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Changing Strategies of State and Urban Authorities in the Spanish Netherlands Towards Exiles and Returnees During the Dutch Revolt

Abstract This article examines the policies that state and urban authorities within the Habsburg Netherlands adopted towards emigration during the Dutch Revolt. The Spanish Crown’s repression after the Iconoclastic Fury in 1566–7 intensified the exodus during the first decade of the Revolt, as local or exceptional courts often sanctioned these retreats through judicial banishment and confiscation of property. Beginning in 1579–81, however, there was a change in policy towards refugees, as local authorities in Habsburg territories abandoned their initial attempts at repression in favour of reconciliation and reintegration. While the new governor-general and city magistrates in reconciled cities encouraged Protestants to leave, they also welcomed those seeking to permanently return, albeit if they both pledged loyalty to the Spanish Crown and reconciled with the Catholic Church. This policy, as shown in pardon letters, petitions, and inquiries concerning returnees, met with some success.