Compromise of Nobles - The Compromise of Nobles

The Compromise of Nobles

This unrest motivated the Brussels government to send Lamoral, Count of Egmont, to Spain to plead for relaxation of the ordinances. Philip replied negatively in his Letters from the Segovia Woods of October 1565. This led to a gathering of some members of the lesser nobility at the house of Floris, Count of Culemborg, in December 1566. There they drew up a petition containing a protest against the enforcement of the placards. It was probably drafted by Philips of Marnix, lord of Saint-Aldegonde, and it was initially signed by Henry, Count of Bréderode, Louis of Nassau and Count Charles of Mansfeld.

The draft was widely circulated and gathered a large number of signatures. The magnates of the nobility at first kept aloof (though Orange must have been in the know through his brother Louis). On 24 January 1566, however, Orange addressed a letter to the Regent, as a member of the Council, in which he offered his unsolicited opinion that a moderation of the placards would be desirable, in view of the toleration now practiced in neighboring lands, like France. He also pointed to the social unrest caused by the famine that scourged the country in that year and remarked that the placards were bound to cause trouble in this context. For good measure he threatened to resign if something along these lines was not done.

The leaders of the association that supported the draft petition met in Breda at the house of Antoine II de Lalaing, Count of Hoogstraten (another member of the Council of State) to work out a way that was acceptable to the government to present the petition. Finally, on 5 April 1566, a long procession of 300 signers of the petition walked through Brussels to the Regent's court. There Brederode read the petition aloud to the Regent, who became very agitated. Afterwards, when the Regent met with the Council of State, Orange tried to calm her, and another member, Charles de Berlaymont, allegedly remarked that the petitioners were no more than beggars (Geuzen), who deserved a good thrashing, and that the Regent need not be afraid of them.

In the petition the nobles, who presented themselves as loyal subjects of the king, asked him to suspend the Inquisition and the enforcement of the placards against heresy. They also urged the convening of the States-General so that "better legislation" could be devised to address the matter.

On the advice of the moderates in the Council, like Orange, the Regent replied to the petitioners that she would forward it to the king and that she would support its requests. Brederode handed over a supplementary petition on 8 April, in which the petitioners promised to keep the peace while the petition was being sent to Spain, a journey that could take weeks. He assumed that meanwhile the requested suspension of enforcement would be in effect. That evening the petitioners held a banquet at which they toasted the king and themselves as "beggars." Henceforth the Geuzen would be the name of their party.