The Boys' Book of Rulers

Such were some of the shocking and barbarous scenes connected with the notorious Spanish Inquisition. This persecution raged year after year. So fiercely did these fires of persecution burn throughout all Spain, that nearly all traces of the Protestant religion were eradicated from the kingdom. The Spaniards degenerated into semi-barbarism. Education was discouraged, all human rights were trampled upon, and Spain became one of the most debased, impoverished, and miserable nations in Europe. Thus had religious fanaticism turned this fair province of Philip’s into a desert. In regard to the blame which rests upon Philip II., for this deplorable state of things, his own words will answer. He wrote to his sister, whom he had appointed his regent in the Netherlands, thus: —

“I have never had any object in view than the good of my subjects! In all that I have done I have trod in the footsteps of my father, under whom the people of the Netherlands must admit that they lived contented and happy. As to the Inquisition, whatever people may say of it, I have never attempted anything new. With regard to the edicts, I have been always resolved to live and die in the Catholic faith. I could not be content to have my subjects do otherwise. Yet I see not how this can be compassed without punishing the transgressors. God knows how willingly I would avoid shedding a drop of Christian blood; but I would rather lose a hundred thousand lives, if I had so many, than allow a single change in matters of religion.”

In the Netherlands persecutions and rebellions caused constant strife. Scarcely forty years had elapsed since Luther had publicly burned the papal bull at Wittenburg. Since that time his doctrines had been received in Denmark and Sweden. In England, under Queen Elizabeth, Protestantism had become the established religion of the state. The Reformation had reached the hills and valleys of Scotland, and tens of thousands had gathered to hear the preaching of Knox. The Low Countries, or Netherlands, which now constitute Holland and Belgium, were the “debatable land,” on which the various sects of reformers, the Lutherans, the Calvinists, and the English Protestants, contended for mastery over the Roman Catholic Church. Calvinism was embraced by some of the cantons of Switzerland, and had also spread widely through France, where the adherents to the Protestant faith were known as the Huguenots. The cry of the Reformation had passed the Alps, and was heard even under the walls of the Vatican, and had crossed the Pyrenees.

The king of Navarre declared himself a Protestant, and the spirit of the Reformation, as we have related, had also secretly spread into Spain. But there already the terrible Inquisition, with Philip II. at its head, had crushed out Protestantism from Spain. It was not to be expected that Philip, having exterminated heresy in one part of his dominions, would tolerate its existence in any other, least of all in so important a country as the Netherlands. So the persecutions commenced there. During the latter part of the fifteenth century, and the beginning of the sixteenth, the pontifical throne had been filled by a succession of popes, notorious for their religious indifference, and the carelessness and profligacy of their lives. This was one of the prominent causes of the Reformation. But before the close of the sixteenth century, a line of popes had arisen, of stern and austere natures, without a touch of sympathy for the joys and sorrows of mankind, and entirely devoted to the work of regaining the lost powers of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Pius the Fifth was such a pontiff. He wrote to Philip, urging him not to falter in the good cause, and to allow no harm to the Catholic faith, but to march against his rebellious vassals at the head of his army, and wash out the stain of heresy in the blood of the heretic. To him Philip replied: that the Pope might rest assured that the king would consent to nothing that could prejudice the service of God, or the interests of religion. He deprecated force, as that would involve the ruin of the country. Still he would march in person, without regard to his own peril, and employ force, though it should cost the ruin of the provinces; but he would bring his vassals to submission. “For he would sooner lose a hundred lives, and every rood of empire, than reign a lord over heretics.”

With such a pope, and such a king, no wonder that the Inquisition flourished.

The situation of the Netherlands was such that the various opinions of the surrounding nations were easily transferred to their shores. On the south were the Lutherans of Germany; on the west, the French Huguenots; while by the ocean, they held communication with England and the nations of the Baltic. The soldier quartered on their territory, the seaman who visited their shores, the trader who trafficked in their towns, brought with them different forms of the “New Religion.” As most of the people were able to read, books from France and Germany were circulated amongst them. Philip II. understood the importance of his position. His whole life proves that he felt it to be his especial mission to restore the tottering fortunes of Catholicism, and stay the torrent which was sweeping away the Roman Catholic faith. Philip had made his half-sister, Margaret, regent in the Netherlands.

In order to a clearer understanding of the revolt in the Netherlands, a brief sketch of William, prince of Orange, will be necessary. He was descended from ancestors who had given an emperor to Germany; William’s parents were both Lutherans, and he was educated in that faith. But Charles V. obtained the consent of his parents to remove him to Brussels, when in his twelfth year, and he was brought up in the family of the Emperor’s sister. In this household, the young prince was instructed in the Catholic faith. When fifteen years of age, William became the page of Charles V. On the abdication of that monarch, he commended William to Philip II., who at first received the prince of Orange with much favor. William married for his second wife, Anne, the daughter of Maurice, the great Lutheran champion; and though he did not openly espouse the cause, but continued in the service of Philip, a writer of the times says of him: “The prince of Orange passed for a Catholic among Catholics, and a Lutheran among Lutherans.” But this portrait of him was by an unfriendly hand, and a truer declaration is that of Prescott, “that he possessed a spirit of toleration, the more honorable that in that day it was so rare. He condemned the Calvinists as restless and seditious, and the Catholics for their bigoted attachment to a dogma. Persecution, in matters of faith, he totally condemned, for freedom of judgment in such matters he regarded as the inalienable right of man. These conclusions, at which the world, after an incalculable amount of human suffering, has been three centuries in arriving, must be allowed to reflect great credit on the character of William, prince of Orange.”

There was now formed in the Netherlands a league called “The Gueux.” Some of this party of confederates demanded entire liberty of conscience; others would not have stopped short of a revolution, that would enable the country to shake off the Spanish yoke. Though this party was a political rather than a religious organization, they joined hands with the Lutherans and Calvinists, and became, for a time, a great aid to the Reformation. The origin of their name, which became the fanatical war-cry of the insurgents, happened thus: Two or three hundred of these confederates went to Brussels, to petition Margaret, the regent, to mediate with Philip in their behalf, that they should have more political liberty, and be freed from the edicts and the Inquisition. During the week spent by the league in Brussels, a banquet was given, where three hundred of the confederates were present. During the repast, Brederode, one of their number, described the manner in which their petition had been received by the regent. “She seemed at first disconcerted,” he said, “by the number of the confederates, but was reassured by Barlaimont, who told her that ‘they were nothing but a crowd of beggars.’”

Some of the company were much incensed at this treatment, but Brederode, taking it good-humoredly, said, “that he and his friends had no objection to the name, since they were ready at any time to become beggars for the service of their king and country.” This witty sally was received by the company with great applause, who shouted, “Vivent les Gueux!” – “long live the beggars!” Brederode, finding the jest took so well, left the room, and soon returned with a beggar’s wallet and a wooden bowl, such as were used by the mendicant fraternity in the Netherlands. Then pledging the company in a bumper, he swore to devote his life and fortune to the cause. The wallet and the bowl went round the table, and as each of the merry guests drank, the shout arose, “Vivent les Gueux!” In every language in which the history of these acts has been recorded, the French term, Gueux, is employed to designate this party of malcontents in the Netherlands.

The league now adopted the dress and symbols of mendicants. They affected their garments as a substitute for their family liveries, dressing their retainers in the ash-gray habiliments of the begging friars. Wooden bowls, spoons, and knives became in great request, though they were richly inlaid with silver, according to the wealth of the possessor. Pilgrims’ staffs were carried, elaborately carved. Medals resembling those stuck by the beggars in their bonnets were worn as a badge. The “Gueux penny,” as it was called, a gold or silver coin, was hung from the neck, bearing on one side the effigy of Philip, with the inscription, “Fideles au roi,” and on the other, two hands grasping a beggar’s wallet, and the words, “jusques a porter la besace,” – “Faithful to the king, even to carrying the wallet.” The war-cry of “Vivent les Gueux” soon resounded through the Netherlands.

Philip paid little or no attention to the frequent appeals of Margaret, his regent, that he should come to some concessions which should satisfy the people and bring the rebellion to an end. But while Philip was procrastinating, the Iconoclasts rose in fury, and inspired by a false zeal, committed many terrible, sacrilegious outrages, which cast dishonor upon the upholders of the Reformation. These Iconoclasts, or image-breakers, were simply armed mobs of ignorant people, who imagined they were doing a service to God by breaking into the Catholic churches, and ruthlessly destroying everything they could lay their hands on. Prescott thus describes the destruction caused by this band of rioters in Antwerp: —

“When the rest of the congregation had withdrawn, after vespers, the mob rushed forward, as by a common impulse, broke open the doors of the chapel, and dragged forth the image of the Virgin. Some called on her to cry, ‘Vivent les Gueux!’ while others tore off her embroidered robes and rolled the dumb idol in the dust, amidst the shouts of the spectators.

“This was the signal for havoc. The rioters dispersed in all directions on the work of destruction. High above the great altar was an image of the Saviour, curiously carved in wood, and placed between the effigies of the two thieves crucified with him. The mob contrived to get a rope round the neck of the statue of Christ, and dragged it to the ground. They then fell upon it with hatchets and hammers, and it was soon broken into a hundred fragments. The two thieves, it was remarked, were spared, as if to preside over the work of rapine below.

“Their fury now turned against the other statues, which were quickly overthrown from their pedestals. The paintings that lined the walls of the cathedral were cut into shreds. Many of these were the choicest specimens of Flemish art, even then, in its dawn, giving promise of the glorious day which was to shed a lustre over the land. But the pride of the cathedral and of Antwerp was the great organ, renowned throughout the Netherlands, not more for its dimensions than its perfect workmanship. With their ladders the rioters scaled the lofty fabric, and with their implements soon converted it, like all else they laid their hands on, into a heap of rubbish.

“The ruin was now universal. Nothing beautiful, nothing holy, was spared. The altars – and there were no less than seventy in the vast edifice – were overthrown one after another, their richly embroidered coverings rudely rent away, their gold and silver vessels appropriated by the plunderers. The sacramental bread was trodden under foot, the wine was quaffed by the miscreants, in golden chalices, to the health of one another, or of the Gueux, and the holy oil was profanely used to anoint their shoes and sandals. The sculptured tracery on the walls, the costly offerings that enriched the shrines, the screens of gilded bronze, the delicately carved woodwork of the pulpit, the marble and alabaster ornaments, all went down under the fierce blows of the Iconoclasts. The pavement was strewed with the ruined splendors of a church, which in size and magnificence was perhaps second only to St. Peter’s among the churches of Christendom.

“As the light of day faded, the assailants supplied its place with such light as they could obtain from the candles which they snatched from the altars. It was midnight before the work of destruction was completed. The whole number engaged in this work is said not to have exceeded a hundred, men, women, and boys.

“When their task was completed, they sallied forth in a body from the doors of the cathedral, roaring out the fanatical war-cry of “Vivent les Gueux!” Flushed with success, and joined on the way by stragglers like themselves, they burst open the doors of one church after another, and by the time morning broke, the principal temples in the city had been dealt with in the same ruthless manner as the cathedral.

“No attempt, all this time, was made to stop these proceedings, on the part of the magistrates or citizens. As they beheld from their windows the bodies of armed men hurrying to and fro, by the gleam of their torches, and listened to the sound of violence in the distance, they seem to have been struck with a panic. The Catholics remained within doors, fearing a general uprising of the Protestants. The Protestants feared to move abroad, lest they should be confounded with the rioters. For three days these dismal scenes continued… The fate of Antwerp had its effect on the country. The flames of fanaticism, burning fiercer than ever, quickly spread over the northern as they had done over the western provinces… In Holland, Utrecht, Friesland, – everywhere in short, with a few exceptions on the southern borders, – mobs rose against the churches.”

Cathedrals, chapels, monasteries, and nunneries, and even hospitals, were destroyed by these ignorant fanatics. The great library of Vicogne, one of the noblest collections in the Netherlands, perished in the flames kindled by the mob. Four hundred churches were sacked by the insurgents in Flanders alone. The damage to the cathedral at Antwerp was said to amount to four hundred thousand ducats. The whole work of this terrible devastation, occupied less than a fortnight. This wholesale destruction, perpetrated by the Iconoclasts, cannot be estimated. It is a melancholy fact that they pretended to be actuated by a zeal for the Reformation, thus dishonoring the great and glorious cause, by their ignorant fanaticism. An irreparable loss was occasioned by the destruction of manuscripts, statuary, and paintings. But the misguided Iconoclasts, ruthless as was their terrible destruction of magnificent cathedrals and priceless gems of art, must in justice have this excuse offered in their behalf, that they had been enfuriated by the infamous Inquisition which had turned Spain into one great auto de fé of burning martyrs, and which threatened, through the bigotry of Philip II., to invade their own land with its fiendish cruelties. Compared with the Inquisition, with its scarlet hands reeking with the life-blood of its tortured victims, the retaliation of the Iconoclasts is scarcely to be wondered at.

The tidings of the tumult in the Netherlands was received by Philip with the greatest indignation, and he exclaimed: “It shall cost them dear; by the soul of my father, I swear it, it shall cost them dear!”

These troubles in the Netherlands caused a change in the mind of William, prince of Orange. He saw the workings of Catholicism under a fearful aspect. He beheld his countrymen dragged from their firesides, driven into exile, thrown into dungeons, burned at the stake; and all this for no other cause than because they dared to dissent from the dogmas of the Romish Church. His parents had been Lutherans, his wife also was a Protestant, and William of Orange embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. We cannot follow his career. After quelling a mob at Antwerp, which threatened to destroy the city, realizing that he could place no reliance upon Philip, or Margaret his regent, and as they now looked upon him with suspicion, William of Orange determined to retire to his estates in Germany. He there occupied himself with studying the Lutheran doctrine, and making himself acquainted with the principles of the glorious Reformation of which he was one day to become the champion. The regency of Margaret continued in the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567; and in the last years she succeeded in putting down the revolt. Philip, through his regent, and the aid of the Pope, had now, by several successful contests in the Netherlands, quelled the rebellion, and the party of reform had disappeared, and its worship was everywhere proscribed. On its ruins the Catholic party had risen in greater splendor than ever. Margaret now resigned the regency, and the duke of Alva was appointed in her place. He created a new tribunal, which is known in history by the terrible name it received from the people, as the “Council of Blood.”

In order to justify his cruel proceedings against the Netherlands, Philip now submitted the case to the Inquisition at Madrid, and that ghostly tribunal came to the following decision: “All who had been guilty of heresy, apostasy, or sedition, and all, moreover, who, though professing themselves good Catholics, had offered no resistance to these, were, with the exception of a few specified individuals, thereby convicted of treason in the highest degree.” This sweeping judgment was followed by a royal edict, dated on the same day, in which, after reciting the language of the Inquisition, the whole nation, with the exception above stated, was sentenced, without distinction of sex or age, to the penalties of treason, – death and confiscation of property; and this, the decree went on to say, “without any hope of grace whatever, that it might serve for an example and a warning to all future time!”

Then followed the awful work of the “Council of Blood.” Men, women, and children were dragged to the gallows. Blood ran through the streets of the cities like a red river. The poor martyrs were tortured with horrible contrivances even at the scaffold, that their dying cries might cause merriment for their fiendish foes.

And thus Philip II. vindicates his conduct during this reign of terror: “What I have done has been for the repose of the provinces, and for the defence of the Catholic faith. If I had respected justice less, I should have despatched the whole business in a single day. No one acquainted with the state of affairs, will find reason to censure my severity. Nor would I do otherwise than I have done, though I should risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands, – no, though the world should fall in ruins around me!”

The young Queen Isabella having died, Philip II. married for his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, who had also been affianced to his son Carlos. Then came the rebellions of the Moriscoes, who were the descendants of the Moors in southern Spain. In 1569, the Moriscoes rose in a general insurrection against the Christians. Many a Moor had perished in the flames of the Inquisition, and they now retaliated with bloodthirsty ferocity. The horrors which ensued cannot be described. Before these Moors had been goaded by the cruel edicts of Philip, they had been kind neighbors. The cruelties committed by the Spanish troops sent against the Moors, were as shocking as the deeds of the barbarians. The Spanish army, before entering into a battle, knelt in prayer, invoking God’s blessing; and after a victory, reeking with the blood of their victims, they marched, under the banner of the cross, to the cathedrals, and chanted the Te Deum. Thus was religion turned into a mockery of a merciful God, and a cloak for the vilest of crimes.

Philip brought his fourth bride, Anne of Austria, to the magnificent palace or monastery of the Escurial. She lived ten years. Her children all died in infancy, except one son, who lived to succeed his father on the throne as Philip III. Spain was now rapidly on the decline. Civil war, persecution, banishment and emigration, were fast depopulating the country. The population diminished from ten to six millions.

As Queen Elizabeth of England had warmly espoused the Protestant cause, there was enmity between that nation and Spain. In 1558, Philip II., of Spain, who had been for three years preparing the famous Spanish Armada, ordered the fleet to sail against England. This splendid armada set sail from Lisbon with high hopes. But next day they met with a violent storm, which scattered some of the ships, and sunk others, and forced the rest to take shelter in the Groine. After the damages had been repaired, the armada again set forth. The fleet consisted of one hundred and thirty vessels, and many of them were of greater size than had ever before been employed in Europe. The plan of the king of Spain was, that the fleet should sail to the coast opposite to Dunkirk and Newport, and having joined the fleet of the duke of Parma, should make sail to the Thames, and having landed the whole Spanish army, complete at one blow the conquest of England. The armada reached Calais. Here the English admiral practised a stratagem upon the Spaniards. He took eight of his smaller vessels and filled them with combustibles, and setting them on fire, sent them amongst the Spanish fleet. In the confusion caused by this incident, the English fell upon the Spanish, and captured or destroyed twelve of their ships. The Spanish admiral thereupon started to return home. A violent tempest overtook the armada after it passed the Orkneys. The ships were driven upon the western isles of Scotland, and coast of Ireland, and were miserably wrecked. Thus was the famous Spanish armada destroyed. It was almost a death blow to the Spanish monarchy. At length Philip II., with a bankrupt treasury, while his mind was filled with gloom and his body tortured with a loathsome and terrible disease, died on the 13th of September, 1598. In view of his great opportunities, vast power, and the hopeful promise of his early career, and the miserable ending of his wrecked life, brought upon himself by his barbarous cruelties and religious bigotry and superstitions, we are reminded of the saying quoted at the commencement of the sketch, and are more fully convinced that no people can be prosperous unless their rulers are humane and virtuous. In the light of such shocking events as we have just been describing, and of such barbarous deeds performed in the name of religion, it seems to be an indisputable fact that the world has surely made vast progress in an enlightened civilization and in true Christianity.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS

1594-1632 A.D

“Ay, every inch a king!” – Shakespeare.

THE oldest account of the nations of Europe in the far north is that given by Pytheas, who lived three hundred and fifty years before the Christian Era. His voyages carried him to the shores of Britain and Scandinavia. The Goths were the most ancient inhabitants of Scandinavia, occupying the south, and were earlier in Sweden than the Sueones. These two tribes were at war for many years, but finally united and formed the Swedish nation. During twelve centuries after the visit of Pytheas to northern countries, nothing was known of the Scandinavian people in their own homes, although wild tribes from the north overran southern Europe, and were known as the Cimbri, Teutons, Germans, and Goths. But in the time of Alfred the Great, two travellers from Scandinavia visited the court of the English king. From the account they gave of their travels, King Alfred wrote a brief history and made a chart of modern Europe. In this book Scandinavia was described.