Background
At this time, Ghent was part of the Spanish Empire. Ghent and the Low Countries in general were an international centre of trade and industry and therefore an important source of revenues for Spain. It was subject to the rule of the Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King Charles V, though it was his sister, Mary of Austria, who actually governed the region as his regent. Ghent had a population between 40,000 to 50,000 people.
In 1515, Charles imposed upon Ghent the Calfvel treaty, which, among other things, prevented the guilds from selecting their own deans. Needless to say, this was very unpopular with the guilds.
In 1536, Charles V went to war with the French king Francis I for control of northern Italy (the Italian War of 1536–1538). Charles asked Mary to raise money and conscripts from the Dutch provinces. In late March 1537, Mary declared a levy of 1.2 million guilders and an army of 30,000 conscripts along with munitions and artillery. Flanders would have to pay a third of this. Ghent was already deep in debt due to fines imposed by its rulers in the previous century.
Read more about this topic: Revolt Of Ghent (1539)
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)