The Revolt of The Netherlands, book 2 | Page 7

their
ruler. Had the demand been granted, their choice could fall on no other
than the Prince of Orange. But Granvella, with his usual presence of
mind, broke through the snare. "The man who receives this office," he
declared in the state council, "will, I hope, see that he divides Brabant
with the king!" The long delay of the papal bull, which was kept back
by a misunderstanding between the Romish and Spanish courts, gave
the disaffected an opportunity to combine for a common object. In
perfect secrecy the states of Brabant despatched an extraordinary
messenger to Pins IV. to urge their wishes in Rome itself. The
ambassador was provided with important letters of recommendation
from the Prince of Orange, and carried with him considerable sums to
pave his way to the father of the church. At the same time a public
letter was forwarded from the city of Antwerp to the King of Spain
containing the most urgent representations, and supplicating him to
spare that flourishing commercial town from the threatened innovation.
They knew, it was stated, that the intentions of the monarch were the
best, and that the institution of the new bishops was likely to be highly
conducive to the maintenance of true religion; but the foreigners could
not be convinced of this, and on them depended the prosperity of their
town. Among them the most groundless rumors would be as perilous as
the most true. The first embassy was discovered in time, and its object
disappointed by the prudence of the regent; by the second the town of
Antwerp gained so far its point that it was to remain without a bishop,
at least until the personal arrival of the king, which was talked of.
The example and success of Antwerp gave the signal of opposition to
all the other towns for which a new bishop was intended. It is a
remarkable proof of the hatred to the Inquisition and the unanimity of
the Flemish towns at this date that they preferred to renounce all the

advantages which the residence of a bishop would necessarily bring to
their local trade rather than by their consent promote that abhorred
tribunal, and thus act in opposition to the interests of the whole nation.
Deventer, Ruremond, and Leuwarden placed themselves in determined
opposition, and (1561) successfully carried their point; in the other
towns the bishops were, in spite of all remonstrances, forcibly inducted.
Utrecht, Haarlem, St. Omer, and Middelburg were among the first
which opened their gates to them; the remaining towns followed their
example; but in Malines and Herzogenbusch the bishops were received
with very little respect. When Granvella made his solemn entry into the
former town not a single nobleman showed himself, and his triumph
was wanting in everything that could make it real, because those
remained away over whom it was meant to be celebrated.
In the meantime, too, the period had elapsed within which the Spanish
troops were to have left the country, and as yet there was no appearance
of their being withdrawn. People perceived with terror the real cause of
the delay, and suspicion lent it a fatal connection with the Inquisition.
The detention of these troops, as it rendered the nation more vigilant
and distrustful, made it more difficult for the minister to proceed with
the other innovations, and yet he would fain not deprive himself of this
powerful and apparently indispensable aid in a country where all hated
him, and in the execution of a commission to which all were opposed.
At last, however, the regent saw herself compelled by the universal
murmurs of discontent, to urge most earnestly upon the king the
necessity of the withdrawal of the troops. "The provinces," she writes
to Madrid, "have unanimously declared that they would never again be
induced to grant the extraordinary taxes required by the government as
long as word was not kept with them in this matter. The danger of a
revolt was far more imminent than that of an attack by the French
Protestants, and if a rebellion was to take place in the Netherlands these
forces would be too weak to repress it, and there was not sufficient
money in the treasury to enlist new." By delaying his answer the king
still sought at least to gain time, and the reiterated representations of
the regent would still have remained ineffectual, if, fortunately for the
provinces, a loss which he had lately suffered from the Turks had not
compelled him to employ these troops in the Mediterranean. He,
therefore, at last consented to their departure: they were embarked in

1561 in Zealand, and the exulting shouts of all the provinces
accompanied their departure.
Meanwhile Granvella ruled in the council of state almost uncontrolled.
All offices, secular and spiritual, were given away through