
powerful laymen also tended to increase the wealth
of the bishops. In order to protect themselves, the
abbots and monks at first appointed some one powerful
noble or Count as advocate, who in return for a money
payment guarded them from other rapacious neigh-
bours. But the demands of the advocates were often
excessive ; they regarded their office as a means for
making profit, and the abbots were forced to look
elsewhere for more efficient protectors. They found
I04 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
them in the hierarchy of the Church. Thus in the
eleventh century the Abbey of S. Trond was placed in
dependence upon the bishopric of Metz. The bishops
of Liege were the protectors of the abbeys of Fosses,
Lobbes, Hastieres, S. Rombant at Mechlin, Gembloux,
and others. The bishops of Utrecht had the supremacy
of the Abbey of Egmont. Thus the prelates became the
temporal lords of the possessions of the monasteries.
In addition to this source of power, the emperors and
kings assigned to the bishoprics several countships.
In the tenth and eleventh centuries Utrecht received
the countships of Teisterbant, Stavelen, Drenthe, &c. ;
Liege received those of Huy, Brunengeruz, and others,
and some of the chief abbeys were raised to the dignity
of countships. Other privileges were also bestowed
upon the bishoprics and ecclesiastical corporations.
The right of coining money, of trading, the privileges
of the chase, and the profits of the royal fisheries were
some of the other advantages assigned to the hierarchy
by their patrons, among whom the Emperor Otho was
the chief benefactor.
As the power and wealth of the bishops increased,
the occupants of the Sees were not chosen for the
special qualities which would make them worthy of
their high calling, but ambitious Dukes and lords
strove to obtain them for their children, parents, or
friends. Influence, not merit ; pohtical usefulness, not
character; wealth, not learning, were the keys which
opened the palace gates, and decided the election of
the candidates for the office of chief pastors.
Liege was at this time the most powerful of the
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 105
Netherland bishoprics. On the death of Stephen/
Charles the Simple, for political purposes, appointed
Richaire abbot of Stavelot, although Hilduin had been
elected by both clergy and people. During his epis-
copacy Charles ceded Lorraine to Henry, Emperor of
Germany, by treaty, A.D. 923, and the bishop became
subject to that monarch. But he did not lose anything
by the transfer, as the Church of Liege received from
Henry and his successors a large amount of territory
and the confirmation of all grants made to it by other
lords and princes. Richaire was no meek-spirited
prelate, as one instance will show. A lord built a
castle without the consent of the bishop on land be-
longing to the Church of Liege. Richaire summoned
his men-at-arms, marched to the spot and destroyed
the new castle. He enjoyed the favour of Otho the
Great, and obtained many privileges for his bishopric,
and for his neighbour, Fulbert, Bishop of Cambray.
He died A.D. 945.
As an instance of the strange irregularities of epis-
copal elections, Hugh was made Archbishop of Rheims
at the age of five years ; but Farabert, Bishop of Liege,
persuaded Otho to summon a Council, which excom-
municated the youthful prelate. During Farabert's
episcopacy, which lasted until A.D. 953, Otho enriched
Liege by granting to it the rich monastery of Eyck.
Rathere, his successor, had a very stormy life, but
seems to have been a conscientious and brave bishop.
Driven from the See of Verona in Italy for reproach-
ing the new king, Berenger H., for his crimes, he was
1 Cf. p. 94-
io6 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
appointed to Liege, where he also made powerful
enemies by his brave denunciation of the vices of
the age, and was again driven from his See. He
found a resting-place in the Abbey of Lobbe, where
he devoted himself to Hterary work, and wrote the
"Life of S. Ursmare, Abbot of Lobbe," a book on
predestination, and combated the Anthropomorphic
heresy, which was prevalent at this time. He died
A.D. 974.
Baldric I. succeeded in 956, and was much troubled
by his uncle, Reginald III.,^ who thought to use his
relationship with the bishop as a means of gaining
wealth and lands. This insolent and haughty lord
began to attack the monks of Lobbe. He entered the
abbey furious with rage, deposed the abbot, and set up
a creature of his own, Erluin. A holy monk was one
evening praying in the church; Reginald seized him,
carried him into the porch, and stabbed him. After
many other shameless acts, his career of crime was
ended by the sword of Archbishop Bruno, as we
have already narrated. The monks of Lobbe did not
show much Christian mercy and forgiveness; for, on
the death of their persecutor, they half-murdered his
creature, Erluin, put out his eyes, and sent him to the
monastery whence he came.
Eracle, forty-fifth bishop of Liege, A.D. 959, was a
notable and worthy prelate, the counsellor and friend
of Otho, a learned man, and great lover of de//es lettres.
He commenced to found great schools at Liege, invit-
ing scholars from other countries to lecture therein,
^ Cf. p. loi.
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 107
and promoted learning with great zeal. Young men
flocked to the academy at Liege as to a new Athens,
and it became one of the most famous in Europe. He
accompanied the Emperor on his military expeditions.
He greatly enriched the Abbey of Lobbe, and built a
magnificent church at Publemont as a thank-offering for
recovery from sickness ; after an illustrious episcopate,
he died A.D. 971.^
His successor, Notger, was a fair type of the bishops
of his times. He was a famous warrior and courtier,
the son of the sister of the Emperor Otho, who nomi-
nated him to the bishopric, although he was not then
ordained. Gereon of Cologne consecrated him to the
office, which he sought on account of the power and
riches attached to it. He began his episcopacy by
hanging Henry of Marlagne, a turbulent robber, with
two hundred of his companions, which severity had
a good effect in checking lawlessness and in producing
respect for his own authority. He repaired the church
of S. Lambert, his palace, and many other churches ;
built the city walls, and fortified it with a moat. He
obtained many privileges for Liege from his uncle,
the Emperor; rebuilt the town of Mechlin, which had
been destroyed by the Normans, and founded a college
of twelve canons.
Notger did not scruple to adopt strange devices
in order to accomplish his objects, as the following
examples will show : — On an eminence overlooking
1 During his episcopacy the Countship of Luxembourg arose. Sigifrid
obtained the title of Count of Ghurich in 960, and, by permission of
Bruno, changed the title to that of Luxembourg.
io8 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Liege stood the fort of S. Michael, wliich com-
manded the town and offended the haughty bishop.
He desired eagerly to obtain possession of this
Naboth's vineyard. Going on a warlike expedition
into Germany, he took with him the owner of the
fort, who was his vassal, and his nephew Robert,
provost of S. Lambert. After some da3^s' march, he
sent Robert back with secret instructions to seize the
fort. On the return of the Bishop and the owner,
they found the building converted into a church, and
the latter did not conceal his vexation at the high-
handed procedure of the Bishop ; but he was compelled
to assent to the arrangement, and to receive some
equivalent. S. Michael's Church is now called the
Church of the Holy Cross.
Another act of Notger shows his duplicity and craft.
A powerful noble, Immon, son of Giselbert, occupied
the fortress of Chevremont, with a garrison composed
of brigands, who pillaged the country and terrified
the townsfolk by their robberies. The Bishop wished
to dislodge him from his stronghold ; but the gates
and walls were too strong, and the place almost im.-
pregnable. But all things come to him who waits.
The wife of Immon bore a son, and the bishop was
asked to baptize the infant. He consented joyfully,
and in order to render the spectacle more imposing, he
undertook to bring with him a number of monks and
clergy from his diocese. On the appointed day Notger
took with him a number of men-at-arms disguised as
monks, and repaired to the fortress. After the bap-
tismal rite had been duly performed, Notger informed
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 109
Immon that the fortress really belonged to the See.
Immon repHed very haughtily, and pointed to his
guards and warriors, who showed themselves in all
directions ; but the bishop gave the signal, the monks'
cloaks were thrown off, the men-at-arms rushed to the
attack, and quickly gained possession of the place.
Immon, transported with rage, cast himself from the
wahs of the fortress; his wife was drowned in the
well of the place, and it is not known what became
of the infant. Whether the lawlessness of Immon —
which perhaps may have been urged as a pretext by
ecclesiastical chroniclers — was a sufficient excuse for
the treacherous device of the bishop, must be left to
the judgment of the reader.
Aix-la-Chapelle benefited by the destruction of the
fortress, for Notger applied the revenues of three
churches, a chapel and oratory, which he destroyed, to
that church. The son of Immon, Count of Hainault,
endeavoured to avenge the death of his father, and
forming a league with the Count of Flanders, besieged
Liege with a powerful army. But Notger was in-
vincible ; summoning the Counts of Huy and Clermont
to his aid, he defeated his foes, extracting a heavy
ransom from the Count of Flanders, and from Immon's
son he received the town of Thuin and 2200 pounds
of silver.
To describe the numerous wars in which he was
engaged, the churches he built and enriched with
ornaments of gold and silver, the communities of
canons which he founded, would require many pages.
In spite of his warUke propensities, he is described in
iro THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the chronicles of Liege as very religious, remarkable
for his learning, sagacity, and wisdom, which Jie used
for the glory of God, the honour of his Church, and
the good of the people. Certainly Liege owed much
of its material prosperity to Notger, who obtained so
many privileges for his episcopal city from his kins-
man, the Emperor Otho II. On the death of the latter,
Notger was appointed governor during the childhood
of Otho III. When the young Emperor came to the
throne, he showed himself a zealous protector of the
Church and increased its privileges. At the instigation
of Notger he granted the Countship of Cambray to
Erluin, Bishop of Cambray. He built several churches,
not with the intention of " meriting the praise of men,
but in the hope of awaiting from heaven his recom-
pense." After a brief reign he died, A.D. 1002.
Before the thousandth year of the Christian era had
dawned a wild rumour was spread that the end of
the world was at hand. This idea was founded on
a literal translation of the passage in the Apocalypse
w^hich speaks of the dragon being unchained at the
end of a thousand years. Antichrist was expected,
and the last judgment was believed to be at hand.
The tumults and conflicts which raged throughout
Europe, " the wars and rumours of wars," seemed to
fulfil the prophecy of Jesus, and the physical signs
were not wanting to cause men's hearts to fail them
for fear. Young and old, rich and poor, shared the
popular belief. Earthquakes and shooting stars in-
creased their terror, and a dreadful plague visited the
land, carrying off half the population. None expected
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. m
to live. Other calamities speedily followed ; immense
floods inundated the low-lying parts of Flanders and
the island of Walcheren, where thousands perished.
Chaos seemed to have returned. The people were
stunned by the calamities which befell them, and by
the dread of future woes; but amidst the universal
panic there were not wanting some devout men who
raised their hands to God to avert the evils which
devastated the country. But another scourge threa-
tened the unhappy people ; for these years the land
was barren; then famine stalked through the country,
and spared neither rich nor poor. So grievous was
hunger felt, that it even made men cannibals. Such
was the pitiable state of the country in the early years
of the eleventh century.
But these calamities did not suppress the quarrels
of the Counts nor the aggrandisements of the bishops.
Possibly the expectation of the approach of the end of
the world induced Ansfred, Count of Huy, to present
his countship to the Church of Liege (A.D. 985) during
the bishopric of Notger, who procured for Ansfred
the bishopric of Utrecht. He built a monastery for
girls at Thorn, near Maestricht, and died at Utrecht,
A.D. 1008.
The bishops of that See had been quietly gaining
possessions and increased wealth, but as yet had not
used the power of the sword, like their neighbours at
Liege, to win for themselves territory and riches. But
Adelbord, the nineteenth bishop, who began his epis-
copate A.D. 1015, was the first who waged war and led
his troops to battle. His predecessors were often com-
112 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
pelled to defend themselves from the revolting Frisian,
or savage Normans. Alfric and Hunger, a worthy
successor of Boniface and Willibrord, had attacked
the murderous Danes, and vainly endeavoured to
repulse the bold Vikings ; but Adelbord was the first
bishop who actually waged offensive war against his
neighbours. His foe was Theodore, Count of Holland,
with whose race the bishops of Utrecht were often
destined to cross swords. John Egmont, an old
chronicler, sa3^s that the Counts of Holland were '' a
sword in the flanks of the bishops of Utrecht."
A vassal of the Bishop, Theodore Bavo, had endea-
voured, possibly with the encouragement of his liege
lord, to extend his authority within the confines of the
territory of Count Theodore of Holland. The Count
compelled Bavo to evacuate Bodegrave, and built and
fortified Dordrecht. This was an important place,
situated on an arm of the Maas, and from its strong-
walls the Count's men could sally forth and levy tolls
on the merchant ships that sailed down the river. To
this arrangement the merchants strongly objected, and
petitioned the Emperor that this new exaction of the
Count of Holland should be aboHshed, stating that all
the trade with England would be stopped if the toll
was continued. The Bishop of Utrecht, 'Svith banners
flying and flashing in the sunlight, and with trumpets
sounding," marched against the Count, but was severely
defeated. The Emperor of Germany ordered Godfrey,
Duke of Lorraine, to help the bishops to drive out the
aggressive Count from his fortress at Dordrecht. A
kind of crusade was instituted ; the bishops of Cologne
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 113
and Cambray with their forces flocked to the upHfted
standard ; the Bishop of Liege, though actually dying,
insisted upon joining the expedition to revenge his
brother prelate and to punish the audacious spoiler of
Church property. But all in vain their efforts. In the
midst of the battle a terrible voice uttered the words
'' Fugite, fugite ! " which struck terror into the hearts
of the allied forces ; they fled in confusion and were
utterly conquered, Godfrey being taken prisoner. So
ended the first efforts of the bishops of Utrecht in
military affairs ; so commenced that strong power of
the Counts of Holland against which the ecclesiastical
and civil powers were for centuries contending and
struggling in vain to overcome.
The bishops of Utrecht had begun to exercise great
temporal sway, and from this period may be traced
their decline as faithful overseers of the Church of
God. They possessed great property; they enjoyed a
kind of sovereignty as temporal lords of the country,
and had vassals under them whose feudal service
they claimed. They became jealous of their power and
might, and indifferent to the duties of their sacred
office. They became worldly and ambitious, and were
in the habit of making armed expeditions in order to
increase their power and wealth. As grand seigniors
and warriors who loved the palace and the camp, they
disdained to exercise their episcopal functions, and
assigned their duties to suffragans. It was remarked
as an extraordinary fact, that Burchard, the twenty-
third bishop, who was a pious and good prelate,
ordained priests and deacons with his own hand. The
114 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
prelates who presided over the See of Utrecht in the
eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries were very
different in character from the good and earnest men
whose lives we have already studied.
The possessions of the See were extensive. In 722
Charles Martel had granted to the Church of Utrecht
all the royal domains and privileges in and around
Utrecht, with several rich estates. After the death of
Gerolf, the father of the first Count of Holland, Bishop
Odilbald obtained for his church from Zuentibold,
Duke of Lorraine, a sixth part of the fishery at the
mouth of the Rhine, and a third of all the royal tolls
and customs in Kemmerland and West Friesland as
far as the Texel. In 937 the Emperor Otho I. of
Germany granted to Baldric the privilege of coining
money, and bestowed on him the land lying between
Gouda and Schoonhaven, and the tolls at Muiden on
the Vecht. During the rule of Bishop Anfrid, the
ancient county of Teisterband was added, and thus
the boundaries of the See were brought very near to
these of the Counts of Holland. Over the territories
of the latter the bishops exercised spiritual jurisdic-
tion, which was often used as a pretext for temporal
sovereignty. Hence disputes frequently arose, which
led to hostilities and bloodshed, and for a few acres of
swampy pasture thousands of lives were sacrificed to
satisfy the greed of the lordly prelates of Utrecht.
In spite of his warhke propensities, Adelbord earned
great praise for his knowledge of Holy Scripture, his
virtues, and regular life. He governed his diocese
with great prudence ; he built and consecrated the
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 115
Dome Church at Utrecht ; at the dedication, the Em-
peror and twelve bishops were present, and with great
solemnity the rite was performed in the presence of a
vast concourse of people.^ During the visit of the
Emperor Henry II. in 102 1, he held an assembly of
his liegemen, and amongst the number of his vassals
were enrolled such names as the Duke of Brabant,
Duke of Gueldres, the Counts of Holland and Cleves,
and many other powerful warriors. He was also en-
gaged in some literary work, and wrote a biography
of the Emperor Henry II., '' who reigned only to make
Christ reign in his vast empire, and was the soul of all
good works," besides two treatises on the Holy Cross
and on the worship of the Virgin. He died in the
year 1027.
The Bishop of Liege who accompanied Adelbord in
his disastrous war against the Count of Holland was
Baldric II. (A.D. 1008-1018), another '^fighting pre-
late," although not so successful as his predecessor
Notger, but liberal and charitable to the poor. He
gave up one of his estates for the relief and support of
twenty-four poor persons. During his rule wars were
incessant. Lambert the Bearded, Count of Louvain,
invaded Lorraine and Liege, which Geoffrey and the
Bishop defended. A great battle was fought at Ston-
garde, which proved most disastrous to the episcopal
party. Then followed endless disputes about the
countship of Loz, which Count Arnold II., having no
heirs, bequeathed to the Bishop. Lambert objected to
this arrangement, and endeavoured by his courtesy to
^ This cliurch was afterwards Ixirnt, and rebuilt A.D. 1 1 73.
ii6 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Lutgarde, Countess of Loz, to obtain the lands and
possessions. Thus endless wars ensued for scraps of
land, and after ten years of feuds and strife Baldric
died on the march in the expedition against the Count
of Holland.
Wolbodon (a.D. 1019-1021), who succeeded Baldric,
was a great contrast to his predecessors, being a peace-
loving, devout man, greatly beloved by the saintly
Henry II., and a helper of the poor. He is said to
have despoiled his church and palace of ornaments in
order to minister to their relief, and observed so closely
all fasts and vigils, that even in winter he used to
pray at the doors of the churches, his feet being almost
petrified by frost.
In the time of the next Bishop of Liege, Durand
(a.D. 1021-1026), a sect of heretics arose who did not
believe in the necessity or efficacy of the sacraments,
and scorned all external modes of worship. Some
writers assert that Berengarius, professor of S. Martin
of Tours and Archdeacon of Anger, was the founder
of the sect ; but this cannot be the case. Their
errors differed widely from the views of Berengarius
with regard to the Lord's Supper. They seem to
have been a branch of the Paulicians or Manichaeans,
who appeared at Orleans in 1017, and were allied to
the Cathari of Italy, and the Albigenses of France.
They found an able opponent in Gerard de Florinis,
Bishop of Cambray and Arras (A.D. 102 5), a man
of learning and merit, who in dealing with heretics
adopted the methods of argument and persuasion,
rather than the violent and sanguinary means which
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 117
were in use in later times. He invited them to a con-
ference, for which he prepared by proclaiming a fast
for his clergy. A synod was called, and on the ap-
pointed day, Gerard, accompanied by all the abbots,
priests, and monks in his diocese, proceeded to the
church, bearing a book of the Gospels in his hands.
The choir chanted the psalm '' Let God arise, and let
His enemies be scattered ; " the sectaries were con-
ducted to the Bishop, who questioned them with regard
to their belief
" What is your doctrine and who is your master ? "
asked Gerard. They replied that they were the dis-
ciples of Gandulfe, an Italian, who had taught them
evangelical and apostolic doctrine. They rejected Bap-
tism and the Lord's Supper ; they denied that the
churches were endowed with a greater degree of
sanctity than private houses; that the orders of the
ministry were of Divine institution ; that acts of pen-
ance were of any avail. They said that the souls of
the departed could not be benefited by masses cele-
brated by the living; marriages and burials were alike
unprofitable ; images and relics of the Saviour and His
saints ought not to be adored, but veneration was due
to the apostles and martyrs.
'* How is it that ye glorify yourselves," asked the
Bishop, ''in following the doctrine of the Evangelists —
ye who reject Baptism, of which Christ marked the
necessity ? "
'' Our doctrine is not contrary to apostolic teach-
ing," they replied. " We quit the world ; we repress
lust ; we live by the work of our hands ; we do harm
ii8 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
to on one, and give charity to others. Baptism is not
necessary, because when conferred by a bad minister
it can have no effect, because every one soon contracts
fresh sins, and because in the case of unconscious
infants the will, faith, and confession of others cannot
profit them."
The Bishop proceeded to argue with them and to
refute their errors, which they at length renounced,
and from which they were absolved. The heresy
spread in other parts of the country, where it did not
meet such zealous opponents as Gerard. Some indeed
were deceived by the errors of these ignorant but
honest and docile mystics. Amidst much that was
absurd in their teaching, there was much that was
plausible and reasonable ; and in a corrupt and super-
stitious age, men of piety might be attracted by the
novel doctrines of these simple but mistaken men,
when they beheld the corrupt lives of many of the
professors of the old Catholic religion of the country.
The immense revenues of the Liege bishopric
were a tempting bait for simoniacal transactions; in
1026 Reginald of Bonn gave the Emperor Conrad II.
a large sum of money for the See, to which he was
appointed. He, however, showed proofs of penitence,
and the Pope granted him absolution, saying, ''Take
the government of your church, and remain in the
house of God not as a mercenary merchant, but as
a faithful pastor and lawful dispenser of the Church's
goods." During the time of the great famine he fed
300 persons daily at Liege, and the same number at
Hu}^, Dinant, and Fosse. No words can describe the
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 119
terrible sufferings that existed. A writer of the period
says that he saw poor wretches unearthing human
bodies and devouring them. They hunted each other,
and attacked men on the roads on purpose to eat their
bodies. Inns became man-traps, and human flesh was
exposed for sale in the markets. The bishops and
abbots distributed their wealth to the poor, and suf-
fered with them ; but at length God had pity on the
wretched people, and the harvest of 103 3 was so
abundant that food once more became plentiful.
When the famine abated, a great longing for peace
ensued ; and following the example of the bishops of
Aquitaine, Berold, Bishop of Soissons, and Guerin, of
Beauvais, endeavoured to induce the Counts to swear
to keep peace and justice. All consented to the move-
ment except Gerard of Cambray, who objected on con-
stitutional grounds ; and the decree was carried and
consented to with joy. They imagined that a new
era of peace and good-will had dawned. No one was
allowed to carry arms, nor wreck property by violence,
nor avenge the blood of relations. Every Friday they
were to fast on bread and water, and eat no flesh on
Saturday. Those who did not keep these articles were
to be excommunicated. This was called the '' Peace
of God."
But its promoters were too sanguine. The rules
were too irksome, and the love of war too deeply
seated in the hearts of the chiefs to yield to such
measures of reform. The regulations were therefore
modified, A.D. 1040. Peace was ordered to be ob-
served from Wednesday to Monday in each week.
I20 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
This was called the "Truce of God," and offenders
were ordered to be excommunicated or exiled. The
truce was again modified so as to last only from Satur-
day to Monday. With the same worthy object, forty
years later, the Tribunal of Peace was established by
Bishop Henry de Verdun of Liege, which should take
cognisance of all robberies, burnings, pillages, &c. The
Bishop was elected by the lords as judge of the tri-
bunal ; he sat on a throne at the door of the church of
Notre-Dame-aux-Fonts, and pronounced sentence on
offenders. If the accused were a freeman, he could
appeal to the trial of combat, which took place in a neigh-
bouring field, called the Bishop's meadow, the issue
of the fight being interpreted as the judgment of God.
None of these schemes for promotion of peace were
of much avail, and the tribunal of Liege was effectual
chiefly in enhancing the already vast power of that See.
Some account of Wazon, who became Bishop of
Liege in 1043, must not be omitted. His tomb bore
the well-deserved epitaph, ^^ Ante ruet mundus qiiain
surgit Wazo seaindusr He boldly advocated the right
of an ecclesiastical court to try ecclesiastical offences
in the matter of Wig^re, nominated Archbishop of
Ravenna, who exercised episcopal functions without
being consecrated. Some contended that this man
ought to be judged by the Emperor who nominated
him ; but Wazon declared that submission and obed-
ience were due to that ruler in all matters which
concerned the empire, but that all causes ecclesiastical
should be left to the jurisdiction of the bishops. " If
Wigere had erred in any matter which concerned the
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 121
state, the king should judge him ; but if he sinned
against the sacred canons, he ought to submit to the
judgment of a tribunal of bishops." In 1046 the schism
of the Popedom occurred, when three Popes, Benedict
IX., Sylvester III., and John, contended for the Roman
See. The Emperor Henry III. went into Italy with a
powerful army to put an end to the scandal. Of this
schism it is beyond the scope of this history to treat ;
but the King of France wished to profit by the absence
of Henry, and raised an army to attack Lorraine.
Wazon remonstrated with the French king, telling him
that if he wished for famd, it would be much more
glorious to wait for the return of the Emperor, warn-
ing him that he and his allies would resist attack, and
threatening him with the judgment of God, who would
demand an account for the lives of so many men
slaughtered in a war so unjust. The French king
abandoned his enterprise.
In spite of this service, Wazon fell into disfavour
with the Emperor on account of their difference of
opinion with regard to the nomination of Pope Damasus
11. He was summoned to the court to defend himself for
not leading his vassals to the war against the Frisians.
He defended himself and said, '' If Wazon did not
deserve respect, his episcopal office ought to be re-
garded." The Emperor replied haughtily that he too
was consecrated as well as a bishop. ^'True," replied
Wazon, '' but your royal unction is of this world ; the
power which you exercise over the body is inferior to
that which I exercise over the soul." The murmurs
of the courtiers arose at this bold speech ; even the
122 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
bishops joined with the Emperor's party, and Wazon,
finding himself alone, yielded to the torrent, casting
himself at the Emperor's feet and craving pardon for
his disobedience. He was readily forgiven, but the
grief of mind caused by his yielding to popular opinion
hastened his death, which occurred in 1047.
During the tenth and eleventh centuries the Church
suffered greatly from the acts of spoliation on the part
of the sovereigns. When a rich abbey became vacant,
they did not hesitate to bestow it upon some layman
as a reward for his services to the state or in order
to secure his support. Thus the abbeys of S. Maximin
and of Stavelot in the tenth century were granted to
the Dukes of Lotharingia. Benefices also were in the
hands of powerful families, and kings gave to their
wives the endowments of rich abbeys. Thus the
revenues of the Church were seized by those who
ought to have been her "nursing fathers." In S62
Lothaire distributed to his faithful servants a large
part of the possessions of Stavelot and Malmedy. In
1023 King Henry seized part of the property of S.
Maximin, and gave it to the Lords of the Ardennes.
In 1 191 the monks of Echternach appealed to the
Emperor to restore the lands of which his predecessor,
Arnold, had acquired possession. These are a few of
the instances of the rapacity of the rulers and the acts
of spoliation which were of frequent occurrence.
In spite of the disorders of the times and the grave
scandals which existed, the sale by auction of eccle-
siastical charges, the open simony and constant strife
which prevailed, the Church did not lack some faithful
THE WARS OF THE COUNTS. 123
men. The condition of many of the monasteries was
greatly improved, and this work was chiefly accom-
pHshed in Belgium by S. Richard, who laboured vigor-
ously for forty years, and reformed the monasteries
of S. Amand, S. Bertin, S. Vaast, Malmedy, and others.
He died A.D. 1046. Poppon, who became Pope under
the title of Damasus II., was a disciple of S. Richard.
S. Olbert, abbot of Gemblours, was a wise and holy
man, who '' shone as a brilHant star in the midst of
these cloudy days to lighten sinners, and to show to
the just the gate of eternity." Cambray and Arras had
a good bishop named Lietbert, a disciple of S. Gerard,
whose '' goods were for the poor and his heart for all."
He went to the Holy Land, and on his return founded
the monastery of the Holy Sepulchre at Cambray. At
this time regular canons were introduced instead of the
secular canons, who were attached to many of the old
churches and cathedrals. In the diocese of Tournay,
when Hugh was bishop, estabHshments of poor clerks
were founded at Falempin and at other places ; and
several of the old houses adopted the new rule, which
effected a great improvement in their condition. Bald-
win V. of Flanders and his pious wife Adele founded
several religious houses, and a relative of his, S. Bruno,
Bishop of Toul, who in spite of his reluctance was con-
secrated Pope under the title of Leo IX., was one of the
first who tried to remove the grave scandals which
attached themselves to the administration of the Papal
See.
For 150 years there had been a long series of revolu-
tions, crimes, and murders at Rome. The Popes were
124 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
feeble and degenerate. Sometimes two or three Popes
ruled at one time, and the condition of the Papacy was
corrupt and debased. Leo IX. was the first who tried
to retrieve its honour and to reform abuses in the
Church ; he endeavoured to enforce the celibacy of the
clergy with only partial success. He died A.D. 1054.
Then arose the power of Hildebrand, who was content
for some years to fill the office of Archdeacon of Rome,
to direct pontifical affairs, until the death of Alexander
II. (a.D. 1073), when his rise to the Papal chair was
fraught with weighty consequences to the whole of the
Western Church.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CHURCH IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.
The Netherland bishops independent of Rome — Gradual increase of
Papal power — Struggle between the Emperors and Popes — Hilde-
brand and Henry IV. — Bishops espouse cause of the Emperor —
William of Utrecht at Council of Worms — Bishops of Utrecht
and Liege excommunicated — Great assembly at Utrecht — Bishop
William excommunicates Hildebrand — Death of William — Papal
pretensions — Wars of the Counts and Bishops — William the Con-
queror aids the Count of Holland against the Bishop of Utrecht —
Civil wars — "Free Frisians" — Abbey of S. Trond — Distracted
state of the country — Crusades — Enthusiasm in the Netherlands —
Godfrey of Bouillon — Hollanders hold aloof — Crusades increased
wealth of hierarchy — Condition of serfs improved — Power of towns
increased and commerce promoted.
The relation in which the Church of the Netherlands
stood to the Papal See had hitherto been one of inde-
pendence. Its bishops were never very subservient
to the jurisdiction which some of the predecessors of
Hildebrand ventured to claim over national churches.
The Church was certainly in the time of Charlemagne
subject to the supremacy of the crown ; for although
the bishops were elected by the clergy and people, the
Emperor often interfered or nominated a person selected
by himself When the bishops became very powerful,
they objected to this arrangement, and subsequently
Lothaire and Charles the Bald were dethroned by the
same ecclesiastical power. The ninth century has
been called '' the Age of Bishops," but the period of
126 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the eleventh and twelfth centuries was '' the Age of
Popes."
The gradual growth of Papal pretensions, the tracing
from small beginnings to absolute sovereignty claimed
by the later Popes, is an oft-told tale, and one that we
shall not again narrate. As far as the Netherlands are
concerned, the bishops do not seem to have acknow-
ledged even the appellant jurisdiction of the Roman
See, which Gregory the Great tried to establish in the
sixth century. It is true that Boniface was a staunch
upholder of the Pope, and under his presidency at
the Council of Frankfort (a.D. 742) an act was passed
requiring all metropolitans to receive the pallium at the
hands of the Pope as a token of subjection, and to
obey all his lawful commands; but beyond appealing
to Rome in case of disputed elections, the Bishops do
not seem to have troubled themselves about their allegi-
ance to Rome. Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, the
conqueror of the Normans, resisted strongly any Papal
pretensions, and such powerful prelates as Notger,
Eracle, or Adelbord were not willing to submit to any
foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
The struggle between the power of the sovereign
and that of the Pope lasted for centuries. We have
already noticed the first instance of Papal supremacy
when Nicholas I. excommunicated Lothaire, and took
arms against the sovereign of Germany. John VII I.
threatened to excommunicate Charles the Fat, and even
claimed the right to select an Emperor. Hitherto the
Bishops of Rome had to seek the sanction of the
Emperor for their election, but when the sovereigns
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 127
were weak they were not consulted. Then followed
the time of Papal degeneracy to which we have alluded,
the partial reformation wrought by Leo IX., who was
of Belgic origin,^ the short reigns of five other Popes,
two of whom were natives of Liege,'^ until at length
Hildebrand was raised to the Papacy, the power of
which he strove to make supreme.
Upon the full details of his dispute with the young
Emperor, Henry IV., and of the checkered Hfe of that
unhappy monarch, we cannot now enter. It is beyond
the scope of this history to narrate the base plots and
haughty assumptions of Hildebrand, the feebleness
of Henry, followed by flashes of courage, marred by
headstrong wilfulness, all this belongs to other his-
tories than ours, although the Netherland bishops took
part in the contest, and espoused the cause of the
Emperor, and not of the Pope. We shall allude only
to the part which these bishops played in the strange
drama.
When the Pope presumed to summon Henry to
appear before him at Rome, and vindicate himself from
certain charges which were alleged against him, a synod
was called at Worms by the opponents of Hildebrand in
support of the Emperor. At this synod, WilHam, the
aged Bishop of Utrecht, was most vehement in his
orations, and by his powerful advocacy overcame all
the scruples of the waverers. A unanimous resolu-
^ His predecessor, Damasus II., was a Belgian ; his original name
was Poppon, and he was a disciple of S. Richard. C/. p. 123.
- These were Stephen X., formerly Archdeacon of Liege, whose rule
only lasted nine months, and Nicholas II., a canon of Liege, who was
greatly mider the influence of Hildebrand.
128 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS,
tion was adopted, signed by twenty-four bishops,
renouncing obedience to Gregory VII., and declaring
him deposed. A scornful letter was addressed to
** Brother Hildebrand," setting forth his despotic
government, accusing him of murder, simony, necro-
mancy, profligacy, and of an impious profanation of
the Eucharist. This epistle was sent to Rome. The
thunders of the Vatican were hurled at Henry, who
was declared deposed and excommunicated, and against
all who had dared to support him. Bishop William of
Utrecht and Henry of Verdun, Bishop of Liege, were
amongst the number.
After a foolish expedition into Saxony, whereby he
estranged the hearts of many of his subjects, the
Emperor came to Utrecht. A great concourse of the
chief men of his kingdom was assembled. Courtiers,
men-at-arms, vassals, thronged the streets, and without
the city countless banners waved over the tents of a
vast army, the flower of German chivalry. But the
averted gaze of some of his followers showed him that
the dread sentence of excommunication had been pro-
nounced against him, that, in spite of his imperial
crown, he was an outlaw and placed be3^ond the pale of
the society of Christian people.
''On Easter-day in the year 1076, surrounded by a
small and anxious circle of prelates, William, Bishop
of Utrecht, ascended his episcopal throne, and recited
the sacred narrative which commemorates the rising
of the Redeemer from the grave. But no strain of
exulting gratitude followed. A fierce invective de-
picted in the darkest colours the character and career
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 129
of Hildebrand, and with bitter scorn the preacher
denied the right of such a Pope to censure the Em-
peror of the West, to govern the Church, or to Hve in
her communion. In the name of the assembled synod
he then pronounced him excommunicate.
'' At that moment the summons of death reached the
author of this daring defiance. When the last fatal
struggle convulsed his body, a yet sorer agony affected
his soul. He died self-abhorred, rejecting the sym-
pathy, the prayers, and the sacraments with which
the terrified bystanders would have soothed his de-
parting spirit. The voice of Heaven itself seemed to
rise in wild concert with the cry of his tortured con-
science. Thunderbolts struck down both the church
in which he had abjured the Vicar of Christ and the
adjacent palace in which the Emperor was residing.^ "
Thus miserably perished the aged warrior-bishop of
Utrecht, one of the most stalwart and loyal supporters
of the Emperor Henry IV., one of the most determined
opponents of Papal claims, and the implacable foe of
the mighty Hildebrand.
Then followed Henry's shameful and humiHating
journey to Italy, the wanton indignities which the
haughty Pope delighted to inflict on the prostrate
prince, the retaliation which Henry was at length
enabled to accomplish upon Hildebrand, who died in
exile, A.D. 1086. His successors. Urban II. and Pascal
II., carried on the same policy, the enhancement of
the power of the Papacy and the chastisement of the
^ "• Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography," by Sir James Stephen. C/.
** Essay on Hildebrand."
I30 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Emperor. With the aid of the German bishops they
tried to accomph'sh their purpose by intrigues and
plots, instigating Henry's sons, Henry and Conrad, to
rebel against their father. At length, wearied with
conflict, after suffering many indignities, he was com-
pelled to resign his throne to his son Henry V., and
ended his days at Liege.
Pope Pascal did not content himself with intriguing
against the Emperor, but carried on his plots against
that sovereign's supporters. He urged the Count of
Flanders to fight against the people of Cambray for
their fidelity to the Emperor, but Henry protected his
allies from the Count's attacks. Then the Pope stirred
up the Count to fight against the people of Liege for
assisting the Emperor ; as if there was not sufficient
strife in the Netherlands already without Papal sanc-
tion and approval of further contests !
The quarrels of the Emperor and Pope were not the
only cause of confusion in the Church at this time.
Hildebrand was determined to enforce celibacy upon
the clergy, and his stringent orders created violent
opposition on the part of many who had wives, and
who were not aware of any precept of the Saviour or
any law of the Church which forbade them from marry-
ing. A strong anti-papal party was formed, which
continued for many years ; and when a See was vacant,
there were often two bishops appointed, one by the
Pope, and the other by the chapters and the Emperor,
each contending by artifice or force of arms for the
possession of the See. Thus at Cambray and Therou-
anne there were several of these contests. The
canons of Cambray refused to recognise the law of
celibacy, and many of the clergy retained their wives,
but were forced to pay to their bishop an annual tax
for the privilege.
Conrad, the successor of William of Utrecht, also
supported the Emperor, and in 1085 addressed the
assembly at Gerstungen in a wise and vigorous
speech in favour of Henry IV. He was a great
warrior-bishop and fought with the Emperor in the
Italian war; he fell a victim to the sword of an
assassin, A.D. 1099.
In the meantime, while the Popes and Henry were
contending in arms, the flame of war continually burst
forth, Counts and warrior-bishops fighting for bits of
territory, and knowing no other law than the right of
their own strong hands. In the north, Bishop William
of Utrecht waged a perpetual warfare against the
Counts of Holland. In 1045, taking advantage of a
dispute between the Counts of Holland and Flanders,
and perceiving the defenceless state of the country.
Bishop William assembled his forces, quietly sailed
down the river from Utrecht to Dordrecht, and cap-
tured that fortress together with other towns of Holland.
The powerful Count Theodore IV. did not approve
of the Bishop's mode of dealing with his possessions,
and retaliated with vigour. With the help of Godfrey
of Lorraine, he overran the territory of his ecclesiastical
foe, and devastated the bishopric of Utrecht. A great
flood occurred, which helped his victorious forces, and
he regained his possessions. The same Theodore
attended a grand tournament at Liege, and acciden-
132 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
tally wounded the brother of Herman, Archbishop of
Cologne. This offended the ecclesiastical party, which
was assembled in full force, and the followers of
the Archbishop, together with those of the Bishop of
Liege, fell upon the Hollanders and slew them. The
Count contrived to escape, and took revenge by burn-
ing all the merchant-ships of Liege and Cologne, and
forbidding any traffic through his territory. A con-
federation of bishops was formed to punish the rash
offender, and the allied troops gained possession of
Dordrecht, which was afterwards reconquered by
Theodore, who was at length killed by a poisoned
arrow. The war-loving Bishop William continued
the conflict with Theodore's successor. Count Florence
L of Holland (A.D. 1049). He intrigued and fought
with varied success ; then waited his time, and during
the rule of the infant Count Theodore V. achieved
his purpose and gained possession of the whole of
Holland.
After his tragic death the Hollanders desired the
restoration of their rightful lord, and sought the aid
of William the Conqueror of England, whose fleet
attacked the Bishop's ships near Merwe and destroyed
them. By the help of William the Count regained
his possessions, and the Bishop was forced to retire
from the property which had so unlawfully been
obtained.
In other parts of the Netherlands war also raged.
Flanders had become very prosperous, owing to the
wise rule of the descendants of Baldwin Bras~de-/er.
This state acquired a considerable superiority over all
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 133
other parts of the country, and was so well governed
that in 1070 travellers could walk along the roads
without arms and the inhabitants could leave their
houses open. Baldwin the Pious furnished with men
and ships his son-in-law, WiUiam of Normandy, when
he conquered England, and increased his dominions
by marrying his son to the famous Richelde, daugh-
ter of Reginald, and Countess of Hainault and Namur.
After the death of this son troubles began. The king
of France, who was nominally ruler of Flanders,
appointed Richelde as governor during the minority
of his son Arnold the Unhappy. To this interference
on the part of the French king the people objected, and
invited Robert the Frison, brother of the late Count,
to rule over them. War was declared, and Robert
with his brave people defeated the armies of Richelde
and of France, aided by the forces of the Bishop of
Liege. The unfortunate lady sold her countship to
the Bishop and became his vassal. Robert became
very powerful; he helped the Count of Holland to
regain his possessions. About the same time the
various cantons of Gueldres were united by Otho of
Nassau; Louvain was joined to Brabant, and these
divisions of the country remained for several centuries.
The inhabitants of Friesland still maintained their
independence, in spite of the frequent attempts of the
Counts of Holland and the bishops of Utrecht to bring
them into subjection. They would recognise no autho-
rity but that of their own national judges, who were
elected by the voice of the people assembled beneath
" the Trees of Upstal," their natural council-chamber.
134 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
In ecclesiastical matters they preserved their ideas of
freedom. They would accept no law for the com-
pulsory payment of tithe ; they compelled their clergy
to marry, on the principle that if a man has no wife
he will seek the wife of another ; nor would they accept
any ecclesiastical decree unless it were passed by
laymen as well as the clergy. They still preserved
their title to the appellation '^ Free Frisians."
In Lorraine, disputes, strife, and bloodshed con-
tinued, and the whole province was filled with fighting.
The election of the Abbot of S. Trond was the cause
of fierce contests. This abbey had become exceedingly
wealthy ; some miracles, which were easily accepted
in a superstitious age, were believed to have been
wrought at the tomb of the saint. Pilgrims resorted
thither in crowds, and the monks received so many
donations that they built a church and monastery of
royal magnificence. A hundred marks of silver were
collected every Sunday, besides the offerings at the
mass. This increased wealth had the usual result;
discipline was relaxed; Abbot Adelard was smitten
with frenzy ; a conflagration arose which was regarded
as a punishment, and the monastery was burnt. The
monks elected Lupon as successor to Adelard ; but the
Bishop of Metz, in whose jurisdiction the abbey lay,
appointed some one else. The former held his ground
and prepared for war, but Bishop Henry of Liege, at
the request of the Bishop of Metz, came with his forces
to the town in which the abbey stood. The towns-
people were prepared for the attack, but did not feel
disposed to risk their lives and property for the good
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 135
pleasure of the abbot ; so they opened their gates to
admit the troops of Henry. But when the inhabitants
of the neighbouring town of Brusthem, who were very
envious of the wealth and prosperity which the rich
abbey brought to S. Trond, saw the gates open, they
rushed in together with the Bishop's troops, set fire
to the houses and devastated the place. The Bishop
became alarmed for his own safety and left the town
in confusion. The inhabitants of S. Trond were so
enraged that they resolved to avenge themselves ; the
flame of war was kindled, and the whole province was
soon in a blaze. There was no one to interfere, as
the Emperor was engaged in his own fierce contests.
Moreover, Godfrey of Bouillon and the Bishop of
Verdun were at war for the countship of Verdun, the
right of presentation to which both claimed.
Such was the distracted state of the country, which
was only slightly improved by the institution of the
''Tribunal of Peace," when Peter the Hermit fired the
imagination of the knights and warriors of Christen-
dom by preaching the first Crusade for the recovery of
the Holy Sepulchre from the infidels. At the Council
held at Clermont under Pope Urban H., he stirred the
enthusiasm of the assembly. Urban, banished from
Italy, where a rival Pope reigned, and wishing to be
esteemed the real head of the Church, eagerly sanc-
tioned the movement. The Crusade was proclaimed,
and no country supplied braver or more enthusiastic
soldiers of the Cross than the Netherlands. The Bel-
gian nobles eagerly responded to the call ; instead of
fighting amongst themselves, they turned their arms
136 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
against the Saracens, and fought together side by side
beneath the uphTted banner of the Cross. Godfrey of
Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine ; Baldwin of Hain-
ault, and Robert of Flanders, the son of Robert the
Frison, were conspicuous amongst the princes of the
army and performed prodigies of valour. Robert was
called the ''sword of the Christians," and by his side
fought his warlike sister Gertrude, who feared not the
hardships of the campaign. Two brothers, Lethalde
and Englebert, knights of Tournay, were the first to
throw themselves on the walls of the Holy City, and
the valiant Godfrey and Robert followed them as they
passed the walls. Godfrey was elected king of Jeru-
salem ; but, animated by pious and reverential feeling,
refused to wear a crown in that city where the King
of kings had been treated as a slave. He died there,
A.D. 1 100, and was buried in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre.
Bravely, too, did the knights and peasants fight in
the holy war. Friesland sent her contingents of fierce
warriors, who drove back the Saracens as bravely as
they resisted the armed hosts of the Counts of Holland
or bishops of Utrecht. The people of Holland were
not fired with the same enthusiasm; they were less
warlike, and loved mercantile pursuits more than their
neighbours, and on account of their continual contests
with the bishops of Utrecht, they did not regard the
Church with very favourable eyes. At any rate, the
enthusiasm was not so great as in Flanders and in the
rest of Europe. Florence IL, called the Fat, who was
Count of Holland at this period, was of a pacific, indo-
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 137
lent disposition ; under his rule Holland became very
prosperous ; arts and commerce flourished, and his
subjects were more inclined to thrive at home than
to hazard their lives in so hazardous a war.
That a wild enthusiasm and frenzied devotion in-
spired the hearts of the soldiers of the Cross cannot
be denied ; motives of policy and ambition, a savage
love of fighting, craving for military glory and tem-
poral advantages, doubtless influenced some of these
hardy warriors to leave their homes and enlist beneath
the banner of the Cross ; but the movement was mainly
a religious one, fanned by the superstitious beliefs of the
age. Absolution from sin, eternal salvation, remission
of penances, were some of the blessings which they be-
lieved would fall on every one who wore the Red Cross.
Terrible were the crimes and fearful the miseries which
accompanied the expedition, but on them we cannot
enter. It will be enough to describe briefly the effect
which the Crusades had upon the Church at home.
They increased largely the wealth and possessions
of the hierarchy, already sufficiently rich. Before
going to the Crusades, in order to raise money for
their expedition, the nobles sold their estates to the
bishops and abbots, who were ever ready to enlarge
their dominions and increase their revenues. Godfrey
of Bouillon sold his duchy to Bishop Obert of Liege
for 300 marks of silver and three of gold. Baldwin
of Hainault also sold his castle of Couvin to the same
Bishop, on condition that his two sons should be
appointed prebends. Estates were continually in the
market, and were bought up by ecclesiastics. The
138 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
power of the nobles was enfeebled, their strength was
wasted, and never regained its former ascendancy. By
the alienation of the property they lost the basis of
their power, and the Crusades struck a fatal blow at
the whole feudal system.
The condition of the lower orders, and especially of
the serfs, was considerably ameliorated. Those who
went to the Crusades, on their return were entitled to
their freedom. The slaves belonging to the nobles
were sold to the abbots and bishops, and thus becom-
ing Church slaves, improved their condition. The free-
men of the towns learned to combine in order to resist
the tyranny to which they had been so long subjected.
They began to rely upon the central power of the
sovereign, and in return for money payments received
charters, privileges, and protection, while their arms
were ever ready to support the central authorit3^ and
to resist the tyranny of the lords. Thus public peace
was secured, and respect began to be paid to authority
and legislation. Counts Baldwin V. and VI. of Hainault,
guided by these principles, built up the powers of the
towns, and their example was followed in Brabant and
Flanders.
The Crusades also furthered the progress of com-
merce, industry, and civilisation. They brought men
into contact with other peoples, and gave them sounder
ideas concerning the dignity of labour. They intro-
duced new arts and industries. Literature, art, and
science received a new impulse, which benefited society.
Industries began to be regulated by legislative enact-
ments, and contracts, written agreements, regulations
THE CHURCH IN ELEVENTH CENTURY. 139
of markets, exchanges, money, rights of toll, &c., were
introduced. Flanders especially began to increase in
prosperity, and became the centre of the commerce in
the north-west of Europe.
Thus the Crusades gave a new birth to the national
life, and created a revolution the effects of which were
felt in every department of social existence.
CHAPTER IX.
THE CHURCH IN THE TWELFTH AND THIR-
TEENTH CENTURIES.
Condition of the country and the Church at beginning of twelfth cen-
tury — Charles the Good — His life, times, and martyrdom — S.
Bernard — Cistercian monasteries in Belgium — Alexander, Bishop
of Liege — Tournay and Noyon separated — Crusade — Premonstra-
tensian order — Scandals in the Church — Heresy of Tanchelin — His
imposture — Schism at Rome — Reflected in the Netherlands —
Raoul, Bishop of Liege — Reforms of Lambert " le Begue " —
Troubles concerning election of bishop at Liege — Martyrdom of S.
Albert — Scandals at Utrecht — Rival bishops — Wilbrand— Thir-
teenth century an age of great men and great works — Great im-
improvement — Crusade — Baldwin IX. — Increase of monastic
orders — The Franciscans and Dominicans— Countess Jeanne of
Flanders — Opposition of seculars — Dominicans opposed at Uni-
versity of Paris — Thomas de Cantipre — Mariolatry — Influence of
the Schoolmen — Henry of Ghent, " the solemn doctor " — S. Boni-
face of Brussels.
At the beginning of the twelfth century the country
was still divided into numerous countships ; during
its progress Namur and Luxembourg were for a time
united under Henry I'Aveugle, and subsequently Bald-
win the Courageous ruled over Flanders, Hainault,
and Namur. During this period many abbeys were
founded ; the wealth of the Church increased enor-
mously, and the well-fed monks and lordly bishops
thought more of their gains than of their piety and
virtue.
Conspicuous among the zealous lay supporters of
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 141
the Church was Count Charles of Flanders, called
" the Good." He is described by an historian as the
''glory of the Church of Flanders." His history is
remarkable. He was the son of King Canute of Den-
mark, the husband of Adele, daughter of Robert the
Frison. Canute being martyred in Denmark, the
young Charles was brought to Flanders and gained
the affections of Count Robert IL, who gave him the
countship of Amiens. When Robert died, Charles,
after subduing some powerful rivals, became Count of
Flanders. His glory and power excited the jealousy
of the German Emperor, Henry V., who in 1 1 24
invaded the country. Charles was completely vic-
torious, and Henry died at Utrecht soon after his
defeat. The Count was offered the imperial power
and the crown of Jerusalem, but he refused both
honours, loving his dear Flanders more than any
other country. He made wise laws, loved justice, and
promoted peace. The winter of the year 1125 was
extremely severe; the country was almost covered
with ice, violent rains followed, and a terrible famine
set in, which caused universal distress. Charles the
Good showed his noble and generous nature by taking
active measures to relieve the distress. At Ypres*
with his own hand he distributed 7800 loaves in one
day. He stopped the brewing of beer in order that
more corn might be available for the supply of bread,
and was very indignant with two brothers, Lambert
and Bertulf, provost of the Abbey of S. Donatus, who
had (to use a modern expression) established "a
corner " in wheat, buying all the corn from several
142 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
monasteries and merchants, in order to store it and
sell again at a raised price. Charles heard of this in-
humane proceeding, and sent a councillor to examine
the granaries of the brothers ; he offered a good price
for the corn in order to give bread to the poor, but
this was refused.
The story of the lives of these men reflects the
manners of their time, and also reveals the existence
of a kind of vendetta amongst the Saxons. They
were the sons of a Saxon named Erembald, who had
been a serf, and served as men-at-arms under Baud-
rand, lord of a manor at Bruges, in a war in Germany.
One dark and stormy night when accompanying his
lord, he succeeding in throwing him into the Schelde.
The wife of Baudrand was his accomplice, and gave
her hand and treasures to the murderer of her hus-
band. He purchased the manor-house at Bruges;
his son Bertulf bought the provostship of S. Donatus
dispossessing a good man named Liedbert ; his other
sons purchased estates, and became rich and powerful.
The neighbouring lords were enraged at these upstarts
and accused them of being slaves.^ Charles was in-
duced to make inquiries concerning their origin, and
incurred their hatred, which was intensified by his
action concerning their corn dealings. According to
the Saxon custom, all the relations of the men espoused
their quarrel.
^ The laws relating to slavery were still severe. In 1120 a knight
who married a woman of this class incurred the penalty of degradation
and servitude ( Vita Caroli Boni). After another hundred years scarcely
a serf was to be found in Flanders.
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 143
Their wrath was further increased by a scene which
took place at the Abbey of S. Bertin. Charles was
staying there for the feast of the Epiphany, and the
abbot complained to him of Lambert, who had re-
tained for his own use the tithes due to the monastery.
"Send me a messenger," exclaimed the Count; ''it is
my duty to defend you, and yours to pray for me."
Lambert's brother, the provost of S. Donatus, was
commanded to appear before the Count; he came
gladly, imagining that he was invited to the banquet ;
but he was told that he would lose his provostship
and his brother all his possessions if before evening
the complaints of the abbot were not satisfied. " I
swear by Baldwin, my predecessor," added Charles,
'' that if you provoke any new complaints, I will com-
mand you to be plunged into a cauldron of boiling
water like him who robbed the poor widow."
This did not concihate the Saxons. During the
absence of Charles on an expedition with Louis VL of
France, they attempted to appropriate the property
of a neighbour named Tangmar, a loyal supporter of
the Count. Abominable crimes, murders, mutilations,
orgies of vengeance followed. When Charles returned
to Bruges in 11 27, he determined to punish the guilty.
A conspiracy was formed against him by Burchard
and his friends. In the noble church of S. Donatus
the clergy were chanting the service of Prime, and the
good Count joined his voice with theirs in singing the
51st Psalm until he came to the verse, ''Thou shalt
purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; Thou
shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
144 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Then the band of ruthless murderers rushed upon
him and quickly killed him. The wretched men then
raised a revolt, slew the chief men of the city, and
established themselves in the citadel. For six weeks
they were besieged by the barons; Louis himself
marched an army against them, and after four days
they were starv^ed out. All the murderers of Charles
miserably perished on the scaffold after enduring ter-
rible tortures, and Louis treated the people of Bruges
with incredible cruelty. Such was the sad story of
the martyrdom of the good Count.
The Belgian Church was greatly benefited by the
marvellous influence of the great S. Bernard, the re-
founder of the Cistercian Order of monks. In 1098
the new Order was instituted at Citeaux (Latinised into
Cisterium) by Robert de Thierry, but the fame of S. Ber-
nard, who joined it A.D. 1 1 13, made it so widely popular.
He founded the abbey of Claii'vaux,^ of which he was
the first abbot. Many monasteries of his Order were
established in Belgium. In the diocese of Cambray,
Vancelles and Cambron, near Mons ; in that of Tournay,
Marquette, Groeningen, and Wevelghen ; in Namur,
Villers, the mother of many others, Grand Pre near
Namur, and twelve others; in Liege, Bishop Henry II.
gave the abbey of Aulnes, Val-Dieu, and S. Remy, to the
Order. There were eleven Cistercian communities in the
diocese of Mechlin, at Louvain, Brussels and other chief
towns= At Bruges the church of Furnes was devoted
to the Order, and so great an effect did the followers of
S. Bernard exercise that ancient quarrels and divisions
^ C/. Life of S. Bernard in Ac/a Smictonim,
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 145
were healed, and both barons and serfs, young and
old, flocked to hear the preaching of the new monks.
S. Bernard exercised a marvellous influence over
every one. Popes, kings, and emperors, bishops and
powerful barons, all yielded to the persuasions and
influence of this remarkable man. During his life
another schism arose at Rome, the rival Popes being
Innocent II., who was supported by Bernard at the
Council of Etampes and by the king of France, and
Anacletus, elected by a strong clerical party. Many
of the English bishops supported the latter, but King
Henry II. was won over by S. Bernard. A grand
assembly was held at Liege, attended by a vast con-
course of bishops and abbots, where Pope Innocent met
the Emperor Lothaire of Germany, who had espoused
the cause of Anacletus. Again Bernard's influence
prevailed ; Lothaire was overcome, and casting aside
his imperial dignity, humbly acted as the Pope's esquire,
holding the bridle of the white steed on which Pope
Innocent was mounted as he rode in the grand procession
to the Church of S, Mark. The Emperor thought this
a favourable opportunity for acquiring again the right
of investiture which his predecessor had relinquished ;
but again Bernard interposed and caused him to
abandon the project. Pope Innocent was established
at Rome by the armed hosts of Lothaire, and ultimately
the great peacemaker succeeded in healing the schism.
In temporal affairs his mediation was equally effectual.
He reconciled Lothaire and his rival Conrad, inducing
the latter to abandon his claims. When the French
king, Louis the Fat, refused to allow the French
146 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
bishops to attend the Council of Pisa in 1134, Bernard
again interfered and promoted peace. To this Council,
Alexander, Bishop of Liege, was summoned on a
charge of simony, and was excommunicated ; he died
the same day. Bernard caused the separation of the
dioceses of Tournay and Noyon, which had been held by
one bishop. He aroused a grand enthusiasm through-
out Christendom, and proclaimed another crusade
against the infidels. Many gallant knights from the
Netherlands flocked to the uplifted standard and
fought bravely in the Holy Land. S. Bernard often
traversed this country, and many miracles of healing
were reported by eye-witnesses of the effect of his
marvellous power. He possessed a fiery energy of soul
which subdued emperors, nobles, priests, and the multi-
tude to his purposes for the promotion of the Church
of his Saviour. None could resist the noble enthusiasm
which animated him, and caused him to sacrifice him-
self, his marvellous talents and energies, for the sake
of the Church he so dearly loved, and his hymns and
sermons breathe forth the deep piety and high-souled
devotion for which he was so conspicuous. His in-
fluence, however, greatly strengthened the Papal power,
and the Pope had ever in S. Bernard a faithful and
devoted servant.
An important branch of the Augustinian Order was
the Premonstratensian, founded by S. Norbert, who
died in 1134. His first monastery was at Pre-montre,
in Picardy, from which place the Order took its name.
It spread rapidly in Belgium. Antwerp, which had
been the headquarters of the impostor Tanchelin,
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 147
received the new monks, who won back the people to
the faith, and several abbeys in the other dioceses
were given to them.
Scandals in the Church during the twelfth century
were unhappily numerous. A deplorable heresy mani-
fested itself under the leadership of the wretch Tan-
chelin, who gained many followers in the northern
provinces. To his views of the inefificacy of the
sacraments and of ordination, he added the teaching
of the most shameless immorahty. He advocated
''free love," seduced the women whom he attracted,
and became a monster of profligacy and vice. Three
thousand soldiers escorted the false prophet as he rode
in royal state magnificently attired, dazzling the eyes of
the simple folk by his gorgeous display of finery. He
told them that he was equal to the Saviour, and ought
to be recognised as God, giving his miserable dupes
water to wash away the diseases of both body and
soul. He extracted from them vast sums of money,
and as his avarice was still unsatisfied, on one occasion
he appeared before a crowd of his followers in splendid
robes, and placed at his side an image of the Virgin.
Holding the hand of the image, he exclaimed, '' Virgin
Mary, I take you to-day as my wife ; " then turning
to the people, he said, " See, I have espoused the Holy
Virgin ; it is your duty to furnish the cost of the
betrothal and of the wedding." He then placed two
chests, and directed the men to put their contributions
into one chest and the women into the other, in order
that he might know which sex had more regard for
him and his spouse. The women were the more
148 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
liberal, and cast their ear-rings and bracelets into the
chest.
The impostor succeeded well in Zealand, Utrecht,
and in the towns of Flanders, especially at Antwerp,
which, on account of the lax condition of the Church
in that city, was more liable to his attack. A follower
named Manassah, a locksmith, enrolled twelve com-
panions whom he named apostles, and associated with
them a female named Mary. A priest named Ever-
wachere joined Tanchelin, who with his companions
was captured by Frederick, Archbishop of Cologne,
and confined in a dungeon. He contrived to effect
his escape ; but after preaching his impure doctrines at
Bruges, he was assassinated in 1 113, and his heresy
died with him. S. Norbert restored a purer faith to
the wretched followers of the false prophet at Antwerp,
and on the pedestal of his statue were inscribed the
words : — '' That which Amand began, that which Eloi
planted, that which Willibrord watered, that which
Tanchelin destroyed, Norbert restored." A little later,
at Cambray, Arras, Ivoi, Liege, and Cologne there
were heretics, some of whom followed in the steps of
the fanatic Tanchelin, while others held doctrines akin
to the Manichasans.
The schism at Rome on the death of Pope Adrian in
1 159 also added to the dissensions and scandals of the
period. Pope Alexander III. received the support of
the kings of England and France, who esteemed it
an honour to hold the bridle of the Pontiff, while the
Emperor Frederick's party at Rome elected Victor III.
The divisions at Rome were reflected in the provinces,
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 149
the bishops of Flanders supporting the party of France,
while the Bishop of Liege, Henry II., held with the
Emperor and Pope Victor. He was succeeded by
another " schismatic " bishop, Alexander II., who suf-
fered the ecclesiastical affairs of the province to fall
into a deplorable condition. When Raoul, a supporter
of the rival Pope, became Bishop of Liege, he found
that simony and incontinence had invaded the sanc-
tuary, and the state of religion was at a very low ebb.
A reformer arose in the person of Lambert, called
Le Begue, or the stammerer, a man after God's own
heart, who set himself to repair the disorders which
disgraced the times. His reforming zeal, however, was
not agreeable to the lax priests and monks, who loved
their gains and their luxurious ease. Murmurs arose
against him, and the malcontents complained to Bishop
Raoul of Lambert's inconvenient earnestness, and to
gratify his depraved clergy the Bishop confined him in
the castle of Revogne, where he utilised his lonely
hours by translating the Acts of the Apostles. Not
content with silencing 'Uhe stammerer," they sent him
to Rome to receive the censure of the Pope as a
quarrelsome and senseless person. But Pope Alex-
ander perceived the profound wisdom and earnestness
of the accused ; he knew too well the reason of the
bitterness against him, and sent him back to Belgium
with authority to preach. His death soon reHeved his
foes from his salutary counsels. Some have attributed
to him the foundation of the Beguines,^ which word
they derive from his surname, '' le begtie ; " but this
1 Cf. p. 177.
ISO THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
is erroneous. The treatment he received shows the
vehement opposition which any attempt at reform was
bound to encounter at the hands of these mercenary
priests and monks, who cared more for their worldly in-
terests than for the welfare and purity of their Church.
Some improvement was, however, accomplished ;
simony did not flaunt itself so boldly; some of the
base traffickers in benefices, provostships, &c., were
driven out ; but a new trouble arose, which caused
much confusion and endless troubles. On the death
of Raoul, the Chapter elected Albert of Louvain,
brother of the Duke of Brabant, as Bishop of Liege ;
but the Emperor Henry VI. opposed the election,
wishing to confer the See on Lothaire de Hoostrade.
Albert appealed to Rome, while Lothaire estabHshed
himself by force of arms. Pope Celestine III. sup-
ported Albert, made him a cardinal, and consecrated
him Archbishop of Rheims in 1 192; but Henry ^
refused to acknowledge him, and kept his favourite
in possession of the See. Albert resided at Rheims
in great poverty, but his existence was a constant
annoyance to the Emperor. Then followed an event
similar to the murder of our own Archbishop Beckett.
Three German lords, at the instigation or with the
connivance of Henry, visited Albert at Rheims. They
pretended sympathy and friendship for him ; they ac-
companied him riding and walking, and one day they
suddenly fell upon the helpless bishop and killed him,
adding insults to his lifeless body. He was canon-
^ It was this same Emperor who detained our King Richard as a
prisoner on his return from Palestine.
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 151
ised by the Pope ; his murderers miserably perished ;
Lothaire was driven from his See, and Henry VI. pro-
fited nothing by the hateful deed which he had insti-
gated. Indeed, the assassination of Albert was the
last episode of the quarrel of investitures ; at the
beginning of the thirteenth century the stipulations of
Pope Calixtus put an end to the dispute ; the Emperor
ceased to appoint to bishoprics and abbeys, and this
order of procedure continued until the reigns of Charles
V. and Philip II.
The enormous wealth attached to the mediaeval
bishoprics attracted the eager gaze of covetous princes
and lords, who sought them by all manner of means
for themselves, or for their favourites or relations. As
at Liege, so at Utrecht scandals continually occurred,
and seldom was there an election without bloodshed.
On the death of Bishop Herebert in 1155, there was
a division in the Chapter concerning the election of a
successor, some voting for Frederick, son of Count
Adolphus, and others for Herman of Cologne. The
Count of Holland declared for the latter, and esta-
blished him by force of arms. This kind of trouble
was of frequent occurrence ; and in the history of this
period we find rival bishops defending themselves by
spiritual and temporal powers, both parties mutually
excommunicating each other, pronouncing interdicts,
and craving the succour of powerful neighbouring
princes, fighting, scheming, plotting, and counter-plot-
ting, all for the sake of the power and emoluments
attached to the ancient See.^ High Hneage, mihtary
^ " Batavia Sacra," ist part, p. 156.
152 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
talents, statesmanship, these were the requirements for
a bishop, and not learning and episcopal virtues. For
example, of Bishop Wilbrand we are told '' that he
was vir fortis et audacis aninii, and celebrated not as
a pastor or bishop for his learning and ministerial
care, but for the illustriousness of his family, and as
a powerful prince and military leader." These men
usually occupied themselves with political and tem-
poral affairs; they contracted enormous debts, and, in
spite of the vast income of the See, many were obliged
to retire from their bishopric and take up their abode
in some monastery, or retire to France, in order to
recover their finances.
The thirteenth century was an age of great men and
of great works. The Divine Spirit was breathed again
into the decaying lifeless religion of the country. A
great Christian movement was evident ; Christian rulers
for the most part governed the provinces; the true
spirit of chivalry animated the hearts of the warriors
of Christendom, and taught them to reverence the
sanctity of the Church and hoHness of Hfe ; above all,
monasticism received a purifying and ennobling in-
fluence, which purged out much that was base and
disgraceful. At this period, too, commenced that
style of architecture which characterises most of the
grand cathedrals of the Netherlands, witnessing to
the liberality and religious earnestness of their pious
founders.
The century began with a new Crusade, and, as on
former occasions, the enthusiasm spread in Belgium,
and inspired many to fight in the Holy War. Bald-
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 153
win IX. of Flanders took the Cross with great pomp
in the Church of S. Donatus at Bruges ; his two
brothers, Eustace and Henry, followed his example ;
and his wife, Marie of Champagne, feared not the
hardships of the expedition, as she fought by her hus-
band's side. Many nobles of Flanders and Hainault
flocked to the uphfted standard, and in 1202 the vast
army set sail from Venice. We need not follow the
course of that expedition, which sealed the fate of the
gallant Baldwin, who became Emperor of Constanti-
nople. To that precarious honour his brother suc-
ceeded. The Crusaders enriched their native churches
with vast numbers of relics ; and so numerous were
these, that it is natural to suppose Levantine merchants
and Greek traders found the traffic a lucrative one, and
made the supply equal to the demand.
The increased piety of the nation prompted the
spoilers of Church property to restore that which they
had usurped. The reaction in favour of a due recog-
nition of the unlawfulness of sacrilege had already set
in in the twelfth century, and produced remarkable
results in the thirteenth. Ecclesiastical tithes appro-
priated in former times by powerful laymen again
became the patrimony of the Church. Ancient monas-
teries received again the lands of which they had been
unlawfully deprived, and new monasteries were founded
through the piety of Belgian Churchmen.
The Church also developed its organisation by in-
creasing the number of archdeaconries, dividing them
into deaneries, appointing ecclesiastical officers to help
forward her work in the different dioceses. To this
154 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
period is assigned the appearance of vicar-generals and
auxiliary bishops, who were appointed to assist the
bishops; and many new parishes were created, and
dioceses separated which had formerly been presided
over by one prelate.
There was a great increase in the monastic orders
at this time. The Order of the Holy Trinity was
founded for the release of Christian prisoners in the
power of the Turks. There were several houses in
the Netherlands where slaves were protected, and in
some cases restored to freedom, and in this work the
Trinitarians joined. Count Montalembert says that " a
great corruption of manners had pervaded society for
a long period, caused by heresies of divers natures,
and threatening the whole part. Fervour and piety
were abated, which the great foundations of preceding
ages, the Cistercians, the Premonstratensians, the Car-
thusians, had not sufficed to revivify. In the schools
a dry logic too often parched the sources ; a new and
sovereign remedy was needed, and God, who had never
forsaken His Spouse, who has sworn never to for-
sake her, sent her desired and needful succour." An
Italian mendicant and a poor priest of Spain were the
humble instruments in God's hands for the purpose of
reforming societ3^
The introduction of the Franciscans into Belgium is
remarkable. The Count of Flanders was confined as
a prisoner by the king of France in the castle of Val-
enciennes, and was imprisoned in an iron cage. His
Countess, Jeanne, the widow of Fernando of Portugal,
endeavoured by every means in her power to comfort
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 155
him in his terrible confinement, and to obtain his re-
lease. Some followers of S. Francis had settled at
Valenciennes, and were allowed to minister to the poor
captives. The Countess frequently was enabled to
communicate with her husband by their means, and by
their influence with the king they subsequently obtained
his release. The Count and Countess were ever grate-
ful to the holy men for all that they had done, and
on their return to Ghent founded a monastery of that
Order. Bishop John of Liege also invited the Francis-
cans to his city in 1229; but their work was not
altogether appreciated by the seculars, who fancied
that their rights were being invaded. Complaints were
made at the Synod of Cologne by one of the clerics,
and to him Conrad of Villers replied, ''And how many
have you in your parish ? " '' Nine thousand," an-
swered the aggrieved priest. '' Oh, man of little sense,"
replied Conrad, '' do you know that you must render
an account to God for each single soul ? and do you
complain because you have this help given you free of
cost ? Go ; you are not worthy of the charge which
the Church has given you."
Not only in Belgium were the new Orders received
with jealousy and mistrust. For a time both Orders
progressed with unrivalled speed, and crowds of young-
men of noble birth and talents became subject to their
influence; but after the death of their founders they
degenerated, and the vows of poverty, purity, and disci-
pline were seriously neglected. At the University of
Paris a great dispute arose on account of the growing
power of the Dominicans, and one, William of S. Amour,
156 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
wrote a work entitled ''The Perils of the Last Age,"
which was mainly directed against the Mendicants.
The book was condemned by the Pope in 1253.
They did not lack champions. In France, S. Thomas
Aquinas (a Dominican), Albertus Magnus, and Bona-
ventura (Franciscan) warmly defended them; and in
Belgium, Thomas de Cantipee, the son of a follower of
our King Richard, a disciple of S. Thomas, took the
part of the abused monks. He wrote some biographies
of saints, a hymn, and a curious book, '' Bomiin Uni-
versale de Apihts,'' containing some edifying histories
of rather a legendary character. Amongst others, there
is a " Life of Marie d'Oignies," who with her husband
devoted herself to the care of the poor lepers at
Welenbroeck, near Nivelles.
The Countess Jeanne of Flanders was a very religious
woman, and on her husband's death took the veil. The
mendicant friars increased the number of their houses
and became very powerful. The citizens of Antwerp
invited the Franciscans to settle amongst them, saying,
^' As Joseph's presence brought the blessings of Heaven
on the land of Egypt, and Jacob's presence conferred a
similar boon on the house of Laban, so your arrival
would bring the favours of Heaven on Antwerp."
Count Henry HI. of Brabant and his pious wife also
helped forward the movement, and improved the reli-
gious condition of the country.
There seems to have been at this time a considerable
increase in the veneration paid to the Virgin Mary.
We find evidences of it in the works of the great sculp-
tors, in the hymns and other writings of the time, in
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 157
the illuminated MSS., &c. We find a new Order of
monks called the Order of the Virgin Mary of Mount
Carmel, who had houses at Brussels, Mechlin, Louvain,
Ypres, and other places. We find it also set forth con-
spicuously in the theology of Bonaventura, who, in his
rapturous worship of the Virgin, displays her as the
ideal embodiment of purity and affection. It is well to
note the time when this error began to develop.
The theology of the Netherlands was influenced by
the teaching of the great schoolmen of the fourteenth
century, many of whom visited the country. Albertus
Magnus taught for a long time at Cologne, and as
Bishop of Ratisbonne came to Antwerp in 1271 to con-
secrate a Dominican church ; he also visited Louvain
to consecrate two altars belonging to the same Order.
Thomas Aquinas constantly came to Brabant, and the
Netherlands had the honour of producing one school-
man who for his learning is ranked among such men
as Thomas, Bonaventura, Alexander de Hales, Duns
Scotus, and other distinguished scholars who added
glory to the famous University of Paris. This was
Henry Goethals, or Henry of Ghent, called ''the
Solemn Doctor " in a letter addressed to him by Pope
Innocent IV. He began his career at Cologne and
then migrated to the University of Paris, where, after
the death of the Angelical Doctor, he presided over the
theological teaching of the university. He composed
a great number of works which enjoyed a high reputa-
tion, and took part in several Councils. In his conduct
towards the Dominicans, who after their victory over
the authorities of the university were very powerful,
158 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
he showed great tact and judgment, being strongly
opposed to the monopoly of privileges which they
claimed, but maintaining close friendship with the most
learned of that Order. The Solemn Doctor died in 1293,
and was interred under a marble tomb with great pomp
in the cathedral church of Tournay.
Another holy man, S. Boniface, was born at Brussels
about this period. After becoming a doctor of the
University at Paris he went to Cologne, and was
chosen Bishop of Lausanne, in Switzerland. After
governing his diocese for ten years, he returned to his
native land, and spent the last eighteen years of his
life in the monastery of Cambre. He died in 1266.
Robert, Bishop of Liege, and Guy, Bishop of Cam-
bray, were good prelates and worthy men.^ The
former held a synod of the clergy of his diocese, chiefly
for the purpose of establishing the Fete-Dieu in honour
of the Blessed Sacrament. The good Bishop died
before the Fete took place ; but one of his clergy,
James Pantaleon, Archdeacon of Liege, became Pope
under the title of Urban IV., and used his influence in
supporting the carrying out of the project. The festival
was celebrated with great gladness at Liege, and the
custom spread throughout the Church. On the death
of the good Robert there were many competitors for
the vacant bishopric; at length Henry of Gueldres
succeeded, a man dissolute in his manners, devoted
to pleasures, more of a warrior than a pastor, who
brought great troubles upon the Church and people
of Liege. His rivals stirred up factions and plots. A
^ Viri venerabiles et reliiriosi.
TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES. 159
cruel war ensued, and in 1252 the people, wearied
with the troubles of that unhappy time, broke out into
revolt. All classes suffered; houses were destroyed
everywhere; the rich were despoiled of their goods;
many were reduced to beggary, and robbery, fights,
assassinations, violence, scandals, and calamities were
of constant occurrence during many years of this
disastrous period.
CHAPTER X.
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS.
Decline of feudal system — Rise of power of citizens — Aspect of towns —
Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Louvain, Amsterdam — Battle of Courtray —
Bruges defies French king — Excommunicated — Scene at corona-
tion of Philip of Valois — Battle of Cassel — Vengeance of French
monarch — James Van Arteveldt — Neutrality of Flanders pro-
claimed — Extortions of the Popes — James d'Oudshoorn, Bishop
of Utrecht — Troubles of succession and election of bishops —
Reforms of John d'Arkal, Bishop of Utrecht — Abuse of transla-
tions — Black death — Flagellants — Great schism at Rome — The
Nether landers Urbanists — People of Ghent resist tax imposed by
Louis le Mai — Burghers of Bruges attempt to change course of
Lys — Battle of Roosbecke — Crusade against Clementists — Bishop of
Norwich in Flanders — Synod of Ghent — Persecution of Urbanists —
People remain faithful — Attempts to end schism.
In order to understand rightly the religious movements
of the fourteenth century, it is necessary to study the
social and political changes which occurred at the
commencement of this period, and affected all Europe,
and especially the Netherlands. The old order had
completely changed, giving place to new. The feudal
system had broken down ; religious heroism, which
inspired the Crusades, had died away ; the power of the
nobles and counts had dwindled ; a new power had
arisen, the power of the citizens, which acquired an
importance and superiorit}^ far exceeding that which
it displaced. By commerce the towns had increased
enormously in wealth, population, and influence. The
160
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. i6i
rich burghers and their armies of workmen could
sustain the weight of a war with France, and the
battle of Courtray taught the nobles that they had now
a power to deal with which could defy the authority
which they had wielded so long.
It is interesting to note the aspect of some of
these great cities of the Netherlands at the end of the
thirteenth century, and we will first visit Bruges, the
great port of all the commerce of Northern Europe.
The city was full of splendour and magnificence, and
still retains the evidences of its former greatness. Its
position was such that it became the natural emporium
of every trading community on the face of the earth.
The Hanse, of which Bruges was the chief centre,
extended from Novgorod to London. Russia, Bagdad,
Norway, Spain, Egypt, all poured their merchandise
and treasures into the Flanders city. Merchants of
London, Hamburg, Cologne, Venice, Pisa, Cremona,
had establishments for their commerce here. The
commodious harbour of the Zwyn was crowded with
vessels from the most distant seas, laden with the
products of every clime. The princely luxury of
the inhabitants astonished all visitors to Flanders.
Gorgeous raiment and costly jewels set off the charms
of the fair dames and damsels of Flanders. Sumptuous
banquets, which often degenerated into orgies, drinking
to excess, gambling, and immorality, were the vices
bred in this school of luxury in which the wealthy
burghers indulged freely.
As Bruges was the centre of commerce, Ghent was
the centre of the industry of the country where thou-
i62 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
sands of looms were ever busily employed manufactur-
ing cloth from the rich fleeces procured from England.
Never were the prospects of the burghers brighter or
more prosperous than at this period. Stately buildings
and monuments adorned the city. The inhabitants
were great and powerful. The guilds had built up
their power by the great force of union, and Froissart
asserts that the burghers could summon an army of
80,000 men. Ypres also was a large and flourishing
town; for in 1247 we find that the inhabitants peti-
tioned the Pope to grant them more parishes on
account of their population of 200,000. Poperinghe,
Messines, Warneton, and Wervicq together equalled
the number of the inhabitants of Ypres. Oudenarde and
Ardenbourg belonged to the Hanse of London, which
was a union of the principal trading guilds of Northern
Europe. Louvain commenced its manufactures in 1317,
and had 2400 manufactories and 44,000 inhabitants,
but its prosperity was fleeting. The weavers, as in
other towns, were very turbulent, and in 1378 made
an insurrection against the nobles. From a window
in the Hotel de Ville they threw down thirteen magis-
trates of noble birth who were received by the populace
below on the points of their spears. Duke Wen-
ceslaus inflicted summary vengeance upon them ; the
aristocratic power was restored ; thousands of artisans
migrated to Holland and England, and the prosperity
of Louvain speedily declined. At the beginning of
the thirteenth century, Brussels, Lierre, Tirlemont,
Diest were all flourishing towns, and Mechlin owed
its prosperity to the richest merchant of the time,
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 163
Berthout, whose family, like the Medicis of Florence,
conferred great benefits on their town. Nor did the
towns of Holland lag behind in the race for wealth
and power. They began to maintain that maritime
supremacy for which they were for centuries cele-
brated, and Amsterdam especially prospered.
Throughout the country the number of parish
churches increased greatly, the rich merchants esteem-
ing it an honour to give to God of the fruits of their
industry. The people did not neglect their religious
duties. The daily mass, the Sunday services were
duly attended. All work on Sundays was forbidden.
Charity and almsgiving were practised; and though
superstition was mingled with their faith, religious
feeling maintained its hold on the mass of the people
in spite of the glaring vices of a luxurious age. Arts
and letters flourished, and Brabant and Flanders
rivalled each other in the art of poetry as in material
prosperity and industry.
Stormy days soon tried the strength of these sturdy
burghers. In 1301 the citizens of Bruges drove out
the French garrison, and in the following year put to
flight the flower of French chivalry at Courtray. In
1324, enraged at some high-handed act of their Count
Louis, they fought against him, destroyed all the castles
of the nobles in the province, and took them prisoners.
Never was the power of Bruges so great. When
Robert de Cassel was elected ruward on account of
his insurrection against Count Louis, he was summoned
to Paris to answer to the king for his conduct. This
royal summons he totally defied, and Count Louis
i64 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
remained a prisoner. Then ecclesiastical terrors were
brought to bear on the refractory citizens, and sentences
of excommunication were proclaimed at Tournay and
Arras. The bishops were the obedient subjects of the
French monarch, but the clergy sympathised with the
popular movement. The burghers were worsted in
the battle of Assenede, but as King Edward III. of
England was threatening France, the French monarch
made peace with the burghers in 1326 and the ex-
communication was taken off.
A dramatic scene took place at the coronation of
Philip of Valois, which shows the waning power of the
Counts. Louis of Nevers, Count of Flanders, went to
the coronation at Rheims with eighty-six knights, but
when his turn came to do homage, he refused to come
forward, to the astonishment of the court. *' Be not
surprised," he said, '' that I have not advanced, for the
Count of Flanders was called, and not Louis of Nevers."
*' But are you not Count of Flanders ? " asked the king.
" Sire," he replied, '' it is true that I bear the name, but
I possess no authority. The burghers of Bruges and
Ypres, of Poperinghe and Cassel, have deprived me of
mine inheritance." Philip swore to return his authority,
and summoned a great army, which, in spite of the
stubborn resistance and bravery of the Flemings, en-
tirely routed them at the disastrous battle of Cassel.
Six thousand perished with their leader, Zannequin,
and the Count was restored to his dominions. Then
followed one of those hideous tales of vengeance which
are frequent in mediaeval history. Ten thousand vic-
tims were slaughtered in three months, and all the
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 165
shameless cruelties of the age were inflicted upon the
unhappy people. The aged burgomaster of Bruges
was handed over to the king of France and mercilessly
tortured for days, his hands being cut off while he was
suspended by the hairs of his head, until at last death
ended his terrible sufferings.
The battle of Cassel taught the burghers the necessity
of union. Hitherto Ghent and Bruges had been kept
asunder by mutual jealousy. Then arose a remarkable
man, the famous James Van Arteveldt, commonly called
the brewer of Ghent, and surnamed '' the wise," who
headed a powerful confederation of the chief towns of
Flanders. He proved himself an able ally of England
in the French war, and then proclaimed the neutrality
of Flanders, which was recognised by both kings. This
brought great prosperity to the alHed towns, who thus
possessed a monopoly of peace and industry. The
Count struggled vainly against them, and finally lost his
life on the plains of Crecy. Arteveldt was appointed
ruward ; but the love of the populace is fickle, and
he who had been their idol, who had preserved their
liberties and devoted his life to their welfare, was slain
by their hands in a popular rising in 1345. In spite
of the death of their leader they preserved their rights,
and were practically independent of all external control.
We will now glance at the ecclesiastical affairs of
the northern province of Utrecht. There a great
struggle was going on between the people and temporal
power of the Bishop, whom they had on several occa-
sions expelled from the city. The great exactions of
the Pope for the confirmation of elections, for first-
i66 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
fruits, &:c., had increased enormously, and caused deplor-
able schisms throughout the Western Church. Utrecht
was no exception to this system of extortion. James
d'Oudshoorn, elected in 1321, a pious and learned man,
could not obtain the confirmation of his election by the
Pope without a large sum of money, which ruined his
family, one of the leading ones in Holland. He died
in the following year, not without suspicion of poison,
and James de Sude, observing his illness, persuaded
the Pope to reserve the appointment of the next bishop
to the Apostolic Chamber, hoping to obtain the See for
himself by the aid of his friends. The Chapter, how-
ever, elected John, baron of Bronkhorst, of an illustrious
family in Gueldres. Pope John XXII. declared the
election void, and the Duke of Brabant and the Count
of Hainault asked the Pope to give it to John III. of
Diest. The Pope was delighted to have his authority
recognised ; he readily granted their request, and John
of Diest was placed in possession of the See by force
of arms. After an inglorious career of eighteen years
he died in 1341, leaving a legacy of debt to the
Church.
On his decease, the Chapter was divided with regard
to the appointment of a successor, the rival candidates
being John of Bronkhorst and John d'Arkel. Pope
Benedict XII., with an assumption of authority to which
he had no right, rejected both and appointed an Italian,
Nicholas de Caputiis ; but he, finding that he would
be obliged to reside in his diocese, resigned the See,
and asked the Pope to appoint D'Arkel. The new
prelate was a great warrior, but he ruled his diocese
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 167
well, and was a great contrast to many of the bishops
of the time. He tried to relieve the Church from the
heavy debts which his predecessors had contracted.
He was learned in both sacred and profane literature,
and made excellent rules for the guidance of his Church.
He repressed the abuses of non-residence amongst his
clergy, and of usury, and forbad any monks to preach
or hear confessions, and thus to trespass on the rights
of the seculars, or to take benefices without the exa-
mination and approval of the bishop. Six of his
synodal letters are still preserved. He ordered the
pastors to explain to the people in the vulgar tongue
the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Seven Sacra-
ments, and to administer the same without charge. If
there had been a few more bishops of this character,
the evils which soon threatened the Church might have
been averted.
The abuse of translations was common at this time.
Since the sums of money exacted by the Pope on con-
firmations were so enormous and so profitable to the
Papal exchequer, it was found convenient frequently
to translate bishops to other Sees. Thus John de
Vernenburg, the forty-eighth bishop of Utrecht, was
transferred to Munster in 1366; Florence de Weve-
linchoven, the fiftieth bishop, was transferred in 1379;
Frederick de Blanckenheim, the fifty-first bishop, was
translated to Strasbourg, and all these translations were
followed by great disorders. But in spite of the terrible
abuses which reigned in the government of the Church,
God preserved the spirit of piety in chosen souls, of
whom we shall speak in the following chapter.
i6S THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The terrible plague called the Black Death broke out
in 1348, and was regarded by many as a judgment of
God upon the disorders of the times. A profound
terror seized the inhabitants. At Tournay alone 25,000
perished. The churches were crowded with people
praying ; the usual sounds of gaiety, of joyous dance
and merry song, were hushed ; old quarrels and feuds
were abandoned, and gambling and vice vanished in
the presence of the dread visitation. Then arose the
strange sect of the Flagellants, who first appeared in
Hungary and found a large body of adherents in the
Netherlands. These fanatics pretended that they were
the true interpreters m the Divine will, and declared
that an angel had descended from heaven on the altar
of S. Peter at Jerusalem in the sight of the patriarch
and all the people, who chanted on their knees '' Kyrie
eleison," and there deposited a table of stone, similar
to that given to Moses, written with the finger of God,
containing a new law, that of expiation. Their dis-
cipline was of the most rigorous kind; they kept
absolute silence and never slept on a bed ; they swore
never to take part in any war and to obey their lawful
ruler. They wore long robes with a red cross on their
hoods. Each day they received thirty-three stripes.
During the silent watches of the night they marched
in solemn procession, bearing torches and chanting
litanies and hymns in honour of the Virgin. While
the plague pursued its devastating course and men's
hearts were touched with fear, this band of enthusiasts
attracted many followers in Bruges, Tournay, and other
places. High-born dames and the chief men of the
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 169
cities submitted themselves to the severe discipHne of
the Flagellants. But as the plague abated, their zeal
became less sincere ; disorders and scandals increased,
and both the civil and ecclesiastical powers united in
suppressing the sect. The Black Death was followed
by other grievous calamities ; a civil war broke out in
1356 between the Counts of Brabant and Flanders;
a terrible storm burst upon the country in 1367 which
caused fearful inundations, and at Bruges a great fire
raged which destroyed four thousand houses.
Ecclesiastical affairs were not less stormy at the close
of this fourteenth century. In 1378 the great schism
at Rome broke out, which had a great effect upon the
Netherlands. Two Popes contended for the throne of
S. Peter, and the nations were divided into two camps.
For sixty-six years the Popes had quitted the Eternal
City and had resided at Avignon under the protection
of the French monarchs, and generally subservient to
their wishes ; but at length Urban VI. was elected at
Rome and strongly opposed the French cardinals. In
the following year some of the cardinals elected Robert
of Geneva as Pope under the title of Clement VII., who
fled to Avignon. His supporters were France, Naples,
Savoy, Castile and Aragon, Navarre, Scotland, and
Lorraine, while England and other Christian countries
supported Urban. The Netherlanders were strongly
Urbanists, and at a meeting held at Ghent the clergy
declared themselves very much opposed to him who
was called Robert of Geneva, falsely styled Pope Cle-
ment. Count Louis le Mai, who bore no love for
France, supported the Netherlanders in their attach-
I/O THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ment to Urban, while the French king was enraged
that those who were nominally his subjects should
range themselves on the side opposed to him. It was
not long before he found an opportunity for marching
his army against them.
After the plague had vanished, the people were not
slow in returning to their usual mode of life, and re-
sumed the luxurious and pleasure-seeking existence
which they found so congenial to their tastes. The
nobles set the fashion, the people followed, and the
clergy were ill-fitted to stem the tide of depravity.
The hostility between the democracy of the towns and
the aristocratic element was still in force. When
Louis de Mai presided at a grand tournament at
Ghent, to which all the knights of the neighbouring
provinces were invited, he thought it a good oppor-
tunity for levying a new tax. To this the people
offered vehement objection, and one loud - tongued
democrat addressed them thus : — '' It is not. right that
the goods of the people should be emploj^ed in the
foHies of princes for the purpose of entertaining actors
and buffoons." The populace received the speech with
a shout and refused to pay the tax. The Count indig-
nantly retired to Bruges, and fanned the old flame of
jealousy whicli existed between the rival cities. The
burghers of Bruges were eager to join in any scheme
of vengeance, and devised a plan of changing the course
of the river Lys by cutting a canal v/hich would make
Bruges the market for the goods of Artois, and deprive
Ghent of that part of its trade.
There was great excitement in the streets of Ghent
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 171
when a woman with disordered dress, returning from
a pilgrimage to Notre Dame at Boulogne, rushed into
the market-place and declared that she had seen five
hundred Bruges workmen working day and night to
change the course of the Lys. The people of Ghent
were furious. The chief men met in the house of
Yoens, whom they hailed as a second Artevelde. They
declared the Count deposed ; they marched on Bruges,
wearing their white caps ; but Yoens died suddenly,
it was supposed by poison. They elected new leaders.
Phihp Van Artevelde, the son of James, a brave but
inexperienced youth, was elected ruward, and had to
encounter the powerful army of Charles VI. of France,
who now found the opportunity he longed for. The
battle of Roosebecke (1382) ended the hopes and the
life of the heroic Artevelde ; but Ghent held out against
the whole army of the French king. Many of the
other cities and towns were taken by the French and
pillaged, not on account of any charge of insurrection
or opposition to France, but on the plea that the in-
habitants were Urbanists and not Clementists.
The Urbanists were not content to allow themselves
to be thus treated by the rival faction. A religious
crusade was preached against the supporters of Clement.
In 1383 one Francis Ackerman drove out the French
troops from Ardenbourg, and planted the banner of
Urban on the citadel. Pope Urban issued a Bull
which was published in England ordering all men to
take up arms against the rival party. Henry Spencer,
the warlike Bishop of Norwich, one of our few fighting
prelates, was placed in charge of the expedition, and
172 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
all the vicars and chaplains in England were exhorted
to furnish men and arms. An army formidable in
numbers, but lacking good leadership, crossed over
to the Netherlands to deliver the Urbanists from the
Clementist Frenchmen. The expedition was not suc-
cessful, the walls of Ypres offering a stubborn resist-
ance to all attacks, and the strength of the English
force was reduced considerably b}^ this ineffectual
siege. The death of Count Louis, and the treaty
made by Philip the Hardy, son-in-law of his prede-
cessor, put an end to the disastrous war in 1385.
Philip was a Clementist and his people Urbanists,
but he did not attempt to force his own opinions on
them, and suffered them to remain attached to the
Pope of their choice. But the French bishops were
not so indifferent and proceeded to excommunicate the
people of Ghent and all other Urbanists. The inhabit-
ants of Ghent were very indignant, and the clergy
summoned a synod in order to consider their position.
The acts of this synod have unfortunately been lost.
Troubled on account of the unjust sentence which had
been pronounced against them, they sent a deputation
to the theologians of the great episcopal city on the
banks of the Meuse, Liege, which was called the Rome
of the North, in order to ask their advice. The canons
of S. Lambert at Liege returned their answer to the
synod, in which Duke Philip took part, pointing out the
perfidious counsels of the authors of the schism, who
had set up Clement in opposition to Urban, and ex-
pressing deep regret that they had found such powerful
supporters.
THE POWER OF THE TOWNS. 173
The opinions of the theologians of Liege did not
have any effect on Philip the Hardy, and the only
result of the synod was the enforced payment of
60,000 francs by the people of Ghent for the liberty
of holding their own views. In the meantime the
Urbanists found that the doors of preferment were
closed against them, and several deserted that party.
Simon, Bishop of Therouanne, was among the first to
join the Clementist ranks. The people of Antwerp
followed his example. A proselytising movement set in,
and corruption and violence were freely used in order
to gain converts. John of Bavaria, Bishop of Liege,
received orders to persecute the followers of Clement.
No words can describe the misery of the country
brought about by this schism. A profound desolation
reigned in Flanders; all village churches were closed.
The people were furious when a Clementist priest
tried to celebrate the Eucharist, and he was obliged
to have the protection of a double line of trenches and
battlements before he could accomplish his purpose.
In the diocese of Liege the Urbanists could worship
in peace, and many fled from Flanders to that province
rather than be forced to recognise Clement. A vigorous
persecution followed, and Peter de Roulers, a magistrate
of Bruges, was beheaded on account of his Urbanist
views. The door to wealth and honour was opened by
Duke Philip to all Clementists, but persecution and
death were in store for all followers of the opposite
party.
The city of Ghent alone resisted openly the demands
of the Duke, who found that nothing short of war and
174 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
conquest could force them to change their views. Thus
Ghent became the centre of rehgious freedom, as it
had been for years the home of pohtical hberty. It
afforded an asylum to all who were threatened on
account of their opinions, and its crowded churches
showed that the excommunication of the French
bishops had little terror for them.
The other provinces enjoyed a freedon from perse-
cution and remained faithful to Urban. John Serclaes,
Bishop of Cambray in 1378, governed his diocese well
and earned the title of '' the good bishop." The
Chapter of Liege refused to accept a Clementist bishop,
and elected Arnauld de Horner, who was confirmed
by Urban and received with enthusiasm. The Uni-
versity of Paris endeavoured to heal the schism, and
wrote to Clement begging him to end the deplorable
quarrels. He died of grief in 1394. But the French
cardinals elected Peter de Lune, who took the title of
Benedict XI IL, in spite of the opposition of the King
and the University. Hence the schism continued, and
though every one was wearied of the struggle, it was
not ended until another century had dawned.
CHAPTER XT.
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION.
Reformation movement gradual — Church reformed from within —
Mystics — Succession of spiritual agencies — Beguines and Beghards
— Lollards — Fratricelli— Brethren of the Free Spirit — ^John Ruys-
brock, the "Ecstatic Doctor" — His life and teaching — His mysticism
and its defects — Sad picture of the laxity of his times — Gerhard
Groot — His life and preaching — Founded the Brethren of the
Common Lot — Their rule and work — Florentius Radewin founded
the monastery of Windesheim — School of famous preachers in
Holland — Gerhard Zerbolt — Thomas-a-Kempis — His character,
life, and works — Progress of the Brethren — Defended by Gerson at
Council of Constance — Established printing-presses — Declined in
sixteenth century — ^John of Goch — ^John Wessel — Litx immdi —
Nominalists and Realists — Hegius — Rudolph Agricola and the
famous scholars of Holland.
From the strife of contending Counts and war-loving
prelates, from the general carelessness which char-
acterised ecclesiastical affairs during the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, it is refreshing to turn to pious
lives of devoted men and women who kept alive the
lamp of truth in a dark and stormy period and heralded
the dawn of the Reformation. As in other countries,
so also in the Netherlands, the Reformation was not a
movement which suddenly sprang into Hfe in the six-
teenth century ; its seeds were sown long before in the
thirteenth or fourteenth centuries by earnest men, who,
wearied with the depravity of the times and the corrupt
condition of the Church, longed to restore its ancient
176 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
purity and to reform the manners of their countrymen.
The movement originated in the bosom of the Ctiurch
herself; it was implanted by her own faithful sons, by
men of high intellectual culture, wisdom, and piety, who
by their study of Holy Scripture, by their labours in
teaching the young and in preaching to the people,
sowed in the hearts of the nation the seed which was
destined to produce so rich a harvest in after years.
The Church was reformed from within far more than
it was by any external influences ; and happy would it
have been if the hierarchy in the sixteenth century
had recognised the value of truths which the more
enlightened of her sons had taught, and had refrained
from forcing out of the Church by their harshness and
severity those who were seeking purer light and more
scriptural doctrine.
Amongst the precursors of the Reformation were
the Mystics, and none were so remarkable for their
simple piety as those of the Netherlands. Such men
as Gerard Groot, Thomas-a-Kempis, and others whose
works will be referred to, are the most celebrated ; and
that remarkable institution called the Brethren of the
Common Lot, with which their memory is connected,
was the great instrument in educating the people, and
preparing them for the great struggle of a later age.
In the twelfth century, the breath of the Holy Spirit
was felt in the heart of the Western Church ; the
stirrings of spiritual life began once more; and no-
where was its influence more evident than in the
Netherlands. This was shown by the formation of a
succession of spiritual associations, all of which aimed
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 177
at the spread of practical Christianity among the
people.
First there arose the societies of Beguines and
Beghards, of which the oldest was established in 1220
at Louvain. They consisted of male (Beghards) and
female communities (Beguines), having separate houses,
where the members lived in great simplicity, devoting
themselves to visiting and relieving the sick, and sup-
porting themselves by their own manual toil. The
people loved these kind and simple benefactors, and
they enjoyed the protection of the civil rulers and the
sanction of several Popes. They took no life-vows,
and although they lived in communities, their rule
differed materially from that practised by monks and
nuns. In course of time some of these establishments
became large and wealthy, and especially so in Mechlin,
where there were several thousand Beguines, who had
a separate colony surrounded by a wall. The sisters
elected a magistra, who presided over the community ;
they wore a coarse brown dress and a white veil, took
their meals in common, and after joining together in
prayer, spent the great part of the day in manual
labour and in visiting the sick and poor. One of the
sisters, who was called Martha, attended to the house-
hold wants of the community. The rule of the
Beghards was very similar, but their communities
were not so numerous or important as the Beguines.
At Antwerp in 1300 arose the Lollards, who closely
resembled the Beghards, and employed themselves in
deeds of charit}^, visiting those who were dangerously
ill, and burying the dead. The clergy did not approve
M
T78 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of their self-denying labours, and especially the mendi-
cant monks were opposed to them ; but they enjoyed
for some time the approval of several Popes. Boniface
IX. in a Bull of 1394 commended them for their charit-
able work, and in. 1377 Gregory XL stated that he
would not hear of such obedient sons of the Church
being subjected to annoyance.
But their fall was rapid. Some of them joined the
fanatical Franciscans called Fratricelli, and launched
forth virulent abuse of the Church ; others became
allied to the brethren of the Free Spirit, and abandoned
themselves to indolence, mendicity, and vice. They
held secret meetings in underground dwellings, called
Paradises, where they put into practice their notions
of innocence and primitive simplicity by free inter-
course between the sexes, their preacher appearing in a
state of nudity and exhorting his hearers to throw aside
the restraints which the law of marriage had imposed.
One of these Paradises was discovered at Cologne by
a man who followed his wife thither, and informed
the authorities, and many of the sect were burnt and
drowned in the Rhine. Violent measures were taken
to suppress these societies in other places, and soon
the Beghards and Beguines for a time ceased to exist.
They were soon to be replaced by purer workers
and a better agency. In the meantime the better sort
of mysticism found an able exponent in the person of
John Ruysbroek, the '' Ecstatic Doctor." It was his
mission to purify the mysticism of the Netherlands,
and to purge it from the defects, corruptions, and
excesses with which it had been associated. He
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 179
was born at a little village near Brussels, from which
he took his name, A.D. 1293, and from early youth
applied himself to the cultivation of piety and holy
contemplation on spiritual things. He was ordained
in his twenty-fourth year, and became vicar of S.
Gudule, in Brussels ; at the age of sixty years he was
appointed prior of the monastery of Griinthal, two miles
from the present capital of Belgium. He reformed the
manners of the monks, and S. Severin, Rhynsberg,
and Groenendael were also rescued by him from sloth
and laxity of rule, which too often characterised
monastic life at this time. He loved to retire into
the recesses of the forest which surrounded his
monastery and commune with God. The Holy Spirit
seemed to guide his thoughts, which he noted on a
tablet of wax, and afterwards expanded. Crowds
flocked to hear the ecstatic teacher, and amongst the
number came Gerhard Groot, the founder of the
Brethren of the Common Lot, who was greatly in-
fluenced by the teaching of Ruysbroek. In the midst
of wild and turbulent times the holy man lived a quiet
uneventful life, enrapt in the contemplation of spiritual
things, and recording his reflections, sometimes in
Latin, sometimes in his native dialect of Brabant, for
the benefit of posterity. He lived to an advanced age,
and died A.D. 138 1. The principal theme of his
teaching was the amazing love of God for man, and
how man may become one with God.^ Man's will
must be conformed to God's will ; the work of God,
^ Cf. De Ornatit Spiritiialiniii Nuptiarum, one of Ruysbroek's chief
works, and his Life by Engelhardt.
i8o THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the Son, and the Holy Ghost upon man's soul is
clearly brought out in his teaching. '' He, the Eternal
Son, is a common light, lighting every one according
to his worth and want." The Holy Spirit is the
constant illuminator of man's soul, leading him to
hold communion with God, so that his spirit may
become one spirit with God. He dwells often on the
joys of the contemplative life; these are his words: —
^' Men of inward vision ought by contemplation to
soar beyond language and distinction, and above their
created natures, with a fixed and perpetual gaze and
with the uncreated light. In this manner they will be
transformed and made one with the light which is the
object and medium of their vision. For in this con-
templation a man remains free and self-possessed, in
a spirituality which is above all virtue and all desert,
for this is the crown and the reward which is now
ours, for contemplative life is celestial life. This —
the eternal repose — is the existence which has no
mode, and which all deep spirits have chosen above
all things. It is the dark silence, in which all loving-
hearts are lost."
Enrapt in such heavenly musings John Ruysbroek
passed his simple life. On many points his teaching
was defective ; the presence of evil, the sense of sin,
the need of salvation, find no place in his writings.
His phantastic visions of the absorption of the human
nature into the Divine by means of contemplation,
retirement, and spiritual communings are a poor sub-
stitute for the practical Christianity which Holy
Scripture teaches, and we are reminded of the saying
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. i8i
of De Wette, which certainly needs some qualification,
that '^ all mysticism tends to a more refined species ot
lust, to a feasting upon feelings." But the holy life
and deep spirituality of Ruysbroek had an immense
influence on the age in which he lived, and raised the
thoughts and aspirations of earnest men above the
general worldliness of their surroundings, and paved
the way for better things.
Although he loved contemplation, the holy recluse
did not fail to inveigh against the depravity of his
times. In burning words he rebuked the general
sloth, gluttony, and debauchery of the monks — the
Carthusians alone excepted. Monks and abbots don
their armour and swords ; they frequent not the chapel,
but love to ride to the chase, and spend their time in
infamous diversions. The mendicant monks pass their
lives in idleness, pretending to be poor, yet amassing
wealth and lands; discarding the simple coarse black
and grey habit of their founders, they take to them-
selves fine woollen elegantly shaped clothes of varied
colours ; while the nuns have also cast aside their
modest robes and sally forth gaily dressed, their
girdles bright with silver plates and bells, and at
home love to recline on costly bedsteads with em-
broidered cushions, pillows, and bolsters. With the
priests it was just the same; most of them were eaten
up with the love of riches, amassing to themselves
benefices, engaging in secular business, and paying-
poor priests a small sum to do their work. As
marriage was forbidden to the clergy, most of them
had concubines, and paid a tax for the indulgence.
i82 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The bishops were also condemned for their cupidity
and carelessness, although Ruysbroek acknowledges
that there were some good men among them ; and
the Popes were included in his denunciation of exist-
ing vices, and accused of lust for wealth, worldliness,
and arrogant pretensions, instead of being true sef^vz
servoruin, as they were accustomed to style them-
selves. This heavy indictment against the laxity of
his times shows the pious mystic in the light of a
true reformer, whose burning words aroused in many
hearts a desire for better things, and prepared the way
for the practical workers who followed in his steps.
Amongst these, foremost stands Gerhard Groot, a
disciple of Ruysbroek, a man to whom almost all the reli-
gious life in the Netherlands in the fifteenth century is
owing. Deeply read in the study of the Scriptures and
in the writings of the Fathers, an impressive preacher
and orator, he kindled the desire for the full knowledge
of the revealed Word in the hearts of the people, and
founded a system of education which afterwards made
Holland famous for its learning among the nations of
Europe. Gerhard Groot was born at Deventer in 1 340,
which was a place of some importance, his father being
the burgomaster of the town. He was educated in his
early years at the school of his native town and at
Aix-la-Chapelle, and then went to the most celebrated
seminary of learning in Europe, the University of
Paris. There he remained three years, and took his
degree. There^ too, he formed a friendship with
Henry (Eger, afterwards prior of the Carthusian mona-
stery of Monckhuysen, near Arnheim, who exercised
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 183
a good influence over him. On his return from Paris,
his family connections soon obtained him preferment;
he was made Canon of Utrecht and of Aix ; but, as his
biographer, Thomas-a-Kempis, observes, " not as yet
inspired by the Spirit of God, he walked along the
broad ways of this world, until, through God's loving-
kindness, he became changed into another man." His
old college friend, Henry (Eger, was the instrument in
God's hands, who, by his loving admonitions, turned
Gerhard's heart, and caused him to renounce the vani-
ties which for a time he delighted in. He resigned
his canonries, cast off his gay clothing and '' cloak
hned with the finest fur," clad himself in a long coarse
garment of hair-cloth, and betook himself to the mon-
astery at Monckhuysen, where his friend (Eger was
prior. There he spent his time in the study of Scrip-
ture and in exercises of deep penitence. He was
ordained deacon, but decHned the priesthood, saying,
'' I would not, for all the gold of Arabia, undertake the
cure of souls even for a single night."
Having obtained a license to preach from a good
Bishop of Utrecht, Florentius van Wevelinchoven, he
visited all the towns and villages, preaching every-
where, exhorting the people to repentance and amend-
ment of life. His mission somewhat resembled that
of John Wesley. His voice was heard in the streets
and churches of Utrecht, Deventer, Zwolle, Zutphen,
Kampen, Amersfoort, Gouda, Amsterdam, Haarlem,
Delft, and Leyden. He preached not in Latin, as
the ordinary clergy did, but in Low Dutch, so that
all could understand his utterances. Crowds flocked
i84 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
everywhere to hear him ; they neglected their meals
and ordinary business that they might not miss a word
of his sermons, which often lasted three hours. Many
were converted by his earnest preaching, and abandoned
the vices which he so vehement^ condemned.
Gerhard's popularity was so great that it soon excited
the envy of the clergy and monks, who obtained from
the reluctant Bishop of Utrecht a revocation of his
license. Not wishing to agitate the people against
the clergy, he yielded to the fury and malice of his
enemies, and humbly said to his followers, indignant at
the inhibition, '^ They are our superiors, and we. wish, as
we ought and are bound, to observe their edicts. For we
seek not to hurt any, nor to excite scandal. The Lord
knoweth from the beginning those that are His ; and
He will call them as He pleases, without our means."
Gerhard's eloquence was hushed, in spite of many a pro-
test, but his energies were turned into another channel,
and thus conferred greater good on subsequent ages.
Prevented from preaching, he turned to the work of
educating the youth. He gathered together a number
of 3^oung men who frequented the school at Deventer,
and employed them in copying books, especially the
Holy Scriptures, advising them and instructing them.
The number increased rapidly ; and one of his students,
named Florentius, suggested that they should live in a
community and have a common fund. The plan was
at once adopted ; similar associations were formed in
other places, and the Brethren of the Common Lot
soon became a large and important institution.
The brethren supported themselves partly by manual
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 185
toil, and partly by donations ; they had a simple rule,
uniformity of dress and living, constant spiritual exer-
cises and devotional meetings, and their main object was
the education of the young and the instruction of the
people in practical Christianity. None of the brethren
were bound by a vow ; yet none were known to have
deserted the brotherhood. Each house generally con-
sisted of four priests, eight clerks, and a few laymen.
All the branches met once a year at one of the prin-
cipal houses, of which the chief were Deventer, ZwoUe,
and Hieron^^musberg at Halten. The copying of the
Scriptures and of the writings of the Fathers was their
constant employment, and by this means they spread
the knowledge of the Divine Word far and wide. In
each house there was a rubricator, ligator, and a scrip-
turariiis. Their schools were open to all, wherein
instruction was given gratuitously; and by them the
foundation of that learning was laid for which Holland
became so pre-eminent.
Gerhard died, as he lived, devoting his life for the
good of others. The plague raged fearfully in his
native town of Deventer in 1383. He hastened thither,
and ministered fearlessly to the suffering people ; at
last he himself was smitten by the pestilence. He
commended his followers to the care of Florentius,
''the beloved disciple, in whom of a truth the Hol}^
Ghost rests. Hold him in my place, and obey his
counsel." Having commended his soul to Him ''for
whose cause he had laboured, written, and preached,"
after receiving the Sacrament of the Church, he passed
away on the Feast of S. Bernard, 1384.
1 86 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
He was succeeded by Florentius Radewin, whose
biography has been lovingly written by Thomas-a-
Kempis, a man of great energy, noble manners, and
endowed with the power of attracting and commanding-
others. He was not a great scholar, but his rules of
Christian wisdom show sound common - sense and
earnest practical piety and devotion. He extended
the work of the society by founding a monastery of
regular canons at Windesheim, in which undertaking
he was assisted by the Bishop of Utrecht and the Duke
of Gueldres. A similar one was established at Zwoll,
called the monastery of Mount S. Agnes. Thus the
society had two branches, one composed of those who
took upon them m.onastic vows, like ordinary monks,
the other of those who lived in communities, occupied
themselves in good works, but were not bound by any
life-long vow. The austerities and severe mortifications
which the brethren practised seem to have shortened
their lives. Florentius died after presiding over the
institution sixteen years. His affectionate biographer
has given us many details of his life. The numbers
who flocked to him for advice were so great that he
could not leave his room for hours together. His
medical skill was considerable, and we read how he
spent days in the fields, collecting herbs for the benefit
of the poor. He used to take his turn in the kitchen
with the rest of the brethren, and one day some one
asked him why he undertook so menial an office, when
it would be better for him to go to church and leave
the cooking to some one else. Florentius replied
humbly, '' Ought I not rather to seek for the prayers
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 187
of others, than for my own ? While I am in the
kitchen, all will pray for me, and I hope that I shall
obtain more benefit from the prayers of those who are
in the Church than if I were to pray alone for myself."
The efforts of the brethren were soon rewarded, and
the rehgious condition of the people improved greatly.
Thomas-a-Kempis tells us that a famous school of
preachers arose in Holland, who, fired by the example
and teaching of Gerhard aud Florentius, kindled the
dying embers of religion in the heart of the people. At
Utrecht laboured Wermbold, confessor to the convent
of S. Cecilia ; at Amersfoort, William Hendrickzoon,
the founder of the regular canons in that place; at
Zwoll, Henry Gronde, confessor of the Beguines ; ^ at
Haarlem, Hugo Aurifaber; at Amsterdam, Giesebert
Dou ; at Medenblik, a priest named Paul ; and Deric
Gruter at Doesbrouch.
The brethren also produced some remarkable
preachers, of whom we may mention John Gronde, a
native of Ootmarsum ; he laboured chiefly at Amster-
dam and Deventer ; his sermons often lasted six hours,
and his voice was so powerful, that it is recorded it
filled the great church at Deventer. Also John Brin-
kerinck, the confessor of the sisters at Deventer, was
celebrated as a powerful preacher. '^ He was once
preaching on the Circumcision," says Thomas-a-Kempis,
"and treating most pleasantly and sweetly the name
of Jesus. At length he condescended to rebuke the
^ "This convent," says Neale, "was the first reformed, and was
the only one in that part of the country that was not notoriously and
shamefully irregular."
i88 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
irreverence and familiarity with which some foolish
men of this world treated the name of Jesus. ''Why,"
said he, '' there are some who say, with a contemptuous
sneer, ' Oho ! Jesus the God of the Beguines ! ' Fools
and miserable men ! Jesus the God of the Beguines ?
Then, pray, who is your God ? Truly it is the devil.
Woe to you who have the devil in your mouths oftener
than Jesus : He is too lowly and despised for you."
Thus speedily he gladdened the lovers of Jesus, and
confounded his deriders according to their deserts.
The Beguinage flourished under his care, and he built
a new convent. He died A.D. 141 9.
Amongst others we may mention Gerhard Zerbolt,
called also Gerhard of ZUtphen, who was a great book-
lover, and encouraged the brethren in their work of
collecting and cop3dng books. He furthered the cause
of reformation by publishing a treatise upon the utility
of reading the Bible in the mother tongue. ''What
sensible man will dare to say that the laity sin when
they use Scripture for the purpose for which God
gave it, viz., to teach them to discover, and heartily to
repent and forsake their sins ? The laity cannot with
justice be excluded from this benefit and divine con-
solation, which imparts Hfe and nourishment to the
soul." He strongly advocated also the use of the
mother tongue in prayer. Thus he anticipated the
opinions of Luther by 1 30 years, and by his advocacy
considerably advanced the cause of reformation.
But of all the brethren the name most honoured
and widest known is that of Thomas-a-Kempis, the
biographer of his associates, the reputed author of a
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 189
work which, next to the Bible, has probably been read
more than any other, and has deepened the spiritual
life and brought comfort to all its readers. The
'' Imitation " has been translated into the languages
of almost every Christian nation, into English, German,
French, Italian, Spanish, Bohemian, Hungarian, and
even the Turk, Arab, and Modern Greek can read in
their own tongue the work of the holy monk of Holland.
It was his mission to develop the inward and reflec-
tive life of the community, to produce the sweet flowers
which bloom in solitude and contemplation, rather than
to continue the active and practical work in which most
of the brethren were engaged. His hfe was unevent-
ful. Born in 1380, educated at the famous school at
Deventer, he soon became acquainted with Florentius,
and became an inmate of the brother-house, where he
remained seven years. In his Life of that holy man,
several passages occur which show his own piety and
modesty. His affection and reverence for Florentius
were immense. ''Whenever I saw my good master
Florentius standing in the choir, I was so awed in
his presence by his venerable aspect, that I never
dared to speak a word. On one occasion I stood
close to him, and he turned to me, and sang from the
same book. He even put his hand upon my shoulder,
and then I stood as if rootod to the spot, afraid even
to stir, so amazed was I at the honour done to me."
We cannot dwell on these simple and touching inci-
dents which so clearly reveal the character of Thomas.
At the suggestion of his friend, he entered the monas-
tery of S. Agnes, near ZwoU, which had been recently
I90 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
founded in connection with the brethren, and there he
spent the rest of his Hfe, which was prolonged to his
ninety-second year. The transcription of books was his
great delight, and he was most skilful in the arts of illu-
minating and writing. There is a Bible extant, in four
volumes, which occupied him fort3^-two years, and bears
this epigraph — '^ Finished and completed by the hands of
Brother Thomas-a-Kempis." He also copied a missal
and several works of S. Bernard. He was never idle ;
otw, ut rei pestilentissimce, iiunquain zndidsit, was said
of him. Besides transcribing, he wrote *' The Valley
of Lilies," ''The Book of the Three Tabernacles," " Ser-
mons to the Novices," and his immortal work, "The
Imitation of Christ." How far this last was an original
work, we cannot now discuss.^ It had been the custom
of many of the brethren to collect maxims and sayings
for the guidance of the spiritual Hfe. These and the
traditional sayings of pious mystics were, I believe,
woven by Thomas into a complete work. They were
endowed with new life by the genius and devotion of
the monk of S. Agnes, and have ever been a treasure-
house of holy thought — a consolation for succeeding
generations of Christians.
At this period of its history, the institute was re-
markably prosperous and successful. It excited the
opposition of the mendicant monks and the clergy who
were not connected with the brethren. At the Council
^ Neale, in his " Plistory of the Church of Holland," gives six reasons
against assigning the authorship to Thomas, which do not seem to be
conclusive. He asserts that almost all modern ecclesiastical scholars
agree with him ; but the German historian Ullmann has not the '* least
doubt that the work proceeded from Thomas and from no one else."
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 191
of Constance; one Matthew Grabow accused them of
heresy and rebelHon against the Church ; but they were
warmly defended by Gerson, chancellor of the University
of Paris, and their accuser was condemned for the doc-
trines expressed in his memorial against the brethren.
They received the approval of the Pope, Martin V. ;
and afterwards in 1437 Pope Eugene IV. and Sixtus
IV. in 1474 recognised their good work. Their houses
increased : in addition to those already mentioned,
estabhshments were formed at Amersfoort, Horn, Delft,
Hattem, Herzogenbusch, Groeningen, Gouda, Harder-
wijk, Utrecht, Brussels, Antwerp, Louvain, Ghent,
Grammont, Nimwegen and Doesburg. They extended
their work into Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Their
schools educated an enormous number of scholars ; at
Herzogenbusch there were as many as 1200 youths.
When printing was invented the brethren at once
recognised its value in enabling them to multiply copies
of the Scriptures and theological works. They pro-
cured printing-presses, and established them at Gouda,
Louvain, Herzogenbusch, and at several other brother-
houses. Some of the early specimens of printed works
published by the brethren are much valued by collectors.
But the period of the decline and fall of the institu-
tion, which had conferred such benefits on the age,
was at hand. In the sixteenth century it rapidly
declined. It had prepared the way for the Reforma-
tion; it was absorbed and lost in the mighty flood
which overwhelmed the land when the Reformation
came. No inward corruption brought about their de-
cUne; no actual external assaults accomplished their
192 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
destruction. Their work had been done, and they
passed away, leaving the task of educating and im-
proving the moral condition of the people to other
agencies. The general spread of knowledge and the
great intellectual development of the age soon put into
the shade the humbler efforts of the brethren; their
printed books were but a small fraction of the numbers
which were issued from the numerous presses established
in Holland and Germany; and when the Reformation
actually arrived, they were forced to espouse one side
or the other. The Inquisition compelled some to de-
clare themselves hostile to the opinions of the reformers,
and to become regular monks ; some embraced the
principles of the Reformation, and their houses were
dissolved. Luther speaks in words of highest praise
of the brethren who existed in Germany, and secured
protection for them from the burgomaster of Hurford
on the ground that 'Hhey were the first to bring the
Gospel to you and to teach and hold the pure Word.
Such monasteries and brother-houses please me beyond
measure." Again he says, ''Your dress and your
commendable usages do not injure the Gospel, but are
rather of advantage to it, assailed as in these days it
is by the reckless and unbridled spirits who know only
how to destroy, but not to build up." A few of the
brother-houses lingered on to the seventeenth century,
the mournful ruins of the once vigorous institution.
Amongst the precursors of the Reformation in the
Netherlands two theologians stand pre-eminent, John
of Goch and John Wessel, who were both connected
with the Brethren of the Common Lot. John of Goch
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 193
was born at the beginning of the fifteenth century in
the Duchy of Cleves, and spent the greater part of his
hfe at Mechh'n, where he founded a priory of female
canons in 145 1 called Tabor, which became a large
and flourishing convent. Here he lived as rector for
twenty- four years, and died A.D. 1475. That is all
we know about the life of Goch, but his writings were
numerous, and by them he paved the way for the
actual Reformers. One of them, Matthias Flacius, in
his '' Catalogue of the Witnesses to the Truth Prior to
the Reformation" (Basle, 1556), thus speaks of him:
''John Goch, a priest at Mechlin, flourished about no
years ago. Upon the article of justification through
grace, he held perfectly correct views, as he did on
many other subjects. He maintained that the writings
of Thomas, Albert, and other sophists, being derived
from the muddy fountains of the philosophers, obscured
the truth, contradicted canonical doctrine, and bore
traces of the Pelagian heresy. The writings of the
modern theologians, especially of the mendicant orders,
were destitute of any solid foundation. We ought to
follow Scripture, and to it must be subjected the decrees
of Popes and Councils. Christianity has degenerated
into Judaism and Pharisaism." Cave, in his '' Historia
Literaria," speaks of him as one of the most learned
and evangelically enlightened men of his age, and as
an excellent pioneer in the cause of Christian liberty.
Foppens, a Roman Catholic writer, calls him '' a friend
of Wessel, a priest of some learning, but fond of inno-
vation, and who preached, to a sickening extent, the
necessity of a reformation in the Church. He also
N
194 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
wrote to the same effect, and the Tridentine Fathers
have therefore condemned his works." At the Council
of Trent Goch's works were placed amongst the pro-
hibited books.
Perhaps the greatest of the precursors of the Re-
formation was John Wessel, a Frieslander, born at
Groeningen, A.D. 141 9, who possessed the natural
independence and love of freedom characteristic of
his race. He was named by his friends L21X nmndi,
and by his opponents Magister contradictionuin. His
youth was passed at Zwoll in the school of the Bre-
thren of the Common Lot, where he was brought
under the influence of Thomas-a-Kempis. He differed
greatly in character from his teacher, and early mani-
fested an inquiring, self-reliant spirit, which refused to
accept anything about the truth of which he was not
convinced. When Thomas was urging him to revere
the Blessed Virgin, he replied, '' Father, why do you
not rather lead me to Christ, who so graciously invites
those who labour and are heavy laden to come unto
Him ? " After remaining some years at Zwoll, he
thirsted for knowledge, and went to the University
at Cologne. Here he encountered the hard features
of scholastic dogmatism and intolerant hatred of all
reform in matters religious or intellectual. After
taking his degree he became one of those roving
students of the Middle Ages who wandered from
one seat of learning to another, now a student, now
a teacher, acquiring learning and knowledge wherever
he went. Paris, Rome, Heidelberg, Louvain, and
several others were visited by Wessel, who took an
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 195
active part in all the intellectual disputes which agitated
the minds of the learned in those times.
At Paris the great contest was raging between the
Nominalists and Realists, a contest which arose con-
cerning certain metaphysical speculations as to whether
so-called universals possessed actual objective exist-
ence, or were simply abstractions or mere words
used to express man's thoughts. It is beyond our
province to follow the various stages of the contro-
versy which arose concerning the application of these
principles to theological speculation. Let it suffice to
say that until the fifteenth century the ReaHsts held
the upper hand, and means were adopted to suppress
NominaHsm ; but in the end the latter triumphed, and
marched shoulder to shoulder with the Reformation
movement.
Wessel came to Paris imbued with Realistic notions,
and, as a new champion of the cause, to convert two
of his countrymen who were professors of the uni-
versity at that time. He says, "This was unques-
tionably high presumption on my part. But having
learned, in my encounter with abler men, to feel my
own weakness, before the lapse of three months, I
renounced my opinions." His mind was far from
being a bigoted or intolerant one ; for after having
adopted the views which he came to oppose, he says,
''I will candidly confess that were I persuaded of their
doctrine being in any point contrary to the faith, I
would even now be ready to recede, and once more
join the Realists." In his religious views Wessel clung
resolutely to the rock of Holy Scripture. The decrees
196 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
even of the Pope were not binding upon Christians
unless they were in accordance with the revealed
Word of God. Indulgences and the Roman doctrine
of Purgatory he opposed strenuously.
His learning earned for him a great reputation, and
he was a friend of Pope Sixtus IV., whom he had
known as the Franciscan monk, Francis de Rovere.
When the latter was raised to the Papacy, Wessel was
at Rome, and was invited to ask a favour of the Pontiff.
He replied, " Holy Father, you are aware that I have
never aspired to great things. I desire that you may
so administer your office, that when the Good Shepherd
shall appear, He may say, ' Good and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' " When pressed
to name some gift which he desired, he asked for a
Greek and Hebrew Bible from the Vatican Library.
The Pope asked him why he had not requested a
bishopric. "Because," said Wessel, "of that I have
no need." This Bible was preserved for many years
at the monastery at Groeningen, where he spent the
remaining years of his life, devoting himself to theo-
logical study. His influence was immense, and the
ablest Dutch scholars of his age, who made their
country famous for learning and scholarship, were his
friends or pupils. Amongst these were Alexander
Hegius, one of the six celebrated scholars to whom the
Netherlands are indebted for the revival of ancient
literature, and who was then a teacher of the important
school at Deventer ; Rudolph Agricola, an accomplished
student of classical scholarship, who succeeded Wessel
as teacher at the University of Heidelberg, and founded
PRECURSORS OF THE REFORMATION. 197
the famous library there; John Reuchlin, Hermann
Torrentius, and Goswin, his most intimate pupil, who
has preserved many incidents of his master's Hfe.
These he communicated to Melancthon, and they are
recorded in " Melancthon's Declamations," which were
really written by a pupil of the great reformer, one
John Saxe, a Frieslander. Many others might be named
of the friends of Wessel who were influenced by his
teaching and disseminated his opinions far and wide.
The persecutions which attacked John of Wesel,
his contemporary in Germany, at one time threatened
him also, and he thought that "the flames already
blazing " might soon envelope him ; but the protection
of his powerful friend David, Bishop of Utrecht, saved
him from attack. He ended his days in peace at
Groeningen, leaving behind him the memory of a brave
man who had the courage of his opinions, who saw the
abuses and clerical neglect of his time, and by his life
and work laid the foundations of the Reformation.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CHURCH IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Reign of the House of Burgundy — Character and craft of Philip "the
Good " — Ecclesiastical troubles and degeneracy — ^John of Bavaria,
Bishop of Liege, called *' the Pitiless " — His wickedness and cruelty
— Indulgences — Walenrode — Dissensions at Utrecht — Encroach-
ments of Rome on privileges of the Chapter — Conduct of Bishop
Swederus — Victory of Rodolphe — Foundation of University of
Lou vain— Church architecture— Painting — Van Eyck — Roger Van
der Weyden — Memlin — Rebellion of Ghent — Charles the Bold —
Decline of the temporal power of the Church — David, Bishop of
Utrecht — His despotic government and revolt of his people — His
services to the Church and to literature — ^John of Heinsberg,
Bishop of Liege — Conquered by Philip and resigns his See to
Philip's nephew — Revolt of Liege — Dinant " pacified"— Liege
conquered — "Wild boar of the Ardennes" — Carthusians — Rule
of the House of Austria— Revival of prosperity — Foundation of
schools for poor scholars by John Standonck.
In the fifteenth century, the civil history of the
Netherlands enters upon a new phase, and the whole
country is united under the sole sovereignty of the
House of Burgundy. In 1384, Philip of Burgundy,
son-in-law of the French king, Louis le Mai, became
Count of Flanders, and made peace with the people of
Ghent. A few years later he inherited the Duchy of
Brabant in right of his wife, and ruled his possessions
.with wisdom, showing careful regard for the liberties
and privileges of the proud burghers of Bruges and
Ghent. On his death, his son, John the Fearless,
became Count of Flanders, and his brother, Anthony,
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 199
Duke of Brabant, who occupied themselves with French
wars and left the country to take care of itself. On
the death of Anthony at the battle of Agincourt, John,
nephew of ''the Fearless," became Duke of Brabant
and married the unfortunate Jacqueline, daughter and
heiress of William IV., Count of Holland and Hainault.^
Thus three of the most prosperous provinces of the
Netherlands were united under the rule of one branch
of the House of Burgundy, while Flanders, Artois, and
the two Burgundies passed into the possession of the
other branch of the same powerful family. John the
Fearless was murdered, and his son Philip, who very
unworthily bore the title of '' the Good," entered upon
his father's possessions, and by consummate craft and
shameless deceit acquired the sovereignty of the whole
of the Netherlands, with the exception of Friesland,
Gueldres, and the bishoprics of Utrecht and Liege.
By fanning the feelings of rivalry which existed be-
tween the powerful burghers of Ghent and Bruges, he
succeeded in reducing both towns to submission, and
craftily contrived to control the conflicting elements
which composed his sovereignty. Although he trampled
upon the liberties of the people, Philip was wise enough
^ The old line of the Counts of Holland, which had lasted nearly 400
years, had passed away, and in 1299 the Countship with that of Zealand
fell to the House of Avennes, Counts of Hainault, of which John H. was
the representative. He was succeeded by William the Good, at whose
court the friendless queen of our Edward H. found shelter, and whose
daughter was married to Edward HI. His son, William H., died child-
less (1345), and the two countships passed into the House of Bavaria,
of which William, the son of the sister of William H., was the represen-
tative. His brother Albert succeeded, and then followed Albert's son,
William, who married the daughter of Philip the Bold, and died a.d.
141 7. Jacqueline was the daughter of this union.
200 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
to protect their commerce and manufactures, and showed
considerable administrative capacit3^ He loved lux-
ury and splendour, and his example led the rich and
prosperous burghers into habits of extravagance and a
parade of wealth. Increased riches produced vice and
crime, and it is said that in one year in the city of
Ghent there were no less than 1400 murders in gam-
bling houses and other resorts of debauchery.
The condition of ecclesiastical affairs under the rule
of the House of Burgundy grew worse and worse ;
court favour was the only road to a benefice, and the
clergy fell into disrepute. The unepiscopal characters
of the bishops of the period is abundantly evinced
by the chronicles of Utrecht and of Liege; the See
of Cambray was alone fortunate in having John T.
Serclaes, who, in contrast to his brethren, was called
the Good Bishop. In 1400 there were troubles every-
where ; the great schism still continued, Boniface IX.
succeeding Urban VI. at Rome, and Benedict XIII.
replacing the anti-Pope Clement VII. at Avignon; all
Papal authority was weakened if not destroyed, and
the Church was in a deplorable condition.
At Liege, John of Bavaria, the son of Albert, the
Count of Holland and Hainault, was nominated to
the bishopric. He was neither ordained nor conse-
crated, yet he held the See twenty-eight years, and
by his barbarous and merciless conduct earned the
title of " the Pitiless." Wars, ravagings, oppression,
exactions, vindictive punishments, seem to have been
his chief delight. Some of the nobles remonstrated
with him, telling him that he ought to be a better
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 201
pastor to his people and to lead them kindly rather
than to rule them with an iron hand. At last in 1406
the people revolted, and Thierry, the son of Henry of
Horn, was invited to become Bishop of Liege. War
was declared ; in Liege great excitement prevailed ;
some of the nobles, canons, and sheriffs, refusing to
acknowledge Thierry, were obliged to fly from the
city. For two years hostilities continued, until at last
the bishop by the aid of the Duke of Burgundy gained
a decisive victory over his subjects at Othee, when
14,000 citizens of Liege perished. With remorseless
cruelty ^' the Pitiless " bishop treated the survivors.
The legate of Pope Benedict, some of the leaders, and
helpless women he ordered to be drowned in the river.
All the charters of the city were to be given up, all
privileges destroyed, the standards of the guilds burnt,
the estates of the rebels confiscated, and a vast sum
of money exacted to defray the cost of the bishop's
expedition. He made his power absolute, and almost
reduced the city to ruins. The Emperor Sigismund
was quite touched by the distresses and helplessness
of the people, and endeavoured to restore their rights
and privileges, but the bishop succeeded in thwarting
his designs. At last the citizens heard with joy that
John was wilhng to resign the See. He coveted the
estates of his niece Jacqueline, ruled Holland for six
years, and died 1423, leaving behind him the odious
memory of his shameful deeds. During his rule in
1 39 1 Pope Boniface sent the Bishop of Acre to Liege
to proclaim indulgences to all those who would
confess their sins to him or to his delegates. The
202 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
rival Popes were perfectly unscrupulous as regards
the means they adopted to advance their interests,
and it is astounding that any of the occupants of
the Papal See should have supported such an odious
usurper of episcopal functions as John the Pitiless.
For one short year the See was occupied by a
worthy man, Walenrode, who resembled the bishops
of the primitive Church, and always preferred the
interests of his people to his own. In his short rule
he accomplished much in restoring the prosperity of
the city. He died in 14 19, it was supposed by
poison, overwhelmed with debts, the legacy of his
predecessor.
Ecclesiastical affairs in the diocese of Utrecht were
no better, and a deplorable schism arose on the death
of the fifty-sixth bishop in 1423. The neighbouring
princes desired the bishopric for either their fathers
or their favourites ; the Chapter was divided ; various
parties were formed, the rival candidates being
Rodolphe de Diephold, Swederus de Culembourg,
and Valrave de Morsan. So vehement was the con-
test, that one of the burgomasters of Utrecht entered
the chapter-house when the electors were sitting, and
threatened his nephew, the Dean, with death if he did
not vote for Rodolphe. On account of this menace
the Chapter retired. At length Rodolphe was elected,
and demanded his confirmation from the Pope. Martin
V. refused, delayed the matter two years, and then
nominated Raban, Bishop of Spire, to the vacant See.
This new candidate, learning the difficulties which
awaited him if he tried to enter upon the See, treated
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 203
with Swederus, and resigned the bishopric to him in
return for a deanery and other things which Swederus
gave him. Martin again delayed two years, but at
last granted a Bull, and Swederus entered upon his
coveted possessions.
In these affairs the Papal See had made a formid-
able encroachment on the ancient prerogatives of the
Church of Utrecht. This was never consented to by
the Chapter except on the conditions which Swederus
promised. He undertook in the most solemn way
to preserve without any alteration the rights of his
church, that he would never violate or permit to be
violated the Hberty of election, and many other solemn
engagements. But he speedily broke every promise,
and violated the sacred privileges of the church of the
province over which he ruled. On entering the city,
he committed outrages, murders, and pillages on those
who had favoured his rival Rodolphe. One burgo-
master was massacred in his bed, another was con-
demned to death without being heard, contrary to the
natural right and laws of the province. The anger of
the citizens was aroused ; the three Estates passed a
public ordinance forbidding any one to obey the orders
of the bishop or his officers. Again Swederus renewed
his promises; again he broke them, and murders and
the burning of the houses of the partisans of Rodolphe
followed. The privileges of the clergy were violated,
and he attached to himself universal hatred and aver-
sion. At length a follower of the rightful bishop, with
forty followers disguised as monks with arms concealed
beneath their cloaks, entered the palace of Swederus, and
204 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
expelled the false prelate, who retreated to Arnheim,
and laid the diocese under an interdict.
However, when Eugenius IV. became Pope, he con-
firmed Rodolphe, who governed the church wnth great
prudence for twenty-two years. Swederus died of a
broken heart at Basle. The history of these troubles
clearly shows the pernicious effect of the usurpation of
the Papal court, and how the Papal power took advan-
tage of the weakness caused by the strife of contending
parties in order to increase its powder ; we notice that
it met with lawful resistance on the part of the three
estates of the province, and that Eugenius IV. justly
recognised the errors of his predecessor and repaired
the evils which he had done to the Church at Utrecht.
When the Bohemian rebellion broke out on account
of the execution of Huss and Jerome of Prague, a
crusade was proclaimed against the Hussites, and
many warriors from the Netherlands joined the expedi-
tion, foremost among whom was Hinsberg, Bishop of
Liege, the successor of Walenrode.
In 1426 the famous University of Louvain was
founded by Duke John of Brabant, which afterwards
became one of the most celebrated in Europe. Pope
Martin V. was consulted, and gave the professors power
to teach all the faculties except theology, and this
subject was added by his successor, Eugenius IV. In
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries this universit}''
was allied with that of Cologne in bitter hostility to
the reform movement. Thirty-seven colleges were
under its direction. In 1600 it is said that there were
no less than 6000 students, and Louvain can boast of
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 205
many distinguished and learned professors. The same
year which witnessed the foundation of the university
saw the commencement of the noble Church of S.
Peter, and a few years later the highly decorated
Hotel de Ville was built. Louvain was a very wealthy
city at this period, with its 44,000 inhabitants, its
prosperous manufactories and extensive trade in cloth,
the abode of princes and nobles, against whom the
burghers and turbulent weavers were often con-
tending, insolent on account of their prosperity, and
oppressed because they could afford to pay. Not
many years before they seized thirteen of the chief
magistrates and cast them from the windows of the
Hotel de Ville upon the points of the spears of the
populace in the streets below. Such scenes were not
uncommon in the Netherlands at this period.
The country had already become adorned with the
magnificent cathedrals, churches, and public buildings
for which it is still remarkable. Many of these stately
edifices had already been erected, or were in course
of being constructed. The thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries constituted a great era for church-build-
ing, and architecture was sedulously cultivated. The
grand cathedral of Antwerp, begun in 1 502, was still
in progress. At Bruges the curious church of the
Holy Sepulchre was built in 1435 by a burgomaster
of that city, who visited Jerusalem twice in order to
ensure resemblance. The late Gothic church of S.
Jacques belongs to this period, and many additions of
choirs and aisles were made to the splendid edifices
erected in the previous century. At Amsterdam the
2o6 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
principal church was built during this period, and
numerous others might be mentioned. Under the
patronage of Philip the Good painting sprang into a
new existence owing to the genius of the two Van
Eycks. The elder brother, Hubert, was credited with
the discovery of painting in oils, but this does not
appear to have been so. At any rate, he improved
greatly upon all previous methods of using this
medium; his altar-piece at Ghent Cathedral is a
remarkable specimen of his art, and at Bruges there
are several paintings of his younger brother, John.
They were succeeded by two celebrated painters, Roger
Van der Weyden and Memlin, whose collection of
works at Bruges is well known. The art of all these
early painters was consecrated to ecclesiastical pur-
poses and devoted to sacred subjects. Philip founded
the celebrated library at Brussels which contains about
22,000 MSS.
The proud burghers of Ghent had no cause to
revere the memory of '' the good " PhiHp. The city
was at the height of its prosperity; it possessed
flourishing manufactures and a vast trade, an army
of 80,000 men, the guild of weavers alone supplying
the formidable contingent of 18,000 fighting men.
When Philip imposed a heavy tax on salt, the burghers
resisted it. The great bell ^' Roland " summoned the
companies together; vehement speeches were made,
and war declared against the powerful Duke.
For five years the contest was carried on, but at
last at the fatal battle of Gavre, A.D. 1453, the Ghenters
were defeated and lost 16,000 men. Philip did not
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 207
spare the vanquished ; he demanded vast sums of
money, withdrew all their privileges and guild charters,
and ordered the chief burghers to appear before him
dressed only in their shirts with halters round their
necks and humbly to kneel before him and crave
pardon for their rebellion. Ghent did not recover
from this blow for many years. The merciless con-
queror died in 1467, and was succeeded by his rash
and impetuous son, Charles, surnamed the Bold, a
fooHsh though brave prince, whose adventurous career
and perpetual struggling against the crafty devices of
Louis XI. have been the theme of many a story and
romance. His tragic death in 1477 while warring
against his old enemy freed the Netherlands from an
oppressive and arbitrary rule; his daughter Mary
married Maxmilian of Austria, the son of the Emperor
Frederick III., and thus the country passed under the
sovereignty of the House of Austria.
In the meantime the affairs of the Church, both
spiritual and temporal, had begun to decline in pros-
perity. Of the ecclesiastical abuses which had crept
into the Church something has already been said, and
more remains to be told ; but as regards the tempo-
raHties of the Church its power had greatly diminished.
The secular arm had waxed mightier, and the ecclesias-
tical power could no longer resist its vigorous blows.
In 1459 the privilege of ^'sanctuary" was taken away
by Philip the Good, and Charles the Bold did not
scruple to tax heavily the Church in order to furnish
himself with means to carry on his wars. When
these taxes were not forthcoming, his soldiers were
2o8 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ordered to enforce payment. The large revenues of
the monasteries were always a tempting prize for
rapacious rulers. Disputes and disastrous schisms
diminished the power of the once all-powerful bishops.
At Utrecht, Gisbert de Brederode, elected bishop 1455
A.D., was compelled to wage a cruel war against David,
a natural son of Philip the Good, who foisted him into
the bishopric in spite of the decision of the canons of
Utrecht. The Pope, CaHxtus III., as usual took the
side of the most powerful party, and confirmed the
appointment of David, although he had received 4000
ducats for the confirmation of Gisbert. But the latter,
seeing how strong the opposing party was, gave up
his right to David for a large sum of money, an annual
pension, and the Deaneries of Utrecht and Bruges.
Such were the disgraceful barterings which were not
uncommon in these lax times. David was received
with joy by the people of Utrecht at a great assembly
of princes and lords, such as never had been seen
before. He appears to have been liberal, magnanimous,
a lover of literature, of justice and religion ; but he
lost the love of his subjects by his hard and despotic
government, which he maintained by means of the
strong arm of his brother, Charles the Bold.
The citizens, vexed by his cruelties, revolted, and on
the death of Charles they began to contest the validity
of David's transaction with Gisbert. They wished to
appoint as their bishop a young man only sixteen years
of age, Engelbert de Cleve, who possessed neither
the knowledge nor the qualifications for the episcopal
office. The five Chapters, who had the right of elec-
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 209
tion refused to appoint him ; but the magistrates of
the people placed him in possession of the palace, and
did homage to him as though he were their bishop.
Pope Sixtus IV. interfered and threatened excommuni-
cation, but David was not restored for many years,
and then only by the arms of Maximilian. David, in
spite of his despotic rule, is extolled by the writers of
the time for his grave manners, learning, and wisdom,
and for the eminent services which he rendered to the
State and to literature. The ignorance of the clergy
was disgraceful, and in order to remedy this deplorable
state of things he himself examined the candidates for
examination, and out of 300 who presented themselves
he only passed three. When it was represented to
him that a great dishonour would rest upon the rejected
candidates for the ministry, he rephed that it would be
a still greater dishonour to the Church to admit so
many asses into her service. The Bishop was a great
friend and patron of Wessel, who doubtless advised
him wisely in matters of reform. He delighted in the
society of distinguished men, and sought to increase
the splendour of his court by intellect and refinement.
He greatly loved music, improved the services in the
cathedral, and maintained a large choir of singers.
He lived until 1496, when, enfeebled by age and by
repeated attacks of gout, for which Wessel prescribed
the curious remedy of baths of tepid milk, he died,
after ruHng his diocese forty years.
In the southern provinces ecclesiastical affairs were
in a deplorable condition, and the episcopal power was
forced to bend before the increasing might of the House
210 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of Burgundy. John de Heinsberg, the successor of
Walenrode, Bishop of Liege, having been forced by
his turbulent subjects into a war with Phihp, was com-
pelled to bow the knee before the conqueror and
humbly crave for pardon ; and finding himself in a
position of complete dependence upon the will of " the
Good " Duke, resigned his See in favour of Louis
de Bourbon, Philip's nephew. This prince was only
eighteen years of age when he became Bishop of Liege
in 1456; he had little inclination for the duties of
his office, and spent most of his time revelling in the
pleasures of the court and in long periods of absence
from his diocese. His subjects resented the heavy
exactions which he demanded from them to supply his
needs, and all the towns in the principality united to
drive him from his See (1465 A.D.). They nominated
Mark de Bade, brother-in-law of the Emperor of
Germany and of Louis XL, who was delighted to
avail himself of the opportunity of intriguing against
the Duke, and promised succour to the malcontents.
His emissaries were constantly sent secretly to Liege
to stir the minds of the easily aroused citizens. The
disaffection spread rapidly in spite of the sentence of
interdict pronounced by the Pope. A strange scene
took place on the day of the procession of the Fete
Dieu. Thousands of children formed themselves into
companies, each carrying a banner with the arms of
the House of Bade upon it ; and amongst these little
banners there was a large one with the figure of Mark
de Bade and an angel placing a crown on the head of
the popular favourite. The children marched through
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 211
the town shouting the name of Bade, and exciting the
citizens against the ruHng bishop. At length the
burghers broke into revolt, but were defeated by the
troops of Philip, who treated them with clemency, and
used his victory in order to increase the power of the
bishop over his refractory subjects.
But severer measures were necessary to suppress
the revolt. The people of Dinant, which was one of
the towns in the province of Liege, recommenced
hostilities. But Philip's powerful artillery soon made
a breach in the ramparts, and the citizens were forced
to surrender. Then followed one of those piteous
scenes of slaughter which were familiar to soldiers in
the Middle Ages, but which fill us now with horror and
amazement. The town was delivered up to the soldiers
for four days' pillage, and afterwards burnt ; murders,
rapine, outrages on defenceless women and children con-
tinued during that four days' reign of savage greed and
lust, and the conquerors cast eight hundred prisoners
into the Meuse, bound together two by two. The
severity of the punishment inflicted upon the unhappy
people of Dinant was attributed to the vindictive nature
of Charles, who a year later, upon the death of his
father, commenced his impetuous and headstrong
rule.
The people of Liege again took up arms ; Charles
marched against them and defeated the brave burghers
at the battle of Brusthem. He entered the city in
triumph with great pomp ; as the avenger of the cause
of the bishop, the clergy welcomed him and hned the
streets bearing torches. Charles ordered the walls of
212 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the city to be demolished, all artillery and arms to be
given up, and confiscated all the charters, edicts, ordi-
nances, and prerogatives of the city. He completely
extinguished all the liberties of the people, and re-
estabhshed the authority of his kinsman, Bishop Louis
de Bourbon.
In the following year Louis XL rashly placed him-
self in the power of the impetuous Charles by coming
to an interview at Peronne unattended by an escort,
while at the same time his emissaries were stirring up
the people of Liege to a new revolt against their bishop.
While the wily monarch was in the power of his invete-
rate foe, the news of the rebellion of burghers reached
the court. Charles was furious; he made Louis a
prisoner, and then compelled him to accompany the
expedition against Liege. The unfortunate city was
taken and delivered over to plunder and burning.
Then followed a scene of wildest fury and debasing
cruelty, which has seldom been equalled in the annals
of history. The churches and houses were sacked by
the savage soldiers, chalices seized from the hands of
priests officiating at the altar, massacres, outrages, and
deeds of darkness indescribable committed. The city
was reduced to ruins, and heaps of slaughtered citizens
covered the streets. Such was the piteous record of
Charles' savage vengeance.
But Louis de Bourbon did not long enjoy the results
of this vindication of his authority. He had a powerful
enemy in Count WilHam de la Marck, surnamed the
Wild Boar of the Ardennes, who incited the people
against him, and in 1482 slew the bishop with his own
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 213
hand. For two years the Wild Boar remained master
of Liege ; he armed the people and governed the city
vigorously. But he did not escape the punishment
due to his crimes ; Maximilian of Austria caused him
to be seized at Maestricht and beheaded in 1484.
Charles the Bold, as we have already narrated, had
perished seven years previously on the blood-stained
field of Nancy. Such was the miserable end of the
actors in this strange drama of savage greed and
lawlessness.
It is refreshing to turn from these scenes of carnage,
and to observe that even in these disastrous times the
spirit of religion was not quite dead, and that God had
reserved a remnant of faithful men who strove to pre-
serve His honour in the world. Foremost among these
were the Carthusian monks, whose proud boast is
"Never reformed, because never deformed." They
founded several new monasteries, and suffered not the
manners of the brethren to be a cause of reproach to
the Church. The most distinguished of the Order, not
only in the Netherlands, but throughout Europe, was
Denis the Carthusian, who, by the help of Arnold,
Duke of Gueldres, founded in 147 1 a convent at
Eyckendonck near Bois-le-Duc, of which he was the
first prior. Cardinal Bellarmine speaks of him as a very
holy and learned man. The Carthusians also formed
a settlement at Delft in 1469, and a new convent at
Amersfoort in 1472. By the exertions of these pious
monks, and by the zeal of the Brethren of the Com-
mon Lot, the light of religion was kept burning in this
dark age.
214 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
When Charles died, the provinces passed into the
feeble hands of his daughter Mary, who was scarcely
able to cope with the intrigues and duplicity of Louis
XL, who endeavoured to ahenate the affection of her
subjects. As we have already stated, Mary, beloved
by the people, married MaximiHan of Austria, the son
of the Emperor Frederick IIL The fruits of this union
were a son, Philip the Fair, and Margaret of Austria.
Unhappily Mary soon died (1482) from a fall from her
horse. Maximilian acted as regent for a time, until
1493, when PhiHp the»Fair was intrusted with the
government of the provinces. He married the daughter
of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. His rule is re-
markable for the successful revolt of the brave Charles
of Egmont, who was elected duke by the people of
Gueldres, who maintained the independence of that
province; and also for the courageous action of the
Frisians in preserving the privileges of their ancient
race. Philip the Fair died in 1506, leaving a young
son, afterwards known as the celebrated Charles V.
His aunt, Margaret of Austria, acted as regent during
his early years, which was a period of repose for the
provinces. Prosperity dawned again upon the various
cities; old feuds and causes of disorder had died out,
and the hostile attempts of the king of France to acquire
possession of the Belgian provinces were defeated
at Guinegate, Therouanne, and Tourna3^ Trade and
industry throve rapidly; Antwerp rose speedily into
prosperity and replaced Bruges as the centre of com-
merce with the North and with England, and materially
the prosperity of the Netherlands was greatly improved.
THE CHURCH IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 215
Margaret resided chiefly at Mechlin, and made that
city the most brilhant centre of the Renaissance in the
Netherlands. Artists, poets, and learned men flocked
to her court, and '' the School of Mechlin " became
famous. The most distinguished were the painters
Quinten Matsys, Bernard van Orley, and Michael
Coxie, the sculptor Conrad, and the writers John
Lemaire, Adrian Boyens, and Erasmus.
With returning prosperity luxury and vice increased ;
the Belgian people forgot the laws of heaven, but in
this respect they were not worse than other nations
in that degenerate age. When Louis XII. obtained
a divorce from his wife, one voice at least was raised
in support of the injured princess. John Standonck,
rector of the University of Paris, a native of Mechlin,
courageously protested against the wickedness of the
king, and was consequently expelled from France. But
Belgium profited by his expulsion ; his brave conduct
was approved by Margaret and the Belgian people.
At Mechlin he founded a school for poor scholars
which bore his name, and established similar institu-
tions at Cambray, Valenciennes, Louvain, and other
towns. By his preaching and pious example he
exercised a good influence among the people, and
reformed some of the lax manners of the monks.
Other examples of piety and devotion in a dark age
are not wanting. One Thierry, a monk of Brussels,
commonly called Brother Dierick of Munster, in the
time of the great plague which devasted both Brussels
and Louvain in 1489, obtained permission to minister
to the dying sufferers. He pitched a tent in the
2i6 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
centre of the city and placed an altar. Fearless of
the dread infection, which carried off his attendant, he
administered the Sacrament to 32,000 persons. Such
examples show that the Church was not destitute of
faithful sons and religion was not dead.
CHAPTER XIII.
*THE REFORMATION.
Need of reform — Confession of Pope Adrian VI. — Indulgences — Eftects
of printing — Guilds of rhetoric — Maximilian and the Papacy —
Luther — Effects of his teaching in Netherlands — Erasmus- Con-
troversy between Luther and Erasmus concerning "free will" —
Philip of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht, helps forward Reforma-
tion — "Bloody edict" — Calvin — See of Utrecht loses its temporal
power— George of Egmont— Liege recovers— Inquisition — Tour-
nay — Neglect of bishops — Disputes between reformers — Anabap-
tists — Bokelazoon — Their excuses — Severe punishment of heresy
— Ghent conquered by Charles V. — Pie resigns his crown.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the Refor-
mation fairly commenced. The need of reform was
evident enough ; and the confession of Pope Adrian
VL, the son of a Netherland boatmaker, a poor scholar
of Utrecht, afterwards tutor to the young Emperor
Charles, is as conclusive as the vehement statements
of the most zealous reformers. He said, ''These dis-
orders had sprung from the sins of men, more especially •
from the sins of priests and prelates. Even in the holy
chair many visible crimes have been committed. The
contagious disease, spreading from the head to the
members, from the Pope to lesser prelates, has ex-
tended far and wide, so that scarcely any one is to
be found who does right and who is free from infec-
tion." Shameful abuses existed everywhere, and not
the least was the abominable traffic in indulgences.
2i8 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The Netherlands was divided into districts and farmed
for the collection of this Papal revenue. Even the
most notorious criminals could purchase absolution at
a fixed tariff, graduated in accordance with the enor-
mity of the offence they had committed or wished to
commit. Poisoning, perjury, incest, parricide had each
their special price, ranging from one to eleven ducats.
Such was the disgraceful traffic which roused the fiery
zeal of Luther and created in many minds an intense
yearning for reform.
The dark ages of ignorance and superstition had
passed away. Printing-presses had placed the Bible
in the hands of the people, who could compare the
teaching of Christ and His apostles with the shameless
practices of their successors. The famous guilds of
rhetoric, unchartered companies of craftsmen, by their
farces and interludes, ridiculed the vices of the clergy,
and exercised no little influence in spreading the ideas
of reform among the people. The opposing forces
were mustering for the fight, and it needed only the
signal for the contest to begin ; and when, on October
31st, 15 17, Luther startled the world by affixing his
propositions to the door of .the church of the castle of
Wittemberg, the trumpet had sounded and the battle
commenced.
The Emperor MaximiHan was no great lover of the
Papacy, and, before Luther came to the front, wished
to annex the Popedom, and to form a grand combina-
tion of the Church and Empire, of which he would be
the visible head. Writing to his daughter Margaret,
Regent of the Netherlands, he facetiously alludes to
THE REFORMATION. 219
this plan, and says, ''We are sending Monsieur de
Gurce to make an agreement with the Pope, that we
may be taken as coadjutor, in order that, upon his
death, we may be sure of the Papacy, and afterwards
of becoming a saint. After my decease, therefore, you
will be constrained to adore me, of which I shall be
very proud. I am beginning to work upon the car-
dinals, in which affair two or three hundred thousand
ducats will be of great service. From the hand of your
good father, Maximilian, future Pope."
But Pope Julius died and Leo X. succeeded. '^ He
has behaved to me like a knave," Maximilian wrote.
" I can truly say that I have never met with sincerity
or good faith in any Pope ; but, with God's blessing, I
trust this will be the last." He regarded Luther as a
useful agent, for, writing to the minister of the Elector
of Saxony, he said, " What your monk is doing is not
to be regarded with contempt; the game is about to
begin with the priests. Make much of him ; it may
be that we shall want him." To narrate the deeds of
Luther, the proceedings of the Diet of Worms, the
peasant wars, is beyond the scope of this history.^
We have only to concern ourselves with the effects of
his teaching on the people of the Netherlands.
The ninety-five propositions of Luther were scattered
far and wide in every country of Europe. They were
printed by thousands, circulated and hawked about ;
and Luther was grieved to see them printed in such
numbers, as he thought he could have improved upon
1 Cf. vol. i. of this series, "History of the Church in Germany," by
Rev. S. Baring-Gould.
220 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
them. In no country did his works find more eager
readers than in the Netherlands. His smallest pam-
phlets were bought up as fast as they appeared, and
the printers printed his works with the greatest care,
and often at their own expense ; whereas in Germany
the Catholics could only get their books printed at great
cost, and even then they were printed carelessly and
in a slovenly manner, so as to seem the production of
illiterate men. And if any printer, more conscientious
than the rest, did them more justice, he was jeered at
in the market-places and at the fairs of Frankfort for a
Papist and a slave to the priests.
The name most famous for learning in the Nether-
lands at this time was that of Erasmus, the celebrated
scholar of Rotterdam. His keen observation of men
and manners led him to see the corruption of the
Church and the scandalous lives of the professors of
Christianity, whom he satirised with caustic wit and
with severe shrewdness. None knew better than he
did the sore need there was for reform, and at first
sympathised with Luther and encouraged him in his
brave attack. " Luther's cause is considered odious,"
he wrote to the Elector of Saxony, '^because he has
at the same time attacked the bellies of the monks and
the bulls of the Pope." ''The priests talk of absolution
in such terms that laymen cannot stomach it. Luther
has been for nothing more censured than for making
little of Thomas Aquinas ; for wishing to diminish the
absolution traffic; for having a low opinion of the
mendicant orders, and for respecting scholastic opinions
less than tlie Gospel. All this is considered intolerable
THE REFORMATION. 221
heresy." One of his ''Colloquies" is an inquiry con-
cerning Faith, in which an orthodox person and a
Lutheran dispute ; and the whole moral of the
'' Colloquy " is that they agree in the chief articles of
the orthodox rehgion, although the last part of the
argument is omitted ''because of the malice of the
times." Although Erasmus never espoused Luther-
anism, no one was more severe than he was upon the
abuses of the Catholics,, reproving such as " have the
Gospel in their mouth when nothing like the Gospel
appears in their lives." In describing what a monk
ought to be he adds, "There are not many such as I
here describe." Impostures, superstitions, pilgrimages,
benefice-hunting, all these find in him a stern censor
and a severe critic. But he loved a quiet life, and
confesses that "he was not of a mind to venture his
life for the truth's sake ; all men have not strength to
endure a martyr's death."
A serious controversy concerning the freedom of
the will separated the two men, in which Erasmus
confuted the erroneous theory of Luther, and caused
him to writhe and twist in his vain endeavours to
extricate himself from the results of his own theory.
Luther first propounded his dangerous doctrine dc servo
arbitrio in a sermon delivered at Leipsic in 15 19, and
many learned men were attracted by it. Erasmus
alone perceived the consequences of the theory ad-
vanced by the zealous reformer, and emulating the
Italian, Laurentius Valla, who had written a work De
libera arbitrio in the fifteenth century, he wrote against
Luther under the same title. Before the publication of
222 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
this book they had been friends, Erasmus encouraging
Luther to proceed in the course he had undertaken,
and the latter respecting the moderation and learning
of the Dutchman while he deplored his weakness and
want of energy. But when war was declared and the
book published, bitter words followed each other fast.
" Erasmus, Erasmus, it is difficult to accuse thee of
ignorance, a man of thy years, living in the midst of a
Christian people, and who has so long meditated upon
the Scriptures. What ! you, a theologian, you, a
Christian doctor, not satisfied to abide by your ordi-
nary scepticism, but you decide that those things are
unnecessary without which there is no longer God,
nor Christ, nor Gospel, nor faith ; without which there
remains nothing, I will not sa}^ of Christianity, but of
Judaism ! " Luther struggles with his powerful adver-
sary, but in vain; and the more he struggles, the
deeper he sinks into immorality and fatalism, w^rithing
beneath the blows which Erasmus hesitates not to
inflict. Long did Luther remember that bitter conflict.
'' I would not for a thousand florins find myself in God's
presence in the danger in which Erasmus is." In one
of his sermons, " I pray all of you to be the enemies of
Erasmus. My dying prayers shall be, 'Scourge this
serpent.' ... It is true that crushing Erasmus is
crushing a bug; but my Christ whom he mocks is
dearer to me than Erasmus's danger." '' Erasmus is a
crafty, designing man, who has laughed at God and
religion ; he uses fine words, as dear Lord Christ, the
word of salvation, the holy Sacraments, but holds the
truth to be a matter of indifference. When he preaches.
THE REFORMATION. 223
it rings false, like a cracked pot. He has attacked the
Papacy, and is now drawing his head out of the noose."
In the meantime, Charles, the youthful son of Philip
the Fair, at the age of fifteen years became King of
Spain, Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders and
Holland. He nominated Philip of Burgundy as Bishop
of Utrecht, and this appointment helped forward the
cause of the Reformation in the northern provinces.
This bishop was a strong advocate of the Reformation,
being much opposed to the superstitions which had
crept into the Church, the sale of indulgences, and the
celibacy of the clergy. His influence and example
induced many in his diocese to embrace the new ideas. ^
In Friesland the tenets of Luther found congenial soil,
and spread with amazing rapidity, while Count Edzard
of Eastern Friesland openly adopted the Reformation.
The condition of political affairs also favoured its
growth. Charles and Francis I. of France were rivals
for the throne of Germany; and when in 15 19 the
former became emperor of a vast territory, upon which
it was proudly said the sun never set, he was too much
engaged in resisting his determined rival to attend to
the extirpation of so-called heresy, and the greatness
of his empire prevented him from accomplishing at
once all his intentions.
However, in 1521, the " Bloody edict " was issued at
Worms, which ran as follows: — "As it appears that
^ It is to be noted that this prelate obtained a Bull from Leo X.,
called Debitum Pastoralis, which is of importance in the history of the
Utrecht Church. It confirmed the inalienable right of the Church, that
neither the bishop, clergy, nor laity should ever, in the first instance,
have his cause evoked to any external tribunal.
224 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
this Martin is not a man, but a devil under the form of
a man, and clothed in the dress of a priest, the better
to bring the human race to hell and damnation, there-
fore all his disciples and converts are to be punished
with death and forfeiture of all their goods." Forth-
vv^ith functionaries were appointed in the Netherlands
to carry out this edict ; a modified form of the Inquisi-
tion was introduced, and the first victims were two
Augustinian monks, who were burned at Brussels in
1523. Severe edicts followed in quick succession which
made penal all reading of Holy Scripture whether in
public or private, all devotional meetings or private
discussions concerning religion ; and the fires of perse-
cution began to blaze with hideous pertinacity and the
blood of the martyrs flowed incessantly. Such severity
roused the spirit of a brave people; it fostered the growth
of the beliefs which it was designed to kill, and laid the
seeds of a mighty revolution which time developed.
The controversy between Erasmus and Luther
alienated many of the learned in the Netherlands
from the tenets of the great German reformer; but
when in 1535 Calvin published his famous ''Institu-
tions," his doctrines were received with much favour
in France; and by refugees from that country, by
travelling merchants, by the Swiss soldiers who served
in the army of the Emperor, Calvin's books and
pamphlets were circulated largely in Holland, and
Calvinism rather than Lutheranism found the greater
favour among the people.
In the meantime the once powerful bishopric of
Utrecht lost its temporal lordship through the base-
THE REFORMATION. 225
ness of its bishop, Henry of Bavaria. The people
had expelled him from the city, and in order to regain
his possessions he yielded his temporal sovereignty to
Charles V. as Count of Holland, on condition that the
imperial forces should reinstate him in his See. The
inhabitants soon found out their mistake, as Charles
took from them all their privileges, and erected a castle
in order to suppress any signs of discontent. Thus
the Church of Utrecht lost her temporal power which
for centuries she had exercised, but she did not lose
her ancient right of electing the bishop of the See
which she had enjoyed so long. When Henry died
in obscurity and contempt, he was succeeded by a
pluraHst, the Bishop of Tortosa, who never visited
his See of Utrecht; but on his death in 1536, George
of Egmont was appointed, who ruled his diocese wisely
and well, and endeavoured to improve the condition of
the clergy. The first of the famous windows of the
Church of Gouda was given by him.
Whilst the prosperity and power of Utrecht declined,
Liege had recovered from its severe chastisement by
Charles the Bold. Its bishop was Erard de la Marck,
nephew of the Wild Boar of the Ardennes, who by his
politic measures repaired all the evils that his uncle
had caused. He rebuilt the walls of the city, paid the
debts which his predecessors had accumulated, restored
the palace, and renewed the ancient splendour and out-
ward magnificence of the See. He exercised great tact
towards his refractory subjects, but he was a great
opponent and persecutor of the Lutherans. He put
into force the decrees of the Emperor against them,
p
226 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
and upon the banks of the Meuse burnt a French
priest who had preached the new doctrines.
To this bishop Erasmus dedicated his Paraphrase
on the Epistle to the Romans, and he wrote a strong
letter against the Lutherans in Germany, condemning
their doctrines. In 1532 one John Jamolet was made
Apostolic Inquisitor, and the people were much enraged
on account of the introduction of the Spanish Inquisi-
tion into their country. But the bishop listened not
to their clamours ; edicts more severe were passed ;
many were banished or executed, and their goods
confiscated, still Lutheranism spread. Erard de la
Marck died in 1553, ^^'^^ the Lutheran Sleidanus thus
wrote of him : '' Erard, Cardinal and Bishop of Liege,
is dead, who hath so greatly tormented those who
believe in the doctrines." This Roman Catholic
authors regard as a testimony of his goodness and
virtue.
Tournay had recently passed through many vicissi-
tudes; in 15 13 it was captured together with Therou-
anne by the EngHsh ; in 1 5 18 it was sold back to
the French; in 1521 it was besieged by the army of
Charles V., became subject to the Emperor, and was
united to the Countship of Flanders. The city being
so near to the boundaries of the French kingdom, had
suffered much from pillage and numerous sieges, and
the people hailed with satisfaction their union with
the Empire, and the prospect of peace and security.
The " plague," as Roman Catholic writers speak of
Lutheranism, spread quickly in this neighbourhood;
it had no powerful foe, as at Liege, to check its pro-
THE REFORMATION. 227
gress ; for Louis Guillard (15 19) preferred to reside in
Paris rather than in his See, and when he resigned, a
youthful bishop, Charles de Croy, was appointed, who
lived in Italy, and did not enter Tournay until 1539.
Is it surprising that when bishops never came near
their Sees, and when, as was the case at the Abbey of
S. Martin at Tournay, there were so many aspirants
for the position of Abbot that soldiers had to guard
the gates to prevent bloodshed, is it surprising that the
Reformation should spread ?
Its onward course was, however, impeded by the
disputes between the Reformers — between Erasmus
and Luther, and between Luther and Zwingli ; and the
rise of the Anabaptists, who knew neither order nor
decency, tended further to confuse men's minds and
hinder the progress of true reform. The founders of
that sect of frenzied profligates and fanatics were two
Germans, Muncer and Rottmann, who were succeeded
by John Bokelszoon, a tailor of Le^^den, and a baker of
Haarlem named Matthiszoon. Munster was seized by
the fanatics and called Sion ; Bokelszoon proclaimed
himself king of Sion, and the baker his chief prophet.
He sent out his followers to preach in the Netherlands,
and many people in Holland and Hainault became
infected with this madness. The " king " introduced
polygamy and married seventeen wives. His followers
pillaged the churches, killed all who opposed them or
refused to join their company, violated women and
seized property. From Hainault troops of fanatics
marched naked to Munster in spite of the cold of
winter. In Amsterdam the frenzy broke out, several
228 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
men and women casting off their clothes and rushing
naked through the streets crying out, '^ Woe, woe, woe !
the wrath of God ! " One John van Gheele was their
leader ; they massacred the burgomaster and the guard
of the Hotel de Ville, but at length were captured and
put to death. The Bishop of Munster succeeded in
rescuing his city from Bokelszoon's dominion, who
was imprisoned in an iron cage and afterwards cruelly
killed.
Charles and his inquisitors were not very discrimina-
ting concerning heretics, and under his rule thousands
of well-disposed and peaceable citizens were butchered
in the Netherlands during these disastrous times.
Death was the punishment for all heretics ; repentant
males were executed with the sword, repentant females
were buried alive, and the obstinate of both sexes were
burnt. Mary, the Regent of the provinces, was of
opinion that this was just and right, " care being
only taken that the provinces were not entirely de-
populated."
Charles was equally despotic and severe upon any
questioning of his authorit}^, and the powerful city of
Ghent had to pay dearly for its opposition to his
demands. All its privileges were withdrawn, twenty-
seven principal citizens beheaded, and the great bell
Roland, which for centuries had called the turbulent
people to arms, and which seemed endowed with a
living voice, was condemned and silenced for ever.
But the cares of state pressed heavily on the Emperor
Charles, and, tired of sovereignty, he decided to resign
his dominions to his son. On October 25, 1555, at
THE REFORMATION. 229
Brussels, before an august assembly, he resigned the
empire to his brother Ferdinand, king of the Romans,
and all the rest of his dominions to his son Philip, the
husband of Mary of England, whose rule was fraught
with disastrous consequences to the Netherlands.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE INQUISITION.
Causes of the revolt — Character of Philip 11. — Anthony Perrenot —
William of Orange — Inquisition — Van Hulst and other Inquisitors
— Titelman — Tortures inflicted — New bishoprics — Spanish soldiers
— Treaty between France and Spain — Philip's designs on the
liberties of his subjects — William "the Silent" — Government of
Granvelle — His avarice — Popular discontent — Sufterings of the
people — Revolt at Valenciennes — Granvelle dismissed — Council of
Trent — Decrees resisted — The "Compromise" — Emigrations to
England — " The Beggars" — Field-preachings — Image-breakers —
Inquisition abolished — Condition of the Church— Frederick Schenk,
Archbishop of Utrecht — The new Sees.
We have now arrived at the most troubled and disas-
trous period in the whole history of the Low Countries,
when the land was deluged with blood, when wars in-
cessant raged, and the world regards with pitying horror
the fearful crimes which were wrought in religion's name.
The causes of the troubles which led to the revolu-
tion were partly political, partly financial, but mainly
religious. Of the first two causes we can speak but
briefly; it is beyond the scope of this work to give
a full and detailed account of all the events which
occurred in this stormy period of the nation's, history,
and we shall endeavour to confine ourselves to those
which mainly concern religion and the Church.
The character of Philip has been often drawn. A
stranger to the Netherlands, unaccustomed to the ways
THE INQUISITION. 231
and manners of the people, a despot by nature, he could
not understand the spirit of freedom which embued
the national life of the rich burghers and industrious
artisans. Ignorant, cunning, obstinate, treacherous,
cruel, vindictive, he strove with all his -art to inspire
fear, and his zeal for the Church took the form of
fanatical bigotry, and moved him to acts of savage
cruelty almost unequalled in the world's annals. The
other actors in this strange drama were Anthony
Perrenot, Bishop of Arras, afterwards known as the
famous Cardinal Granvelle, a man as unscrupulous,
deceitful, and treacherous as his master ; Egmont, the
brave soldier, the hero of S. Quentin, the hasty and
uncertain politician ; Viglius, the crafty president of
the Privy Council ; Count Horn, brave soldier and loyal
to his country; Berlaymont, Berghen, Montigny, and
others, who took prominent parts in the tragic events
which followed. Conspicuous above all was William
of Orange, a man of immense power, a profound poli-
tician, the champion of religious liberty, the nation's
hero, who was alone able to cope with the crafty and
subtle devices of Philip, and to whom the provinces
owed their freedom from the intolerable yoke of Spain.
One of Philip's earliest acts was to re-enact the
severe and bloodthirsty edict of 1550. To uproot
heresy and exterminate heretics was the main object
which the monarch desired to accomplish, and no
artifice was too mean, no measure too severe, for
the carrying out of his great purpose. The Inquisi-
tion had already been established in the Netherlands,
Francis Van der Hulst being the first inquisitor (1522).
232 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
At first the bishops acted as inquisitors in their own
dioceses, but the powers of the Papal inquisitors were
gradually increased; they were independent of all epis-
copal authority, and could even arrest and imprison
the bishops themselves. Van Hulst was a worthless
character, who, after burning men and women for their
supposed heretical behefs, was convicted of forgery
and degraded from his office. Clement VII. appointed
as his successors Olivier Bendens for Ypres, Nicholas
Housean for Mons, John Coppin for Louvain, and
amongst other worthies who occupied this honourable
office were Tapper, Drutius, Barbier (Artois), Nicholas
de Monte (Brabant), Campo de Zon (Holland), and
the notorious Peter Titelman, the inquisitor of Flanders.
So the system was fairly complete when Philip ascended
the throne, and the judiciary powder, both clerical and
lay, was simply a vassal of the Inquisition.
This instrument was now placed in hands which
would not fail to use it. The ruthless officers were
ordered to ferret out all persons suspected of heresy
and their protectors, and to deal with them according
to the edicts, death by sword or fire being the punish-
ment inflicted. The historian of the Dutch Republic ^
thus describes the infamous Titelman : '^ There was a
kind of grim humour about the man. Contemporary
chronicles give a picture of him as of some grotesque
yet terrible goblin, careering through the country by
night or day alone on horseback, smiting the trembhng
peasants on the head with a club, spreading dismay
far and wide, dragging suspected persons from their
1 Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," p. 321.
THE INQUISITION. 233
firesides or their beds, and thrusting them into dun-
geons, arresting, torturing, strangling, burning, with
hardly the shadow of warrant, information, or process."
The sheriff asked him how he dared to go about alone
arresting people, while he himself required a strong
force to seize his prisoners, and the inquisitor replied,
^' Ah ! you deal with bad people. I have nothing to
fear, for I seize only the innocent and virtuous, who
make no resistance, and let themselves be taken like
lambs." '' Mighty well," replied the sheriff, '' but if you
arrest all the good people and I all the bad, 'tis difficult
to see who in the world is to escape chastisement."
Indescribable were the tortures which this wretch
inflicted upon men and women suspected of heresy,
and the historian would fain draw a veil over the
fiendish and revolting cruelties which in the name of
religion were devised with Satanic ingenuity to extort
confession and convict of heresy. The people groaned
under this terrible engine. The Spanish Inquisition
was celebrated for its completeness, its far-reaching
power, for the savage cruelty of its agents. The people
in the Netherlands protested against the introduction
of the "Inquisition of Spain" into their country; but
Philip had no intention of making any change in his
methods, for, as he wrote to Granvelle, "the Inquisi-
tion of the Netherlands is far more pitiless than that
of Spain." Tapper and Titelman were quite as powerful
as the famous Torquemada.
Another cause of the discontent among the people
was the creation of the new bishoprics, upon which
Philip had set his heart. This was regarded as a new
234 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
device for riveting the fetters of the Inquisition upon
the oppressed country. However, in 1559, Francis
Vandevelde, otherwise called Sonnius, doctor of Lou-
vain, obtained a Bull from Pope Paul IV. authorising
the creation of fourteen new bishoprics. Ever since
the reign of Charlemagne there had been six dioceses
in the Netherlands, viz.. Arras, Cambray, Tournay,
Therouannc, Liege, and Utrecht. These were now
subdivided. Mechlin, Cambray, and Utrecht were con-
stituted metropolitan sees, of which the first was the
principal, and embraced the bishoprics of Antwerp,
Bois-le-Duc, Ruremonde, Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres.
The province of Cambray included the four dioceses
of Tournay, Arras, S. Omer, and Namur; while the
sees of Haarlem, Middleburg, Leeuwarden, Groningen,
and Deventer formed the province of the archbishopric
of Utrecht. That Philip intended to use these prelates
for the purpose of completing the work of the Inquisi-
tion may be gathered from the arrangement '^ that each
bishop should appoint nine additional prebendaries,
who were to assist him in the matter of the Inquisi-
tion throughout his bishopric, two of whom were them-
selves to be inquisitors." In order to enforce sub-
mission to the monarch's injunctions and to thoroughly
extinguish heresy, it was considered necessary to retain
a regiment of four thousand Spanish soldiers in the
provinces, whose excesses and oppressive acts were
deeply resented by the Netherlanders, and nothing
would content them until this band of foreign soldiery
was withdrawn.
In their opposition to the Inquisition and the reten-
THE INQUISITION. 235
tion of the Spanish troops WilHam of Orange was
their champion, their leader, and wise councillor.
When he went as ambassador to the French king,
his eyes were opened to the compact and the cruel
designs of Henry 11. and Philip to massacre all the Pro-
testants in their dominions. The ^' Silent One " earned
his name by the reticence with which he received the
unguarded utterances of the French king, and although
a Catholic, he determined from that hour to protect his
fellow-subjects from the horrible fate to which they were
doomed by their relentless monarch. He guided their ^
course sc^vz's tranquilhis in tindis ; ^ but the revolt was a
democratic movement ; it sprung from the people them-
selves, and was the '' longest, the darkest, the bloodiest,
the most important episode in the history of the rehgious
reformation in Europe." The rich abbey lands may
have tempted impoverished nobles in this as in other
countries ; ambition may have induced others to seek
for power and authority ; but it was the love of liberty, ^
the horror of the stern persecution which raged rampant
throughout the land, and the corrupt practices of the
Church which caused the revolt and the reformation in
the Low Countries.
In 1558 the treaty of Cateau Cambresis between
France and Spain was signed, and universal joy reigned
throughout the Netherlands ; but it was short-hved,
inasmuch as Phihp, freed from the prosecution of
foreign foes, proceeded without much delay to the con-
genial task of* endeavouring to conquer and enslave
his own subjects. He craftily framed a provisional
^ This moUo was engraved upon medals struck in his honour (Motley).
236 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
government, the composition of which was a master-
piece of poHtical ingenuity, and by means of which
despotic power was placed in the hands of the king's
tools, while a semblance of authority was delegated to
the general councils of the nation. The edicts against
heresy placed the lives and fortunes of the people
entirely at the mercy of the clergy and the inquisitors,
and in order to enforce his will and to bring about the
entire subjugation of the Netherlanders, the native
troops were separated into small companies, and the
German and Spanish mercenaries were kept in readi-
ness to subdue any revolt.
These arrangements having been satisfactoriW
arranged, PhiHp determined to retire to Spain. He
appointed Margaret of Parma as Regent, he sum-
moned a meeting of the States-General at Ghent, and
in a crafty address, delivered by his tool Granvelle,
Bishop of Arras, he expressed his attachment to the
people, and his royal affection for them, urged upon
them the suppression of heresy, and requested three
million florins. In spite of all PhiHp's subtlety, William
the Silent fathomed his designs, and secretly pointed out
to the other deputies the dangers which lurked beneath
the King's cunningly devised words. Hence a remon-
strance was drawn up urging the immediate withdrawal
of the Spanish troops, the diminution of taxes, and the
appointment of natives only to official positions.
These conditions enraged the King mightily. He
knew whose eyes had been keen enough to see through
his designs, and on the moment of his departure on
board ship he turned fiercely on William of Orange
THE INQUISITION. 237
and accused him of thwarting his plans. '' Sire,"
replied WilHam, " it was the work of the national
States." ''No/' exclaimed the monarch furiously;
" not the States, but you, you, you ! " So Philip de-
parted, and on landing in Spain indulged his tastes in
the grand spectacle of an auto-da-fe.
The whole government of the country now rested in
the hands of Granvelle, who acted as Philip's deputy,
daily reporting to his patron the state of affairs, and
receiving from Spain most minute and careful orders
and instructions. When the new bishops were ap-
pointed, he was made Archbishop of Mechlin, and
shortly afterwards became a cardinal. He heaped up
riches for himself, and obtained in addition to many
other sources of revenue the rich Abbey of S. Armand.
But popular discontent was growing fast. All classes
united in showing their detestation of the new bishoprics.
Abbeys were confiscated in order to furnish them with
endowments, and the people objected very strongty to
this mighty strengthening of the Inquisition. The
excesses of the Spanish soldiers had become so in-
tolerable that the Zealanders threatened to open the
sluices of the dykes rather than to endure the outrages
of these cruel mercenaries. At length, after much
delay, in 1560, Philip was compelled to withdraw the
troops.
Meanwhile, the savage work of burning heretics
proceeded vigorously, and Granvelle encouraged the
inquisitors in their ''pious office." Volumes might be
written of the sufferings of the martyrs of this period,
of men, women, and children, who, for reading the
238 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Scriptures, for praying alone, for not kneeling when
the Host was carried through the streets, were tortured
and burned, and the Archbishop goaded on the judges
and executioners in their charitable work. The people
were exasperated, and not convinced by the arguments
of the faggot and the rack, and especially amongst the
Walloons the cry was heard of mutiny and resistance.
At the execution of two ministers, Faveau and Mallart,
at Valenciennes in 1562, excited men broke down the
barriers, scattered the faggots which had been lighted,
and attempted to rescue the prisoners. In the even-
ing they stormed the prison to which the victims had
been conveyed, and released them from their chains.
Faveau did not discontinue his preaching, and was
afterwards '' burned well and handsomely " (as an eye-
witness states) in the market-place at Valenciennes.
But dire vengeance was taken upon the insurgents.
The prisons teemed with the miserable victims of
Granvelle's rage, and hundreds were burned and be-
headed to satisfy the awakened displeasure of the
Inquisition. The exasperation of both the nobles and
people against the Cardinal increased daily, and uni-
versal joy reigned when at last the King ordered, in
1564, his departure from the Netherlands.
The dismissal of Granvelle unhappily did not put
an end to the persecution, to the horrible details of
which Philip paid most minute attention ; but there
were ominous signs of a more determined resistance
on the part of the people, and the swarming prisons
and daily burnings exasperated both nobles and citizens
beyond ail endurance. At Antwerp they attempted to
THE INQUISITION. 239
rescue one Christopher Smith, commonly called Fab-
ricius, who was condemned to the stake for preaching.
They beat back the soldiers and executioners, but were
too late to save the victim. The citizens of Bruges
and of other cities of Flanders presented to the King
and to the Regent a remonstrance against the iniqui-
ties of the inquisitor Titelman, who trampled upon all
law, and killed and tortured whom he would. Their
attempts to stem the tide of blood were ineffectual.
In 1564 the lengthy proceedings of the memorable
Council of Trent were brought to a conclusion and its
decrees promulgated. Philip sent a stringent order to
the Regent that they should be rigorously enforced in
the Netherlands, together with more severe directions
for the punishment of heretics. The decrees were re-
ceived with general reprobation ; even some of the new
bishops denounced them as unjust innovations, and
Wilham of Orange boldly proclaimed in the Council
that the canons of Trent, spurned by the whole world,
even by the Catholic princes of Germany, could never
be enforced in the Netherlands, and that the whole
system of rehgious persecution must be for ever
abohshed. This bold speech and the mission to Spain
of Egmont were barren of results. At Cambray the
decrees were nominally enforced, but the clergy of
Utrecht, Mechlin, and Friesland strenuously opposed
them. The popular rage increased daily. The secret
execution of heretics by drowning them in their cells
was ordered by the merciless monarch, and at last his
madness culminated in the open proclamation of the
Inquisition and the canons of Trent in every town and
240 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
village. The frenzy of the people was tremendous, and
open revolt became inevitable.
A league was formed against the Inquisition at the
commencement of the memorable year 1566, and the
famous Compromise drawn up, in which the signers
pledged themselves to resist it by every means in their
power. Already fifty thousand persons had been mas-
sacred, and thirty thousand had left the country and
found an asylum in England, which they enriched by
their industry, intelligence, and skill ; if the country
was not to be entirely depopulated and ruined, it were
time that some concerted action should be taken to
avert its doom. A remarkable petition was presented
to the Regent against the Inquisition by a large com-
pany of leading men, and at a banquet in the evening
they assumed the famous title of '^ the Beggars "
(Gueux). The Regent became alarmed by the tumult
which the decrees had called forth, and tried to tem-
porise and to await Philip's instructions. The judges
and inquisitors were ordered to proceed moderately
and carefully against heretics ; hence a short period
of comparative peace ensued, which was taken advan-
tage of by the Reformers. Hitherto they had been
obliged to meet stealthily by night, but now they
marched in armed companies into the fields to hold
their religious services. Thousands flocked to these
field-preachings. Near Ghent, one Herman Strycher,
an apostate monk, attracted immense crowds ; in West
Flanders, one Peter Dathenus, a violent and intemperate
orator, addressed meetings at various places. During
the summer months these field-preachings spread. At
THE INQUISITION. 241
Tournay a disciple of Calvin, one Ambrose Wille, and
an enthusiastic Huguenot, Peregrine de la Grange,
preached to vast assemblies armed with rude weapons
to resist any attack on the part of the authorities.
Through the Walloon provinces the fire of enthusiasm
ran — through Flanders and then into the Northern
provinces. Cities were deserted while the meetings
were held, and in the neighbourhood of Haarlem,
Amsterdam, Alkmaar, and other towns, sometimes as
many as fifteen or twenty thousand persons were
assembled. They were not all of one mind ; some were
Lutherans, some Calvinists, and others Anabaptists,
but all were united in their hatred of Rome, the
Inquisition, and the Spaniards.
It is not hard to determine why these people had
drifted away from the National Church and joined
sectarian bodies. When the Church had become cor-
rupt in her teaching and practice, when she was repre-
sented by worthless ministers and bishops, and was
allied to a system of government the most odious
which ever existed ; when the rights of a free people
were trampled on and their bodies tortured and burned
or buried alive, all in the name of religion and the
Church, is it surprising that men and women should
break away from her fold, and seek in other com-
munities the peace and comfort which she denied
them ? The errors of Luther and Calvin and of the
Anabaptists were not perhaps very clearly understood
by them, nor were they learned in the doctrinal ques-
tions which separated them from the Church ; but they
found that in these open camp-meetings they could
242 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
worship God and sing His praise in their own language;
they could learn something of God from the often wild
words of their fiery preachers, and the Church having
failed in her mission, they sought outside her fold
the religion which they longed for. They set also
the example of a purer life in a corrupt age, insomuch
that good conduct and virtue were regarded as a proof
of heresy. '' He does not swear, he is therefore a
Protestant ; he is neither a fornicator nor a drunkard ;
he belongs to the new sect." We approve not the
doctrines which their teachers held, but we cannot
but admire their heroism, their zeal, their enthusiasm,
their purity of Hfe — while we mourn the cruel violence,
the bigotry, the general corruption of the Church
which drove out so many earnest Christians to seek
in other pastures the food which she should have
provided.
But more lawless scenes were about to be enacted than
the field-preachings. In the autumn of 1566 a strange
frenzy seized some of the lowest of the people, who
began a shameful iconoclastic movement and ruthlessly
destroyed most of the beautiful specimens of sacred art
for which the country was famous. For generations
the rich burghers had delighted to devote their wealth
to the beautifying of the houses of God, and gilded
shrines and altars, statues and figures of the Saviour,
the Virgin, and other saints, pictures painted by great
masters, stained-glass windows, and all that sacred
art could devise, adorned the churches and cathedrals
of the Netherlands. The madness and fanaticism of
some lawless men destroyed in a few short weeks the
THE INQUISITION. 243
treasures which the art and skill and devotion of
centuries had accumulated. The fury first broke out
in the villages near St. Omer, where a body of about
three hundred vagabonds broke into the churches, and
with axes and hammers destroyed the images and
relics of saints, the rood-screens and altars. The
churches of Ypres, Lille, and throughout Flanders
soon became a prey to furious multitudes of iconoclasts,
and shortly afterwards the magnificent cathedral of
Antwerp, one of the most splendid in Europe, was
desecrated, pillaged, and despoiled by a mad crowd
of wild and savage wretches. All the churches and
monasteries and nunneries shared the same fate.
Hardly a statue or a picture escaped destruction. The
image-breakers visited Mechlin, Tournay, and Valen-
ciennes, and the northern provinces of Utrecht and
Zealand did not escape.
It must be noted that the iconoclasts were really few
in number, and they belonged to the lowest and most
lawless classes of the people. The image-breaking
was not a general movement ; it was condemned by
the leaders, by William of Orange, by Egmont, and by
the chief men of the Reformed religion, who regretted
and mourned over the violence which had been com-
mitted. It aroused the fury of Philip, and dire was the
vengeance which he swore to inflict upon his subjects.
*' It shall cost them dear ! " he said, and the subse-
quent history of the Netherlands shows that in this
matter at least he kept his word. But in the mean-
time it was necessary to assuage the popular feeling,
and the Regent, in terror and distress, yielded to ever}^
244 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
demand. The hateful Inquisition was abohshed, the
decrees against heresy repealed, the field-preachings
were permitted to take place without molestation, and
the nobles were exonerated from all responsibility with
regard to the past proceedings. For a brief moment
joy reigned throughout the Netherlands, but it w^as
only a faint and feeble ray, which preceded a long
day of tears.
Before entering upon the narrative of the revolt of
the Netherlands from the Spanish yoke we will proceed
to notice the condition of the Church in the different
Sees, and to understand what efforts were being made
to stem the tide of schism. The establishment of the
new bishoprics might have proved a great benefit to
the Church in the Netherlands if that measure had
been adopted earlier. There are many reasons set
forth in the Bull of Pope Paul IV. which seem urgent
and conclusive, and if the confidence of the people
could have been secured, if there had been no Inquisi-
tion, no persecution, if the bishops had understood the
difficulties of the times in which they lived, the Church
might have been saved; but from the first they were
viewed with suspicion ; they were the spies of Philip,
not the pastors of the people; they were the appro-
priators of the abbeys and the cause of their destruc-
tion ; hence they could never gain the love of the
people, and hastened rather than delayed the downfall
of the Church.
The new Archbishop of Utrecht was Frederick
Schenk, Baron of Tautenberg, a stern overbearing man
of noble rank. In 1565 he summoned a council of his
THE INQUISITION. 245
suffragans and clergy, who, after some deliberation,
agreed to accept the decrees of the Council of Trent,
provided that their own rights and privileges were not
interfered with. There was some opposition to the
decrees on the part of the canons and lower eccle-
siastical dignitaries, but the bishops overruled their
objections. Some of the Synodal statutes bear ample
testimony to the laxity of church discipHne at the
time. The new See of Haarlem was a large and impor-
tant one, embracing the towns of Amsterdam, Horn,
Alkmaar, and Enkhuizen. Nicolas Nieulant was its
first bishop, who had great trouble with the monks of
Egmont on account of the endowment of the See. In
accordance with the plan adopted by Philip to provide
maintenance for the new bishops, the rich abbey of
Egmont was assigned to the See. To this arrangement
the monks objected ; the people grumbled because they
were deprived of the charity which flowed from the
monastery; and the nobles were displeased, for they
preferred a lazy yet tolerant abbot to sit with them at
the Council rather than one of the new bishops, who
were regarded as the creatures and spies of Philip.
However, Nieulant proved himself an industrious and
painstaking prelate. He inspected his diocese, sum-
moned a diocesan council in 1564, but after eight
stormy years was obliged to resign. John Knyff, first
bishop of Groningen, by his kindness, gentleness, and
devotion earned the praise of even the Calvinists. Of
John Mahusius of Overyssel, of Dirutius of Leeu-
warden, and of Nicolas a Castro of Middleburg we
have little to record. Liege was fortunate in its Bishop
246 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Gerard de Groesbeck, who was a wise and virtuous
prelate, although he retained the military propensities
of his predecessors, and when the Protestant sectaries
broke into revolt at Hasselt, he marched thither at the
head of his troops and brought them to subjection.
He showed, however, great mercy, and again at Maes-
tricht he manifested much clemency to the insurgents.
Had the same generosity been extended by wise rulers
in other parts of the country, there would not have
been the wide prevalence of schism ; the page of his-
tory would not have been stained by the hideous
chronicle of deeds of blood. The people of Liege loved
their bishop, and heresy did not find there a congenial
soil. The other Belgian bishops, especially those of
Ypres, Namur, Ghent, and the Archbishop of Cambray,
were stern supporters of the Inquisition and of the
policy of Philip. The bearding of the Archbishop at a
banquet in the citadel of his cathedral city by some of
the nobles ^ is a curious example of the manners of the
time. His letter to Granvelle clearly demonstrates the
man's character : " I will say one thing, since the pot
is uncovered and the whole cookery known ; we had
best push forward and make an end of all the prin-
cipal heretics, whether rich or poor, without regarding
whether the city will be entirely ruined by such a
course. Such an opinion I should declare openly were
it not that we of the ecclesiastical profession are
accused of alwaj^s crying out blood." Heretics found
no mercy at the hands of such prelates.
^Cf. Motley, " Dutch Republic."
CHAPTER XV.
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS.
Religious toleration — Severity of the Regent — Commencement of civil
war — Action of William of Orange — Emigration — Duke of Alva
— "Council of blood" — Atrocities of Alva — Egmont beheaded —
War — " The Beggars of the Sea" — Requesens — Siege of Leyden —
Revolt of Spanish troops — "Pacification of Ghent "—Don John
of Austria — Fickleness of the Walloons — The seven provinces
throw off the Spanish yoke — State of the Church — Neutrality of
Liege — William assassinated — His character — Prosperity of the
United Provinces — Their maritime supremacy — Albert and Isabella,
sovereigns of Spanish Netherlands — Prince Maurice — Independ-
ence of United Provinces.
The revolt actually broke out in 1567, and it will be
necessary to remind the reader of the leading facts of
the war, although it is impossible to give more than a
bare outline of the events of this disastrous period
of the nation's history. While the Inquisition was
abolished and partial religious liberty granted, the
Calvinists proceeded to build wooden temples outside
the walls of Antwerp, Tournay, and other towns, where
only about one-sixth of the population remained true
to the Catholic Church. At Antwerp, Utrecht, and
Amsterdam, and other cities under the government of
William of Orange, three of the churches were assigned
to the different sects of Reformers, and religious tolera-
tion strongly enjoined.
But the calm did not last long. Margaret had levied
248 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
some troops, and her fears, which had induced her to
make concessions to the Protestants, being allayed,
she proceeded to treat them with severity. On the
inhabitants of Tournay her vengeance first fell; the
unscrupulous Noircarmes marched thither at the head
of a strong body of soldiers, forced the citizens to open
their gates and deliver up their arms. The siege of
Valenciennes followed. Three thousand ill-armed sec-
taries at Launoy and another band of twelve hundred
rustics at Watrelots were cut to pieces by the dis-
ciplined troops of Noircarmes, and the civil war began,
which raged for forty years and deluged the land with
blood. The gallant but inexperienced Marnax fortified
a camp at Osterweel, from which his brave but ill-
disciplined troops were quickly dislodged and massa-
cred. Valenciennes succumbed; the usual hangings
and slaughterings took place, the Reformed religion
was prohibited, and Bois-le-duc and other revolting
towns were quickly subdued.
The tact and calmness of William of Orange were
severely tried at Antwerp. There the Catholics, the
Calvinists, and Lutherans were in a state of wild
excitement, and ready to fly at each others' throats.
Armed camps were formed in various parts of the
city, but the resolution and determined action of the
Taciturn quelled all disturbance. The confederation
of the nobles in the provinces was, however, dissolved.
Egmont and Horn rashly determined to trust them-
selves to their treacherous King, while William, seeing
that the national cause was in a hopeless condition,
withdrew to Germany to await his opportunity. The
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 249
tide of emigration flowed fast, and thousands fled to
England and Germany, there to find the peace and
safety denied to them in their own country.
In August 1567, the notorious Duke of Alva en-
tered Brussels with fifteen thousand trained soldiers,
whom he soon placed in strong detachments in Ant-
werp, Bruges, Ghent, and other important towns.
He arrested Egmont, Horn, and other nobles who
refused to fly, and, after re-establishing the Inquisition,
he formed that terrible tribunal of twelve men, chiefly
Spaniards, which is known by the well-deserved name,
the Council of Blood. Before its dread decrees every
subject was compelled to bow. It knew no mercy,
for at its head sat Alva, the sole and pitiless director
of its shameful proceedings. To gain the wealth of
the rich citizens was Alva's chief object and delight.
Them he mercilessly killed or exiled, and then pro-
ceeded to confiscate their property. To be rich was
the only crime of which they were guilty, and this
was quite sufficient to secure their condemnation.
History offers no example of parallel horrors ; for
while party vengeance on other occasions has led to
scenes of fury and terror, they arose in this instance
from the vilest cupidity and the most cold-blooded
cruelty.^
Every village, town, and city yielded up its victims
to this remorseless machine for execution. The groans
of the suffering people filled the land ; not a home was
spared. They were condemned in gangs and batches ;
single trials were much too slow for this man-devour-
1 Schiller, Grattan, Motley.
250 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ing fiend. In one day eighty-four citizens of Valen-
ciennes were doomed to death, on another ninety- five
from another city. Hangings and burnings took place
in every street ; the whole country was a shambles,
and above the heaps of slaughtered bodies which
lay in the silent grass-grown streets were raised the
hideous images of the hateful Alva and his vile at-
tendant Vargas, scoffing at the miseries their inhuman
cruelties had caused. In the great square at Brussels,
where he had often tilted in happier days before the
admiring gaze of eyes that loved the pride of chivalry,
poor Egmont, with his friend Count Horn, was be-
headed. His death was the signal for resistance, and
the Prince of Orange, from his watch-tower beyond the
Rhine, thought that the time had come for the deliver-
ance of his country from the yoke of Spain. Aided
by the Queen of England and the French Huguenots,
he raised an army ; a great battle was fought in
Friesland, near the abbey of Heiligerlee, which ended
favourably for the patriots ; at Jemminghem, Duke
Alva gained a victory, and William could obtain no
advantage against him and was compelled to retire.
Dreadful cruelties were again practised, but the patriots
contrived to equip a fleet which preyed upon the
Spanish vessels, and the " Beggars of the Sea " be-
came a terror to the Spaniards. Commanded by
WilHam de la Marck, a descendant of the Wild Boar
of the Ardennes, they captured Briel, and a general
revolt took place in Holland and Zealand. William
of Orange entered Brabant at the head of twenty
thousand men. Then followed a series of memorable
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 251
sieges and naval engagements. Haarlem yielded to
the Spanish after a gallant stand, and the atrocious
cruelties which were inflicted upon the half-starved
citizens can hardly be credited. It is not to be
wondered at that, when the wild '* Beggars of the
Seas," with De la Marck at their head, captured some
Spaniards, they took summary vengeance on the per-
secutors of their country. At length Alva was recalled,
and Requesens appointed governor of the Netherlands.
He was a well-intentioned, conscientious man, who
tried to win the favour of the people ; but the exaspe-
rated patriots would not yield to the blandishments of
Requesens that freedom which the cruelties of Alva
had failed to deprive them of, and for which they
had fought so vigorously. After some successful naval
engagements, they were defeated at Mookerhe3^de,
where the gallant Louis of Nassau, William's brother,
was slain. Then followed the famous siege of Leyden,
when the dykes were cut and the rising waves de-
stroyed the Spanish camp and saved the city. The
Spanish governor died suddenly in 1576, and a period
of universal anarchy prevailed. The Spanish troops
mutinied and fought amongst themselves ; the nobles
were divided, and pillage, violence, and crime were of
daily occurrence. The excesses of the mutineers were
frightful, especially at Alost, Ghent, Antwerp, and
Maestricht, which they seized and sacked. Their
three days' pillage of Antwerp for its ferocity and
fury has never been equalled ; seven thousand citizens
were butchered, and the whole city became a scene of
the wildest desolation and ruin.
252 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The States-General met in 1576 at Ghent, assumed
the government of the country, and the famous treaty
called the Pacification of Ghent was drawn up and
published. By it the provinces of Brabant, Flanders,
Hainault, Artois, Holland, Zealand, and their asso-
ciates were united for mutual defence and the expul-
sion of Spanish soldiers and foreigners. No one was
allowed to injure or insult the exercise of the Catholic
religion ; edicts against heresy were suspended ; the
confiscation and unjust sentences of the previous
years annulled, and the memorials of the hideous
rule of Alva demolished. This famous charter was
received with universal joy by the people in every
part of the countr^^, and for a moment it seemed that
the cause of liberty had completely triumphed. But
further troubles were in store for them, and war again
broke out during the governorship of Don John of
Austria, and afterwards of the Duke of Parma. These
were enhanced by the jealousy of the nobles and the
fickleness of the Walloons, who, with the usual charac-
teristics of the Celtic race, were the first to embrace
Reformation principles and the first to return to the
Catholic fold. An attempt was made to negotiate be-
tween the King and the States, but the religious question
rendered the attempt fruitless. Philip refused to grant
liberty of conscience, and without this the Netherlandcrs
refused to accept his terms. In 15 80 the States-General
finally threw off" the Spanish yoke and declared the
seven united provinces free and independent. The
sovereignty was offered to the Duke of Alengon, and on
December 30th the treaty was finally ratified at Delft.
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 253
During this stormy period, amid wars, confusion,
and troubles of every kind, the Church fared ill. Well
might the aged Archbishop Schenk of Utrecht ex-
claim on his death-bed, ^' Woe is me ! wherefore was
I born to see this misery of my people, and of the
holy city, and to dwell there, when it was delivered
into the hands of the enemy, and the sanctuary into
the hands of strangers ? " He died in the same year
that the declaration of the independence of the United
Provinces was signed and was buried in the cathedral.
The history of the other Sees is one of desolation and
ruin. After the siege of Haarlem, its bishop, Godfrey
de Mierlo, who succeeded Nicolas Nieulant, retired
to Bonn, and the See had no bishop for 164 years.
Giles de Monte, Bishop of Deventer, died in 1577,
and although the chapter continued to appoint grand-
vicars, there was no bishop. At Leeuwarden, Eunerus
Petersen succeeded Remigius Dirutius, and seems to
have been a vigorous prelate, upholding the Catholic
cause until he was cast into prison and died at Cologne
in 1580. The See of Groningen a Dominican, Arnold
Nylen, ruled over, until the Calvinists captured the
city in 1594, when he retired to Brussels. John van
Stryen was Bishop of Middelburg in 158 1, and was
obliged to fly when the army of William captured the
place. He was the only surviving bishop of the
Church of Holland, and from his retreat at Louvain
he watched over the remains of the once flourishing
Church, ordaining priests to minister therein, until he
died in 1594. The powerful Bishop of Liege, Gerard
de Groesbeck, by his clemency to the Calvinists, pre-
254 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
vented the growth of heretical principles, and protected
his city both from the armies of William and the
Spanish garrison of Alva. The people of Liege were
invited to join the confederate provinces at the Pacifi-
cation of Ghent, but, acting on the advice of Gerard,
they adopted a permanent neutrality, and perfect tran-
quillity was enjoyed by the principaHty until the death
of Gerard in 1580. He was succeeded by Ernest,
brother of the Emperor, a very different man, who
preferred the pursuit of arms rather than the duties
of the episcopate. He exercised jurisdiction also over
the Sees of Munster and Cologne, whose bishops had
embraced the Protestant cause. It is doubtful whether
he was ever consecrated ; he was entirely unsuited
for the office which he held ; his private life was not
blameless, and he showed far more zeal for persecut-
ing heretics than for providing for the welfare of his
subjects. He remained Bishop of Liege until his
death in 161 2.
In the meantime, the hand which had so long guided
the fortunes of the Netherlanders was removed. On
the lOth of July 1584, William of Orange died by
the hand of an assassin at Delft, whither he had gone
to receive the sovereignty of the United Provinces
from a grateful nation. Instigated by the reward
offered by Philip, one Gaspar Anastro had previously
attempted the foul murder of the Prince. The attempt
had failed, and the assassin and his accomplices had
been executed ; their remains having been collected
by the Jesuits some years later, were dignified as relics
of holy martyrs. But Balthasar Gerard did his vile
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 255
work more successfully ; and the brave prince who
had so long devoted his energies to his country's weal
was slain by a pistol-shot discharged by the hand of
this vile murderer. His last thoughts were for his
country. ''God pity me! I am sadly wounded," he
exclaimed ; '' God have mercy on my soul, and on
this unfortunate nation ! " Feebly commending his
soul to God, he expired. History does not narrate
a sadder or more touching story of the death of a
nation's hero, nor does it hold up as an example to
subsequent ages the character of a wiser, nobler, or
better man.
He has been accused of dupHcity, treachery, cruelty,
and other evils, but such charges have been brought
against him somewhat recklessly by his enemies, who
have striven to attach to the leader the responsibility
for acts of which his followers were guilty, and for the
prevention of which he strove with all the energy in
his power. The Protestants, maddened by the terrible
cruelties of Alva and by the hateful deeds of the
myrmidons of Philip, were certainly guilty of many
atrocious acts of cruelty and dupHcity, such as the
slaughter of the Catholics at Haarlem in 1577 on
Corpus Christi Day ; but these deeds of darkness were
done in spite of the wishes of William, and not with
his concurrence. He endeavoured to promote reli-
gious toleration and to obtain equal rights for both
Catholic and Protestant to worship with perfect liberty
of conscience ; he tried by every means in his power
to prevent the reprisals which men exasperated by
persecution strove to inflict upon their former tyrants;
256 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
and it were hard to hold him responsible for those acts
which by word and deed he ever tried to prevent. That
he did not always succeed in his endeavours was not
due to his want of will or determination, but rather
to the lawlessness of many of his followers, and the
vengeful feelings which years of religious strife had
gendered. He left behind him a son, the young
Prince Maurice, upon whom the burden of sovereignty
was soon to fall, his elder son being still kept as a
prisoner in Spain by the treacherous Philip.
Alexander, Prince of Parma, profited by the death
of WilHam by making himself master of the whole of
Flanders and of the provinces which comprise the
modern Belgium. It is only possible for us to notice
very briefly the repeated changes in the government
and the endless fightings which ensued. The Duke
of Parma was a wise and temperate ruler, and accorded
to the towns in the Spanish Netherlands their ancient
privileges. Philip ordered him to assemble in the
harbours of Flanders as many vessels as he could
collect for the purpose of invading England. The
invincible Armada started on its disastrous mission,
the results of which are too well known to require
narrating, but it may be mentioned that the gallant
sailors of the United Provinces, under the command
of Justin of Nassau, an illegitimate son of the famous
William, did good service to the English by preventing
the ships of the Duke of Parma from putting to sea,
and thus preventing a junction with the galleons of
Spain.
On the death of the Duke (1592), while fighting
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 257
against Henry IV. and the French Protestants, Philip
appointed his nephew Ernest, Archduke of Austria, as
governor. This prince desired to promote peace with
the United Provinces, but his proposals were rejected
by Maurice, the courageous son of his undaunted
father, under whose leadership the armies of the
Hollanders seemed ever to prosper, and the United
Provinces abound in prosperity, riches, and glory.
On the seas they had no rival ; their trade was
enormous; each year two thousand ships were built,
and the West and East Indies, America, Guinea, and
other distant lands knew the fame of the Dutch sailors
and yielded their produce to the merchants of Holland.
The navies of Spain had often cause to dread the
intrepidity of the Dutch sailors, who, a few years
later, aroused the fears even of our native mariners.
The ancient prosperity of Flanders had migrated
northward, and Holland contained all the enterprise,
the skill, and daring of the country.
On the death of Ernest, his brother, the Archduke
Albert, was appointed governor. He married Isabella,
the daughter of Philip II., and the bride and bride-
groom were placed in possession of the Spanish
Netherlands as sovereigns of the country. Thus the
Netherlands were erected into a separate sovereignty,
the United Provinces of the North being divided off
into a distinct principality, the boundaries of which
were specially defined. Albert and Isabella ruled
wisely and well, and endeavoured to promote peace
between the ever-contending states. A twelve years'
truce was at length concluded in spite of the opposi-
R
258 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
tion of Prince Maurice, who loved the arts of war,
and was well aware that his influence over his subjects
was best maintained by the exercise of his unrivalled
military skill. During this brief interval of peace the
Northerners occupied themselves with internal strife
and religious conflicts, to which we shall have occasion
to refer later on ; while the Southerners set themselves
to repair their ruined towns, to rebuild their churches,
to revive their industries, while art began to flourish
again with the genius of Rubens.
The Archduke died, and the war broke out once more,
to the advantage of the United Provinces. Prince
Maurice captured several towns in spite of the energy
and prudence of Isabella, who died 1633. Fighting
continued during the governorship of Ferdinand, Car-
dinal and Archbishop of Toledo, and of his successor,
Francisco de Mello, during whose rule the French
invaded the southern provinces and threatened to
conquer the country. Frederick Henry succeeded his
brother Maurice as Stadtholder of Holland, and fear-
ing^ the machinations of the French, he concluded a
favourable treaty with Spain at the famous congress
at Munster, whereby the United Provinces preserved
their independence, maintained possession of all their
conquests, and acquired rights of trade and navigation
in the East and West Indies and other parts of the
world.
Thus, after eighty years of hard fighting, the United
Provinces acquired a full recognition of the indepen-
dence which the brave people had striven so hard to
gain. The new republic arose from its struggles a
THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS. 259
free and independent state among the most powerful
nations in Europe. It has been impossible to give
more than a bare outline of the events which con-
tributed to this grand result, and we will now turn to
the ecclesiastical history of the country, with which we
are more immediately concerned.
CHAPTER XVI.
CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND AFTER
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REPUBLIC,
Religious toleration — Edicts against the Catholics — Distinction made
between the seculars and the Jesuits — Jesuits banished — Sasbold
Vosmeer — Deplorable state of the Church — Sasbold consecrated
Archbishop of Utrecht under the title of Philippi — Banished —
Intrigues of Jesuits — Reply of Sasbold to their complaints — His
pastoral — Statistics of Church — Reaction against Calvinism.
The triumph of the patriots in Holland threw the
affairs of the Church into the wildest confusion. At
first several edicts were passed which accorded to the
Protestant sectaries the free exercise of their religion,
and forbad any interference with the Catholics or any
attacks upon their churches, their persons, or their
property. But this favourable condition of affairs did
not last long. In 1580 the magistrates of Utrecht
published a placard interdicting the exercise of the
Catholic religion, the use of all clerical dress, and
ordering the confiscation of the property of churchmen.
Similar edicts were published in other places, and at
Brussels, in 1581, the exercise of the Catholic re-
ligion was temporarily proscribed. At Haarlem, the
Catholics were plundered, and fines and imprison-
ments were imposed upon all who remained faithful to
the ancient religion. Nor were acts of violence and
260
THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND. 261
shameful cruelty on the part of the Protestants want-
ing ; and the deeds of the notorious Lumey, of Marin
Brand, the martyrdoms of the faithful at Gorcum, for
their atrocious cruelty and barbarous inhumanity may
well be compared to the terrible proceedings of Alva
and Vargas.
In the following years placards continued to be
published against the Catholics, but we find that a
very remarkable distinction was made between the
secular clergy who were natives of the country and
the foreign priests and monks, and especially the
Jesuits, who began to pervade the land. The ex-
cesses of the latter, their seditious spirit, their greedi-
ness of wealth, the shameful practices which were
attributed to them, were the main reasons for the
promulgation of many of these edicts. So hateful
were they to the authorities, that in 1622 the Jesuits
were banished from the United Provinces as " a per-
nicious and murderous sect ; " ten years previously the
^* damnosa Jesuitariun secta " had been driven from
Holland and West Friesland. To this Order we shall
often have occasion to refer in narrating the troubles
of the struggling Church of Holland. Ubi male, nemo
pejus, is certainly the legend of the Society of Jesus
inscribed upon the records of its proceedings in the
Low Countries, although in other parts of the world,
in America, in China, and Japan, its members have
shown the truth of the rest of the proverb, Ubi beyie,
nemo melius.
In the midst of the troubles which followed the
revolt after the death of Archbishop Schenk, Sasbold
262 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Vosmeer, a man of great learning and piety, was
appointed Grand-Vicar during the vacancy of the See,
and arrived at Utrecht in 1583. He found everything
in a deplorable state. The churches were in a condi-
tion to be compared with those of the first ages.^ The
greater number of the religious were either apostate or
had fled. Few remained faithful. Most of them were
entirely ignorant, without manners, unruly ; they had
married and lived on the wealth which they had
managed to save from the destruction of the monas-
teries. From the degeneracy of the regular clergy
it is pleasant to turn to the examples of faithfulness
exhibited by the seculars. Sasbold bears witness to
their constancy and courage in perilous circumstances.
At Haarlem there were a hundred priests, more than
two hundred at Utrecht, and about twenty or thirty
in the principal towns. They did not remain in the
villages, but they visited the Cathohcs in the rural dis-
tricts and received them secretly in the towns, whither
the faithful came for the consolations of religion.
Historians compare the situation of the Catholic
Church of Holland to that of the Churches in the
first ages during the Pagan persecutions. Deprived
of their temples, their goods, their revenues, and all
the external glory which they once possessed in the
days when kings delighted to bring their glory and
honour into the Church of Christ, they possessed
nothing but the spiritual gifts which Christ had com-
mitted to His Church for the grand work of the sanc-
tification of the elect.
1 Letter to P. Oliverius, Feb. 30, 1597.
THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND. 263
Sasbold set himself at once to combat the enormous
difficulties of the situation, and to face the dangers
which threatened the Church not only from the Cal-
vinists, but also from the Jesuits, who were strongly
opposed to the preservation of episcopal authority,
and pretended that they were independent of all such
control. He vehemently urged the re-establishment
of the archbishopric of Utrecht. Two candidates were
elected, but were removed by death before consecra-
tion. It was suggested that he should be appointed
Bishop of Haarlem, but the opposition of the Jesuits
prevented the scheme from being carried out. The
Papal nuncio at Brussels encouraged Sasbold in his
attempt to revive the archbishopric, " Though I dare
not," said he, ''openly support the idea, for I have
no mind to give the Jesuits a handle for calhng me a
Sasboldian."! Sasbold was constrained at last to go
to Pope Clement VIII. at Rome, where he was conse-
crated Archbishop of Utrecht (1602); but, lest the
title should give offence, he was named Archbishop
of Philippi instead of Utrecht.
Sasbold was not permitted to exercise the duties of
his office for any length of time; six weeks after his
consecration he was banished by the States-General
on a charge of treason through the machinations of
his enemies the Jesuits. '' This faction," wrote the
Archbishop, "afflicts us more than the persecution of
the Protestants. I think that it is more unbearable,
and more injurious to the Church." Their plan seems
1 " Nullus est episcopus vel pastor, qui possit cum illis convenire "
was the statement of the Nuncio {Trast, Hist., 5, 1598).
264 '^HE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
to have been to render themselves masters of the
Church, to exchide from its government all the secular
clergy and all the regulars who did not belong to their
Order, and to rule with undisturbed authority. They
refused to recognise the power of the bishops, plead-
ing their special privileges ; they used all the arts of
deceit and trickery, promising to recognise their eccle-
siastical superiors, but continuing to maintain their
entire independence. Well might Sasbold declare that
the Society was entirely opposed to the decrees of
the Catholic Church. He tried to reason with them,
but without any avail. They tried in vain by subtle
means to alienate the affections of his clergy, and
brought accusations against him before the Papal
Court. They complained of the conduct of the secular
clergy, of their own ministrations being hindered and
their teaching maligned ; they were regarded by the
parish priests as intruders instead of being welcomed
as fellow-labourers. The Nuncio brought their com-
plaints before the Archbishop, who made inquiries,
and the following is the reply of the Utrecht clergy to
their accusers : —
'' We have never yet found that the Jesuits go and
labour where they find the greatest destitution. Which
of them was ever known to attend a case of plague ?
Which of them is in the habit of going forth and preach-
ing in the villages, and enduring the labour and fasting
consequent ? The whole people, the whole province
can testify that the parish priests are indefatigable in
these things, and make no difference between the rich
man's mansion and the poor man's cottage. If we
THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND. 265
have done wrong, we submit ourselves humbly and are
ready to amend. The scar has scarcely begun to heal,
and here are new wounds." A concordat was at length
drawn up between the Jesuits and the clergy, which
allowed the former a large amount of liberty of action.
During the twelve years' truce their numbers increased,
their boldness waxed greater, and at length Sasbold
pubhshed his celebrated pastoral against them, which
ran as follows : —
^' Since the progress of the Church consists in the
observation of the sacred canons, and all order is con-
founded if her pastors are hindered in their office, it is
intolerable that certain religious who profess themselves
sent for the assistance of the pastors, should not only
violate their rights, but should also, at the soHcitation
of some few persons, presume to ordain fresh priests
over those who have been rightly appointed by us, in
contempt of us and of the ApostoHc See, which we
represent. We therefore, desirous to remedy the in-
creasing schism, and to provide as we may for the
quiet and profit of the faithful, do by the aforesaid
apostolic authority, in those places which have their
appointed pastors, suspend all seculars and religious,
of whatever condition, even mendicants and Jesuits,
from all administration of the Sacraments, and from
preaching the Word of God. And since it is well
known that at different times, and in this very year,
many have come to these provinces from other parts
with an offer of the ministrations of religion, and on
that pretext collecting alms from the faithful — men
who called themselves doctors or priests from the
266 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
mendicant Orders or from the Jesuits, although they
had taken no degree and had received no orders,
whence much evil and sacrilege necessarily followed ;
we, in order that we may betimes provide against such
ills and impieties, and against the factions of unjust
men, forbid all the faithful committed and entrusted to
us, in virtue of holy obedience, and under the penalty
of excommunication and other fitting animadversions,
to receive, without consent from us, or of the pastors
constituted by us, or to introduce into ecclesiastical
functions, priests coming from other quarters, or to
gather congregations, or in any other way make con-
tributions to that end. Paternally admonishing and
conjuring them that, mindful of the apostolic doctrine,
they submit themselves with pious simplicity to their
superiors, and obey them, and rest in their direction,
knowing that those who hear them hear Christ, and
those who reject them reject Christ, who hath promised
to be with them even to the end of the world.
'' Given from the place of our residence, the i6th
day of December 1609.
'' Sasbold, Archbishop,
Vicar-ApostolicP
This plain speaking made the Jesuits furious. They
denounced the ordinance of the Archbishop, and de-
clared that by pubHshing such a document he had ipso
facto incurred the penalty of excommunication. They
endeavoured to procure the suppression of the See, or
the appointment of Arboreus, a Jesuit, as coadjutor of
THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND. 267
Sasbold. But their machinations were not crowned
with success ; Arboreus was recalled from Holland,
and his successor, P. Minden, promised dutiful obedi-
ence to the prelate (161 1). Their influence was also
crippled by the action of the States-General of Holland
and West Friesland, which passed a decree against
them in 16 12.
During the time of the plague, which raged at
Oldenzaal and at Lingen, the Archbishop exerted him-
self with his accustomed zeal in ministering to the
sick, and at length, after thirty years of arduous
government, which conferred incalculable benefits
upon the struggling Church, Sasbold died at Brussels
in 1 6 14. The letter which he wrote just before his
death to the Nuncio at Brussels gives us some idea of
the state of the Church at this time. Of the hundred
and forty canons who composed the five chapters of
the Cathedral, there remained in 16 14 only four, and
five vicars at S. Martin's ; the dean, treasurer, and six
vicars at S. Saviour's ; six canons and five vicars at
S. Peter's ; two canons and five vicars at S. John's ;
and eight canons and seven vicars at S. Mary's.
There were about forty parish priests Hving in the
town of Utrecht, who celebrated mass daily and held
divine service on Sundays and saints' days in about
a dozen oratories in the city. About five hundred
priests resided in the province. In the other towns
of the diocese there were forty-one at Rotterdam,
eight at Leyden, six at Amersfoort, five at Gouda,
three at Delft, &c. In Gueldres and Cleves, where
the Catholic worship was permitted, there was a large
268 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
number of clergy, and the chapter of Emmerick was
left undisturbed.
The Church flourished also in the diocese of Haar-
lem, having twenty priests in the episcopal city and
four monks; six at Amsterdam and seven monks;
seven at Alkmaar and two monks; eleven at Hoorn,
&c. The Chapter at Deventer remained as before the
Reformation, and also that of Oldenzaal with twenty-
four priests. There were seventeen priests in Leeu-
warden and Groningen, and in the diocese of Middelburg
only one remained, the clergy of Utrecht supplying the
deficiency and ministering to the few Catholics who
resided there. Before the Reformation there were
four hundred and forty monasteries, but these were
almost entirely suppressed, and in 1614 only two
remained. The secular clergy throughout the country
were remarkable for their virtues, their labours, and
their zeal and courage in perilous times. Some of
their names have been handed down to us, and we
may mention Martin Regius, who worked in Zealand,
and nearly met his death at Flushing at the hands of
a mob, who wished to drown him. '' If I had five-and-
twenty Martins," Sasbold once said, '' Holland would
be converted in six months." After an arduous life,
sometimes suffering chains and imprisonment for the
faith, he died in 1625. Silrand Sextius was the inde-
fatigable Vicar-General of Haarlem, Groningen, and
Leeuwarden, chaplain to the Beguines at Amsterdam,
and continued his labours in spite of prohibition and
persecution. He died 163 1. Amongst other worthies
of the Church appear the names of Francis de Dussel-
THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND. 269
dorp, Urban BoliuS; Theodore de Witt, and Nomiiis,
Dean of the Haarlem Chapter. Sasbold estimates the
number of the faithful laity in the diocese of Utrecht
at 3000. This number was afterwards, during the
time of Rovenius, the successor of Sasbold, consider-
ably increased.
A reaction took place in favour of the old religion.
There was manifest a strong aversion to Calvinism,
because of the rigid and intolerant spirit displayed by
its adherents. Religious toleration was a thing un-
known, and the severe treatment which the Catholics
received caused many to sympathise with them and to
return to the Church. The ministers of the Reformed
religion arrogated to themselves a direct influence in
political affairs, which was strongly resented by the
people ; the old clergy, who had held a constitutional
place in the Estates of Utrecht, were preferred to
these noisy, self-asserting, and unscrupulous preachers
who occupied the place of the ancient ecclesiastics,
whose possessions they had seized. The new ministers
manifested a greedy and covetous spirit, and actually
demolished and sold at an auction for 12,300 florins
the old cathedral of Utrecht, the earliest in the
country, where S. Willibrod had ministered, and
which was once the glory of the Netherlands. Such
conduct disgusted many of the laity, and caused them
to return to the Church ; and this defection from Cal-
vinism was greatly increased by the appalling results
of the Arminian and Gomarist controversy, which
culminated in the famous Synod of Dort, where *' theo-
logy was mystified, religion disgraced, and Christianity
270 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
outraged."^ Although this dispute amongst Calvinists
Hes outside the domain of the history of the Churcli,
yet inasmuch as it had a great influence on the re-
Hgious Hfe of the country, and opened men's eyes to
the true nature of Calvinism, and inasmuch as its
effects were far-reaching and important, it will be
necessary to give a brief account of the controversy.
1 Grat tan's " Netherlands."
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SYNOD OF DORT.
Anninius — Stipralapsarii and Infralapsarii — Gomarus — Disputations
— Death of Arminius — The strife continues — The remonstrance —
Contra-remonstrance — Politics mingled with the religious dispute
— Action of Prince Maurice — Synod of Dort — Foreign divines
present at the Synod — Four English theologians sent by James I.
— Unjust treatment of the Remonstrants — Episcopius — Bogermann
— Withdrawal of the Remonstrants — Disgraceful scenes — Influence
of English divines — Explanation of their position— Conclusion of
Synod — Sentences pronounced on the Remonstrants — Arminianism
survives.
The famous dispute which distracted the Reformed
party in Holland arose concerning the doctrine of
Calvin with regard to predestination. In 1588 a
learned and celebrated preacher named Arminius was
appointed to one of the churches in Amsterdam, where
he gained great respect and popularity. He was a
na.ive of Oudwater, and had studied at Basle and
other universities. At Amsterdam one Theodore
Roornhert had declared that Calvin's doctrine made
God the author of sin, and therefore could not be
true, and Arminius was requested to refute the state-
ments of so perverse a ''heretic." The strict Calvin-
ists beHeved that the eternal counsel of God necessitated
ven the Fall itself, but the Reformed clergy of Delft
were of opinion that some degree of limitation should
271
272 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
be placed to Calvin's extreme views, and that predes-
tination only applied to events subsequent to the Fall.
Hence arose the two parties distinguished by the
names Supralapsarii and Infralapsarii. Arminius at
once set himself to examine the opinions of those
whom he was called upon to oppose, and was gradu-
ally drawn away from that dark and dismal doctrine
which dishonours God and shuts the gate of mercy on
mankind. Whilst his opinions were being formed, the
death of Franciscus Junius, a professor of Leyden
University, occurred, and Arminius was appointed to
the vacant chair of theology. Here he encountered
Franciscus Gomarus, the champion of the strict Cal-
vinist party, with whom the controversy raged con-
tinuously. Much popular feeling was shown against
Arminius ; his errors were vehemently denounced from
the pulpits of the Gomarists, and yet throughout he
manifested an admirable spirit of Christian charity,
abstaining from giving offence or showing angry re-
sentment, adhering to what he beheved to be the truth
in spite of the hatred and anathemas of his vehement
opponents.
For a time at least comparative peace was estab-
Hshed between Arminius and Gomarus, but the excite-
ment spread ; party spirit ran high, and men began to
range themselves on one side or the other. Prince
Maurice, for poHtical reasons, announced himself a
Gomarist ; the patriotic Barneveldt, who did so much
to secure the political welfare of his country, was a
follower of Arminius. The University of Leyden was
distracted, the students who attended the lectures of
THE SYNOD OF DORT. 273
Arminius were denounced by his opponents, and con-
fusion reigned supreme. The States-General interfered,
and at a meeting of the Synod the rival theologians
argued and disputed, with the result that Arminius
gained the day by his reasonable statements of doctrine
and his gentle manner, while Gomarus raged and dis-
puted, calling forth the remark of one of the spectators
that he would rather appear before God with the faith
of Arminius than with the charity of Gomarus.^
There is something very attractive in the character,
the modesty, and gentleness of Arminius. '^ There
are those," he said, ^'who will speak perchance insult-
ingly of me because I sometimes seem to answer
doubtfully, when, as they imagine, a doctor and pro-
fessor of theology, whose office it is to teach others,
ought to be confident and not to fluctuate in his
opinions. I answer to these suggestions, first, that
the most learned and the most skilled in Scripture
must still be ignorant of many things, and that he
himself must ever be a scholar in the school of Christ
and the Scriptures. But he who is ignorant of many
things ought surely not to be expected to reply with-
out a doubt to the various questions which necessity
may create, or which may arise in controversy with
numerous adversaries. For far better is it that when
he has no certain knowledge of a subject he should
speak doubtfully rather than confidently, and signify
that he confesses the need of a daily progress, and is
seeking instruction in common with others. I trust,
indeed, that no one has advanced to such a height
^ Limborch, Relatio'^Historua. Brantius.
274 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of boldness as to pretend that, being a master, he is
ignorant of nothing and doubtful in nothing."
Another disputation took place at the Hague with-
out much apparent result, and shortly afterwards, worn
out by his exertions and anxiety, Arminius died, sur-
rounded by his friends, amongst whom were Witen-
bogart and Borries, in 1609. But the strife continued
after the leader's departure, and the Gomarists endea-
voured to expel from their parishes all ministers who
were suspected of favouring the opinions of their
opponents. These they required should testify their
agreement to the Confession and Catechism of Heidel-
berg; they threatened with expulsion all who refused.
This conduct called forth the famous Remonstrance
which gave the name to the followers of the deceased
leader, and contained a clear statement of their views.
Whereas the doctrine of Calvin taught that from all
eternity God predestinated a certain fixed number of
individuals, irrespective of anything in them, to final
salvation and glory, and that all others are either
predestined to damnation, or at least so left out of
God's decree to glory that they must inevitably perish ;
the Arminians, on the other hand, beHeved that,
although God predestined a certain fixed number of
individuals to glory, this decree was not arbitrary,
but in consequence of God's foreknowledge that those
so predestinated would make a good use of the grace
given; and that, as God necessarily sees all things,
so foreseeing the faith of individuals. He hath, in
strict justice, ordered His decrees accordingly.^
^ Bishop Harold Browne's " Exposition of the XXXIX. Articles."
THE SYNOD OF DORT. 275
The Calvinist party replied to the Remonstrants by
a contra-remonstrance and received the title of Contra-
Remonstrants. Angry recriminations, deplorable con-
tests, and even riots ensued. The election of a successor
to Arminius at Leyden, who had nominated his pupil
Vorstius, was the cause of much strife, and even the
King of England, James I., a decided Gomarist, mingled
in the war of words and advised the States-General to
burn the new professor for heresy.
In the meantime politics were mingled with the
religious dispute. Prince Maurice was striving after
supreme power, and he made use of the controversy
in order to gain adherents. The Gomarists became the
supporters of the Prince and his policy; the Armi-
nianists, Grotius, Barneveldt, and others, became the
stern opponents of Maurice's attempt to trample upon
the liberties of the states and to gain supreme power.
At length the Prince seized Barneveldt, Grotius,
Hoogerbeets, and Ledenberg and imprisoned them.
The Gomarists clamoured for a meeting of a National
Synod, and on 13th November 161 8 the famous
Synod of Dort held its first sitting. Its avowed
object was the overthrow of Arminianism, and every
device was adopted which could advance that desired
end. Twenty-eight foreign divines were present,
amongst whom were Bishop Hall, then Dean of Wor-
cester, Dr. Davenant, professor of divinity at Cam-
bridge, Carleton, Bishop of Llandaff, and Dr. Samuel
Ward. It is a surprising and regretable circumstance
that representatives of the Church of England should
have been officially present at such an assembly, but
276 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
this was owing to the will of the king, James ; it was
the action of the sovereign, and not of the Church of
England ; and political considerations rather than any
declared agreement with the objects of the Synod
caused English churchmen to be involved in pro-
ceedings which did little credit to any one concerned
in them.
It is a tedious task to wade through the records of
the Synod, and our space prevents us from giving
even a resume of the proceedings of its 152 sittings,
which lasted during six months. From first to
last the Remonstrants were treated with injustice
and gross harshness ; their demands for a fair and
impartial hearing were pronounced *' insolent, iniqui-
tous, untimely, and hostile to their rulers." They
had an able and eloquent leader in Episcopius, whose
conduct during the Synod was a strong contrast to
the violent and outrageous behaviour of Bogermann,
the president, Gomarus, and their alHes. It was
evident from the beginning that the intention of the
Contra-Remonstrants was not to investigate the truth
of certain doctrines, but to pronounce a severe and
predetermined sentence upon their opponents. After
many sittings and endless wrangling, despairing of
a fair and impartial inquir}'- into their doctrines, the
Remonstrants withdrew from the Synod, the foreign
theologians vainly endeavouring to promote harmony
between the contending parties. The president dis-
missed them with a violent and indecent speech,
accusing them of lying, fraud, equivocation, and deceit.
Episcopius with dignity replied, "We make no answer
THE SYNOD OF DORT. 277
to these accusations, but keep silence with our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who will one day determine respecting
these our lies and deceit." Another of the party said,
*^We appeal to the judgment of God, at which they
who now sit as judges will appear to be judged."
The Synod then proceeded to examine the writings
of the Arminians in order to pronounce sentence
upon them ; the opinion of the foreigners was not
always received with respect, unless it coincided with
that of the Hollanders, and Bishop Hall withdrew
from the Synod on the plea of ill-health. Many
points of difference arose among the Gomarist faction,
and lest their bickerings should create uneasiness to
the whole body of Calvinists, many meetings were
held in private. Disgraceful scenes constantly oc-
curred, such as when Gomarus ''delivered a speech
which none but a madman would have uttered," with
'' sparkling eyes and fierceness of pronunciation,"
while Sibrandus '' raved and fumed with wild and un-
governable passion." ^
This method of discussing religious questions was
exceedingly distasteful to the English divines, and the
Bishop of Llandafif gravely remonstrated, and urged
the president ''to look that the knot of unity were
not broken." At length, on March 21st, the opinions
of the members were collected, and the task of framing
the canons was begun. In this work the English
theologians were of great use in checking some of
the wild statements which the extreme party strove
to fashion into decrees. Some they caused to be
1 Balcanqual's " Letters from the Synod of Dort."
278 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
struck out ; some of the harsh expressions were
modified ; and when they were asked to declare that
the decrees of the Synod ought to be esteemed the
doctrines of the Reformed Churches, they absolutely
refused. They said '' that they were deputed to the
Synod by their King, and not by their Church ; that
they were b}^ no means empowered to explain the
Confession of their Church, but had only delivered
their own private opinions, as thinking them agreeable
to the truth ; and that they had agreed to many things
in these canons of which there was not the least
notice taken in the Articles of the Church of England,
which they had done because they were not sensible
that any of the matters therein contained were repug-
nant to the said Articles."
This pubHc explanation of the position of the Eng-
lish divines is important, and shows that the Church
of England was in no way compromised by the decrees
of the Synod of Dort ; that, although reformed, she
was not as a mere company of Calvinistic sectaries ;
and that the private opinions of the English clergy at
Dort did not pledge the Church of England to any
acceptance of the views expressed. The English
divines throughout the proceedings showed great tact
and judgment, and when the decree of condemnation
and deprivation of the Remonstrants was introduced,
they refused to pass censure upon them, being subjects
of another state and prince, and indeed objected to
the severity of the judgment. '* Never did any church
of old, nor any reformed church, propose so many
articles to be held siid pcend excoimnunicatiofiis,'' one
THE SYNOD OF DORT. 279
of our countrymen declared, adding that it was hard
for a man to be deposed who did not hold every
particular. They boldly vindicated the advantage of
episcopacy, maintaining that it had the authority of
Scripture, and that the troubles in Holland might be
attributed to the want of bishops, who, by their power
and authority, would have restrained factious and sedi-
tious spirits and prevented contention. The Hollanders
replied that they highly valued the good order and
discipHne of the Church of England, and that they
wished with all their hearts that the same order
existed amongst themselves. But this, they added,
was not to be hoped for yet. All that they could do
was to pray that God would assist them by His grace
and favour, and to resolve that nothing in their own
power should be left undone to secure such a bless-
ing.i This is a somewhat remarkable statement for
a company of Calvinists to have made, and was pos-
sibly due to the influence which the presence of the
English clergy had produced during that strange six
months' conclave.
At length the proceedings came to a close in May,
and the foreign divines were dismissed with words of
gratitude and respect. The president declared that a
work had been accomplished truly miraculous, which
caused hell to tremble, and amazed both their friends
and enemies, neither of whom had expected to see
such an end of their misfortunes and miseries.^
Such was the Synod of Dort. The triumphant
party were not slow in putting into execution their
^ Brandt, vol. iii. p. 288. -' Idem., vol. iii. p. 305.
28o THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
resolutions against their opponents. They showed
no mercy. Barneveldt was executed at the Hague
ere a few days had passed. Grotius and Hoogerbeets
were condemned to perpetual imprisonment. The
escape of the former by the help of his daughter in a
chest which was brought into his cell containing books
is one of the most remarkable in history. He was
one of the most famous writers of his age, and after
his escape found a home and hearty welcome in
the court of the French king. Episcopius and his
colleagues were doomed to exile, and found a refuge
in the duchy of Schleswig, where they lived under the
protection of the Duke, Frederick IV., and founded a
city which they named Frederickstadt, in honour of
their patron.
The hopes of the Calvinists w^ere doomed to disap-
pointment. The opinions of the opposite party found
favour with a large number of the people, who sympa-
thised with the banished ministers. The Church of
England was the first to reject the canons of Dort;
the Protestants of France and Germany expressed
themselves shocked and grieved, and even the Calvin-
ists of Geneva declined to accept the decrees of the
Synod. Arminianism refused to be slain by it, and
eleven years after the Synod closed its memorable
career, they were allowed to build a church at Amster-
dam and to found a college, of which, in 1634, Epis-
copius became the first .theological professor. Thus
ended a controversy which for vehemence, bigotry,
and intolerance is as remarkable as any which can
be found in ecclesiastical history.
CHAPTER XVIII.
STATE OF THE CHURCH-IN BELGIUM AFTER
THE REFORMATION.
Revival of the Church — Archbishop Hauchin — Torrentius, Bishop of
Antwerp — Success of the Church — William Lindanus of Ruremonde
— Labours of the Jesuits — Improved condition of the country
under Albert and Isabella — Synod held by Archbishop Hosius —
His address — Great effect of the Synod — Activity of the Church —
Bishopric of Liege — Revolt of the Grignoiix — Revival at Tournay
— ^John de Venduille, Bishop of Tournay — His reforms — James
Boonen, Archbishop of Mechlin — John a Wachtendonck, Bishop
of Namur — Rovenius, Archbishop of Utrecht — Surrender of Olden-
zaal — Reforms the Chapter of Utrecht — Persecution of Catholics
— Escape of Rovenius — Increase of the Church — Klopjes — Arch-
bishop Kafenza's account of Church of Holland.
Seasons of trial and trouble often confer lasting-
benefits upon churches as upon individuals ; they
purge away what is evil^ arouse latent energies, and
promote piety and zeal. During the last decade of the
seventeenth century the Church in the Belgian pro-
vinces awoke from her hstless state and displayed an
energy which in previous ^^ears had only manifested
itself in persecuting heretics. With the usual unstead-
fastness of the Celtic mind, the Walloons had returned
to the Catholic Church, which in the Belgian provinces
was subservient to Rome. Under the leadership of
some able and hard-working bishops the Church began
to show signs of vigorous growth. Archbishop Hau-
chin at Brussels and Mechlin gained many adherents ;
281
282 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
and Antwerp, having been deprived of a pastor for
many years, received (1587) as its bishop the cele-
brated Lievin Vanderbeke, surnamed Torrentius. He
worked wonders ; more than eight thousand Protestants
returned to the Church ; the havoc wrought by fanati-
cal iconoclasts and furious soldiers was repaired, and
the metropolis of commerce became also that of the
faith. ^ The Bishop of Bruges, Druitius, revived the
Catholic religion in that city; and Ypres, Tournay,
and Cambray recovered themselves and forgot their
misfortunes in their present blessings conferred upon
them by wise and good prelates.
One of the most notable bishops of the time was
William Lindanus of Ruremonde, who was driven
from his See by the Calvinists, and resided chiefly
at Maestricht; to him Breda, Bois-le-Duc, Grave,
Venloo, Nimegue owe their reconversion to the Catho-
lic faith by his reforming the clergy and establishing
schools. At his death, in 1588, he was succeeded by
Henry Cuick ; and Clement Crabeels, a zealous man,
was appointed to the See of Bois-le-Duc. During the
rule of the Duke of Parma the Jesuits began to mul-
tiply. Hitherto they had two principal colleges, at St.
Omer and at Louvain. Now most of the chief towns
were invaded by /es enfants d^Ignace. They were
recalled to Douay, whence they had been expelled.
Maestricht, Tournay, Courtrai, Ghent, Ypres, Mons,
Luxembourg, and Brussels all received the members
of the Society, who began to exercise great influence
in the ecclesiastical affairs of the Belgian Church.
^ Smet, Belgique Calholiqite, iii. 185.
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 283
Conspicuous among the Jesuits was De Sailly, a
native of Brussels, who spent three years of his hfe in
a mission to Russia. Compelled by the state of his
health to return to his country, he was attached to the
camp of the Duke, whose confessor he became. He
laboured zealously among the soldiers, and with seve-
ral of his colleagues shared the perils and hardships of
the camp. Some of them also dared the dangers of
shipwreck and naval warfare in the fleet of the Duke.
The pioneers of the Order in Holland were William de
Leeuw and Anthony Duyst.
Undoubtedly these men were devoted sons of the
Church ; they laboured hard in the prisons and hos-
pitals, and in the Belgian provinces did good service
to the cause of religion ; but their success begat arro-
gance ; the influence of their Society began to be their
first aim, and in Holland at least they showed their
worst side, as we have already seen, despising the
authority of the secular clergy and bishops, whose
influence they endeavoured to undermine and to super-
sede by their own.
Under the wise government of Albert and Isabella
during the twelve years' truce the southern provinces
began to recover from the terrible effects of continuous
warfare. The state of the country was deplorable;
emigration, caused by the cruelties of Alva and the
Inquisition, had depopulated the villages ; its commerce
had been transferred to Holland ; its industries to
England ; its agriculture was in abeyance. Wolves
howled in regions once fertile amid the ruined abodes
of its former inhabitants, and the terrible effects of war
284 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
and persecution were visible everywhere. When peace
was proclaimed the people began to build the waste
places ; buildings and churches were raised from ruinous
heaps. Encouraged by the sovereigns, Belgian art
began to flourish once more. From the printing-presses
of Plantin, at Antwerp, splendid specimens of typo-
graphical skill began again to be issued. BoUandus,
a Jesuit of Belgium, commenced his famous work. Acta
Sanctorum, and Rubens laid the foundations of that
famous school of painters whose works are the admira-
tion of the world. Nor was the Church behind-hand
in this general improvement and revival. In 1 607 a
Synod was held, presided over by Archbishop Mathias
Hosius, and attended by many worthy prelates, amongst
whom were John le Mire of Antwerp, Charles Masius
of Ypres, Henry Cuick of Ruremonde, Gisbert Masius
of Bois-le-Duc, Peter Damant of Ghent, and Philip de
Rodoan of Bruges.
The opening speech of the president displays the
mournful condition of the Church in the Belgian pro-
vinces. '' Ye see the distress that we are in, how
Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned
with fire ; come and let us build up the walls, that we
be no more a reproach." '' Is not this," said the Arch-
bishop, '* a true picture of our own distress ; our
temples are defiled, our monasteries destroyed, our
altars profaned. Not only have the storms desolated
these monuments of stone, but the living temples of
God have been shattered by the tempests, and are
devoted to the shades of hell, in Holland, Zealand,
Gueldres, Frisia, and to the borders of our provinces.
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 285
Is it not a reproach and a scandal ? How has it come
to pass that the ministers of Christ have deserted our
churches in so great a number ? Each village once
had many pastors, now there is scarcely one in the
towns, and many villages have not even a single clergy-
man. Others have abandoned their vows of virtue;
our schools are, with few exceptions, deserted ; our
catechists have departed ; our seminaries do not exist,
or are deprived of their resources. To add to our
sorrows, the holy things are benumbed, the ceremonies
are neglected, the Word of God is forgotten, whilst
impious books are circulated among the people, and
the leaven of heresy deposited in many hearts ferments
secretly. To us, my brethren, to us is the blame for
these misfortunes due! Our charity is frozen; the
love of the truth has deserted us ; our soul is wearied
of the holy manna, of the Word of God and the holy
Sacraments ! O Church of Belgium, how have you
been disturbed through our faults ! how has your heart
been bruised ! My brothers, let us restore the power
of the Cross in the face of these so great miseries and
necessities. Shall we not present a wall of brass to
defend the house of Israel ? Shall we be content to
receive the homage of the faithful ones, and shall we
not go and seek after the lost sheep ? May God never
address to us the reproof which the Lord spake to Zacha-
rias, * O shepherd, a true idol ! ' How can he who has
eyes which never can detect scandals, ears which never
hear the feet of the wolf, a throat without voice, and
feet without movement, stir himself to defend the sacred
fold ? Come, it is time to build the walls of Zion.'
286 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
These eloquent and earnest words stirred the minds
of the assembly, and resolutions were passed by the
Synod which had a good effect in arousing the zeal
of the bishops and in removing some of the causes of
scandal which the Archbishop so earnestly deplored.
The effect of the Synod was marvellous. The
bishops set an example which was eagerly followed
by the other clergy and laity. Monasteries were
rebuilt and new convents established ; the Minims,
one of the numerous branches of the Franciscans,
displayed great activity, estabhshing themselves at
Antwerp (1614), at Brussels (161 5), at Lille and at
Liege (161 8), at Grammont, Douay, Louvain, and
other places. The Carmelites, Dominicans, the Augus-
tinian friars, the Capuchins, and other Orders also
founded new houses; and the Church, still clinging
to all its superstitions, showed an activity which
possibly might have stemmed the torrent of reforma-
tion ideas if it had been displayed a hundred years
before.
At Liege, Bishop Ernst still guided the fortunes
of the Church in his diocese, and towards the end
of his life ruled his diocese well ; he founded two
seminaries, at Liege and S. Trond, and built a large
hospital called ''La Maison de Baviere." Dying in
161 2, he was succeeded by his nephew, Ferdinand
of Bavaria, who, by his arbitrary conduct, renewed
the quarrels with the burghers of Liege which were
so frequent in former days. The Bishop claimed the
power to elect the chief magistrate of the city, a right
which had been always strongly disputed by the
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 287
turbulent citizens. They openly revolted against their
prince under the leadership of William de Beeckman
and Sebastian la Ruelle. They were called Grignoux
or Grognards (the grumblers), and were assisted by
the king of France, while Spain espoused the cause of
the partisans of the Bishop, who were named Chiroux^
or swallows. La Ruelle was assassinated, and this
so enraged the people that they banished the leaders
of the opposite party. The Bishop was not allov/ed
to enter the city until the troops of Germany, under
Maximihan Henry of Bavaria, marched to Liege and
compelled the citizens to yield. Four of the Grignoux
were beheaded and a tower was constructed to overawe
the city and prevent any subsequent revolt. Ferdi-
nand died in 1650, and was succeeded by Maximilian
Henry.
These contentions did not advance the cause of the
Church in the diocese of Liege, but in Tournay, under
the leadership of some earnest prelates, the revival,
which we noticed in the other parts of the provinces,
progressed satisfactorily. Maximilian Morillon, con-
secrated in 1583, did not live long enough to accom-
pHsh much ; but John de Venduille, doctor of Douay,
who succeeded him in 1588, set an example of earnest-
ness and piety which conferred great benefits on the
Church. Before consecration he retired from Douay
and spent "six weeks in sohtude, preparing his soul
by prayer, meditation, and devotion for the high
dignity of the episcopacy. He was consecrated on
May 29, 1588, by S. de Berlaimont, Archbishop of
Cambray, and Matthew Moulart, Bishop of Arras ;
288 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
and he kept up the memory of that day by a yearly
festival, imploring the grace of God to enable him
to perform the duties of his high office, and to make
his service more pleasing to God. He accomplished
a thorough reform throughout his diocese, admonish-
ing or suspending incapable or scandalous priests,
calling together a synod and making a thorough
diocesan visitation, exhorting the people, and confirm-
ing about sixteen thousand persons. He lived a simple
and frugal life, dispensing with all outward magnifi-
cence, having no horses, servants, or retinue when
he travelled, and only taking with him three or four
priests. His palace was simply furnished; destitute
of fine paintings, the walls were adorned with goodly
sentences in letters of gold, amongst which were these,
'' Sint episcopi supellex, et mensa modesta, victus
frugaHs." — Concil. Trident. ^ sess. 25, cap. i, de Re-
format. The good Bishop was loved and venerated
by all, and his example had a great effect upon the
laity and endeared them to the Church. And not only
for his own countrymen did he labour, but he recog-
nised the duty of the Church with regard to missionary
work, writing to Pope Gregor}^ XHI. a letter concern-
ing the conversion of infidels, pagans, and heretics,
and founding seminaries for the clergy of the English
or other nations. After a rule of only four years,
during which he had done much good service, he died
in 1592.1
Michel d'Esne succeeded him in 1597, and during
his rule a temperance movement was inaugurated to
•' Cousin, Histoire de Tournay, iv. cap. 59.
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 289
stem the tide of drunkenness, which was very preva-
lent in the province ; amongst other provisions, the
sale of fiery wine or brandy was forbidden. No
events of importance occurred during his rule, which
lasted until 16 14. This bishop consecrated David
Keornay Archbishop of Cassel in Ireland, at the
church of the Abbey of S. Martin at Tournay, in
1603.
After the death of Hosius, Archbishop of Mechlin,
to whom the religious revival in his province was
mainly due, James Boonen, Dean of the cathedral, was
appointed to the vacant MetropoHtan See (1620). He
proved himself a worthy successor, and carried on
the good work which had been so zealously begun.
He called together a meeting of the bishops of his
province, when many effectual and useful decrees
were passed, and by his careful administration of the
diocese made it conspicuous among the other Belgian
Sees for its organisation and piety. When the royal
treasury was well-nigh exhausted he gave largely to
supply his country's needs, and his private charity
was considerable. He loved to give alms to the poor
with his own hands unknown to his domestics. On
one occasion, needing money to bestow alms, he took
the gem from his episcopal ring and sold it, substitut-
ing a sham one in its place. During the time of the
troubles of the Church in Scotland, the banished
bishops, priests, and laymen from that country found
in the charitable Archbishop a friend and ready helper.
He died in 1655, and was succeeded by Andrew
Cruesen, Bishop of Ruremonde, whose ill-health did
290 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
not suffer him to occup}^ the See more than eight
years.
The diocese of Namur was mainly reformed by the
good Bishop John a Wachtendonck, who strove to
restore the lapsed discipline and to eliminate the lax
morals of the clergy in that part of the country. For
that purpose he called together a synod, which passed
some useful and salutary decrees and statutes. He
was appointed Archbishop of Mechlin in 1667 in his
old age, not to rule his See, but *'to die in his nest." ^
He lived there only one year.
These examples which we have taken of Belgian
bishops, and the brief account of their work, their
synods, their zeal and piety, show the improvement
which had taken place in the condition of the Church.
With the exception of the Prince-Bishop of Liege,
all the prelates were able, learned, and hard-working
men, very different from the type of pre-Reformation
bishops, whose incapacity and careless lives helped
to bring about that great defection from the Church
which occurred in the sixteenth century, and whose
eagerness for persecuting and burning heretics was
the only form of zeal known to them.
The struggling Church of Holland was blest with
a devout and earnest archbishop. Philip Rovenius,
who succeeded Vosmeer in 1620, after an interval of
six years, occupied the See for forty memorable years,
and by the help of God accomplished wonders for the
^ " In nidulo meo moriar, inquit vere etenim nidulus ei erat Mech-
linia, finis omnium votorum, ibi laborum requies, utique patris." — Hzs-
toria Mechh'niensis, Van Gestel.
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 291
Church in the province of Utrecht. He was continu-
ally beset by the intrigues of the Jesuits and by the
persecutions of the Calvinists. To free himself from
the former he appealed to Rome, and after much delay
Pope Gregory XV. issued a Bull which assured to
Rovenius all due authority over the clergy and monks
in his diocese.^ He was in the act of confirming the
churches in Overyssel when the armies of the United
Provinces under Frederick Henry attacked the pro-
vince and conquered Grolle and Oldenzaal. On the
evening before the surrender of the latter town, fear-
ing that the Catholic religion would be suppressed
by the victors, he assembled his faithful flock in
the collegiate church and directed them reverently to
remove the crosses, pictures, and the ornaments from
the altar. ''Your arms have been unfortunate," he
said to his sorrowful hearers, '' but in the heavenly
warfare every one may win who choses. Your means
of grace will be uncertain, but God is not tied to
means only. The crosses are removed from the
church, but the cross of Christ must still be borne in
your hearts ; the images of the saints are taken down,
but you must follow the example of the saints. A
little while, and these interruptions to the service of
God will be at an end for ever, and ye who have
walked by faith will enter into the possession of all
glory and need nothing but love." His hearers were
much affected by these gentle words of love. On the
^ For a full account of the dispute between Rovenius and the
Jesuits, vide Bellegarde's Histoire abregee de T Eglise metropoUtaine
d" Utrecht, pp. 1 1 9- 1 2 5 .
292 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
following day the troops of the Prince of Orange entered
the city, and the Catholic worship was suppressed.
Rovenius accomplished with great judgment the
reformation of the Utrecht Chapter. This had not
been suppressed by the Protestants, but they had
introduced members of their own body into it, in order
that they might enjoy the revenues attached to the
canonries and prebendals. In 1614, out of the hundred
and forty canons and a hundred and forty-five vicars
who composed the five Chapters, there did not remain
more than twenty-two canons and twenty-five vicars
who were CathoHcs. It was therefore impossible for
this mixed body to transact the spiritual affairs of the
diocese, and Rovenius formed a new college or Chapter,
composed of eleven clerics, to whom were committed
those spiritual rights and duties which had previously
been performed by the old Utrecht Chapters. This
reform of the Archbishop was of immense importance
to the welfare of the Church, and was found to work
satisfactorily.
After the conclusion of the truce the persecution of
the Catholics recommenced. This was mainly owing
to the excesses of the Jesuits, who were denounced as
" a pernicious sect and the enemies of the country ; "
and all ecclesiastics were required to give their names
and addresses to the magistrates, and to conform to
the edicts of the Provinces, otherwise they would be
treated as though they were Jesuits. Rovenius was
obHged to leave the country. In 1626 the States-
General passed a new edict, forbidding the Catholics to
hold divine service. Rovenius bravely visited Utrecht
THE CHURCH IN BELGIUM. 293
and Holland in spite of the decree and of the great
danger which he incurred. He ordained priests, ad-
ministered confirmation, and encouraged the faithful in
their time of trial. The edicts were renewed in later
years and strenuously enforced ; priests were banished
and laymen were punished for taking part in the ser-
vices of the Church. Rovenius incurred great personal
danger. The house where he secretly lodged was
attacked and searched on several occasions, but by the
providence of God he always escaped from his pursuers.
A noble lady. Mademoiselle Henriette de Duivenvoorde,
in whose house the Archbishop and his clergy often
resided, aided his escape. On one occasion, while he
was engaged in dictating a letter to his secretar}^,
Godfrey van Mook, the house was surprised, and he
must have been taken had not a maid-servant rushed
into the room, thrown her cloak over Rovenius, and
conducted him out by the back door. His companions
were captured and driven into exile.
Some of the Catholics suffered martyrdom during
this persecution, amongst others Andrew de Cock at
Utrecht in 1636, and Martin van Velde at Middelburg.
The Archbishop was banished and his goods confis-
cated, but in spite of this decree he visited many of
the towns and villages in his province, confirming and
preaching. Edicts were passed against Catholics at
Schoonhoven in i64i,in Zealand in 1642, in Friesland
in 1643, in Utrecht in 1644, and every year seemed to
bring fresh troubles upon the Church.
In spite of the violence employed against her, the
Church grew stronger in this period of trial, which
294 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
seemed to resemble the first ages on account of the
persecution which raged throughout the provinces.
The number and earnestness of the Catholics increased
greatly. From the year 1614 there was a steady in-
crease in the number of clergy. In 1622 they had
grown from 166 to 220 seculars and 66 regulars. In
1638 there were 350 seculars and 132 regulars. In
1656 the successor of Rovenius, James de la Torre,
counted 400 seculars and 150 regulars. Sasbold had
reckoned the faithful Catholics at 200,000; in 1639
they had increased to 300,000, and before the end of
the century there were 500,000. These statistics show
that the times of trial had not diminished the faithful-
ness and devotion of the Holland Catholics to the
Church of their forefathers, and that, as in former days,
their piety and zeal shone forth more conspicuously in
times of persecution than in peace.
Conspicuous amongst them were the Klopjes^ or
knocking sisters, a faithful order of Christian women,
who, b}^ their devotion and pious labours, conferred
vast benefits upon the Church. When the services
were about to be held, the sisters went to the houses
of the Cathohcs and knocked at the doors, summoning
them to the secret assembly. Hence they derived
their name, and also perhaps from the way in which
they warned their comrades of danger ; stationing them-
selves so as to command a view of all the passages
which lead to the place of worship, when the officers
of justice came in sight they used to give timely warn-
ing of their approach by knocking. The churches
used by the Catholics at this time were in obscure
THE CHURCH IX BELGIUM. 295
corners of the cities, amid nests of houses, in unfre-
quented districts, where they sought concealment to
worship God after their accustomed manner. So
completely hidden from sight are some of these sanc-
tuaries that the writer had very great difficult}' in
discovering the Church of S. Gertrude at Utrecht,
which was constructed so as to afford several pas-
sages \\ith gates and doors to the Marieplaatz and the
Wedenburg, in order to give the worshippers oppor-
tunities for escape when the soldiers came to take
them. In a part of the building called '• the corner,"
near the church, the Klopjes resided, and to each of
them some article of church furniture or plate was
committed, so that when the danger-signal was given,
all vestiges of the senices might be removed before
the officers arrived. They taught children and old
people ; undistinguished by an}' distinctive dress, they
passed their lives in good works and pious exercises.
At Utrecht, towards the end of the centur\', there
were as many as a hundred of these good sisters ; at
Haarlem three hundred, and a hundred at Amsterdam,
where, in spite of decrees against them, they were
allowed to continue their good works and to reside
together in a Beguinage. The conduct of the sisters
and of the other Catholics is well described in the
account of the travels of Archbishop Kafenza, Papal
Legate in Germany, who stayed two days \\^th Abra-
ham van Brienen, pastor of S. Gertrude, Utrecht, one
of the principal priests in the country. He says :
•'The Catholics edified me so much, that I believed
mvself to be amongst the Christians of apostolic times.
296 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Their modesty, their attention, their silence during
mass, the sermon, and the prayers were such, that
they appeared to be statues rather than Hving men,
so attentive were they to the contemplation of heavenly
things. One day at communion I was astonished to
see a large number of virgins all veiled, like a choir
of seraphs, who covered their faces in the presence of
the Most High. I said to myself, ' Would to God
that devotion flourished as much in the convents of
Italy as it does amongst these sisters who live in the
world and among Protestants.' " ^
Another very useful agency was organised by Rove-
nius, that of lay-controvertists. This body consisted
of the better-instructed and more able men selected
by the pastor in each parish for the purpose of dis-
puting with the Protestants. Exercises in argument
were given after service on Sundays and holy days,
and advocates so trained were often able to do good
service for the Church in contending for the faith.
Rovenius died at Utrecht in 165 1, and was buried
secretly in the house of Madle. du Duivenvoorde,
where he had so long resided. To him the Church
of Holland owes much, and even his enemies bore
witness to his virtues and his zeal. He was a great
friend and admirer of Bishop Jansen of Ypres, and
expressed his approval of the famous ^' Augustinus,"
which work was destined to be the cause of so much
dissension in future years. Of the rise of Jansenism
we must proceed to treat in the next chapter.
^ Bellegarde's " Utrecht," p. 145.
CHAPTER XIX.
RIS^ OF JANSENISM.
Jansen's " Augustinus " — Origin of Jansenism — Cornelius Jansen —
S. Cyran — ." Petrus Aurelius " — Outline of the "Augustinus" —
Attacked by the Jesuits— Condemned by the Pope — University
of Louvain refuses to publish Bull — Opposition of the clergy of
Netherlands to the Bull — Antoine Arnauld and the establishment
of Port Royal — The "Five Propositions" — French Jansenists
take refuge in the Netherlands — Defeat of Jansenism.
In the seventeenth century the peace of the Church
was disturbed by that famous controversy which arose
concerning the doctrine of divine grace and free will,
and which mainly centred itself about the immortal
work of Cornelius Jansen entitled ''Augustinus."
According to Ultramontane writers, Jansenism was
a mitigated form of Calvinism, but more dangerous
because it was more subtle. " Never did a more supple
reptile attach itself to the sides of Belgian Catho-
licism," 1 says a Jesuit writer. It has been described
as a species of Catholic puritanism ; "^ and, however
wise and holy its advocates were, however powerful
their defence, inasmuch as in the opinion of its oppo-
nents Jansenism savoured of Calvinistic or Lutheran
errors, it attracted the anathemas of the Jesuits, who
from the first were its determimed and unscrupulous
^ Smet, Belgiqiie Catholiqnc, iii. 20i.
- Reuclin, Geschichte von Port Royal.
297
298 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
foes. Its origin may be traced to the writings of
Baius, professor of Holy Scripture at Louvain, whose
work Z>^ Libero Arbitrio was condemned as heretical
and its author compelled to pubHsh a retractation of
his opinions (1580). But the controversy concerning
the perplexing questions of the providence of God
and predestination having been once started, could
not be suppressed. The professors of Louvain at-
tacked the writings of the Jesuit Lessius and accused
him of Semi-Pelagianism ; a friend of Baius, Dr.
Janson, was appointed to combat the errors of Lessius.
The dispute was carried further still, and the work of
the Spanish Jesuit, Molina, professor of theology at
Evora in Portugal, ^' On the Concord of Grace with
Free Will" (Lisbon, 1588), was vigorously attacked by
the Universities of Louvain, Douay, and Salamanca.
At this period of religious controversy the celebrated
CorneHus Jansen appeared upon the scene. Born at
Acquoy, near Leerdam, in 1585, he was educated at
Louvain and became a pupil of Dr. Janson. Here he
formed a warm friendship with Hauranne, afterwards
Abbot of S. Cyran, who w^as styled by the Jesuits the
great heresiarch of the seventeenth century. After
staying some time in Paris he returned to Louvain,
became doctor of theology, the head of the College
of S. Pulcheria, and in the year 1636 was consecrated
Bishop of Ypres. He only occupied the See two years,
being carried off by the plague in 1638.
Such was the short life of the good bishop, who,
with his friend S. Cyran, endeavoured to restore the
teaching of the Church to the doctrine of S. Augustine
RISE OF JANSENISM. 299
with regard to the nature and working of divine grace,
and to overthrow the fallacies of the Jesuits. It has
been already noticed how eager the Society was to
encroach upon the rights of native churches and to
disregard all episcopal authority. Not only in Holland
did they attempt to do this, but also in England and
other countries; a Jesuit named Floyd pubHshed a
work which was intended to subvert all episcopal
jurisdiction. S. Cyran pubHshed his famous work,
'^ Petrus Aurelius," upon the discipline of the Church,
which entirely destroyed the theories and statements
of the Jesuits, and was vigorously attacked by the
Society. It, however, received the approval of the
French clergy in 1642, and copies of the book were
placed in all the cathedral libraries of France.,
The vindication of the doctrine was left to Jansen,
and he devoted twenty years of his life to his immortal
work, the '' Augustinus," in which he expounded the
teaching 01 the saint, and showed that the Molinist
dogmas were identical with Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian
heresy. The work was not published before his death,
and first saw the light at Louvain in 1640. It is neces-
sary to give a brief outline of the work, which is divided
into three parts.
The first volume begins with a long examination of
Pelagianism, drawn principally from the writings of
Augustine and Prosper ; the use of reason and autho-
rity in theology is discussed in the second book, and
the author treats of the limit of human reason and of
the authority of Holy Scripture, the Councils, and the
fathers of the Church in understanding the mysteries
300 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of the faith. He proves that the teaching of Augustine
with regard to grace has always been acknowledged
by the Church. Love is the guide in studying divine
mysteries, and not the understanding, which leads men
into danger. Christianity cannot be examined like a
system of philosophy, and the errors of the schoolmen
may all be traced to a neglect of these principles. The
four main truths estabHshed by Augustine are the one-
ness of the Head of the Church, that is, Christ ; the
oneness of His body, that is, the Church ; the oneness
of the sacrament of incorporation, that is. Baptism ;
and the oneness and truth of the life of grace procured
through the cross of Christ.
He then proceeds to speak of human nature in its
primal condition ere sin had left its mark upon it, and
of the grace which Adam enjoyed. The state of man
after the Fall, original sin, conflicts with sin, free will,
the healing grace of Christ, and predestination of men
and angels, all these great subjects are treated with
elaborate detail, and the whole teaching of S. Augus-
tine upon these themes is set forth. He contrasts the
opinions of the Schoolmen with those of Augustine.
" Will it be answered that the opinions of the School-
men, reprobated b}^ Augustine, have now been common
for the last five hundred years to almost the whole
Church, which, if they be wrong, is thereby proved to
be itself in error ? ^ I reply, that if it be a question
of time, the opinions of Augustine and his disciples
were acknowledged and approved by the Church and
the common consent of Christians many hundred years
^ " Augustinus," t. ii. c. 30.
RISE OF JANSENISM. 301
before the notions of the Schoolmen were introduced.
If, therefore, it should be feared that the Church might
be accused of error in receiving opinions afterwards
disproved, by how much more perniciously would it
be said to have erred if it should abolish the doctrine
of Augustine, received and approved through so many
ages ? " He concludes by showing that the Apostolic
See had for centuries approved the arguments of
Augustine against Pelagius, and endeavours to recon-
cile the differences between the bull of Pius V. and
Gregory XIII. against Baius and the teaching of the
Church in previous ages.
The pubhcation of the ^' Augustinus " was the signal
for the Jesuits' attack. Every device was adopted by
them to discredit the author and procure the con-
demnation of the work. Pope Urban VIII. was in-
formed by them that the authority of the Apostolic
See, the glory of the Church and the purity of its faith
were in danger, and he was induced, in 1642, to issue
a Bull condemning the book. The clergy of the Nether-
lands and of France were forbidden to read it. But
the old spirit of independence of Papal control showed
itself, and the University of Louvain bravely declared
that their rules forbade them to publish any decree of
the Pope unless it was sanctioned by the King. The
Archbishop of Mechlin, James Boonen, was a great
admirer of Jansen, and Henry Coelen, Archdeacon and
Canon of the Cathedral, formerly Rector of the Univer-
sity of Louvain, highly approved of the *' Augustinus,"
and influenced the mind of the Archbishop in its favour.
The Pope was informed that his Bull condemned not
302 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
only Jansen, but the very words of Augustine. At
length, through the influence of the Archduke of
Austria, governor of the Netherlands, the Jesuits suc-
ceeded in enforcing the Bull, which was received with
undisguised indignation by the clergy and theologians
of the Netherlands. The Louvain professors perti-
nently asked whether the bull condemned Jansen or
Augustine ? The Pope wrote to them and to the
bishops to publish the Bull, which was issued at Brus-
sels. But the Louvain professors declared that they
could not acknowledge the Bull without condemning
Augustine. The Archbishop of MechHn, James Boonen,
and the Bishop of Ghent, Antoine Triest, also opposed
it, and presented to the Privy Council a written state-
ment of their reasons for refusing to accept the Papal
decree. Severe measures were taken to compel the
Augustinians to obey. A formulary was drawn up
which all candidates for ecclesiastical preferment were
obhged to sign. The King of Spain issued an edict
condemning the rebellious to a fine of 500 florins for
the first offence, and to banishment for six years for a
second. The Archbishop of MechHn and the Bishop
of Ghent stood firm, and sentence of suspension was
pronounced against them. The Council of Brabant
strove to protect their bishops, and were arrested by
the Archduke. Finally, by a decree of the Chapters of
Mechlin and Ghent the bishops were reduced to sub-
mission, and were compelled to accept the Bull. Antoine
Arnauld, a disciple of S. Cyran, was the defender of
the opinions of the Augustinians at Paris, against whom
Habert, afterwards Bishop of Valres, contended. The
RISE OF JANSENISM. 303
latter extracted eight propositions from the " Augus-
tinus," which he declared were objectionable, and ought
to be formally examined. To this proposal strong
opposition was shown. In the meantime Arnauld, Le
Maistre, Pascal, Tillemont, and others retired to the
famous convent of Port Royal, there to live a life of
piety, devotion, and learning, and established a com-
munity of world-wide celebrity.
The eight propositions of Valres, purporting to con-
tain the opinions of Jan sen, were reduced to five, and
are as follows : —
1. Some commandments of God are impossible to
some righteous men, even when with all their might
they are endeavouring to keep them according to the
present strength which they have ; also the grace by
which they may become possible is wanting to them.
2. Internal grace in the state of fallen nature is
never resisted.
3. To merit and demerit, in the state of fallen nature,
liberty from necessity is not required in man, but only
liberty from constraint.
4. The Semi-Pelagians admitted the necessity of
internal prevenient grace for all good works, even for
the commencement of faith ; but it was in this that
they were heretical, that they would have that grace
to be such as the human will could either resist or
obey.
5. It is Semi- Pelagian to affirm that Christ died or
shed His blood absolutely for all men.^
After much disputing, these articles were condemned
^ Leydecker, Vitajansenii, lib. ii. p. 126.
304 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
by Pope Innocent X. as impious, blasphemous, and
heretical in a Bull issued in 1653. It was received
not without opposition by the ecclesiastics of France
and Holland, but the Augustinians contended that the
five propositions condemned by the Bull were not con-
tained in the work of Jansen. This question was at
length decided by Alexander VII., the successor to
Innocent X., who declared that the articles were to be
found in Jansen's book, and issued an ordinance oblig-
ing the clergy to subscribe to the following : —
" I condemn with my heart and mouth the doctrine
of the five propositions of Cornelius Jansenius con-
tained in his book entitled' ^ Augustinus,' which the
Popes and bishops have condemned : which doctrine is
not that of S. Augustine, whom Jansenius has explained
ill, against the sense of this holy father."
This met with great opposition on the part of several
of the French bishops, and in 166 1 vehement persecu-
tion of the Jansenists raged on the part of the Jesuits,
aided by the French monarch, Louis XIV. The pro-
gress of Jansenism in France, the devoted lives of the
recluses of Port Royal, of Jacqueline Arnauld, La Mere
Angelique, the persecutions they endured, belong to
the domain of French ecclesiastical history, and will
be treated of in another volume of this series. Arnauld,
Quesnel, and others found a refuge in the Netherlands
from the violence of the storm which raged against
them in France, and enriched that country by their
piety and virtues. Troubles were in store for the
Church in Holland on account of the famous Bull
Unigenitiis of 17 13, issued by Clement XI. against the
RISE OF JANSENISM. 305
writings of Quesnel, which bull the ecclesiastics of
Holland refused to acknowledge ; but of this we shall
speak presently.
After the decree of Alexander VII. the theologians
of Louvain subscribed to the formulary, and swore to
condemn the five propositions, and to piously render
obedience to the Papal briefs (1660). The statue of
Jansen in the cathedral of Ypres was broken down by
order of the Bishop, and for a time Jansenism seemed
to have fallen, together with the memorial of its illus-
trious founder.
CHAPTER XX.
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS FROM THE
PEACE OF MUNSTER (1648).
History of the United Provinces — Naval war with England — The Bel-
gian Provinces — Louis XIV. of France — His conquests in the
Netherlands— Despair of the inhabitants — William of Orange saves
his country — Ambition of Louis — Endless wars — Treaty of Rys-
wick — "War of Succession " — Victories of Marlborough — Austrian
Netherlands — James de la Torre, Archbishop of Utrecht — Baldwin
Catz — ^John Van Neercassel confers great benefits on the See —
Great increase of the Church — Conduct of Jesuits — The Archbishop
goes to Rome — Catholic worship restored at Utrecht — Amor Pceni-
/^;w— Attacked by the Jesuits— Regulations with regard to mixed
marriages and presentations to benefices — Edicts against Catholics
— Progress of the Church under the wise rule of Neercassel.
The civil history of the Netherlands during the last
half of the seventeenth century contains many records
of brave deeds, of wars both by sea and land, from
w^hich the Republic of the United Provinces emerged
exhausted, but still retaining its place amongst the
foremost European powers. After a brief and in-
glorious career, during which his restless ambition
often brought him into conflict with his people, William
II., Prince of Orange, died in 1650. His son, after-
wards the famous WiUiam III. of Holland and King
of England, was born a week after his father's death.
A quarrel arose between Holland and England, result-
ing in a long naval war, in which the Dutch and Eng-
lish admirals distinguished themselves for their skill
306
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 307
and bravery. The names of Tromp, De Ruyter, De
Witt, Opdam, of Blake, Sir George Ayscue, Monk, and
many others, are renowned in the history of naval war-
fare. The fleet of Cromwell gained a crushing victory
over the Dutch, and our English Republican exacted
heavy conditions from his gallant foes. The valour of
Dutch sailors restored their country's glory by a suc-
cessful war against the Sweden monarch, Charles Gus-
tavus, in defence of Denmark. For a time prosperity
returned to the provinces under the able leadership of
De Witt. The internal discussions and discontent, the
results of national humiliation, vanished, and commerce
flourished.
In the Belgian provinces. Archduke Leopold of
Austria governed and carried on an unsuccessful war
with France; nor was his successor (1656), Don Juan,
a young and inexperienced officer, more fortunate.
He lost a great battle near Dunkerque (1658), and
part of Flanders was occupied by the enemy. In
the following year Philip IV., King of Spain, gave his
daughter in marriage to the young King of France,
Louis XIV., ceding the countship of Artois and several
towns in the other provinces to France as the dowry
of the Princess. The treaty between the monarchs
was called the "Peace of the Pyrenees " (1659). A
patriotic Belgian writes, ** Our sacrifices smoked in
the cabinets of diplomatists as well as in the march of
armies."
Startling events soon followed. Holland found itself
at war with England, and several great naval battles
were fought. The Republic was aided by the King
3o8 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of France, and Charles II. showed base ingratitude
to the gallant Dutch, who had given him a home and
shelter during his exile. The taking of Sheerness,
and the memorable appearance of a Dutch fleet in the
Thames threatening London, forced the faithless king
to sign the treaty of Breda (1667).
Then Louis XIV. began his memorable career of
daring ambition. Unjustly laying claim to the Spanish
Netherlands in right of his wife, he suddenly sent an
army into, and took possession of, Brabant and Flanders.
A league was formed against him by Holland, Sweden,
and England ; but our monarch, Charles II., disgraced
our national honour by basely deserting the confedera-
tion and espousing the cause of Louis. By the treaty
of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), the French monarch gained
possession of the towns which he had occupied. Four
years later, at the head of an army, he marched into
Holland, which was little prepared to receive him.
Guelderland, Overyssel, and Utrecht were conquered ;
town after town surrendered, and in despair the in-
habitants opened the sluice gates and saved Amsterdam.
They sued for peace, but the intolerable demands of
the English and French monarchs drove the nation to
desperation. WiUiam of Orange was proclaimed stadt-
holder, and showed the courage for which his family
was so famous in saving the country in times of immi-
nent peril. They determined to abandon the country
to the waves and migrate to the Indies rather than
submit to such disgraceful demands. But the nation
was saved ; WiUiam declared that he would '' die in
the last ditch " rather than yield. He took the field ;
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 309
reinforcements poured in from Germany and Spain;
Louis was beaten back. Peace with England was
concluded, and at length, when William married Mary,
the future Queen of England, Louis thought it prudent
to end hostilities, and the peace of Nymegen in 1678
was signed.
But the restless and ambitious spirit of Louis XIV.
again urged him to war, and he conceived the grand
design of making himself master of Europe. He be-
gan by seizing upon Flanders and Luxembourg. The
League of Augsbourg was formed against him by the
energy of William, in which most of the European
nations joined. Several campaigns followed, in which
the French were frequently victorious; towns were
besieged, bloody battles fought, and the Belgian pro-
vinces suffered the terrible miseries of protracted war.
At length all the combatants were becoming exhausted,
France especially, and, wearied with war, the contend-
ing parties signed the treaty of Ryswick (1697), which
was as short-lived as its predecessors.
Then followed the war of succession, undertaken by
Louis to secure for his grandson the throne of Spain.
WilHam, King of England and Stadtholder of Holland,
formed the grand alliance between England, Holland,
and Austria to secure the Spanish crown for the
Emperor. The death of William in 1701 was a severe
blow to the confederation and raised the hopes of
France ; but the splendid victories of Marlborough
and Eugene completely crushed the ambitious monarch,
and the peace of Utrecht, signed in 171 3, at length
concluded the war. The Belgian provinces were
3IO THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
assigned to the new Emperor, Charles VI., and thus
lost their old title of the Spanish Netherlands and
acquired that of the Austrian Netherlands. Holland
recovered its trade and prosperity, and for thirty years
enjoyed the unaccustomed blessing of peace.
From these records of civil strife we will now turn
to the religious history of a period so full of change
and confusion. The See of Utrecht after the death of
Rovenius was occupied by a weak prelate, James de
la Torre (1651-1661), who was no match for the in-
triguing Jesuits. They multiplied their stations and
increased their influence in spite of an appeal to Rome
on the part of the Archbishop, who gained a temporary
advantage over them. He weakly abandoned the title
of Archbishop of Utrecht which his predecessors had
borne, and contented himself with that of Archbishop
of Ephesus, and yielded to the Jesuits because they
promised to procure for him another bishopric less
troubled than the See of Utrecht. He was indeed
offered that of Ypres, but his reason became affected
and he died in 1661. His occupancy of the See of
Utrecht was disastrous to the welfare of the Church
in that province. Zacharias de Metz is accounted by
some writers as his successor, but he was never the
lawfully elected coadjutor of James de la Torre, and
indeed died before him. It is true that the Pope,
Alexander VII., had nominated Zacharias, but with-
out the election or consent of the clergy, and although
he came to Holland and resided at Amsterdam as
coadjutor-bishop, he never was acknowledged by the
clergy, and [by his harshness and arbitrary conduct
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 311
gave great offence to both Catholics and Protestants.
He died at Amsterdam in 1661.
John Van Neercassel was elected by the chapters to
succeed James de la Torre in the archbishopric, but the
clergy were astonished to learn that Pope Alexander
VII. had nominated Baldwin Catz to the vacant See.
He was Dean of Haarlem, and had refused to be
nominated coadjutor of De la Torre six years previ-
ously, thinking that his nomination would not be in
accordance with the wishes and rights of the clergy.
But now he decided to accept the See, and Neercassel
willingly consented to resign in his favour, advising his
rival to reside at Amsterdam, the only town in Holland
where a bishop could live in safety, and craving per-
mission to retire into the rank of a simple priest. The
clergy objected strongly to this violation of their rights,
and after much negotiation Catz, for whom the Pope
had an affectionate regard, was placed in charge of the
diocese of Haarlem, while Neercassel presided over
that of Utrecht. Catz was afflicted with lunacy shortly
after his consecration, and on his death in 166 1 John
Van Neercassel became archbishop under the title of
Bishop of Castoria.
The benefits which the new prelate conferred on
the Church of Holland were incalculable. Wise,
pious, zealous, and courageous, he was welcomed not
only by the Catholics with acclamation but also by
the Protestant magistrates. Old edicts against the
Catholics were abolished, and a reign of comparative
peace ensued between the opposing factions. Internal
disputes were also settled, and jealousies between
312 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the chapters of Haarlem and Utrecht removed. In
an Act of April 22, 1664, the Archbishop recognised
the capitular rights of the Haarlem chapter, enjoin-
ing the clergy to respect its authority and promising
to accept its advice. The chapter promised on their
part to render him due obedience as though he were
bishop of their own diocese. He also vindicated the
rights of the Utrecht chapter, in answer to a challenge
from Rome, declaring it to be '' Columen Ecclesiae
CathoHcse in Faederato Belgio."
This conduct of the Archbishop, and the feeling of
unity which he promoted amongst both clergy and
laity, had a great effect upon the Church. The number
of Catholics increased daily, and for a time at least
the various sections of the clergy experienced the
blessings of '' dweUing together in unity." Neercassel
had the usual difficulties with the Jesuits, who had
increased their numbers and were impatient of all
episcopal control. They attacked him with abuse,
and brought such charges against him that he ex-
claimed, '' It is a disgrace to the human race to be
obhged to declare that it had produced such impudent
and rash Hars who were able to utter such horrible
calumnies." In 1669 he suppressed several of their
stations, which act so enraged them that they retahated
by accusing the Archbishop of Jansenism, and, although
exonerated by the Pontiff, he thought it necessary to
go to Rome to put an end to the calumnies of the
Jesuits and to their machinations. He was received
with marks of honour by the Pope and his cardinals ;
but, amidst the intrigues of the Papal court, amidst
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 313
all the pomp of the great city, the northern prelate,
with his soHtary attendant, was not altogether comfort-
able, and excited the ridicule of the court. To his
clergy at Utrecht he wrote, '' I beseech you to offer
to God prayers more frequent and urgent than usual
that He may give me the prudence and courage neces-
sary to defend our common cause against foes so
cunning, who make use of such secret devices, and
conduct the affair in a manner to which I am entirely
unaccustomed. David clad in the armour of Saul
was not more embarrassed than I am, when with my
simphcity I am obliged to act and speak according
to the manner of the country." His simplicity and
earnestness, however, won the day. Several of the
cardinals, amongst others Borromeo, Bona, and Caraffa,
were indignant at the intrigues of the Jesuits, and the
Archbishop returned to Holland armed with two decrees
in support of his just claims.
It has already been recorded that in 1672 the
armies of Louis XIV. overran the United Provinces
and took possession of Guelderland, Overyssel, and
Utrecht. The Protestants were evicted from their
churches and the Catholic worship restored. The
grand cathedral of Utrecht was reconciled, and Neer-
cassel officiated and preached to a vast congregation.
When the people were reduced to such sad straits by
the unjust demands of the French and EngHsh, Neer-
cassel was selected by the States to plead the cause
of the oppressed Hollanders at the court of Paris ;
but the progress of affairs, the brave assistance of
the exasperated people, rendered his journey useless.
314 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
During the progress of the war he remained at Ant-
werp and at Huissen, where he estabhshed a kind of
seminary, held a synod, and wrote several valuable
works/ amongst others the famous Amor PcKiiitens.
This noble work was intended to counteract the
lax teaching of the Jesuits on the subject of confes-
sion and absolution, and to show forth the nature
and character of true penitence. In clear, forcible
language the author declares the necessity for a man
to love God, to turn from his sins, to purge the heart
from evil desires, before he can hope to gain remission
of sin. The work was received with acclamations.
Pope Innocent XL said, '' The work is good and its
author is a saint." But the Jesuits were furious and
denounced the book at Rome before the congregation,
who passed a decree suspending the sale of the work
" until it was corrected." This decree had little effect
upon the distribution of copies ; controversy raged and
swelled ; the French bishops and a large number of
the ablest theologians, both in France and the Nether-
lands, amongst others Cardinals Grimaldi and Camus ;
Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux ; Choiseul of Tournay, and
Seve of Arras regarded it with approval. However
able, learned, and devotional the book was, it was
attacked with all the skill of Jesuit casuistry, and as
we shall hereafter see, this noble work, approved of by
the holiest and soundest theologians of the day and
praised by the Pope, became a weapon for assault
^ Tractahis de ctiltu smictorum : De lectione Scripiurce Sacrce,
" On the Validity of the Orders of the Church of England," "On the
Validity of Civil Marriage," &c.
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 315
upon the Church of Holland, and was used to support
a charge of Jansenism.
When the French were beaten back from the
northern provinces the cathedral at Utrecht again was
appropriated by the Protestants, but religious liberty
was allowed to all Christians. The Archbishop showed
great wisdom in his treatment of the question of mixed
marriages, and of marriages contracted in the presence
of a magistrate without any religious ceremony. He
distinguished the natural and civil contract of mar-
riage from the religious ceremony, and contended
that all marriages performed according to the laws
of the country were valid, obligatory, and indisso-
luble, but in order that the contracting parties should
receive the grace and blessing of God it was necessary
to conform to the laws of the Church. This arrange-
ment was approved by the Roman court, by the
bishops of France, and finally became the law of the
Roman Church in 1 74 1.
Another thorny question was skilfully handled by
the great archbishop, that of the right of patronage
to livings. Before the Reformation the lords of the
manors had the right of presentation to benefices, but
these endowments and churches had been appropriated
by the Protestants ; new churches had been built by
voluntary offerings for the old Catholic worship, never-
theless the CathoHc noblemen claimed the right to
present to these new livings. This seemed unjust, and
the Archbishop determined to submit the matter to the
doctors of Louvain, who decided in his favour, and the
Catholic lords were compelled to moderate their claims.
3i6 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
In 1685, on account of the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, many Protestant refugees fled to Holland
and excited their co-religionists to renewed hatred of
all Catholics. The sword of persecution was again
unsheathed. Throughout all Frisia the Catholic wor-
ship was prohibited, and the priests ordered to be im-
prisoned. In Groningen, Overyssel, Gueldres, Zeland,
and Utrecht similar edicts were issued. In Groningen
Catholic lawyers were forbidden to plead, Catholic
nobles were deprived of all jurisdiction over their
vassals, and merchants of their trade. A sister was
sent to prison and fined 400 florins for procuring
the baptism of her brother's child, and the brother
of a priest of Leeuwarden was stoned by the populace.
The magistrates contemplated the aboHshing of the
Catholic worship throughout the United Provinces.
They heavily fined the professors of the old religion
for the support of the refugees, but the liberality of
the Catholics greatly impressed the magistrates in
their favour.
But in spite of persecution the Church prospered.
The Archbishop declared that the trial '' exercised
rather than afQicted the faith." The clergy were
remarkable for their virtuous and pious lives. Many
of them were entirely voluntary workers, living on
their estates, and discharging their ministerial duties
gratuitously. The Archbishop treated with proper
severity any cases of lax discipline, on one occasion
suspending two clergymen for drunkenness and im-
purity. He counted 500,000 Catholics in the United
Provinces, 300 secular priests, and 120 regulars. The
HISTORY OF THE NETHERLANDS. 317
diaries of Neercassel show his indefatigable labours in
visiting the clergy of his diocese, and his minute obser-
vations on the spiritual condition of each parish. In
1686 he died at Zwolle, a victim to his zeal, leaving
behind him the memory of an active and useful life,
having guided the fortunes of the Church of Holland
during a quarter of a century with infinite skill
through many difficulties and dangers. Grievous
troubles were in store for her ; the storm burst upon
her during the rule of the successor of Van Neercassel,
who was the last Archbishop of Utrecht who died in
the communion of the Church of Rome.
CHAPTER XXI.
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM AND THE
TROUBLES OF THE CHURCH OF HOLLAND.
French Jansenists find refuge in Holland — Arnauld — His description
of Dutch Church — Attacked by Jesuits — Resided at Brussels
— Joined by Quesnel — Reflexions Alorales — Quesnel leader of
Augustinian 'party — ,Van Espen — De Berghes, Archbishop of
Mechlin, succeeded by Humbert William — Instance of Papal
assumption— Persecution of Jansenists— Quesnel escapes to Hol-
land — Affairs of the Church of Holland — Van Heussen — Peter
Codde consecrated archbishop— Statistics of the Church— Intrigues
of Jesuits — Shameful device— Codde deposed — Indignation —
Vehement opposition to Papal decree and to De Cock — The
States support the Church — Codde's weakness — Continued per-
secution—The country flooded with foreign clergy— Van Erkel
excommunicated — The See vacant for thirteen years — Bishop
Fagan of Ireland ordains clergy — Bull Unigenihis—'^\xhm\'i%\oxv
of Belgian bishops— Opposition of the clergy— Dominique Varlet
preserves episcopal succession of Church of Holland.
When the Jansenists were driven from France they
found a home in the Netherlands. The first was
Antoine Arnauld, who had been unjustly condemned
by the Sorbonne, through the influence of the Jesuits,
for stating that the Five Propositions were not to be
found in the writings of Jansen, and had never been
held by any of their friends (1655). Being deprived
of his doctor's decree he retired to end his days in
the Netherlands, residing at Brussels, at Veen, near
Leyden, and Louvain. Van Neercassel, the Archbishop
of Utrecht, was his attached friend, and the clergy of
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 319
Holland, devoted to the teaching of A Kempis and
Groote, sympathised with the followers of Jansen,
having long held the Aiigiistinian views of grace.
Arnauld loved his quiet retreat on the shores of the
Haarlemmer Meer, which has now been drained. He
admired the streets so clean and dry, *' the neat little
canals," and considers himself an inhabitant of the
Fortunate Isles. The dwellers in the httle village are
'' the best people in the world, almost all Catholics,
and regarded as the most devout of all the Church of
Holland. They have two churches : one smaller, in
the house of the priest, where they say mass every
week-day at eight o'clock, and the other larger, for
Sundays and festivals. The service was said here
very solemnly on the Feast of Pentecost, with music
and symphony — that is to say, organ and viols. There
were a great number of communicants, not only on
the festival, but also on the next day. The pastor
gave the veil to four religious on the festival. There
are seventy there. Is not this wonderful for a village ?
All that is necessary for the support of the priest, the
church, and the poor is not drawn from any fund, nor
from any tax, but comes simply from voluntary offer-
ings ; and, nevertheless, they have very rich ornaments
and beautiful plate." In his retirement he is not free
from the attacks of the Jesuits, and is warned on one
occasion by the Archbishop not to travel by the Delft
boat lest he should be attacked by Jesuit students who
were returning to their classes. He took an active
interest in the affair of the Avior Pccnitens^ declaring
that it would be ''a very great scandal if a book so
320 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
pious and so solid, written by so holy a bishop, should
be branded by a condemnation from Rome, at the
solicitation of some religious who are known to be
his declared enemies."
Of the condition of the Church in Holland, Arnauld
speaks in the highest praise : '' I do not think that
in a country of the like extent there are so great a
number of good pastors in any other part of Chris-
tendom." Arnauld often resided at Brussels, where
in 1684 he was joined by Quesnel, upon whom his
mantle fell as leader of the Augustinian party. Quesnel
had written a useful work, Pensees Chretiennes sur
les quatre Evangelistes, and afterwards produced his
famous Reflexions Morales^ containing meditations on
Holy Scripture, which was attacked by the Jesuits
and declared to be a reproduction of all the errors
of Jansen.^ It was, however, approved by Antoine
Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, and was subsequently
the cause of many troubles to the Church of Holland.
Arnauld died at Brussels in the house of one of his
disciples, Paul Ernest Ruthdans, a native of Verviers,
in the province of Liege, and canon of the church of
S. Gudule. He had many adherents in the diocese of
Mechlin, and after his death Quesnel retired to Forest-
lez-Bruxelles, which became the centre of the party.
Here came Brigode, his secretary, who was very active
in distributing the works of the Augustinians. Here
Van Espen, the famous jurist and ablest expounder
of canon law, came from the university at Louvain.
Born at Louvain in 1646, Van Espen attained high
1 Smet, iii. 117.
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 321
honours at the University, and Hved there fifty-five
years, until 1 70 1. Holy Scripture and ecclesiastical
history were his subjects of special study. He resided
at the College of the Pope, famous for its learning,
and led a studious, devout, and energetic life, lecturing
to the students, preaching continually, and preserving
through all his labours a happy and cheerful dispo-
sition. These were the leaders of the Augustinian
party to which the University of Louvain had always
been attached.
Alphonse de Berghes, Archbishop of Mechlin, a
worthy prelate, but not remarkable for much learning,
did not show much hostility to Quesnel and his friends.
He left the management of his province in the hands
of Van Vianen, President of the College of the Pope
at Louvain. '' I know that I have not the learning
requisite for the due management of my flock, but
at least my intentions are good, and I design to pro-
vide myself with the ablest counsellors," the humble-
minded bishop once said. He is recorded as having
been a careful guardian of the rights of the Church,
a kind, charitable, and good man. His motto was
characteristic of his manners, '^ Descende ut ascendas."
De Berghes was succeeded in 1689 by Humbert
William a Precipiano, who proved himself no friend
to Quesnel and his disciples. An instance of the
encroachments of Rome upon the rights and privileges
of the native churches occurred in connection with his
election to the Deanery of the Cathedral. In accord-
ance with their accustomed rights the canons of the
Cathedral elected Humbert to the vacant Deanery, but
X
322 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Pope Alexander declared that the right of election
belonged to the Papal See.i Much excitement and
tumult were created by this novel claim, which was
in accordance with the policy of aggrandisement pur-
sued by the Papacy under the guidance of the Jesuits.
In this case further troubles were avoided by the
submission of Humbert to the Pope's decree, and his
entire renunciation of the Deanery.
Humbert did not suffer by his subservience. He
was called to Madrid by King Charles II. to advise his
Majesty concerning Belgian affairs. In 1683 he be-
came Bishop of Bruges, and in 1690 was appointed
Archbishop of Mechlin. Van Gestel speaks very highly
of him, of his constant vindication of the authority of
the Pope, of his many labours in restoring and pre-
serving ecclesiastical jurisdiction and discipline in peril-
ous times, when war raged everywhere, and the work
of a bishop was beset with many difficulties. He
brought out a new edition of the Catechism, drawn up
by the Synod of Mechhn in 1607, ^^^ forbade the use
of any other. " With the zeal of an apostle he always
endeavoured to expel from his diocese the sons of
iniquity and disturbers of the pubhc peace, when he
was not able to bring them under the sweet yoke of
obedience." -
The " sons of iniquity " to whom the writer alludes
were probably Quesnel and the Augustinian party,
whose " errors Humbert opposed with a vigour worthy
of an apostle."^ He pubHshed letters worthy of the
^ Van Gestel, Historia Archiepiscopatus Alechliniensis, p. 64.
- Ibid, 3 Sniet, iii. 218.
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 323
first ages, in which '' he reduced the assertions of the
Jansenists to powder." ^ He also called in the aid of
the civil power. Quesnel's secretary, Brigode, was
forbidden from distributing any Jansenist literature,
and Peter Van Hamme, another member of the party,
arrested in the palace of the Archbishop, and forced to
subscribe to the formulary of Alexander VII. '^ Quesnel
and his secretary retreated to their refuge at Forest,
but the agents of the Archbishop pursued them. They
knocked at the gate, which Brigode came to open, and
when they demanded where his master was he refused
to answer, but made so great a noise and spoke so loud
that Quesnel was able to realise his danger, and had
time to escape. Returning, however, to secure some
of his papers his pursuers demanded his name. He
assured them that he was called Rebeck ; but he was
taken to the palace of the Archbishop and put in prison,
from which his friends succeeded in releasing him by
making a hole in the wall which divided the prison
from the stables of an adjoining tavern, and QuesneJ
found a safe asylum amongst his partisans in Holland.
Archbishop Humbert passed sentence of excommuni-
cation upon him, and condemned him to a rigorous
penance, which abundantly satisfied the sovereign
pontiff.
The cause of the indignation against Quesnel was
the heresy which was supposed to lurk in his Rc-
flexions Morales, a work approved by the Archbishop
of Paris, the Archbishop of Utrecht, and many French
and Belgian bishops. He is also accused by Smet of
1 Smet, iii. 21S. - Cf. ^. 304.
324 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
nominating Peter Codde as Vicar-Apostolic of Utrecht,
and of consecrating him at Brussels as Archbishop of
Utrecht under the title of Archbishop of Sebaste (in
Partibus). The whole statement is entirely devoid of
truth, and in order to follow the course of events we
must now return to Holland.
On the death of Van Neercassel the Chapters, assem-
bled at Gouda, elected Van Heussen (1689), the friend
and companion of the late Archbishop, an earnest and
learned man, who afterwards wrote the famous Batavia
Sacra and the Historia Episcopatutun Federati Belgii.
Peter Codde and John Lindeborn, the author of His-
toria EpiscopatiLS Davenriensis were also nominated
grand-vicars of the vacant See. The writings of Van
Heussen were, however, regarded with suspicion by
the congregation of cardinals at Rome, who considered
that they savoured of Jansenist or of the new Galilean
notions; more especially a treatise on Indulgences
was attacked. Van Heussen bravely defended his
book, but the consideration of the matter was post-
poned. In order to accord with the wishes of the
Papal court the Chapters nominated three other priests
for the vacancy, of whom Peter Codde stood first.
The Jesuits, however, were moving heaven and earth
to procure the appointment of one of their creatures,
and had it not been for the exertions of an Enghsh-
man. Cardinal Howard, they would doubtless have
succeeded in their designs of crushing out the Church
of Holland. De Cock was sent by the Chapters to
Rome to plead the cause of the Church, and at length,
after much controversy, Peter Codde was consecrated
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 325
Archbishop at Brussels by the Archbishop of Mechlin
and the Bishops of Antwerp and Namur (1689). Be-
fore consecration he was asked to sign the formulary
against Jansenism, but he declined on the ground that
he had not studied the question sufficiently, and the
declaration was not enforced. He was a learned pre-
late, an able preacher, and a devout man. If he had
lived in less troubled times, his episcopacy would doubt-
less have conferred great blessings on his Church ;
but he was scarcely strong enough to meet the insidi-
ous snares and strenuous attacks of the enemies who
plotted the ruin of the National Church of Holland.
In 1 70 1 he furnished a description of the state of
the Church to Pope Clement XL, the details of which
are full of interest.^ The whole population of the
United Provinces was 2,000,000, of which 1,500,000
were Calvinists, 80,000 Lutherans, 160,000 Mennonites
or Anabaptists, 6o,ooo Arminians, 70,000 Socinians or
Deists, 25,000 Jews, and about 330,000 Catholics.
The Calvinists and Lutherans were in possession of
the ancient churches. All the other sects, except the
Socinians, who openly attacked the divinity of our
Lord, were tolerated, and the edicts against the Catho-
lics were in abeyance, although they found it necessary
to give an annual sum to the bailiffs in each town in
order to prevent any enforcement of the unrepealed
edicts. In Amsterdam, however, this was no longer
required. It was no longer necessary to hold their
semces in secret ; they had permanent oratories, and
were allowed to build new chapels.
^ Bellegarde, Histoire Abrcgee cV Uti'ccht^ p. 208.
326 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Catholicism made much progress during this time
of peace, and Codde counted as many as 200 or 250
conversions each year, although few of the principal
families returned to the old faith on account of their
worldly interests, which attached them to Calvinism.
He noticed with grief the apostasy of about 1 50 each
year, who were induced for the sake of temporal
advantage to leave the fold. They became Protestants
in order to acquire some office, to contract some mar-
riage, or to escape the loss of a heritage ; whereas the
conversions to the true faith were sincere, inasmuch
as loss of employment, reproaches, and public sentence
of excommunication pronounced from the pulpit b}^
their ministers, were all cheerfully endured for the
sake of their convictions.
The number of clergy increased. Codde founded in
twelve years twenty new parishes. There were 470
clergy in the province, 340 seculars and 130 regulars.
There were 266 parishes, 17 arch-presbyteries (6 for
Utrecht, 5 for Haarlem, 3 for Deventer, and i each
for Leeuwarden, Groningen, and Middelbourg). No
parish priest in the country was allowed to discharge
his office outside his parish without permission, except
in case of necessity ; but in the towns this rule was not
adhered to. We have already noticed the testimony
which Arnauld and others bear to the faithfulness and
zeal of the clergy of the Church of Holland, and Codde
declares that they were indefatigable in preaching and
catechising, and that the Church of Holland could
compare favourably with that of any other country
where Catholicism was not the dominant religion.
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 327
The great weakness of the Church was caused by
internal disputes, by the insubordination of the Jesuits,
and the troubles they created by the repeated charges
of Jansenism which they brought against the Arch-
bishop and his principal clergy. Van Heussen, Van
Erkel, Roos, and others. They began their nefarious
practices in 1692, inducing the Spanish ambassador
and others at the Hague to write to Rome and accuse
Codde and his clergy of Jansenism and of professed
agreement with the Gallican articles of 1682, which the
doctors of Louvain had refused to censure ; but the
death of Pope Alexander VIII. put an end to the in-
vestigation of these charges. They renewed them,
however, in the rule of Pope Innocent XII., who pro-
nounced Codde innocent of all the charges brought
against him. They then resorted to a shameful device ;
they published an infamous libel, which was printed
without any author's or printer's name, entitled,
*' Abridged memorial, extracted from a larger one,
concerning the state and progress of Jansenism in
Holland." Codde declared that it was a " libel, full
of lies and calumnies ; " but it accomplished its pur-
pose. Codde's letters of vindication were unanswered,
and probably suppressed by the Jesuits at Rome, and
in 1699 the congregation passed a secret resolution
substituting Theodore de Cock instead of Codde, and
commanding the latter to come to Rome and render an
account of his conduct.
This daring and maHcious act alarmed the per-
petrators, and they had not the courage to make
public and to put into force their resolution. To sus-
328 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
pend and practically to condemn and humiliate a great
archbishop of a National Church on a charge of which
he had been declared innocent by Papal lips seemed
too daring an act. But Codde must be brought to
Rome, and a courteous and flattering invitation is sent
asking him to attend on the occasion of the jubilee of
1700. The Archbishop sets out for the eternal city.
Pope Innocent XII. dies, and when the prelate arrives
at Rome he finds Cardinal Albani, a favourer of the
Jesuits, a vehement opponent of the rights of the
Church of Holland, occupying the Papal See under
the title of Clement XL
It is unnecessary to follow the course of procedure,
which could only eventuate in one way. In spite of
five out of the ten cardinals supporting Codde, in spite
of the apparent wilHngness of the Pope to acquit him,
he was eventually condemned. In 1702 Clement XL
issued a brief, declaring De Cock pro- Vicar Apostolic
of the United Provinces in the place of Codde, and de-
posing the latter from the exercise of all functions
pertaining to that office.
It is impossible to find in ecclesiastical history a
more scandalous and disgraceful decree on the part
of any Pope. Even the cardinals and Ultramontanes
were amazed and indignant. The Roman canonist,
Hyacinth de Archangelis, pronounced the whole pro-
ceeding null and void, and Renardi, doctor of Louvain,
the defender of the infaUibility of the Pope, declared
that the " decree was an eternal disgrace to the Court
of Rome, and to the present occupier of the Holy See."
The thirst for the power, the desire to crush the autho-
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 329
rity of a National Church, and to bring.it into the entire
subjection to the despotic ministers of the court of
Rome, seem to have been the principal motives which
prompted the actors in this strange drama. The sub-
sequent events were in accordance with this beginning.
The Nuncio wrote to order the Chapters to receive De
Cock. They respectfully refused, and De Cock declared
that this disobedience deprived them of all their power
and authority. He proceeded to nominate seven new
arch-priests, and to disregard the protesting clergy.
The Chapters met to decide what was to be done in
such perilous times, and issued an ordinance for the
purpose of preventing the faithful from being drawn
away from their loyalty to their own Archbishop by
the arrogant pretensions of De Cock. But in spite of
these endeavours to preserve the unity of the Church
of Holland a schism began to show itself. Some
recognised the Pope's nominee, and regarded his oppo-
nents with suspicion and distrust, others remained
loyal to their own Church and Archbishop. Popular
feehng became aroused, and showed itself in riots and
tumults.
The States of Holland and West Friesland inquired
from the clergy a true account of the affair ; Van Erkel
defended the Chapters, and a decree was passed in
1702 prohibiting De Cock from the exercise of any
jurisdiction over the CathoHcs, declaring his intrusion
unwarrantable, and pronouncing all that had been done
by virtue of the new brief to be null and void. Cock
pretended to recognise the edict. The clergy vainly
addressed a spirited defence of their position to the
330 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Pope and the Propaganda. The Papal Nuncio refused
to acknowledge the existence of the Utrecht Chapter,
and the very existence of the Church of Holland was
disregarded b}^ the Roman court.
After his condemnation Codde was treated with kind-
ness and honour by both Pope and cardinals ; but it
was commonly reported in Holland that he was doomed
to death. The people were enraged, and the States
declared that if Codde was not set at liberty they would
drive every Jesuit out of the country and make De Cock
prisoner. Codde returned to Holland in 1703, and
found everything in a state of the greatest confusion,
and the divisions amongst the Catholics deplorable.
He wrote to Rome imploring some remedy for this
disastrous condition of affairs, and the onl}'- answer he
received was that if he attempted to exercise any juris-
diction he would be zpso facto excommunicate, that
De Cock was the representative of the Holy See, and
that all who did not recognise his authority were
schismatics.
The States of Utrecht supported the cause of their
persecuted Church. The old national spirit of freedom
and hatred of tyranny showed itself, and although most
of the members of the council were not Churchmen,
yet they were not going to allow their old National
Church, governed by a worthy and devout prelate, to
be treated with indignity and wrong by any sovereign
pontiff whose rule they in no way recognised. They
published an edict prohibiting De Cock from the exer-
cise of any jurisdiction over the Catholics in Holland.
He had the rashness to declare that this decree had
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 331
been procured from the magistrates through the pay-
ment of money by his adversaries. This so enraged
the States that they offered a large sum for his appre-
hension, and banished him from the country.
If Codde had been a strong-minded and courageous
man he might have lessened the troubles of his Church
by resisting the usurpations of Rome, by rallying around
him the faithful, relying upon the protection which the
States were perfectly ready to afford him. This would
have been the wisest course ; this Van Espen advised ;
but the Archbishop sighed for peace, and thought that
by sacrificing himself, by obeying the demands of his
enemies, the Church he loved might have rest. Future
events showed the fallacy of the idea and the mistake
he made; but it was the mistake of an earnest, un-
selfish, and peace-loving man. He bade an affecting
farewell to the Church he loved in May 1704, and
passed the rest of his life in retirement near Utrecht,
where he died six years later.
The withdrawal of the Archbishop did not improve
the state of affairs one whit. Four pro-vicars appointed
by the Chapters were in authority, of whom the first
was James Catz. He was suspended from all his
functions, and in order to add ridicule to wrong his
sentence of suspension was conveyed to him attached
to the foot of a hare. The terrors of excommunication
were threatened against all disobedient clerics, which
so alarmed the Chapter of Haarlem that its members
promised not to take any part in the government of
the diocese, although they contended for their right to
exist according to ancient usage. The Utrecht Chap-
332 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ter, however, stood firm, and demanded the restoration
of Codde. The States of Holland and West Friesland
banished some arch-priests whom De Cock had intro-
duced, and threatened to drive out the Jesuits. Bussi,
the Nuncio at Brussels, endeavoured to promote peace,
and recommended the appointment of Gerard Potchamp,
pastor of Lingen, an excellent man, wise and moderate
in his views, as Vicar-Apostolic. During his short
tenure of office, which only lasted a few months, he
consoled the Church by his recognition of the rights of
the Chapters and of the pro-vicars, and died much
regretted in 1706.
The climax of confusion was reached when in the
following year Adam Daemen, a scandalous and drunken
priest, was consecrated Vicar-Apostolic under the title
of Archbishop of Adrianople, in direct opposition to the
declared will of the Chapters. The magistrates again
interfered to protect the rights of the National Church,
and in 1708 passed a decree banishing the Jesuits from
the provinces. This severe measure brought about
some unsatisfactory negotiations. Censures upon the
clergy were poured into Holland frorii the Nuncio's
safe retreat at Cologne. All appointed by the Chapters
were summoned to appear before the representative of
the Pope at Cologne. The States pubHshed a decree
prohibiting them from obeying any such unlawful
command. The Jesuits flooded the country with
letters exhorting the Catholics to refuse to communi-
cate with the old clergy, '* those obstinate rebels to
the Holy See, those mercenaries, those blind leaders
who had no power to exercise any religious office
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 333
without sacrilege, and were in short damned and ex-
communicate." A crowd of foreign clergy was poured
into Holland to possess themselves of the pastorates
of the native ecclesiastics, to increase the spirit of
division, and to detach the affections of the people
from their old pastors.
The clergy were driven to desperation and published
a spirited protest ; the States came to their assistance,
and Daemen, who was not allowed to set foot in the
provinces, seeing that he could gain no profit from
his office, resigned in 1 709. In the following year, the
aged Archbishop Codde, worn out with all his sorrows,
and distracted by the sad spectacle of his harassed
Church, passed away into the silent land, where
'' the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are
at rest."
For thirteen years the Church of Holland was de-
prived of its chief pastor, during which period its
members showed remarkable courage and persever-
ance in the face of unparalleled difficulties. The brave
defender of the Church, Van Erkel, was summoned
to appear before the Papal Nuncio; he respectfully
declined, and was thereupon excommunicated. The
faithful were warned not to receive the sacraments at
the hands of the old clergy, that sacraments adminis-
tered by such men were not valid, and were indeed
sacrilegious acts. Some negotiations were entered
into without any satisfactory results. The country
was flooded with young Jesuit priests, who scrupled
not to establish themselves in the churches by force.
One of the old clergy was insulted and assaulted in
334 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
his own church at the Hague by this rabble. Another
was dragged away from the altar. The doors of
another churcli were besieged, and all who wished to
enter were stopped and insulted. They proclaimed
that baptism administered by the old clergy did not
take away original sin, that their communion was not
a sacrament, that marriages celebrated by them were
invalid, and that children born of such alliances were
bastards. The uncertainty infused into men's minds
by such teaching was appalHng, and the iniquity of
these agents of persecution can with difficulty be
described. The distress of the Church was great.
Many years had passed since any new clergy had
been ordained. Death had removed several of the
elder ones, and the Chapters determined to procure
some new men, if only a bishop could be found who
would have pity upon the widowhood of the Church
of Holland, and brave the censures of Rome for her
sake. To Ireland they turned their eyes, and at last
Luke Fagan, Bishop of Meath, afterwards Archbishop
of DubHn, secretly ordained twelve priests. This
raised the hopes of the national party, and filled their
enemies with fury.
At this time almost the whole Western Church was
exercised by the promulgation in 171 3 of the famous
Bull of Clement XL, entitled UnigenituSy which con-
demned as heretical one hundred and one proposi-
tions extracted from the writings of Quesnel. This
dogmatic constitution was the cause of many troubles.
It received a strong opposition on the part of several
of the French bishops headed by De Noailles, Arch-
RESURRECTION OF jfANSENISM. 335
bishop of Paris ; and after the death of Louis XIV.,
who had been one of the chief instigators of the
obnoxious Bull, the number of the opposers increased
mightily, and the Sorbonne joined in the protest which
was sent to the Pope.
The Belgian bishops accepted the Bull with sub-
mission, and received a flattering letter from the Pope.
The Metropolitan See of Mechlin was then occupied
by Thomas Philip of Alsace, a man of low birth, a
tool of the Jesuits, formerly Canon of S. Bavon at
Ghent, vicar-general of the bishop, Philip Erard Van
der Noot, and Bishop of Ypres. This prelate was
very eager to crush out any opposition to the Bull
in his province. He had a redoubtable opponent
in Van Espen of Louvain, whose powerful writings
against the Bull had a great effect not only in the
Netherlands but in France. Many of the clergy of
Brabant refused to accept the Bull, and implored the
protection of the Council of Brabant against the threats
of the Archbishop. '' In the Catechism," they said,
'' which Archbishop Boonen gave us it is written that
we ought to believe all that the Church decrees and
not what the Pope decrees." The Archbishop cited
one of the canons of his cathedral. Van Roost, to
appear before his tribunal on the charge of disobedi-
ence to the Pope ; but Van Roost escaped to Holland.
Several of the principal clergy were declared heretics
and deprived of all their offices and dignities by the
Ultramontane prelate ; amongst others two canons
of S. Peter at Louvain, Francis Vivien and Antoine
Cinck; two canons of S. Gudule at Brussels, Charles
336 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
de Wynants and Francis Coppens ; two priests of the
oratory ; a chaplain of Notre Dame ; and the confessor
of S. Rombaud at Mechlin. The Bishop of Antwerp
followed into the footsteps of his Metropohtan and
excommunicated the Abbot of Vlierbeek. Thomas
Phihp was rewarded for his persecuting zeal with a
cardinal's hat.
The clergy of Holland, in spite of their dangers,
were not so subservient. They followed the example
of the French protesting bishops, and in a masterly
document appealed to the Future Council not only
against the Bull Unigenitus, but also against the
unjust treatment which the Church of Holland had
received. Although this appeal had no effect upon
the Court at Rome, it produced a good impression in
France, and attracted the sympathy of the French
bishops, one of whom consented to ordain four clergy
for Holland.
By the good Providence of God, Dominique Varlet,
Bishop of Babylon, came to Holland on his way to
Russia, and stayed at Amsterdam with Krys, one of
the faithful clergy. Moved by the pitiable state of the
Church, he consented to confirm six hundred candi-
dates. This act was never forgiven by the Propa-
ganda, and when the good bishop was prosecuting
his mission on the shores of the Caspian Sea, notice
of his suspension was conveyed to him by a Jesuit
emissary. No appeal, protest, or defence was of
any avail ; and subsequently the Bishop of Babylon
came to reside at Amsterdam, and became the
instrument in God's hands for preserving the con-
RESURRECTION OF JANSENISM. 33;
tinuity and episcopal succession of the Church of
Holland.
Wearied of waiting the Chapters determined to ob-
tain an archbishop. They consulted the Universities
of Louvain and Paris whether it was lawful for them
to elect an archbishop without obtaining the Pope's
assent, and having obtained a favourable reply they
met in 1723. They elected Cornelius Steenoven Arch-
bishop of Utrecht, who was consecrated by the Bishop
of Babylon in the following year. To the great grief
and loss of the Church he died two years later.
The valuable life of the Bishop of Babylon was
happily preserved for many years. He consecrated no
less than four Archbishops of Utrecht : Cornehus Steen-
oven (1723-25), Cornelius John Barchman Wuytiers
(1725-33), Theodore Van der Croon (1733-38), and
Peter John Meindaerts (1739-67). At each consecra-
tion notice was sent to the Pope, who replied by
sentence of excommunication ; but in spite of the
terrible troubles which the Church had to undergo,
the ceaseless machinations of the Jesuits, who on two
occasions planned the abduction of the Bishop of
Babylon, in spite of Papal threats and Jesuit intrigues,
the Church of Holland maintained her existence. In
the midst of all her perils, the college at Amersfoort
was founded for the education of her clergy, and she
showed an example of faithfulness, of conscientious
adherence to principles, of perseverance in spite of all
obstacles, which has seldom been surpassed in all the
annals of ecclesiastical history.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE BELGIAN CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
Belgian discontent on account of Austrian government — Maria Eliza-
beth appointed governor — Louis XV. invades country — Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle— Good government of Maria Theresa — Religious
toleration — History of bishopric of Liege— Cardinal de Furstem-
berg— John Louis of Elderen — Severity of Louis XV. — ^Joseph
Clement, Archbishop of Cologne and Bishop of Liege — Accepts
Unigenitus — George Louis de Bergue — His wise rule — Unwise
reforms of Joseph H. — Religious liberty proclaimed — Decrees
concerning Papal supremacy, marriages, minutiae of worship,
dress of nuns, &c. — Louvain secularised — Suppression of episcopal
seminaries — Violent opposition — Revolt of students at Louvain —
Rebellion of the "patriots" — Independence of Belgian provinces
proclaimed — Death of Joseph H. — Country reconquered by Leopold
II. — "Statists" and " Vonckists" — Revolt of people of Liege —
Death of Leopold II.
We have already noticed that by the treaty of Utrecht
the Belgian provinces were transferred to Austria
and formed part of the empire of Charles VI. This
arrangement was not agreeable to the people, and de-
grading to their sense of national honour. The rising
discontent was increased by the action of the new
government. Prince Eugene of Savoy, the governor,
appointed the Marquis of Prie as his plenipotentiary,
a man of haughty and imperious disposition, whose
despotic rule kindled the slumbering embers of revolt.
At Mechlin, Antwerp, and at Brussels furious riots
338
BELGIAN CHURCH IN 18^'' CENTURY. 339
took place, which required the presence of the German
troops to subdue them.
The Marquis of Prie was recalled in 1725, and the
Archduchess Maria Elizabeth was appointed governor,
whose wise administration restored peace and content-
ment to the people. In ecclesiastical matters she was
mainly guided by the powerful Archbishop of Mechlin,
Cardinal Thomas Philip of Alsace, whose persecution
of the Jansenists we have already noticed. Arch-
bishop Croon of Utrecht, harassed by the troubles
of his See, wrote to the powerful prelate to ask his
protection. The Cardinal replied in a letter which, for
abuse and insult, has been rarely surpassed. Even
the Pope was offended by his intemperate zeal, and
admonished him to confine in future his endeavours
to promote the welfare of the Church of Holland to
his prayers.
On the death of Charles VI. his heroic daughter,
Maria Theresa, was left to contend for her crown with
many pretenders ; Frederick the Great of Prussia, the
Electors of Bavaria and Saxony, and the Kings of
Spain and Sardia were all eager to share the spoil of
an unprotected empire. But the intrepid Empress was
not without allies. England and Holland came to her
defence. The Cardinal Archbishop was sent to Paris
to secure the neutrality of Louis XV., but his efforts
were in vain. Louis poured an army into the Nether-
lands, and by the battles of Fontenoy (1745) and Ran-
cour (1747) made himself master of the country, and
threatened Holland. William IV., another scion of
the illustrious house of Orange, was elected stadtholder
340 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
to protect the provinces ; but happily in 1748 the treaty
of Aix-la-Chapelle put an end to the war, the Belgian
provinces reverting to Austria.
The rule of Maria Theresa was a bright spot in a
disastrous period of Belgian history, and her memory
is still revered by the people. Her brother, Duke
Charles of Lorraine, was appointed governor, and won
the affections of all the inhabitants. He instituted
many wise and useful reforms, and while applying a
system of centralisation in the pohtical administration
of the country, he paid due respect to the privileges
and institutions which prevailed under the old regime
in each province. He authorised a free public exercise
of all forms of religion, suppressed the censureship of
books, abolished the barbarous practice of torturing
criminals, and considerably improved the material
prosperity of the country. Middle-class education had
hitherto been mainly in the hands of the Jesuits. After
the suppression of that order in 1773 the government
created new colleges, called theresiens, and also schools
of art for teaching drawing, painting, and architecture.
The bishopric of Liege was also governed by wise
and peace-loving bishops, who were a great contrast
to many of their predecessors. We have traced the
history of this principaHty to the advent of Maximilian
Henry, who began his rule in 1650. He was as tyranni-
cal as any of the preceding bishops, and trampled upon
the rights of the citizens, levying heavy taxes and
increasing their burdens. They rose in arms against
him, and were punished with great severity. The
province became a prey to the armies of Louis XIV.,
BELGIAN CHURCH IN 18^" CENTURY. 341
who paid little respect to the neutrality of the princi-
pality. The towns and villages were invaded, and
money extorted from the luckless inhabitants " for the
service of the King." The citadel of Liege was sold
to the French by the treacherous governor, the Baron
of Vierset, in 1675, and in the following year it was
destroyed. During this disastrous time the Bishop
had retired to Germany, and during his absence the
populace revolted with their accustomed vigour. Maxi-
milian Henry returned with some German troops,
reduced the turbulent citizens, and established his
famous Regulation or constitution of eighty-five articles,
which considerably diminished the political rights of
the people. He also built a citadel to keep them in
subjection, and constructed a fort, called the Dardan-
elles, in the middle of the bridge which spanned the
river connecting the two parts of the city, and thus
maintained a firm hold on his subjects.
After the death of the Bishop (1688) the province
became again the theatre of the war between Louis
XIV. and the allied forces. Neither were the internal
affairs of the Church in a better state. The same evils
which produced the Reformation still existed. Power-
ful prelates, selected for their birth rather than their
virtues, reigned as temporal lords rather than as Chris-
tian bishops, amassing wealth, levying taxes, waging
war, holding two or three bishoprics at once, paying
little attention to the spiritual wants of their flocks.
Cardinal de Furstemberg, Bishop of Strasburg, who
managed to get himself elected Coadjutor Bishop of
Liege before the death of Maximilian Henry, was a
342 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
prelate of this character. When the latter died he
possessed himself of the wealth which Maximilian had
amassed, and which was bequeathed to Prince Joseph
Clement, brother of the Elector of Bavaria, and endea-
voured to procure the bishopric for himself, and also
the archbishopric of Cologne. To the latter Prince
Joseph Clement was elected, in spite of his youthful
age of seventeen years, and in spite of his possession
of two other bishoprics. Foiled in his attempts at
Cologne, the Cardinal used every intrigue to procure
Liege with the support of the French monarch. But
the Chapter resisted all his attempts, and elected John
Louis, Baron of Elderen. The choice gave great satis-
faction to the people of Liege, who hated the Cardinal
on account of the taxes which he had levied. The
Pope confirmed the election, which so irritated Louis
XIV. that he threatened to send an army into Italy,
seized Avignon, and then prosecuted his relentless war
in Germany, the results of which we have already
noticed.
John Louis was a pious, gentle, and just bishop, but
unable to cope with the powerful and unscrupulous
Louis XV., who exacted vast subsidies from the princi-
pahty, and destoyed the citadel of Liege. When the
league was formed by England, Holland, and Germany
against France, the people of Liege pleaded their de-
fenceless state, their poverty, their distress, their want
of troops, as powerful reasons for not engaging in
another war ; but when an army of Hollanders threat-
ened to bombard the town, they consented to join the
league against Louis. He punished them for their
BELGIAN CHURCH IN i8™ CENTURY. 343
desertion by pillaging Huy, Stavelot, Malmedy, with
its church and monastery, and in 1 69 1 his general, the
Marquis of BoufQers, bombarded Liege for five days,
causing a great destruction of churches and other
buildings. The principality suffered with the rest of
Belgium all the calamities of the protracted war.
John Louis ruled only six years and was succeeded
in 1694 by Joseph Clement, Archbishop of Cologne.
This prelate concluded a secret treaty with France,
and when the victorious armies of the Duke of Marl-
borough carried all before them, he was forced to seek
safety in flight, and Liege was obliged to capitulate.
Although Joseph Clement was Archbishop of Cologne
and Prince-Bishop of Liege, he does not seem to have
taken holy orders until sometime after his election.
The chronicles of Liege record that '' on the first day
of the year 1707, having taken holy orders, he cele-
brated mass at Lille in the presence of his brother."
The Bishop followed the lead of the other prelates
in Belgium with regard to the Bull UnigenituSy and
published an edict compelling the clergy in his diocese
to accept it. The village priest of Grace, near Liege,
named Hoffreumont, resisted the edict and was cited
to appear before the Bishop. He appealed to the
Emperor, and, assisted by the Jansenists, went to the
court at Vienna and obtained an order granting pro-
tection to him, or to any other man who refused to
accept the obnoxious Bull. Copies of this order were
sent by the priest to the bishops of France and to
other ecclesiastics, who were much strengthened in
their resolution to resist the Papal decree. The Bishop
344 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
became alarmed, and by urgent representations obtained
from the Emperor a revocation of the order. The
priest refused to submit, abandoned his cure, and took
refuge in Holland. Joseph Clement died in 1723, and
was succeeded by George Louis de Bergue, a man of
great piety, much beloved by the people, and it is
recorded as a special proof of his justice, that he did
not impose any charges upon his subjects for his own
use, but contented himself with the revenues of the
principality. He paid close attention to the spiritual
wants of his See, especially taking care that only
suitable and learned men should be admitted to holy
orders. He required that all candidates for the
ministry should pass three months at the seminaries
of Liege or Louvain, and that they should be well
instructed in theology and in the ceremonies of the
Church. He ordered the parish clergy to preach and
to catechise every Sunday and Festival, and threatened
with severe censure any who failed to perform their
duty. He forbade the clergy to enter taverns ; he
visited his diocese and confirmed; and with regard
to the temporal wants of his subjects he was equally
zealous and successful in causing improvement. A
new era had dawned for the Church in Liege, and the
old days of tyranny and revolt had for a time passed
away.
The happy reign of Maria Theresa was followed in
1780 by that of her son, Joseph H., a well-intentioned
but unwise ruler who, impressed by the philosophical
ideas current in France, desired to remodel his vast
empire and to construct a uniform system of govern-
BELGIAN CHURCH IN i8™ CENTURY. 345
ment and administration. To revise, reform, and
reconstruct were objects dear to the heart of the new
emperor. Local customs long cherished ; chartered
rights and privileges, purchased by the lives of heroic
citizens on many a bloody field ; laws, regulations,
and constitutions handed down from happier and more
prosperous days, and preserved with all the tenacity
of a brave and conservative race, were all forced to
bend before the stubborn will of the imperial reformer.
He believed that he had power to fashion the people
into any shape he pleased, just as the potter moulds
clay. He found, however, that the material on which
he worked was not quite so facile, and popular dis-
content soon manifested itself.
The state of religion in the Belgian provinces first
attracted his attention. The bishops were warm ad-
herents to the Papacy, as we have already seen, and
the clergy, who were Catholic but not Roman, had
found Holland a safer abode than any they could pro-
cure in the Austrian Netherlands. The Archbishop of
Mechlin was John Henry de Franckenberg, who was
the vehement opposer of the Emperor's reforms. Com-
plete liberty of conscience was proclaimed in 178 1.
The Catholic remained the dominant religion, but
Protestants were allowed to build churches on con- ,
dition that their edifices did not resemble churches
and had no clocks or bells, to enjoy all the rights of
citizenship, to enter the academical course of arts,
law, and medicine at the University of Louvain, and
to be free from all restrictions with regard to their
religion. To this measure the bishops strongly
346 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
objected, and the authorities of Louvain addressed
certain remonstrances to the Emperor, stating that
their University was founded for the preservation of
the CathoHc faith, that tolerance was the seed of
dissensions and endless disputes, that the Catholic
religion regarded all heretics, without distinction, as
victims devoted to the horror of eternal punishment,
and that on these grounds they objected to the Em-
peror's decree.
Another decree informed the magistrates that the
Catholics were allowed to build a church and a school
where there were one hundred families, that their
funerals should be solemnised openly, that in the case
of mixed marriages the children of a Catholic father
and a Protestant mother should be educated as
Catholics, and that the sons of a Protestant father
and Catholic mother should be Protestants, the
daughters Catholics.
All clergy belonging to religious orders were freed
from their dependence upon all foreign ecclesiastical
superiors, and it was forbidden to have recourse to
Rome to obtain dispensations for marriages prohibited
by law, and authority was given to the bishops to
grant such dispensations. The Archbishop of Mechlin
expressed his regret that he had not power to comply
with the wishes of the Emperor in this respect. In
1782 the bishops were ordered to tolerate mixed
marriages, and the CathoHc clergy to publish the
banns and assist in the celebration of such unions.
In 1783 several useless convents were suppressed.
Appeals to the Pope were forbidden, and episcopal
BELGIAN CHURCH IN 18'" CENTURY. 347
charges were to be submitted to the Emperor for his
approval.
The minutiae of worship and rules of religious orders
received the attention of the eager reformer, even the
dress of the nuns did not escape him. They were
ordered to wear black robes without mantles or veils.
A new division of parishes, collation to benefices,
modes of examination, the suppression of brother-
hoods, processions, &c., all occupied the mind of the
Emperor; and he secularised the ancient University
of Louvain, converting it into a general seminary, and
estabhshing a similar institution at Luxembourg. The
episcopal seminaries were suppressed and converted
into clerical schools, where the candidates for the
ministry were obliged to retire after they had finished
their course at the university to learn the duties of
their calling. An ecclesiastical committee was formed
to carry out the reforms inaugurated by the Emperor.
These measures created violent opposition through-
out the Netherlands, and earnest remonstrances on the
part of the Archbishop and clergy. The changes at
Louvain caused considerable irritation. It is true
that the course of instruction was too circumscribed.
Scholasticism was still in favour, and the scholars were
educated in theological subtleties, and were better able
to sustain a thesis than to compose a good sermon.
But that was no reason why the whole character and
constitution of the university should be changed.
The students soon showed their discontent; they
complained of the management of the schools, of their
food, of the ignorance, immorality, and heterodoxy of
348 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the professors, whom they treated with derision. At
length they openly showed their discontent, and insulted
the rector and professors. A scandalous tumult ensued
— glasses, benches, and tables were broken, and the
students abandoned themselves to wild excesses.
When asked by a representative of the government
what they wanted, they replied, Sanain doctrinam et
bonam disciplinam ; but the tumult was not assuaged
before the arrival of a company of soldiers. Subse-
quently they stated their demands, that the bishops
should be the judges of both doctrine and discipline in
the school ; that each professor should be approved by
the bishops, and also the books used at the public lec-
tures ; and they added certain requests with regard to
the hours of study, holidays, admission of friends, &c.
The Archbishop of Mechlin read the refractory
youths a lesson and reprimanded them for their ex-
cesses, and by force of arms twenty-five ringleaders
were transferred to the prisons of the university.
Abbot Dufour, who had been appointed by the Em-
peror to preside over the theological faculty, delivered
a long address in Latin, which was a mark for the wit
and epigrams of the students. His scholarship was
derided, and when he ventured to use the classical
adjuration nie Heraile, they declared the Abbot was
far more familiar with Pagan authors and philosophers
than with the fathers of the Church. Small matters
mingle with great in all popular movements. Restric-
tions in the usual allowance of beer to the students
greatly increased the discontent, and Louvain became
nearly deserted.
BELGIAN CHURCH IN iS^^ CENTURY. 349
The Emperor Joseph was not more successful with
the other reforms which he attempted to impose upon
his rehictant subjects, in spite of the remonstrances of
the Archbishop and bishops, and of the States. The
closing of the diocesan seminaries by military force
was the signal for violent opposition on the part of the
clergy and the patriots, as the party were called who
were resolved to maintain the ancient institutions.
Two lawyers. Van der Noot and Vonck, took the lead
in the popular movement. An army of volunteers was
formed, and in 1789 the patriots gained the important
battle of Turnhout. Town after town fell into their
hands, and only Luxembourg remained to the Emperor.
In 1790 the independence of the Belgian provinces
was proclaimed.
Disappointment and sorrow caused by the loss of
Belgium, and distress on account of the sufferings of
his daughter, the unhappy Marie Antoinette, who was
then at the mercy of the refractory citizens of Paris,
caused the death of Joseph II. in 1791. He was suc-
ceeded by his brother, Leopold II., who succeeded in
reconquering the Belgian provinces. The ranks of the
rebels were weakened by dissensions. One party, called
statists^ headed by Van der Noot, wished to restore the
ancient institutions ; the other, called progressists or
Vonckists, from their leader Vonck, longed to intro-
duce into the country that system of popular govern-
ment which the French Revolution had inaugurated.
This division weakened the new government, and
paved the way for the advent of the forces of the new
emperor.
350 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The lessons of the French Revolution had been
eagerly learnt by the people of Liege. In the time of
Bishop Veibruck (1772- 1784) popular feehng ran high
against the government of the powerful ecclesiastic
who exercised temporal and spiritual control over the
people of the principaHty, and in 1789, in the time of
his successor, Bishop de Hoensbroeck, the spirit of
liberty and independence produced a determined revolt,
and the Bishop was forced to take refuge in Germany.
When the armies of the Emperor marched into Bel-
gium to reduce his rebel subjects to submission, on
their way they restored the Bishop of Liege to his
principahty and subdued the revolt. This restoration
did not last long. Leopold II. died in 1792, and events
were about to happen which produced vast changes,
both ecclesiastical and civil, in the destinies of all the
Netherland 'provinces.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN THE EIGHTEENTH
■ CENTURY, AND THE EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Decline of Dutch Republic — State of the Church — Archbishop Mein-
daerts — Council of Utrecht— Its acts received with applause by the
Church — Through intrigues of Jesuits condemned at Rome — Sup-
pression of Jesuits — Negotiations with Rome — French Republicans
invade the Netherlands — Sovereignty of the people proclaimed —
Reign of terror — French tyranny — Abolition of religion — The
bishops fly — Confiscation of Church property — Monastic orders
suppressed — Churches closed — Ineffectual opposition of Arch-
bishop of Mechlin— Louvain closed — Feast of Reason— Wholesale
transportations — Rise of Napoleon — Batavian Republic — French
tyranny — Louis Bonaparte King of Holland— His treatment of
Dutch Church — Murder of Archbishop of Utrecht — Deplorable
state of country — Concordat of 1801 — Alterations of dioceses
— Resignation of the old bishops — Opposition— Stevenists — Reli-
gious worship restored.
From the grand position of importance among the
great powers of Europe which she had held at the
commencement of the century, Holland had gradually
fallen. Wars with England, dissensions at home, a
rebelHon against the stadtholder, subdued by a power-
ful Prussian army led by the Duke of Brunswick, the
loss of commerce and valuable colonial possessions, all
contributed to the decHne and fall of the once powerful
Republic.
In the midst of these national troubles the Church
of Holland maintained her existence, and continued
352 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
her gallant struggle against her powerful foes. Con-
siderable hopes were excited during the time of
Archbishop Meindaerts (i 739-1 769) of effecting a
reconciliation with Rome. A statement of the doctrines
of the Church was sent to Pope Benedict XIII., and
very favourably received. The champions of the Church,
Willibrord Kemp, Broedersen, Norbert, conducted the
negotiations, but without any result. In order to pre-
serve the succession two bishops were consecrated —
Jerome de Bock to Haarlem, and Byeveld to Deventer.
There were at this time fifty-two parishes — thirty-three
in the diocese of Utrecht, seventeen in Haarlem, and
one only in Leeuwarden. Time and opposition had
terribly reduced the strength of the once flourishing
Church.
It, however, showed remarkable activity during the
archbishopric of Meindaerts ; a provincial council was
summoned in 1763, which, by its decrees and decisions,
declared the orthodoxy of the Church, its adherence
to the Catholic faith, but manifested a subservience
and deference to Rome, which is certainly surprising.
Considering the treatment which they had received
from the successive occupants of the Papal chair, con-
sidering the bold stand which their predecessors had
made against Papal pretensions, it is surprising to us
to find the following among the decisions of the
Council : —
" That the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, as suc-
cessor of S. Peter, is not merely a primacy of honour,
but also of ecclesiastical power and authority.
'' That the Roman pontiff, as successor of S. Peter,
EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 353
is jure divino the visible and ministerial head of the
Church founded by Christ, who is its invisible and
quickening Head, and therefore is the first vicar on
earth of the same Christ, the care of the whole Church
being committed to him."
The Council also unwisely expressed an opinion on
the division between the Eastern and Western Church,
assenting to the action of Pope Nicholas I. when he
ventured to depose Photius, the patriarch of the Greek
Church, from his episcopal dignity, and declaring the
Greek Christians to be schismatics. It is possible that a
strong desire to please the Pope and to heal the breach
with Rome urged the Council to pass this resolution,
and to show deference to their powerful persecutors.
The proceedings of the Council received the applause
of Churchmen in all countries of Western Chris-
tendom. The writings of Le Clerc were condemned
and their author excommunicated. The five articles
of Jansen were discussed, and without passing an
opinion upon the AugustimiSy the Council declared
'* that the doctrine of grace handed down by Augustine
and Thomas is agreeable to Holy Scripture, the decrees
of pontiffs and councils, and the writings of the fathers."
The works of two Jesuits, Berruyer and Hardouin,
were condemned as impious and wicked, and an admir-
able declaration of faith drawn up in opposition to the
errors denounced by the Council. Rules were formu-
lated for the worthy receiving of Holy Communion,
and canons of discipline relating to baptism, confirma-
tion, marriage, &c.
At the close of the Council the acts were placed
z
354 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
for publication in the hands of the able historian
of the Church of Holland, De Bellegarde, whose
'^ History of the Church of Utrecht " has often been
referred to in this work. At first these acts were re-
ceived with applause ; congratulations poured in from
the bishops of France, Germany, and Italy ; but by the
intrigues of the Jesuits a condemnatory Bull was ex-
torted from the Pope after an examination of the acts
by a committee of cardinals, who were absolutely
ignorant of theology, and did not even know their
Catechism.^ The Churchmen of Holland were de-
nounced by this competent assembly as '' impious,
rebels, schismatics, children of iniquity." The
Bishop of Liege followed suit, adding other agreeable
phrases, such as " detestable masters of error and
iniquity, thieves, ravening wolves."
The Assembly of the Church of France, at that time
composed of Atheists, or partisans of the Jesuits, like-
wise condemned the acts of the Council without
actually reading them, and by their conduct added
fresh burdens to the Archbishop of Utrecht and his
persecuted and unfortunate clergy. Meindaerts died
in 1767, and was succeeded by Walter Michael van
Nieuwenhuisen, who witnessed the overthrow of the
foes who had so long troubled the peace of his Church.
An outcry against the Jesuits was raised in every
part of Europe, and when Clement XIV. ascended the
throne of S. Peter their doom was sealed. In 1773,
by the Bull Doniintis ac Redemptor, he suppressed
the whole order. If he had lived without doubt the
^ Bottari, Librarian of the Vatican.
EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 355
Church of Holland would have been reconciled to
Rome. Powerful friends interceded for her ; Maria
Theresa pleaded her cause with the Pope ; the Spanish
Church showed much sympathy; deputies were to be
sent to Rome to conduct the negotiations ; but the un-
timely death of Clement XIV. destroyed the hopes of
the Dutch clergy, as his successor Pius VI. did not
show much affection for the distressed Church. When
a new Bishop of Haarlem was consecrated in 1778 the
usual sentence of excommunication was issued, and the
usual polite terms employed, such as '^ schismatics,"
'' heretics," '' ravening wolves," &c. But the sympathy
of many of the most devout and learned divines in
Europe was w^ith the Church, and their letters consoled
the brave band in their conflict with the tyranny of
Papacy. Archbishop van Nieuwenhuisen died in 1797,
and was succeeded by John Jacob van Rhijn, a pastor
of Utrecht.
During the rule of this prelate disastrous troubles
beset the 'whole of the Netherlands, mainly brought
about by the nation's folly, for which the unfortunate
people had to pay dearly. When Francis II. became
Emperor of Austria in 1792, repubHcan France at
once commenced a struggle for the possession of the
Belgian provinces. The battle of Jemappes made
Dumouriez and his French troops master of the
country, including the principality of Liege, then
ruled over by Francis Anthony of Mean. Some self-
constituted deputies went to Paris to seek some share
of the " liberty and equality " which the convention
professed to have established. Paid French agents
356 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
were sent into Belgium on the pretence of ascertaining
the wishes of the people, and instructed to report that
the Netherlanders desired to become citizens of France.
The comedy was performed, and the Belgian provinces,
together with the diocese of Liege, were incorporated
with the French Republic.
The sovereignty of the people was proclaimed. The
provinces became subject to all the violences of the
Reign of Terror, to the tyrannical power of the French
deputies, to a system of pillage and exaction. In the
following year (1793) the imperial forces gained the
battle of Neerwinden, and the republicans fled; but
in 1794 they returned with a large army, and the
disastrous battle of Fleurus left them masters of the
country. The French occupation lasted twent}^ 3^ears,
during which time Belgium was compelled to submit
to all the humiliations of a conquered province. The
conquerors came to deliver the country from '' the
tyranny of despots, nobles, and priests," but they
established a system of tyranny which has scarcely
been equalled. The historic names of the old pro-
vinces, dear to the hearts of a patriotic people, were
effaced from the map. The towns, monasteries, cathe-
drals, and colleges were heavily taxed, and in the name
of liberty the whole country was despoiled.
The abolition of religion was part of the programme
of French republicans, as one of the unfrocked priests
of France graphically expressed it, while crushing
beneath his foot a crucifix : '' It is not sufficient to
trample upon the tyrant of the body, but we must
stamp on the tyrant of the soul." The authors of the
Feast of Reason did not fail to carry out their inten-
tions with regard to the abolition of religious worship
in their conquered provinces as in France. The
bishops of Belgium fled. Brenart, Bishop of Bruges,
retired to Westphalia and died 1794; De Lobkowitz
of Ghent to Munster ; De Nelis of Antwerp to Tuscany ;
Charles d'Arberg of Ypres and John Baptist de Melroy
of Ruremonde followed the others ; William of Salm-
Salm, the last Bishop of Tournay, was transferred to
Prague. The Archbishop of Mechlin, Cardinal de
Franckenberg, and the Bishop of Namur, Albert Louis
of Lichtervelde, courageously remained at their posts
to weather the storm.
The first article of the republican creed declared
that all ecclesiastical goods belonged to the nation,
and could be disposed of according to the will of the
people. All ecclesiastical corporations were required
to furnish an account of their property within six
days. All the religious houses or benefices deserted
by the clergy were declared to be confiscated to the
Republic, and this spoliation was subsequently ex-
tended to those which were not deserted. The
secularisation of marriage was declared to be '' one of
the immortal principles of '89," and the celebration of
marriage by a clergyman was forbidden. All monastic
orders and religious establishments were suppressed ;
the wearing of any distinctive religious dress was
forbidden. All ministers were required to subscribe
to the formula : '' I recognise the sovereignty of the
citizens of France, and promise obedience to the laws
of the Republic."
358 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Against this decree the Archbishop of Mechhn and
the clergy of his diocese, and also of Louvain, Brussels,
Antwerp, and others, protested, but in vain. They
refused to obey, and their churches were closed. Not
content with this, the Directory issued another formula,
which required every one to *' swear hatred against
royalty and tyranny, and to promise attachment to the
constitution of the year III." Every clergyman was
forbidden from discharging any ministerial duty unless
he signed the decree, and took an oath swearing fidelity
to the order of the Republic. The brave Archbishop
was arrested for not complying with this iniquitous
demand, and would have been transported to Cayenne
or to Oleron had not the English navy prevented
French ships from crossing the Atlantic. He was
driven into exile across the Rhine. The times of Nero
and Diocletian seemed to have returned, and the faith-
ful were obliged to worship God in secret houses, or in
lonely farmsteads, away from the haunts of the impious
wretches.
But their rage and madness did not stop here. The
University of Louvain was attacked, the libraries and
schools closed, the colleges deserted, the professors
despoiled of their dignities and their emoluments.
The rector, John Havelange, was condemned to trans-
portation. A festival of the Temple of Reason was
proclaimed, and all members of the University were
bidden to take part in the profane burlesque. . They
replied with true Christian fortitude, '^ We do not
recognise any other lawful worship than that which
Jesus Christ, very God and very man, hath deigned to
EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 359
reveal, and that which the CathoHc Church, Apostohc
and Roman, recognises." The University was con-
formed to republican principles.
All the goods and churches of ecclesiastics who
refused to swear hatred to royalty were confiscated.
In 1797 no religious worship of any kind was allowed.
In addition to the religious houses even the schools
and hospitals were abolished. The observance of Sun-
day, '' that ancient prejudice ! " was abolished, and each
tenth day was made a hohday. But the Belgian people,
faithful to the custom of the Church, continued their
ancient practice of observing the seventh day. All
churches were ordered to be destroyed in 1799, but
happily the decree was not completely executed in Bel-
gium, as the beautiful cathedrals and other ancient
ecclesiastical buildings, the glory of the country, testify.
During this age of infamy ten thousand persons were
transported ; the clergy suffered severely, and no pity
was shown to old age or weakness. To exterminate
religion was one of the principal objects of the agents
of the Republic.
But the end of this reign of terror was at hand. By
the couj? (Tetat of 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte became
the practical ruler of France. All the clergy and public
functionaries were required to swear fidelity to the
Republic, founded on the sovereignty of the people.
By the advice of the Archbishop of Mechlin and the
Bishops of Ypres and Ruremonde the clergy refused,
and the Bishop of Liege, Count de Mean, united with
them in opposing the decree.
The inhabitants of the United Provinces experienced
36o THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
similar treatment at the hands of the French. The
people, discontented on account of the losses their
country had received and the decline of their maritime
supremacy, welcomed the republican troops as deli-
verers. They cast aside their old institutions; the
Stadtholder resigned his office rather than involve his
country in civil war ; the Batavian Republic was erected
on the ruins of the old form of government ; but the
unfortunate and headstrong people were obliged to pay
dearly for fickleness and imaginary independence.
Universal misery followed. Enormous sums were
demanded by the French, and the country was treated
as a conquered province by the iniquitous agents of
the French Republic. All freedom and independence
were lost, and national glory, prosperity, and power
were trampled down and crushed by their ruthless
oppressors. The Church of Holland was not affected
by this disastrous state of affairs, and was not inter-
fered with by the Republic or by the French. The
Chapters elected John Jacob van Rhijn, a pastor of
Utrecht, to the archbishopric, and he was consecrated
by the bishops of Haarlem and Deventer. After the
co2i/> d^itat the Batavian Republic saw itself converted
into a monarchy by Napoleon, in order to provide a
kingdom and a title for his brother Louis, who proved
himself to be a kind and gentle ruler ; but although he
supported both the Protestant and Roman Catholic
party, he showed great hostility to the National Church.
Archbishop van Rhijn was killed by poison in 1808:
by whose hand the foul deed was accomplished it has
never been ascertained. Owing to the opposition of
EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 361
Louis the See remained vacant for six years. Over-
awed by the tyrannical will of his imperial brother,
finding his position untenable, Louis resigned his
throne, and Holland again was annexed to the French
empire. The terrible oppression which ensued, the
enormous taxes extorted from the people whose means
of livelihood had been wrested from them, the intoler-
able conscription laws, the poverty to which they were
reduced, drove the Dutch to such a pitch of desperation
that they waited with feverish anxiety for an oppor-
tunity for throwing off the yoke, which had become
insupportable.
Napoleon discovered the fact that religion was neces-
sary for the welfare, peace, and prosperity of a country,
and that without the blessings of Christianity nations
can never achieve greatness or preserve their stability.
The restoration of the Church in France and Belgium
thus became a leading principle in the policy of the
First Consul. Negotiations with Rome were opened,
and the famous Concordat of 1 80 1 was finally arranged.
The articles of the Concordat declared that the
Roman Catholic rehgion should be freely exercised
in France ; that the Pope, in concert with the govern-
ment, should make a new circumscription of dioceses ;
that all the ^' constitutional " bishops should resign
their Sees ; and that Napoleon should nominate to
the new bishoprics. It will be obsen^ed that an
entirely new order of affairs was thus inaugurated.
There was no precedent for such an act of absolute
authority as that of Pope Pius VII. in effecting an
entire reconstruction of the Galilean Church. It is
362 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
true that the Church was in great confusion. There
were the old dioceses, but many of the bishops had
abandoned their Sees, married, and left the Church ;
some had fallen victims to the popular rage and
suffered martyrdom. There were also the ''constitu-
tional " bishops, called schismatics by the Ultramon-
tanes, who were elected by the electors of the depart-
ments according to the decrees of the Cwzl Consti-
tution of the Clergy of 1790. Of these there were at
the time of the Concordat fifty-nine. They were
ordered to resign ''for the sake of the peace and
unity of the Church," which would have been better
preserved if the Pope had not taken upon himself to
exercise absolute power over the Galilean Church, and
had preserv^ed its ancient constitution and laws. The
act of 1790 was never promulgated in Belgium ; there
were no " constitutional " bishops in the Netherlands,
but the article of the Concordat ordering the new
circumscription of dioceses was put into force, and
the ecclesiastical map of the country received many
alterations. The new province of Mechlin embraced
the following dioceses : — Mechlin, Tournay, Ghent,
Namur, Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, Treves, and Mayence ;i
the dioceses of Antwerp, Bruges, Ypres, and Rure-
monde were suppressed. The ancient dioceses of
the province of Utrecht were not disturbed b}^ the
Concordat, and Napoleon promised to effect a recon-
ciliation with Rome, but his mighty projects and un-
ceasing wars prevented him from carrying out his
intention.
^ The last three are beyond the boundaries of Belgium.
EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 363
The surviving Belgian bishops. Cardinal John Henry
de Franckenberg of Mechhn, d'Arberg of Ypres, Van
Velde de Melroy of Ruremonde, and de Mean of
Liege, calmly resigned their Sees in obedience to the
Pope, and v^ere replaced by strangers. John Armand
de Roquelaure, Bishop of Senlis, was appointed Arch-
bishop of Mechlin ; Hirn, Bishop of Tournay ; Zaepfifel,
of Liege ; Bexon, of Namiir ; and Fallot de Beaumont,
of Ghent.
It w^as not possible that this high-minded method
of re-establishing the Church should be received with-
out some protest. One Cornelius Stevens, of the
diocese of Namur, censured the old bishops for their
subservience to the Pope and to Napoleon in resigning
their Sees, and objected to the homage which the new
prelates paid to the great Emperor, to the chanting
of the Te Detun at each new French victory, and to
the interference of Napoleon in ecclesiastical affairs.
These objectors were called SteVenists, after their
leader, and consisted of two parties — the moderates,
who confined their complaints to the proceedings of
the Emperor, and to the subservience rendered to him
by the clergy; the anti-Concordat party, composed
of those who declared that the Pope ought to have
refused to accept the Concordat, that the new bishops
had been unlawfully intruded upon them, that it was
impossible to communicate with them, and that the
ancient constitution of the Church ought to have been
maintained. The moderates disappeared in 1814, when
the star of Napoleon's glory set ; but the latter party
still exists. It flourished for some time in the diocese
364 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
of Namur, and although Stevenism has survived until
the present day, it has not been able to hold its own
against the powerful Roman CathoHcism of Belgium.
The people welcomed with acclamations of joy the
restoration of religion which " Liberty, Fraternity, and
Equality " had deprived them of for five long years.
Again the church bells sounded; again the church
doors opened to an eager crowd ; again the priests
were seen at the altars, and the solemn music stirred
the hearts of a religious and devout people, who wel-
comed with tumultuous gladness the worship of which
they had been deprived so long.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE BELGIAN CHURCH IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY.
Oppression of the Church by Napoleon— The new Catechism — The
"University" — Exasperation of the people— Reunion of Holland
and Belgium — Causes of dissension — Treatment of the Catholics
by William I. — Liberty of worship proclaimed — Opposition of
Belgian bishops— Suppression of religious houses and of episcopal
seminaries — Concordat of 1827 — Formation of new Sees — Revolu-
tion of 1830 — Independence of kingdom of Belgium — Church
freed from State control — Complete religious toleration — Present
condition of Church — Zeal of the bishops and clergy — Attachment
to Rome — University of Louvain — Growth of monastic system —
Popular attachment to the Church — Growth of liberalism — Future
prospects.
Although Napoleon restored the Church to her
throne, nevertheless, on the pretext of protecting the
interests of the State, he placed upon her brow a
crown of thorns which was well-nigh intolerable.^
By various acts of tyranny and oppression the master-
ful Emperor made the ecclesiastical power entirely
subservient to his own will. The rights of the Church
were entirely disregarded. Regulations with regard
to doctrine and discipline, the dress of the clergy, the
fabric of the churches, were all issued by order of the
Emperor without any recognition of the legislative
authority of the Church in ecclesiastical affairs.
This conduct of the Emperor was especially mani-
^ Claessens, La Belgiquc C/iVc'tienne, i. 47.
365
366 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
fest when he forced upon the bishops and people of
Belgium the new Catechism. He ordered two clerics
to draw up this new Catechism, which was based on
that of Bossuet published in 1686. Many alterations
and additions were made in the latter, and the new
work was considered defective and incomplete by the
Belgian clergy. The Emperor did not forget to
inculcate in a special chapter the obligations and
homage due to himself and his successors by the
people of France and Belgium. The Cardinal Legate,
Caprara, approved of the work, and the bishops were
compelled to introduce it into their dioceses. The
clergy were not so wilHng to be coerced by the Em-
peror. Abbot Stevens boldly attacked the Catechism ;
and when Zaepffell, Fallot de Beaumont, and the other
prelates tried to impose it upon their clergy, they were
met with a determined opposition. The able historian
of the modern ecclesiastical affairs in Belgium laconi-
cally observes: ''Napoleon disappeared in 18 14, and
the Catechism with him."^ His action with regard
to education was no less displeasing to his subjects.
He estabhshed a body which he called the University ;
to which the entire public education of the empire was
assigned. Without the consent of the grand-master
of the University no school could be opened ; and no
one was allowed to teach unless he was a member
of the University. The professors of theology were
obliged to take an oath pledging them to promote
amongst their pupils loyalty to the Emperor and their
country ; and all who refused to comply with the
^ Claessens, i. 42.
BELGIAN CHURCH IN 19^'' CENTURY. 367
orders of Napoleon were compelled to close their
schools. Many of them were converted into miHtary
academies, in order to furnish soldiers and officers for
the imperial army.
In the Concordat nothing was said concerning reli-
gious houses. These were entirely suppressed, with
the exception of hospitals and refuges, presided over
by communities of sisters, who devoted their lives to
the relief of suffering humanity, and were of great ser-
vice in nursing the wounded soldiers, both French and
English, struck down in the bloody battles of Waterloo
and Quatre Bras.
The treatment which the Church received at the
hands of Napoleon did not endear him to the hearts of
the clergy, and the enormous contributions which he
demanded from the people of both Holland and Bel-
gium for the purpose of carrying on his ambitious
and relentless wars, the cruel conscription laws, which
robbed the country of its best and bravest men, and
devoted them to death amid Russian snows, exaspe-
rated the people beyond all endurance. With the
armies of the allies relief from this intolerable tyranny
came in 1 8 14. A provisional government was estab-
lished, at the head of which was the Duke of Beauffbrt,
who transferred the control of all ecclesiastical matters
to the spiritual authorities, and released the Church
from the fetters with which Napoleon had enslaved
her.
By the treaties of Paris, London, and Vienna it was
decided to unite the whole of the Netherlands, to con-
vert it into a kingdom, and to place it under the sove-
368 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
reign ty of the house of Orange. This reunion of the
two countries, so closely allied by common interests,
presented many apparent advantages ; it seemed likely
to produce a great increase of prosperity and power ;
to the agricultural and industrial resources of Belgium
were added the maritime strength of Holland, its ex-
tensive commerce and rich colonies; and a united
population of six millions seemed to promise stability
to the nation, and a formidable barrier to French
aggression. There were, however, formidable differ-
ences between the Belgians and the Dutch, which
made the process of amalgamation difficult. The
wishes of the former were not consulted ; they found
their country annexed to Holland as '' an increase of
territory " ; they found themselves ruled over b}^ a
Dutch sovereign, in religion a Protestant, and belong-
ing to a nation towards which they had always enter-
tained feelings of jealousy and prejudice.
At first all went well, and by wise counsels William I.
contrived to conciliate his new subjects and to promote
some union between the two nationalities. A new era
of prosperity and activity seemed to have dawned, but
dissensions and difficulties arose which caused the old
hostility and national rivalry to break forth once more.
The Belgians objected to the composition of the States-
General, because they sent only the same number of
deputies as the Hollanders, and yet had nearly twice
as many inhabitants. The vexed questions of protec-
tion or free trade caused great disputes, and also the
preference shown to the Hollanders in the matter of
civil appointments. The adoption of Dutch as the
BELGIAN CHURCH IN ig"" CENTURY. 369
official language was also objected to, but the chief
cause of dissension was the difference in religion. The
Catholics imagined that WilHam desired to force Cal-
vinism upon them, but this does not appear to have
been so. He wished to free the Church from Roman
dominion, and to construct a truly National Church
independent of Papal authority. He proclaimed full
liberty of worship to all religions ; but the intolerant
Belgian bishops signed a remonstrance, declaring that
the Catholic Church could not exist under such condi-
tions. WilHam showed himself as obstinate as his
clerical subjects, and condemned the Bishop of Ghent
to transportation for contumacy, and another cleric,
the Abbot of Foere, to two years' imprisonment. He
would not allow any Papal Bulls for the institution
of bishops to be issued in the realm without his
consent.
His treatment of the religious houses was unjust and
tyrannical. Against the wishes of the inhabitants, and
for no adequate reason, he suppressed the community
of poor sisters at Bruges, and adopted measures for
the gradual extinction of all convents, the inmates of
which did not perform any useful duties for the benefit
of the public, such as nursing the sick.
He ordered the governors of the southern provinces
to forbid the admission of novices, perpetual or Hfe-
long vows, and the acknowledgment of any other
authority than that of the bishops of their own dio-
ceses. He required a full catalogue of all monastic
establishments, and declared that he wished to reduce
considerably the number of the religious communities
2 A
370 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
which were devoted to spiritual exercises and contem-
plation.
The monarch's treatment of his Catholic subjects
can scarcely be said to have been in accordance with
the spirit of toleration and religious liberty. While he
encouraged the Bible Society of the Protestants he
suppressed two Catholic societies for the dissemination
of religious literature. He arrogated to himself an
absolute and tyrannical right over the entire education,
both secular and religious, of his subjects, and excited
the fears and the murmurs of the people, which cul-
minated in a determined opposition on the part of the
Catholics.^ He established a philosophical college at
Louvain ; the episcopal seminaries were closed, and
the candidates for the ministry were obliged to go else-
where in order to read for ordination.
It was natural that these measures should arouse
the hostility of the Catholics of Belgium, and, antici-
pating the storm which threatened to burst upon his
kingdom, William entered into communication with the
Pope in order to calm the angry feelings which his
measures had excited. The result of the negotiations
was the establishment in 1827 of a Concordat, which
declared —
(i.) That the Concordat of 180 1 between the Pope
and Napoleon should apply to the northern provinces
of the kingdom.
(2.) That each diocese should have a Chapter and a
seminary.
(3.) That when a See was vacant the Chapter should
•* Th. Juste, La Revolution Beige de 1S30, i. 61.
BELGIAN CHURCH IN ig'^^' CENTURY. 371
present a list of selected names to the King, who should
signify the candidates most agreeable to himself. From
these names the Chapter selected the most suitable
man, and having obtained the consent of the Pope the
Chapter would proceed to elect him to the vacant See.
Three new Sees were formed in the country, viz.,
Bruges for western Flanders, Bois-le-Duc for northern
Brabant, Gueldres, and Zealand, and Amsterdam for
the northern provinces. Thus the rights of the Na-
tional Church of Holland were trespassed upon by the
Concordat. It was only partially carried into effect.
The cabinet at the Hague opposed it by continual
delays, and for some years the Dutch Church was freed
from an intrusive hierarchy.
Manifestations of discontent in Belgium soon showed
themselves. A union was formed of both Catholics
and liberals, on other questions vehemently opposed,
for the purpose of throwing off the yoke of Holland,
The King became alarmed and granted many conces-
sions to his discontented subjects ; but these wise
measures came too late. The French revolution of
1830 found an echo in the Netherlands, and roused
the spirits of the oppressed Belgians. An angry
crowd of patriots issued from the Theatre de la
Monnaie at Brussels on the night of August 24th,
excited by the representation of revolutionary drama,
and eager to emulate the deeds of actors whom they
had been applauding. They sacked and pillaged the
houses of the representatives of the government, of
Van Maenen, the minister of justice, the offices of the
National ; the tricolour of Brabant was planted on
372 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the Hotel de Ville, and the cocade adopted as the
insurgents' badge.
Thus the revolution was commenced. The other
towns, except Ghent and Antwerp, whose commercial
interests were allied with Holland, joined in the
movement. A provisional government was appointed,
and the patriot bands defeated the Dutch army of
15,000 men led by the Prince of Holland. The in-
dependence of the Belgian provinces was proclaimed,
and in the following year, with the consent of the
chief European powers. Prince Leopold of Saxe-
Cobourg was elected by the National Congress King of
Belgium.
By the revolution the Church of Belgium was
entirely emancipated from the control of the State.
Complete religious toleration was proclaimed, and the
Church began to enjoy a peace and entire freedom
from oppression such as she had not experienced for
many years. The bishops, headed by the Archbishop
of MechHn, Prince de Mean, were opposed to the
bestowal of absolute religious liberty on all sects, but
for the sake of the peace and security of the State they
wisely determined not to offer any opposition to the
decree of entire religious toleration, and contented
themselves with the complete independence of State
control which the decree of the Congress had granted
to them. The Belgian Church had power to choose
its own ministers without let or hindrance from the
civil powers, to hold free intercourse with the Papal
See, to publish its own laws and the Papal Bulls, to
possess a common fund for the support of public
BELGIAN CHURCH IN ig™ CENTURY. 373
worship, and to be in all things free from the control
of the State.
The present condition of the Belgian Church is as
follows : — It has one archbishop and five bishops —
Mechlin, Tournay, Ghent, Namur, Liege, and Bruges.
The archbishop has three vicar-generals and a Chapter^
of twelve canons ; each bishop has two vicar-generals
and a Chapter of eight canons. The stipends of the
bishops and clergy are paid by the State. The Church
had been robbed of her ancient endowments ; her
property had been confiscated by the State, and this
payment of her ministers is an act of restitution of a
portion of the wealth which unjust men had deprived
her of. The archbishop receives an income of ;^840,
the bishops ^640, the vicars-general ^^144, and the
canons £g6. Each bishop has a theological seminary
attached to his diocese, which received until 188 1 a
yearly subsidy from the State of ;^ 320, but this has
been discontinued. The clergy are divided into four
classes, and receive annually a sum ranging from
about ;^82 to -^32.
The Belgian bishops of recent times are remarkable
for their virtues and their zeal, their talents and their
good works. The praise which M. Claessens bestows
upon them is well deserved ; he says that they are
loved and venerated in their dioceses, true pastors of
souls, ever eager to defend the interests of religion,
the grandeur of Divine worship, the Christian educa-
tion of the young, the progress of instruction, the
maintenance of all good works, the honour of the
priesthood, the virtue and piety of family life, the
374 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
sanctification and the health of the souls which God
has committed to their charge. Their example is
followed by their clergy, who are indefatigable in their
ministerial work.
Attachment to Rome and to Roman errors is strong
and unyielding. The Vatican decrees of 1854 and
1870, concerning the Immaculate Conception of the
Virgin and the Papal Infallibility, were received with
due submission by the Belgian clergy, and Archbishop
Dechamps of Mechlin took an active part in defending
the latter dogma.
The Catholic University of Louvain was founded
by Archbishop Sterckx in 1835, of which M. de Ram
was the first rector. To it were assigned some of the
buildings of the old University,^ which had played
such a distinguished part in the annals of Belgian
history, and was in the sixteenth century the most
famous in Europe. Here Lipsius, Van Espen, Van
Vianen, D'Aubremont, Hu3^ghens, and other renowned
scholars, lived and worked and taught. Six thousand
students thronged the lecture-halls and the forty-three
colleges. Changes and misfortunes had dimmed the
glory of the once famous seat of learning. Joseph II.
and the French Republicans had stamped out its ex-
istence, and it was left to the Church of the nineteenth
century to build again the University of Louvain. It
has five faculties — theology, law, medicine, philosophy
and literature, and mathematics. There are about
thirteen hundred students who reside in four colleges,
viz., the College of the Holy Spirit for theological
^ The State University, founded by William I., was suppressed in 1833.
BELGIAN CHURCH IN ig™ CENTURY. 375
students, the College of the Pope for the students of
law and philosophy, that of Maria Teresa for science
and medicine, and that of Justus Lipsius for the pupils
of the philological institute. A technical academy for
the study of arts and manufactures has recently been
added. Its grand library of 70,000 volumes is one of
the largest in the country.
The dioceses are divided into deaneries, the rural
dean acting as the vicar of the bishop in superintend-
ing the pastoral work of the parishes in his deanery.
There are 48 deaneries in the diocese of Mechlin,
containing 654 parishes ; in Tournay 32 deaneries,
containing 654 parishes ; in Namur, which now com-
prises the province of Luxembourg,^ 21, containing
689 parishes; in Liege 37, containing 631 parishes;
in Ghent 16, containing 335 parishes; in Bruges 15,
containing 372 parishes.
The growth of the monastic system has been very
rapid during recent years. Before the French occu-
pation in 1794, there were 631 religious houses and
12,000 monks and nuns. In 1829 the number of
houses had sunk to 280, having 4791 inhabitants.
In 1880 there were 25,362 monks and nuns, and 15 59
monasteries and convents. The chief orders are the
Benedictines, the Bernardins, Trappists, Premontres,
Dominicans, Jesuits, Redemptorists, and various
brotherhoods, such as the Brothers of the Love of
Jesus and Mary at Ghent, the Brothers of our Lad}^
of Pity, &c.
^ The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was detached from the diocese
of Metz and reunited with Namur in 1823,
376 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
The Church in Belgium is regarded with affection
and reverence by the greater bulk of the inhabitants,
especially by the poor and least educated. By their
devoted lives and energy the clergy maintain a firm
hold on a devout and simple-minded and somewhat
superstitious people, who cHng tenaciously to their
ancient faith and care not to examine very deeply the
reasonableness of their religion. The great strength
of the Belgian Church rests in the affections of the
poorer folk who throng her temples ; and if universal
suffrage were adopted, a political change which is
earnestly desired by the Catholics, her position and
power would be greater even than they are at present.
Amongst the wealthier and more educated classes
the spirit of liberalism has made a great advance
during recent years. To yield a blind allegiance to
Roman dogmas, to be obliged to accept without ques-
tion, each new decree which emanates from the Papal
court, does not commend itself to the enlightened
minds of many of the leaders of thought. And too
often the love of freedom leads men, whose intellectual
faculties and spiritual aspirations have been restrained
by inexorable rules, to reject the faith altogether and
take their places in the ranks of the atheists and
agnostics. This liberalism is spreading, and some
day the great struggle will commence between the
power of the Church and the forces of infidelity and
scepticism. In the meantime, while the Church retains
her hold on the affections of her people, is it too much
to hope that her clergy may be enabled by Divine
grace to purge away the errors which Rome has
BELGIAN CHURCH IN ig^" CENTURY. 377
taught her, the novel doctrines forced upon her by
external authority, the superstitions which mar her
services, and to conform more closely to the primitive
practices, to the faith and discipline of earher times in
which Belgian Churchmen set so bright and distin-
guished examples ?
CHAPTER XXV.
THE CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY.
Vacancy of the See of Utrecht — Napoleon's respect for Willibrord Van
Os and his intentions with regard to the Dutch Church — Van Os,
Archbishop — His character — Negotiations with Rome — Van San-
ten, Archbishop — His conference with the Papal Nuncio — Intrusion
of Roman Catholic Hierarchy — Opposition to Papal decrees of
1854 and 1870— Present condition of the Church of Holland —
College at Amersfoort — Connection with old Catholic movement
of Switzerland and Germany — Future prospects.
Hitherto the gallant little Church of Holland had
struggled against powerful foes before the admiring
and sympathetic gaze of all Europe ; but the course of
events, the battle cries of contending armies, and the
fall of empires had turned the attention of her friends
into other channels, and the Church of Holland was
left to fight her way unaided. From 1 808 to 18 14 the
See remained vacant, owing to the tyrannical opposition
of Louis. When Napoleon visited Utrecht he was
impressed by the learning, the venerable appearance
and address of Willibrord Van Os, the rector of the
college at Amersfoort, vicar-general of the diocese dur-
ing the vacancy of the See, and instead of carrying out
his intention of confiscating the property of the Church
he determined to protect it, and to bring about a recon-
ciliation with Rome. The Emperor's defeat and the
37S
CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN ig'^' CENTURY. 379
revolt of Holland effectually prevented the carrying-
out of any such plan. Van Os was consecrated Arch-
bishop of Utrecht in 1 8 14, and ruled the little Church
wisely for eleven years. His successor, Van Santen,
thus speaks of him : '' The earnestness of his faith, his
zeal for truth, his courage in the maintenance of the
rights of the Church, the edifying manner in which he
performed the functions of his ministry, the rare pru-
dence with which he governed that portion of the flock
which the Divine Shepherd had committed to his charge,
the kindness with which he directed the young eccle-
siastics who were destined for the service of the altar,
the purity of his character, his prudent and mortified
life, the sweetness of his behaviour, the gentleness
of his countenance, all won him universal love and
esteem."^
Again an attempt was made to bring about a Con-
cordat with Rome ; again the old difficulties appeared.
Acceptance of the Bulls Vineain Domini and the Urii-
gcnitus, and the condemnation of the five propositions
said to be contained in Jansen's '' Augustinus," were re-
quired. The bishops replied that they accepted all the
articles of the holy Catholic faith ; they believed and
taught all that the Church had decreed, and condemned
all that the Church by her councils had condemned ;
they rejected the five propositions ivhich zvere stated to
be in Jansen's book, and promised fidelity and obe-
dience to the Pope.
This declaration was not considered sufficient by
^ Van Santen, Appel des Eveques, p. 43, quoted in Neale's " History
of Utrecht Church."
3 So THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the cardinal who conducted the negotiations on the
part of the Pope, and this attempt at reconciliation fell
through, as many previous ones had done.
On the death of De Jong, Bishop of Deventer, in
1824, the Archbishop informed Pope Leo XII. of his
nomination of William Vet to the vacant See, and after
protesting the loyalty of the Church of Holland pro-
ceeds to point out the true cause of the opposition of
her enemies at Rome. It was not a question of doc-
trine nor of the primacy of the Roman See. " Our
foes regard us with ill-will, and condemn us because
we defend, like good shepherds, our sheep against
those who would take them from us, and because we
maintain the rights of our Church. The only point in
question is this : Whether the Batavian Church, which
has always maintained its hierarchical order, and which
has made itself celebrated under the rule and govern-
ment of its own pastors, should be at once turned into
a simple mission at the good pleasure of the Curialists ;
so that, if I may thus speak, it should be deprived, by
one stroke of the pen, of its bishops and cathedral
Chapters."
Nothing could equal the loving tenderness which the
words of the good Archbishop breathed, the strength
of his arguments so delicately and respectfully pre-
sented to the Pope, the force of his reproaches hurled
at the implacable and determined enemies and calum-
niators of his Church.
Van Os died before any reply could be received, and
Van Santen was consecrated archbishop by the Bishop
of Deventer in 1825, in the little church of S. Gertrude
CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN ig^" CENTURY. 381
at Utrecht. He proved himself worthy of his illustrious
predecessor. A letter was sent to all the Catholic
bishops showing forth the invariable faith of the Dutch
Church, the unlawfulness of the sentence of excom-
munication pronounced against her, protesting against
the appellation of '' Jansenist," and appealing to the
future council of the whole Church.
A remarkable conference took place between the
Archbishop and Capaccini, the Papal Nuncio, who was
sent into Holland to promote Ultramontane interests.
With consummate skill, using all the arts of intrigue,
flattery, and persuasion, the Nuncio tried to induce
Van Santen to sign the formulary condemning the five
propositions which were declared by the Bulls to be in
Jansen's work. ^' It was only a mere form, a minute
matter of trifling moment. Implicit obedience to autho-
rity was the bounden duty of all faithful sons -of the
Church, and if the Pope declared that the five proposi-
tions were contained in the '' Augustinus " every loyal
Churchman was bound to believe that they were there,
no matter what his private opinion might be." This
doctrine was new to the Archbishop, who demanded
whether the Pope required him to swear that he
believed what he did not believe, and whether CathoHc
unity was to be maintained by perjury. The Nuncio
replied that when the Church instructs her children
what to beheve they are bound to silence all trifling
scruples. Van Santen answered this sophistry in
these words : '' I cannot conceal my indignation at
your endeavours to make me declare, in the presence
of Almighty God, that I do believe a point that I do
382 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
not believe ; my conscience is subject to Him, and by
His aid I will act in His fear. I must continue to
decline to put my name to a formulary which I reject ;
my hand must not contradict my heart." Thus the
conference ended.
At this time the Roman Cathohcs in Holland were
very numerous, amounting to 1,171,910 souls. They
had 1094 churches and 1539 clergy. In 1853 a new
Roman Catholic hierarchy was introduced with the
permission of the government, but in strong opposition
to the will of the people. In spite of the protest of the
bishops of the National Church the intrusive prelates
were established in their newly-created Sees.
When the Bull Ineffabilis, which propounded the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception, was issued in
1854, it met with a forcible and firm protest on the
part of Van Santen and his suffragans. Van Buerl of
Haarlem, and Hermann Heykamp of Deventer. Again,
in 1870, the Dutch Church protested against the dogma
of Papal Infallibility, which caused so many Catholics
to leave the communion of the Church of Rome, and
called into being the '' old Catholic movement " of
Switzerland and Germany. To the old National
Church of Holland the old CathoHc Church of Swit-
zerland and Germany owes its episcopal succession.
Bishop Reinkens being consecrated in S. Lawrence's
Church at Rotterdam in 1873 by Bishop Hermann
Heykamp, then Bishop of Deventer.
I will conclude this history with a brief account of
the present condition, tenets, and practice of the
National Church of Holland, whose existence has been
CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN rg'^^' CENTURY. 383
preserved through so many years of danger by the
devotion and steadfastness of her brave clergy. Prior
to the last Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops
the Archbishop of Canterbm-y despatched a mission,
consisting of the Bishops of Salisbury and Newcastle,
who were accompanied by the present writer, in order
to obtain information concerning the condition of the
Church, and to establish friendly relationship with the
clergy of her communion. Conferences were held with
the Archbishop of Utrecht and the Bishops of Haarlem
and Deventer, who welcomed the representatives of
the Anglican Church with brotherly cordiality, and
imparted to us all the information we desired.
The Church has about thirty priests and 7000 lay-
men ; its archbishop is Mgr. John Heykamp,i and the
Bishops of Haarlem and Deventer are John Rinkel and
Cornelius Dispendaal, the latter of whom resides at
Schiedam. The Roman Catholics number about one
million, and the Protestants about three milHons. The
clergy receive about £iOO to i^i5o each, with a house;
and this income is derived partty from old endowments,
the Government contributing about £2^ to each. The
clergy are still under the law of celibacy. The churches
are neat and clean, and in good order, with no great
superfluity of ornament, with very few statues. No
acts of worship or reverence are ever shown towards
images or pictures. They reject the title ^' Jansenist,"
which the Roman Catholics have bestowed upon them.
*' We are no more Jansenists than we are Bossuetists
1 Since the above was written the Church of Holland has mourned
over the sadden death of this devout man and worthy prelate.
384 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
or Quesnelists. We defended Jansen when he was
unjustly attacked; but we do not hold by any means
all the opinions of Jansen, who, for instance, believed
in the infallibility of the Pope, which we entirely reject ;
but we say that the teaching of Jansen on the doctrine
of grace was wrongly condemned by the Court of
Rome, which attributed to him opinions which he did
not really hold."
With regard to the doctrine of grace they believe
that the grace of God is necessary for all happiness,
and for the beginning, progress, and end of all spiritual
life. Men can resist grace, because the will is free.
In baptism the child is purified from original sin and
grace is given, because the Creator operates directly
on the soul of His creature. Infants are incapable of
resisting the flow of Divine grace.
The Church of Holland has always accepted and
taught the dogmatic definitions of the Council of
Trent as far as faith and doctrine are concerned, but
not as regards discipline. They accept the creed of
Pope Pius IV., with certain reservations according to
the explanation of the Portuguese oratorian Pereira,
which minimises its teaching as much as possible.
Neither the bishops nor priests are required to sign
this creed, nor is it cited in their Catechism.
They accept the three creeds ; their office of Prime for
Sundays contains the Athanasian Creed. The Roman
Liturgy is used for the Holy Eucharist,^ but the
^ The Latin service is translated into Dutch, and both versions are
•arranged in parallel columns, in order that the people may be able to
follow the service in their own language, although the Latin version
is used.
CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN 19^'' CENTURY. 385
breviary, containing the daily offices read by the
clergy is the Parisian, with a few additional offices
for local saints' days. The Catechisms in use are also
chiefly adapted from French sources by writers of
the School of Port Royal. They accept the Seven
Sacraments, but admit that the two Sacraments of
the Gospel stand higher than the rest. The rite of
Confirmation is administered after the Roman use
with outstretching of hands to the whole body, not
with imposition of hands on each candidate. The
Invocation of Saints they believe to be useful but not
necessary. With regard to the Romish doctrine of
Purgatory they do not consider that prayers and
sacrifices can of themselves free souls from the pains
of purgatory, but pray that God will shorten those
pains. The merits of the saints cannot be used to
dispense with the pains of purgatory. Indulgences
have been entirely abolished, and no dispensations
are paid for.
Holy Communion is celebrated on Sundays, and
once or twice during the week. The laity are ex-
pected to communicate four times in the year, but
may do so as often as they please. The Communion
is administered in only one kind, but after it a chalice
of unconsecrated wine is generally administered to
the communicants. Their doctrine with regard to the
Real Presence is similar to the Roman doctrine. The
laity are encouraged to read and study the Hoty
Scriptures.
The college at Amersfoort, presided over by Van
Thiel, has only sixteen students, of which number
2 B
386 THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
four are theological students preparing for the ministry.
It is an interesting building, containing a chapel, refec-
tory, class-rooms, and studies for the students, a fine
library, and a small room devoted to archives, the
walls being lined with boxes of MSS. containing letters
and papers in the handwriting of Van Espen, La Mere
AngeHque, the heroine of Port Royal, Pascal, and
others whose names are connected with the history
of the Dutch Church. Amongst the leading clergy
we may mention Van Santen, who, with the learned
rector of the college at Amersfoort, edits the monthly
paper called T/ie Old Catholic, and M. Decider, the
pastor of the historic church of S. Gertrude at Utrecht.
The German and Dutch Old Catholics maintain com-
munion with each other, but the former have made
more rapid reforms than the latter, and are regarded
by their elder brethren as too eager for change, if not
almost revolutionary. It is to be hoped that the
Church of Holland may live to exercise a greater in-
fluence in the country than she does at present. The
Roman Catholics are active and aggressive, and have
increased enormously since their intrusive hierarchy
was forced upon an unwilling people. Amongst the
Calvinists and numerous Protestant sects free thought
and agnosticism are spreading. Let the old National
Church awake to its responsibiHties, let its members
prove themselves worthy of their ancient lineage, and
imitate the examples of their brave forefathers, who
boldly contended for the faith against all the intrigues
of implacable and powerful foes, and faced unflinch-
ingly the fulminations of the Court of Rome. We
CHURCH OF HOLLAND IN ig'" CENTURY. 3^7
have remarked how wonderfully God has preserved
her, when deprived of all human aid, through long
years of apparently hopeless struggling; we have
mourned over her distress, her loneliness, and be-
reavements ; may it be our lot to rejoice with her in
her joys, and to see her restored to her rightful place
in the affections of the people of Holland.
LIST OF WORKS RELATING TO THE HISTORY
OF THE CHURCH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Histoire de la Ville et Pays de Liege. — Three vols. Folio. Liege, 1725.
Chronicon Egimindamim. — By Antonius jMatth^us. Lugdunum,
1692.
Diatribai de Primis Veteris Frisu:: A^ostolis.—BosscKAERT^. Mechlin,
1650.
Historia Ultrajectina. — J. de Beka and W. Heda. Folio. Utrecht,
1643- -
Historia Sacra et Pro/ana Archiepiscopattis Mechlinieiisis. — Van
Gestel. Folio. The Hague, 1735.
Be Leodiensi Republica.—'EoxiiOR^lUS. Amsterdam, 1633.
Batavia Sacra. — Hugh Van Heussen. Brussels, 17 14.
Historia Episcopatmim Faderati Belgii. — Hugh van Heussen. Two
vols. 1755.
Histoire Abregk de VEglise Meiropolitaine d^ Utrecht.— Vl. G. Dupac
de Belligarde. Third edition. Utrecht, 1852. _
Acta et Decreta Synodi Cleri Romano-Catholici Provincice Ultrajec-
tensis. — 1763.
Histoire dcs Revolutions de VEglise d' Utrecht.— ComiQ Mozzi. Ghent,
1828.
Assertio Juris Ecclesia Metropolitan cc Ultrajectinci:. — Per J. C. E. J. V.
{ = J. C. VAN Erkel). 1703.
A History of the so-called Jansenist Clmrch 0/ Holland. — By Rev. J.
M. Neale. Oxford, 1858.
Belgiqiie Catholiqne.—By Smet. Three vols. Louvain, 1852.
Etudes Germaniques.—OzM\^. Two vols. New edition. 1868.
Analectes pour servir f Histoire Ecclesiastique de la Belgiquc. — De Ram.
LIST OF WORKS. 389
Histoire de Archeveqties de Malines. — P. Claessens and Canon
Reusens.
Belgium Romannni. — ^gidius Bucherius.
Histoire Generale de la Belgiqtte. — Davez. Eight vols. Brussels,
1805.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic. — J. L. Motley. Three vols.
The History of the United Netherlands. — ^J. L. Motley. Four vols.
Histoire Ecclesiastiqiie du Pays-Bas.—G. Gazet. 16 14.
Histoire Politique Nationale. — Edmond Poullet. Two vols.
Louvain, 1883.
History of Reformation in the Loiv Countries.— (^^v^^^Xi Brandt.
Translated from Low Dutch. Three vols. 1722.
Sleidani Historia Reform ationis. — Leipsic, 1846.
James and Phillip van Arteveld. — Hutton. Murray, 1882.
The Chronicles of Froissart.
History of the Netherlands. — Grattan. 1 830,
La Belgiqiie Chretienne (1794-1880). — P. Claessens. Brussels, 1883.
INDEX.
ACCA, S
Adalard, S
Adelbord
Adrian VI., Pope, confes-
sion of
Aduatici
Age of saints
Agricola, Rudolph . . .
Aix-la-Chapelle . . .81,
Albert, S., martyrdom of .
Albert and Isabella , .257,
Alcuin
Alexander, Bishop of Liege
Alva, Duke of
Amand, S 27
Amersfoort, College at . 187,
Amor Pcenitens, attacks on .
Amsterdam
Anabaptists
Ansker
Antimond, S
Architecture, ecclesiastical .
Arkal, John d', Bp. of Utrecht
Arminianism, survival of
Arminius
'AGR
52
86
III
Arnauld, Antoine . . . 303,
Arnulph, S. ...
Arras and Cambray . . 40,
Arte veldt, James van
Athanasius, S., at Treves
Augustinus, attacks on
Aurelms Petri is . .
Austria, Rule of House of
,, Don John of
Austrian Netherlands
217
-5
28
196
340
150
283
58
146
249
. 34
191
314
163
227
86
39
205
166
280
271
318
24
- 75
165
18
301
299
214
252
310
Baldwin, Bras-de-fer
the Bald .
IX.. .
Batavii ....
Bavaria, John of .
Bavon, S. . . .
" Beggars, the "
Beguines and Beghards .
Belgian bishops at Councils
Belgium and Holland united
Benedict, S
Bergue, George Louis de
Bernard, S
Bertin, monastery of . . .
Black Death
Blandinium
" Bloody Edict ''....
Bogermann
Bokelszoon ......
Bonaparte, Louis ....
Boniface, S
Boniface of Brussels . . .
Boonen, James, Bishop of
Mechlin
Bouillon, Godfrey of . .
Brethren of Common Lot .
Bruges . . 96, 161, 163,
Bruno, S., of Cologne . .
Bull Unigenitns . . . 334,
Burges, de. Archbishop of
Mechlin
Burgundy, House of Philip,
Duke of
Burgundy, Philip of. Bishop
of Utrecht
PAGE
89
95
^53
5,7
200
35
240
177
18
367
344
144
39
168
36
223
276
227
360
53
158
289
136
184
205
lOI
343
321
198
223
392
INDEX.
PAGE
Calvin 224
,, reaction against . . 269
Cambray and Arras, diocese
of 40, 75
Cambray, Gerard of . . • 116
Cantipre, Thomas de . . 156
Carthusians 213
Cassel, battle of .... 164
Catholics, edict against the 260
,, persecution of .
,, treatment of, by
William I
Catholic, old, movement in
Switzerland and Germany-
Catz, Baldwin
Charlemagne
Charles, Duke, at Brussels .
,, V. conquers Ghent
„ the Bald ....
„ the Fat ... .
,, the Good ....
,, the Simple . . .
Christianity, progress of . 17
Cistercian monasteries in
Belgium I44
Civil wars loi, 132
Clement, Joseph, Arch-
bishop of Cologne and
Bishop of Liege .... 343
Clementists, crusade against 171
Cock, de, opposition to Papal
decree and to .... 329
Codde, Peter, consecrated
Archbishop 324
Codde, Peter, deposed . . 328
Cologne, Utrecht assigned to 62
" Compromise, the " . . . 240
Concordat of 1801 . ... 361
of 1827. ... 370
Conqueror, William the, aids
Count of Holland ... 1 32
Constance, Council of . . 190
Constantius and Constantino 16
Constantine's vision ... 16
" Council of Blood " . . . 249
316
370
386
311
63
lOI
228
87
91
141
95
I
Counts, powers of the
Courtray, battle of .
Crusades
Cunibert, S
Cyran, S., Abbot of .
• 87
. 161
135. 146
. 29
. 298
David, Bishop of Utrecht .
Debonnaire, Louis de, rule
of . . .
Deventer
Dinant " pacified " . . .
Diocesan organisation 32,
Diocletian persecution . .
Dominicans
Dominique Varlet ....
Domitian, S
Dort, Synod of
Druidism
Dutch, love of liberty char-
acteristic of the ....
Dutch Republic, decline of
the
208
81
59
211
233,
371
14
155
336
33
271
7
351
Eburones 5
Egmond, foundation of
monastery of ... . S8
Egmont beheaded .... 249
Egmont, George of. Bishop
of Utrecht 225
Elderen, John Louis of . . 342
Elizabeth, Maria, appointed
governor 339
Eloi, S 24
Eleutherius, S 37
English theologians sent to
Synod at Dort .... 275
Epagatus 13
Episcopius 276
Eracle, Bishop of Liege . . 106
Erasmus, controversy be-
tween Luther and . . . 220
Erkel, Van, excommunicated 333
Espen, Van 320
INDEX.
393
PAGE
Eucharius, S 3
Extortions of the Popes . . 167
Eyck, Van, painter . . . 206
Fagan, Bishop, of Ireland,
ordains clergy 334
Famine ^^^ ,
Field-preachings .... 240
" Fiv'e Propositions " of
Jansenism 303
Flagellants 168
Flanders, Bishop of Norwich
in 171
France, treaty between, and
Spain 235
Franciscans i54
Franks, rise of Salian . . 21
Fratricelli 178
Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht,
martyrdom of ... • 86
French Jansenists take refuge
in the Netherlands . 304, 318
French Republicans invade
Netherlands 355
Frisia, early apostles of . . 49
Frisians 6, 133
Furstemberg, Cardinal de . 341
Gerard, S 98
Gerard of Cambray . . . 116
Gerson, defends Brethren of
Conmion Lot . . . . 191
Gerius, vS 40
Ghent 35, 172, 173, 206, 228, 252
Goch, John of 192
Gomarus 272
Granvelle, Cardinal . . . 231
Gregory 5^
Grignoux, revolt of . . . 287
Groot, Gerhard . . 176, 1 82
Hauchin, Archbishop of . 281
Hegius 196
Heinsberg, John of, Bishop
of Liege 210
Henry IV. and Hildebrand 127
Plenry of Ghent . . • • i57
Heristal, Pepin of ... . 45
Heussen, Van 324
Hierarchy, intrusion of
Roman Catholic . . . 3S2
Holland and Belgium united 367
Hosius, Synod held by Arch-
bishop 289
Hubert, S 46
Hulst, Van, and other in([uisi-
tors 232
Humbert, William, Arch-
bishop of Mechlin . . . 321
Huns, Progress of Christi-
anity arrested by ... 21
Image-breakers . . . 242
Independence of United Pro-
vinces 258
Indulgences . . • . 201, 217
Inquisition . . . 228, 232, 244
Irregularities of election to
bishoprics 105
Isabella and Albert . . . 257
Jansen, Cornelius . . . 298
Jansenism .... 297, 318
Jeanne, Countess of Flanders 1 54
Jesuits. 261, 282, 319, 333, 354
Joseph II., unwise reforms of 344
Kafenza, Archbishop, ac-
count of the Church in
Holland 295
Kempis, Thomas-a- . • • 1S8
Klopjes 294
Lambert, S 44
Lebvinus at Deventer . . 58
2 C
394
INDEX.
PAGE
Legendary bishops ... 1 1
Leopold II 349
Leyden, siege of . . . . 251
Liege 32, 94, 106, 149, 200, 225,
253, 287, 340
Lindanus, William, Bishop
of Ruremonde .... 282
Livinus and his labours . . 28
Lobbe, monastery at . . . 106
Lollards 177
Lothaire I., treatment of, by
Pope 92
Louis XIV. of France 30S, 341
Louis XV. invades Belgium 342
Louis, John, of Elderen . . 342
Louvain 342
,, University of 204,301,
347, 374
Ludger 60
Lupus de Sens 24
Luther 218
Maestricht . . .32, 42, 46
Male, Louis de 170
Malmedi, monastery of . . 42
Marlborough, victories of . 309
Martin, S 16
Maternus, S 11
Maurice, Prince .... 256
Maximilian, Emperor . . 218
^lechlin . . 79, 177, 193, 231
Medardus, S 38
Meindaerts, Archbishop of
Utrecht .... 352
Memlin 206
Menapii 5
Mommolin, S 39
Monasteries and monastic
orders . 31, 35, 154, 357, 375
Monulphus, vS 33
Mystics 178
PAGE
Napoleon, Louis . . 360, 378
Neercassel, John van, Bishop
of Utrecht 311
Nervii 5
Northmen 89
Notger, Bishop of Liege . 107
Noyon 38, 146
Oldenzaal, surrender of . 291
Omer, S 29
Orange, William of . 231, 235,
248, 254
Os, Willibrord van, Arch-
bishop of Utrecht . . , 378
Oudshoorn, James d', Bishop
of Utrecht 166
Painting, art of .
.
206
Papal power, increase
f
^0, 93,
126, 129
Paul, S., legend of
3
Peace of God . .
119
Peace, tribunal of .
120
Pepin of Heristal .
41
Perrenot, Anthony
231
Persecutions . . 13, i
4,
22^
, 237,
Philip of Burgundy, Bi.shop
of Utrecht
Philip of Burgundy, Count
of Flanders . .
Philip 11. of Spain
Photinus ....
Piatus, S. . . .
Port Royal . . .
Printing, effect of ,
Prosper, S., poem of
Provinces, the Seven
260
223
198
231
13
15
303
218
22
252
Napoleon Bonaparte . 359, I
365, 378 ' Quesnel
304, 320
INDEX.
395
Radbod
Raoul (Ralph), Bp. of Liege
Rathere
Reformation, the ....
,, precursors of, .
Reformers, disputes between
Reginald, Bishop of Liege .
,, Count ....
Religious toleration . 246,
340.
Remaclus, S., Bishop of
Maestricht
Remigius
Remonstrants ... 272,
Requesens
Revolt of Netherlands . .
Revolution of 1830 . . .
Richaire, Bishop of Liege .
Richard, S
Rovenius, Bishop of Utrecht
Ruysbroek
Rynswick, treaty of . . .
Saints, age of
Sanctus
Santen, Van, Archbishop of
Utrecht
Sasbold Vosmeer, Arch-
bishop of Utrecht . . .
Saxon missionaries . . .
Schenck, Frederick, Arch-
bishop of Utrecht . . .
Schisms at Rome 121, 123,
Schoolmen, influence of
Sens, Lupus de . .
Servatius, S., Bishop
Maestricht . . .
Sigebert, evidence of
Slaves, Church . . . ,
Spanish rule ....
Spanish soldiers revolt
Standonck, John . .
Statistics of Church 268,
of
I'AGK
29
217
221
118
106
260,
346
42
23
, 276
247
371
123
290
178
309
13
381
263
50
244
I4S,
169
157
24
32
14
103
229
251
215
>5^3
I'AGE
Stavelot 42, 122
Stevenists 3^3
Swederus, Bishop of Utrecht 203
Synod of Dort 271
Tanchelin, heresy of . . i47
Theban legion 14
Theodore, Count of Holland 1 3 1
Theresa Maria 339
Therouanne 22, 39
Titelman 232
Tongres 18
Torre, James de la, Arch-
bishop of Utrecht . . . 311
Torrentius, Bp. of Antwerp 282
Tournay . ... 37, 226, 287
Trent, Council of .... 239
Treveri Sj 9
Treves 1 1, 18
Tribunal of peace .... 120
Trond, S., abbey of . . . 234
Trosli 97
"University," the . . . 266
Urbanists 172
Ursula, S 21
Utrecht . 56, 62, 165, 203, 225,
378
Vaast, S
Valenciennes, revolt at
Valerius, S
Valois, Philip of . .
'-3, 40
238
3
164
Venduille, John de, Bishop
of Tournay 287
Victricius -^o, 39
Vonckists 349
Vosmeer, Sasbold, Arch-
bishop of Utrecht ... 263
Wachtendonck, John a.
Bishop of Namur . . . 290
396
INDEX.
Walenrode, Bishop of Liege
Walloons, character of .
Wazon, Bishop of Liege
Wessel, John ....
Weyden, Roger van der
Widukind
Wilbrand, Bishop of Liege
William of Orange 231
Bp. of Utrecht
PAGE
202
252
120
104
206
61
235 248,
127, 132
Willibrord, S 50
Windesheim, monastery
of 186
Wolbodon, Bishop of Liege 116
Ypre.s 162, 243
Zerbolt, Gerhard . . . 188
Zwentil)old 94
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