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Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Keywords
Dutch revolt, siege of Leiden, memory studies, environmental history, military history
Abstract
This article analyzes the process of commemoration relating to the relief of Leiden. The siege and subsequent rescue of the city were pivotal moments in early years of the Dutch Revolt. As the Prince of Orange and the rebel forces could not save the city with traditional military maneuvers,they employed military inundations, or the intentional flooding of land,for tactical purposes.Over the course of two months the rebels flooded roughly half of southern Holland through dike breaches and the opening of sluices. This man-‐made flood only carried the rebels so far, and it took a rain storm and a change in the direction of the wind to finally allow them to save the city. This article focuses on a print produced shortly after the city was saved on October 3,1574. The image highlights the traditional narrative of how the siege was portrayed and commemorated in sixteenth century Holland, focusing on the famine and distress of the city while also showcasing how it was saved through what the rebels interpreted as divine intervention.As a point of departure, this article explores how the military inundations were remembered and memorialized in the image and more broadly in other contemporary accounts.The print, and many other commemorations, interpreted these natural changes in the weather as a sign of God’s blessing.Framing the relief of Leiden as providential served a number of important functions for contemporaries.Most importantly,it allowed the rebels to avoid addressing issues of reparations and compensation resulting from the military inundations.This paper argues that the providential interpretation of the rescue of Leiden helped to hide the uncomfortable truth that the conquest of nature and the domination of humans are intimately connected.
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (FHASS)
Journal
Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies
Volume
35
Issue
2
First Page
1
Last Page
27
Version
Publisher's version
Peer Reviewed/Refereed Publication
yes
Copyright
© Canadian Association for the Advancement of Netherlandic Studies
Terms of Use
Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original Publication Citation
Tiegs, R. (2014). Hidden beneath the waves: Remembering and forgetting after the relief of Leiden. Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies, 35 (2) (2014), 1-27. Retrieved from https://caans-acaen.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CJNS35-2pp1-27Tiegs2.pd
SOURCE Citation
Included in
Comments
Hidden beneath the waves: Commemorating and forgetting the military inundations during the Siege of Leiden was originally published in the Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies. For more articles like this one please visit https://caans-acaen.ca/ .