OF THE TURBULENT TIMES IN THE NETHERLANDS AND ESPECIALLY IN GHENT, BY MARCUS VAN VAERNEWIJCK

Of the turbulent times in the Netherlands and especially in Ghent is the chronicle that Marcus van Vaernewijck began in the summer of 1566, when some Calvinist preachers managed to gather hundreds of people to listen to their sermons in the open air. Vaernewijck was a convinced Catholic, but he struggled to understand and refute the arguments of the Calvinists. The first three books of his chronicle reflect the daily life of an important city in the Netherlands as seen by a well-informed observer. Comment on the decisions of municipal managers to take control of the situation, judicial executions, the flow of grain prices in the market, international news. When, in August 1566, an organized movement to destroy the interior of all the churches begins, Vaernewijck documents in detail all the works of art that have been lost and the few that have survived. He realizes that the king of Spain will not be able to leave so many excesses unpunished, as it will later be found out. This chronicle, therefore, constitutes a human document and an essential historical source to understand the relations between Spain and the Netherlands in the second half of the 16th century.