(INQUISITION).

(Belgium)

Late 17th-century

(ANONYMOUS). Receuil des lettres et memoires concernant l'histoire des Pais-Bas sur la reception du concile de Trent et l'introduction de l'Inquisition dans les XVII Provinces [Collection of letters and memoirs concerning the history of the Low Countries; regarding the reception of the Council of Trent and the introduction of the Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces].

This volume provides historical documentation concerning the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition to Belgium. A notation in pencil on the flyleaf by Alfonso Cassuto draws our attention to the date "1686" occurring within the text of our work on p. 44. Thus the terminus a quo, or earliest date of composition, is 1686. The Catholic Church's Council of Trent (1545-63), considered the most important embodiment of the Counter-Reformation, condemned the various Protestant heresies. At this time, King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) ruled over the Low Countries, also known as the Seventeen Provinces, with an iron fist. Philip remarked in private correspondence that the Inquisition of the Netherlands was far more pitiless than that of Spain. Most of the northern part of the Low Countries (present-day Holland) was committed to the Protestant faith, which brought about the violent reaction that led to the secession from Spain and the rise of the Dutch Republic. Only the southern part of the Low Countries (present-day Belgium) remained in the clutches of the Spanish Inquisition. Provenance: Sotheby’s London, The Library of Victor van de Weyer of New Lodge, Windsor (July, 1916). There is every indication that this is an unpublished manuscript.