Religious Composition of the Dutch Republic

What was the religious composition of the Dutch Republic in 1581 at the time of the independence? I have not yet been able to figure out whether at the time of independence in the Seven Provinces there was a Protestant or Catholic majority of the population and how this composition varied during the Dutch Revolt.

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Summary

Generally speaking, the lands below the rivers (Rhine, Waal, Maas etc.) were mostly Catholic, and the lands above were Reformed throughout the Dutch Revolt. Finding concrete numbers is very hard, but sources say that around 1580-90 most cities above the rivers had a 10 to 20 percent Reformed population. [1][2][3][4]

At that time, the popular sentiment was heavily anti-Catholic, but it seems that attendance to Reformed church was not very high, either. Some considerable part of the population was made of Reformed sympatizers, or ‘devotees’, and they did not strictly adhere to the Reformed church discipline.

A Little History

It is known that Calvinism spread in the Low Countries first in Flanders after 1550, and it took root in the region rather easily. This is partly thanks to the Humanist and Devotio Moderna traditions which, similar to the Protestant philosophy, emphasize the importance of the individual’s faith. The Protestant sentiment is already evident in 1559, when King Philip II wrote to the Pope about a plan for creating new bishoprics in the Low Countries in order to revitalize the Roman Catholic Church:

[without radical change] “I cannot see how our religion can be maintained in these states” [Israel, p.74]

In 1566 popular iconoclastic uprisings called Beeldenstorm started in Steenvoorde in Flanders. With considerable speed it reached north of the rivers within the same year, and as a reaction the Duke of Alba was sent from Spain to the Spanish Netherlands to get the rebels in line. The harsh, repressive policies of Alba failed and started a gradually increasing split between Spain and the rebels. In 1572 the Watergeuzen captured the town of Brielle and the fires of revolt rekindled. Many revolts fired in other cities, some spontaneous and some Geuzen-led.

Here is the part that is more related to our topic. The revolting populace were mostly town militia and the commonfolk, and in nearly all cases they pressed the city governments into banning Catholic worship. In Leiden they expelled the clergy and banned Catholic services [6]. Similar events occurred also in Dordrecht, Rotterdam, Delft, Gouda (Notice that all are northern cities, and specifically in Holland) [Israel, p.361]. As a consequence, Catholic activity went underground.

The Data

After the revolts of 1572, we see that Reformed membership slowly increased. In late 1570s, active reformed membership was under 10 percent in Delft, Dordrecht, Leiden and Enkhuizen, cities where the Reformed faith was the strongest. [Israel, p.363]. It seems that by the end of the 1580s the percentage of the Reformed rose to around 20 percent in Delft, Dordrecht, Leiden and The Hague. Though it is hard to discern if this number includes the ‘devotees’ or not. It is important to understand here that the line is blurred: There is no clear definition of being Reformed. Finally, in a seemingly contradictory report the members of the Reformed Church are said to be 200, which with their families amounts to less than 10 per cent of the population. By the same report, in 1608 the percentage was risen to around 50 percent [3].

To be frank, it is very hard to compare the trustworthiness of different reports. However, looking at all the numbers I could find, the percentage of Reformed citizens seems to converge somewhere between 10 to 20 percent for around 1580-1590.

The number may seem low to you. Israel finds it quite impressive, for the state did not resort to actual coercion of the Reformed faith. Also, the inconclusive war and the presence of Spanish troops in the region (surely everybody remembered Alba and the Council of Troubles) most likely reduced the number of open Calvinists. [Israel, p.365]

Catholic Revival

In actuality, Catholicism was banned throughout the country, but some cities had large catholic minorities such as Utrecht, Alkmaar and Haarlem. In those cities Catholic priests were not expelled and they could even still work their jobs [Israel, p.377]. Note that Utrecht was the main bishopric of the region and therefore it makes sense that it had a larger Catholic population. In 1627 it was in Utrecht that the Dutch Catholic Mission, Missio Hollandica, was established in the Dutch Republic after long efforts. Their work led to a nearly sixfold increase in the number of Catholic priests between 1609 and 1630s. [Israel, p.378]

The best data by far is about the Catholic population estimates in some cities after 1622. It makes sense if they needed to know to numbers to evaluate their performance of converting the population. The table below is adapted from Israel, pp. 380-381 and shows the estimated populations in 1622.

City Population Catholic
Haarlem 39500 4800
Utrecht 25000 4000
Delft 23000 1000
Enkhuizen 21000 500
Rotterdam 20000 1000
Gouda 14500 3000
Groningen 25000 8000
Middelburg 35000 150

Why it is hard to find concrete numbers

First of all, a lot of people were only “devotees” of the reformed church and were not adhering to strict discipline. This makes it hard to count them. Say, they are not going to church on a regular basis, how would you find and count them? Secondly, as I have mentioned previously, the state did not use coercion and did not have an active conversion programme. It only promoted Calvinisim by some privilages: Working in the government, urban citizenship, guild membership and poor relief were conditional on membership of the Reformed Church [7]. Therefore it is not inconceivable to think that they did not see any use in knowing the numbers. Thirdly, the period saw huge migrations between the Calvinist north and the Catholic south, so the numbers fluctuate. There is also some migration of Calvinists from England and Germany to the Dutch Republic. And finally, with the ban on Catholic worship the Churches went underground, as seen in many schuilkerk (secret church) such as the Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder in Amsterdam.

Sources

Ekin Deniz Aksu