The Low Countries Quotes

“Dutch trade continued to decline, and poverty was widespread - perhaps 700,000 out of the total 2 million inhabitants in the northern provinces were dependent on charity. Colonies of distressed city folk were founded in the peat districts of Groningen and Friesland. People emigrated in larger numbers than ever before to North America.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“The Netherlands was the first European country to stop persecuting people suspected of witchcraft - what was probably the last witch trial there in 1610 ended in acquittal. Foreign students came to Dutch universities, and philosophers - like Descartes - found the atmosphere propitious for original thought. Germans came to join the Dutch East India Company, and Jacob Poppen, who arrived penniless from Holstein, became a burgomaster of Amsterdam and died a millionaire in 1624. English sailors served in the Dutch fleets. For twelve years the Pilgrim fathers found a friendly refuge in Leiden - “a fair and beauteous city of a sweet situation,” according to William Bradford, one of their leaders.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“In 1585, after a year’s siege by Parma’s army, Antwerp - the chief stronghold of the revolt in the south - capitulated. From this point, the southern provinces were Spain’s; the north was on its own. The second stage of this critical period of Low Countries history thus begins with the provinces divided. It is from this date that the firm shape of the two modern nations of Holland and Belgium starts to appear”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“From his mother, Philip inherited the Burgundian possessions. But a few years after Philip’s marriage, his wife Joanna, daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand, inherited not only Castile, but Aragon, Sicily, Naples, America, and the Indies. So when Charles V came of age, he inherited from his father, his mother, and his grandparents a great empire. He was, at once, prince of the Netherlands, king of a united Spain, and emperor of Germany.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“Out of this catastrophe, the only people to profit were the surviving peasants, whose labor was now in great demand. With fewer to farm the land, workers could charge more for their services, though rulers attempted to legislate against this.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“The French tried to disappear into the crowds but were identified by being forced to exclaim the Flemish oath “Schild en Vriendt” (buckler and friend). Many of the town’s ruling class - who, although bilingual, perhaps did not have good enough Flemish accents – perished, too.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“Many people in Western Europe in the year 1000 expected the world to come to an end. But instead of ending, conditions of life - particularly in the Low Countries - began to improve.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History

“More Celtic tribes, including those the Romans called the Belgae, had been pushed westward by Germanic pressure in the second century B.C.”
― Anthony Bailey, The Low Countries: A History