Iconoclastic Uprising of 1566

a mass uprising in the Netherlands, the first act of the bourgeois revolution of the Netherlands of the 16th century. Waged under the banner of Calvinism, it directed the full force of its attack against the Catholic Church, the main support of Spanish dominion in the country. About 5,500 churches and monasteries were attacked, and images and statues of the “saints” were destroyed. In a number of places, the insurgents sacked the houses and castles of the nobility and destroyed records of indebtednesses and lease records. The primary motive force of the uprising was the city plebeians and the peasants of villages near the cities. Initially, the operations of the insurgents were directed by Calvinist consistories and various progressive-minded members of an anti-Spanish league of nobles (which arose in 1565): however, frightened by the scope of the movement, they later struck a deal with the Spanish vicegerent. Wishing to split the movement, she published the August 23 manifesto, which promised to eliminate the Inquisition, mitigate the laws against heretics, allow limited freedom for Calvinism, and grant amnesty to the members of the league of nobles. Deprived of leadership, the uprising was suppressed.