ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Malcontents revolt 1576

Synopsis
After the death of the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands Don Luis de Requesens in March 1576, the Council of State of Flanders assumed interim responsibilities of government. Within the Council there was a deep division between those loyal to the Spanish crown and the so-called "malcontents", that is, Catholic Walloon nobles – among them, the Duke of Aarschot – who remained close to the States-General. In a context of recurrent military mutinies due to the lack of payments, the attack by Spanish soldiers on the city of Aalst was the trigger for an armed mob in Brussels on July 26, encouraged by these "malcontents", to carry out various actions against their political opponents; the crowd murdered the servant of one of the council members (Jerónimo de Roda) and violently broke into the houses of others. In August and September the actions continued in the city, now imprisoning members of the Council of State, such as Roda himself, Julián Romero and Alonso Vargas. With the “Pacification of Ghent” on November 8, the Southern Netherlands’ provinces united with the states of Holland and Zeeland against Philip II and managed to get the new governor, Don Juan of Austria, to accept the departure of the Spanish troops.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 2 months. Name in sources: Revuelta de los "malcontentos". Location: Brussels Country (current): Belgium. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Local elites, Undifferentiated. Number of participants: unknown. Main reasons & motivations: Political, Religion. Leadership: Duke of Aarschot. Relevance: medium.

Further reading
PARKER, Geoffrey (1989). España y la rebelión de Flandes. Madrid: Nerea, 171-175. SCHEPPER, Hugo de (1998). “Un catalán en Flandes: Don Lluis de Requesens y Zúñiga, 1573-1576”, Pedralbes. Revista d’Història Moderna, 18/2, pp. 157-167. SOEN, Violet (2011). “Philip II’s Quest. The Appointment of Governors-General during the Dutch Revolt (1559-1598)”, Bijdragen en mededelingen betreffende de geschiedenis der Nederlanden, 126/1, pp. 22-24.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Malcontents revolt 1576", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).