Austrian Netherlands Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In 1714 the treaties of Rastatt and Baden ceded the southern Netherlands to the Habsburg monarchy. The southern Netherlands were not contiguous to the rest of the monarchy and furthermore enjoyed their own distinct local rights and traditions.
Early modern composite monarchies worked primarily through the intermediation of power between the sovereign, local elites, the estates and civil servants. Integrating local nobles into the structures of power was an important tool in managing composite monarchies. Léopold Philippe, fourth duke of Arenberg, was a powerful, wealthy and high-ranking noble in the southern Netherlands. Hence he was a key player in the mediation of Habsburg sovereignty in the region. His military career is well known. However, he featured prominently in other important positions on behalf of the Habsburg sovereigns: he was grand bailli (governor) in Hainault; he facilitated the grant of subsidies and credits by the estates to the ruler; and he was a member of governmental advisory boards. This article examines in an exemplary way those areas of activity, illustrating the range of action of a member of the high nobility, and showing how Habsburg power was transmitted to distant provinces which historians have little taken into account in this respect.
Under Charles VI, Léopold Philippe amassed local offices in the military and civil establishments in the Austrian Netherlands. He enjoyed a wide scope of action. As grand bailli he staffed the magistrate of Mons, for example, and he presided over the estates in Hainault, who were responsible for approving taxes. As supreme commander of the armed forces in the Austrian Netherlands he played an important role in stabilizing Habsburg sovereignty during the War of the Austrian Succession, particularly following Maria Theresa’s accession to power.
This paper specifically investigates the negotiation of power between the sovereign and noble elites. On the one hand, Léopold Philippe utilized his social capital in the estates of Flanders, Brabant and Hainault for the benefit of the monarchy by mediating subsidies and cheap credit as well as arranging debt refunding. On the other hand, he used the emperor’s trust in pursuit of his own interests, even opposing Vienna’s official representatives in Brussels to the detriment of government policy.

- by Veronika Hyden-Hanscho
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- Sovereignty, Austrian Netherlands, War of the Spanish Succession, Flanders

Quand il est question de rites d'accession au pouvoir, l'historien belge de l'époque moderne fait plutôt pâle figure face à ses confrères voisins, qu'ils soient français ou anglais. Il n'a en effet pas de splendides cérémonies du sacre à étudier. L'accession au pouvoir, dans les Pays-Bas espagnols puis autrichiens, est un rituel civil, l'inauguration, cérémonie au cours de laquelle le souverain (la plupart du temps, dans la pratique, le souverain ne se déplaçant pas de Madrid ou de Vienne, son représentant) fait le serment de respecter les «libertés» et les «constitutions» du pays.

Faisant suite à l’exposition Mansfeld au Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art en 2007 qui réserva une large place au château de Mansfeld au temps de son fondateur, la présentation actuelle aux Archives nationales ainsi que le catalogue de l'exposition cherchent à répondre aux questions suivantes :
Qu’est devenu le château après la mort de Mansfeld ?
Quelle a été sa signification pour les hommes dans le passé ?
Que signifie-t-il pour nous aujourd’hui ?
L’exposition et le catalogue sont le reflet des recherches récentes qui ont été consacrées principalement à l’histoire du château des 17e et 18e siècles et dans une moindre mesure aux événements du 19e siècle ainsi qu’à la réception du château dans les publications luxembourgeoises du 19e au 21e siècle.

- by Benoît Reiter and +2
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- 17th century Europe, 18th Century, History of the Spanish-Habsburg Netherlands, Austrian Netherlands
- by Mirella Marini
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- Women's Studies, Women's History, Early Modern History, Courts

Early modern composite monarchies functioned by maintaining local rights and traditions and the successful accommodation of noble elites in the army, diplomatic corps, and regional governments. Scholars commonly focus on the integration of nobles from the core lands in order to implement a faithful civil service and reliable institutions for government. Yet noble families from peripheries or border regions have been disregarded either as supporters or as opponents of royal power. This article explores the differing strategies of the Carrettos from Imperial Italy and the Arenbergs from the Southern Netherlands, two noble families from the border regions of the Habsburg realms and how they responded to integrative measures offered by the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. It analyses four important aspects of noble family strategies. First, the article examines how vassalage, loyalty, and sovereignty created important bonds between noble families in the western border regions of the Holy Roman Empire and the emperor or sovereign. Second, it establishes how families became members of competitive Habsburg court societies via court honours, titles, and interregional marriage alliances. Third, the article looks at how these families supported the early modern state with successful performances of state service and how they utilized the vast career possibilities of composite monarchies. Fourth and finally, it analyses how the failed integration of noble elites from border regions resulted in governmental crisis and uprisings. This article demonstrates how nobles in the border regions could be integral to state power.

- by Veronika Hyden-Hanscho
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- Sovereignty, Seventeenth Century, Habsburg Studies, Nobility
- by Mirthe Demaerel
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- Geology, Austrian Netherlands, Marbles, The Use of Marble and Other Stones

After the War of the Spanish Succession the Southern or Spanish Netherlands became the Austrian Netherlands. Promptly after handing over the power the imperial government tried to assure that her new dominions would yield as much financial support for the imperial army as possible. While at first hoping to achieve this through far reaching reforms of the political infrastructure, Vienna quickly had to satisfy itself with what in Belgian historiography has been called the 'Theresian compromise': little political change nor influence in exchange for stability in the (military) finances. Remarkably this also took place in the military administration, a domain formerly thought to be the only bastion of non-negotiated imperial power in the Austrian Netherlands.

- by Thomas Goossens
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- History, Military History, Public Administration, Eighteenth Century History

Über Jahrhunderte hinweg pflegte die in mehreren west- und zentraleuropäischen Ländern reich begüterte Adelsfamilie Arenberg ein Naheverhältnis zum Haus Habsburg. Der Band untersucht die wechselseitigen Verbindungen dieser hochadeligen Familie mit der Habsburgermonarchie auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen und im internationalen Kontext.
Die Adelsfamilie Arenberg besaß zahlreiche Güter in der Eifel, den Niederlanden, insbesondere den südlichen Niederlanden, später auch in Reichsitalien, und der Habsburgermonarchie sowie in Frankreich, Hannover und Preußen. Über Jahrhunderte stand sie in enger Beziehung zum Haus Habsburg. Der Fokus des Bandes richtet sich zum einen auf die Präsenz der Arenberg an den habsburgischen Höfen in Wien und Brüssel sowie im habsburgischen Militärdienst, zum anderen auf ihre Rolle in der Vermittlung habsburgischer Herrschaft vor allem in den Österreichischen Niederlanden.
Dabei stellt sich die Frage nach Strategien der Macht- und Statusabsicherung sowie des Aufstiegs einer transterritorialen Familie, die lange in den Grenzregionen mehrerer Großreiche – neben der Habsburgermonarchie auch des Heiligen Römischen Reichs und Frankreichs – angesiedelt war.
Darüber hinaus widmen sich einige Beiträge dem Leben und Werdegang von Arenberger Frauen, die in der Familienerinnerung weitgehend der Vergessenheit bzw. Diffamierung anheimfielen.

- by Veronika Hyden-Hanscho
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- Military History, Women's History, Habsburg Studies, Nobility

Through an in-depth analysis of two case studies from a rural deanery in Flanders, this MA thesis tells in vivid detail the story of peasant communities managing their religious identities in an ever-changing confessional world. By exploring identity features that emanated from microhistorical conflicts, this dissertation challenges the dominant top-down approach of identities, and aims to provide new insights into how local agency and cultural appropriation determined the construction of religious identities in the Habsburg Netherlands during the confessional age.

For no less than 300 years, c. 1550-1860 the Dutch way of fishing was the envy of neighbours in the North Sea area and looked upon as the undisputed best practice. This was a lasting consequence of the Dutch Golden Age in fishing outliving the reality of best practice with at least 150 years. This paper explores the consequences of the image of Dutch dominance, as seen through 41 different attempts to build a fleet and run fishing operations similar to the Dutch. Most of them were short lived, and some never made it to the fishing grounds before going bankrupt. When reviewed one by one, they all have unique reasons for lacklustre performances. Privateering, warfare, bankruptcy, bad fishing luck are all valid explanations at the level of politics and short term events. However, when looked upon in connection to each other, some recurrent features of more or less sound policies appear, as well as structural social and natural conditions for varying degrees of success and failure. Two waves of imitation emerge from this comparison. In the mid-17th century and during the 1760s-70s there was a particularly strong European wide interest in emulating Dutch fisheries.

- by Bo Poulsen
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- History, European History, Cultural History, Economic History

Sur un plan de la forteresse de Luxembourg réalisé en 1843 (conservé à la Staatsbibliothek de Berlin) figurent les esquisses de plusieurs inscriptions et sculptures qui étaient encore visibles dans les fortifications à l'époque, et dont plusieurs sont aujourd'hui conservées au Musée Dräi Eechelen, à Luxembourg (voir la contribution de Fr. REINERT dans le même volume, p. 97-100). Cette contribution analyse la langue et le style de quatre de ces inscriptions inédites, rédigées en latin, qui commémorent les constructions du comte de Wallis, de la gouvernante Marie-Élisabeth et de Jean Adolphe d'Olisy (1728 et 1731).

- by Pierre Assenmaker
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- Modern History, Neo-latin literature, 18th & 19th Centuries, 18th Century

The very first issue of the multidisciplinary Open Access journal Early Modern Low Countries is now available online! Early Modern Low Countries is dedicated to the study of the history and culture of the Low Countries between 1500 and 1830. It is published by Uopen Journals (Utrecht University) and will appear twice a year. We consider it as our mission to offer a home to state-of-the-art academic scholarship on any aspect of the early modern Low Countries and their overseas territories. If you want to stay informed about new issues or other developments please take a few moments to register. Early Modern Low Countries is a peer-reviewed journal. Articles are refereed by internal and external experts with different disciplinary backgrounds. We will consider new contributions in the fields of history, literary studies, art history, and related areas of study. We also welcome suggestions for book reviews or notes. If you want to contribute to Early Modern Low Countries please visit our website.

- by Joris Oddens and +2
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- European History, Military History, Intellectual History, Cultural History
- by Joris Oddens and +4
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- European History, Military History, Intellectual History, Cultural History

[In Dutch] Deze paper beschrijft de identiteitsontplooiing van de Vlaamse Olijfberg, een kleine gereformeerde minderheidsgemeenschap in het rurale hinterland ten oosten van Oudenaarde, doorheen de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw. Door de evoluties in hun sociale en devotionele leven nauwgezet te analyseren, probeert de paper duidelijkheid te scheppen inzake de stelselmatige afgrenzing van de eigen dissidente groep binnen de dominant confessionele maatschappij van het religieus-vijandige Vlaanderen. Bovendien poogt deze paper de verschillende elementen die hebben bijgedragen tot het proces van confession-building te traceren en te benoemen door zowel micro- als macrohistorische veranderingen in rekenschap te brengen.

Ambulant Workers from the french Auvergne and Limousin in the Duchy of Brabant

- by Lotfi Mastari
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- Early Modern History, Labor Migration, Migration Studies, Vagrancy and Mobility
- by Filip Van Roosbroeck
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- Rural History, Austrian Netherlands, Epizootics, Medical History

Scholars in the history of the self often stress the importance of change in the late eighteenth century, noting an increasing stress on interiority, stability, wholeness and self-control. Their analyses are often based on sources pertaining to literate elites: learned philosophical tracts, memoirs and diaries, journals and novels. The aim of my dissertation is to analyse whether common people also took part in the new modes of selfhood, and if so, how this came to be in the area that is currently Belgium.
To tackle this question, I take inspiration from philosophers in the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. They have argued that the self was not primarily formed through voluntary self-reflection, but through power and in particular the power of the criminal courts. The self is formed as a response to the demand for people to give an account of themselves. I suggest that we need to add more historical detail to their analyses, looking what kinds of self-narratives courts demanded, and that we should expand the scope of the inquiry by attending to broader processes of everyday stigmatization.
My main sources are criminal trial records of people suspected of homicide, prostitution, suicide and sodomy before the courts that had jurisdiction over Brussels, Antwerp and Kortrijk between 1750 and 1830. These were complemented with pardon letters sent to the Governor between 1750 and 1795. Through interrogations, depositions and supplications, these records provide us with interactions between magistrates and a broad cross-section of society, with people from the lower social regions especially well presented.
The thesis consists of nine chapters. The first two chapters concern practices of ‘regulation’ of the self. In the first chapter, I argue that throughout the period, a socially oriented and malleable self was promoted by families, friends and neighbours of wrongdoers. Conversely, the criminal justice system, which I study in the second chapter, increasingly encouraged an individualised and introspective self, with a true nature which could only be changed with great difficulty.
In the third and fourth chapter, I shift the perspective away from general regulating practices towards specific technologies with which people could change their self. The first one is the technology of religious penance, which continued to be hugely popular. The second one is the experience of going through criminal trial – the experience of being accused, being questioned, confessing or denying accusations. I find that in both cases, there was an increasing stress on interiority and depth from the late eighteenth century on.
In chapters 5 and 6, I look at the accounts people gave of themselves when they stood accused in criminal court, at how they interpreted their own actions. First, I discuss narratives in which people portrayed themselves as rational beings, acting as anyone else would have acted in a particular situation. Then I analyse narratives in which they claimed that they were not themselves at the time of their actions. While both types of narratives occurred throughout the period, misbehaviour was increasingly ascribed to either character flaw or insanity.
The final two chapters deal with two important threads in the history of the self. Chapter 7 studies sentimentalism and its influence in the courts and in wider society, observing that it was not only an affair of the middling sorts, but also of the lower classes. The final chapter attends to the ambiguities of the concepts of human nature and inner nature in criminal records. As the general appreciation of human nature became more positive in the late eighteenth century, court increasingly needed to attend to individual natures to understand crime.
In conclusion, my thesis confirms that the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries witnessed an increasing stress on depth, interiority and individuality: the period witnessed what Nietzsche has called ‘the internalization of man’. This was not only an affair of the elites, but affected people of all social layers. The criminal justice system was an important institution for the dissemination of models of the self. Its influence was not uncontested: everyday practices of stigmatisation, for instance, continued to make a socially oriented, malleable self acceptable. But almost no-one could entirely ignore the new practices of the interior and stable self.

- by Elwin Hofman
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- Self and Identity, Nineteenth Century Studies, Homicide, Criminal Justice History
- by Dirk G. Van Waelderen
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- Austrian Netherlands, Brussels, Turks, Public Celebration

Vanaf 1769 tot ongeveer 1785 werden de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden, zoals vele Europese regio's, geteisterd door een hevige uitbraak van een veeziekte. Ondanks een opvallend doortastend overheidsingrijpen, zorgde deze ziekte voor een voortijdig overlijden van duizenden runderen. Zoals elke dramatische gebeurtenis trok ook deze epizoötie de aandacht van historici, maar ondanks enkele hoogstaande studies is er nog steeds onenigheid over de oorzaak van dit dierenleed. Mond- en klauwzeer, antrax, of runderpest? Aan de hand van een vooralsnog onontgonnen bron zal ik in dit artikel een antwoord wagen.

When in 1715 the Southern Netherlands changed its sovereignty from the Spanish to the Austrian Habsburgs, one of the former wealthiest North European regions became part of the Central European Habsburg Empire. For nearly 100 years, the Austrian Netherlands played an important role in the financial management of the Habsburg monarchy in the form of contributions, subsidies, credits and loans. Revenues from the Austrian Netherlands were used not only to cover the local defence budget in Brussels, but supported Viennese needs as well. Besides regular tax payments and contributions, the financial support from the Austrian Netherlands consisted of extraordinary subsidies and credits accommodated by the estates in wartime if necessary. Substantial amounts of money supported for example the increasing costs of the War of the Polish Succession and the Austro-Russian-Turkish War. This paper aims at considering the financial role of one of the most distant provinces of the Habsburg Empire for the central administration and imperial warfare under Charles VI with particular attention to the role of the estates as principal creditors for the monarchy in wartime.
Two examples shall illustrate the relationship between wartime events, the financial needs of the monarchy, and the estates as creditors. Firstly, the estates of the county of Hainault granted in 1735 a loan of 2.5 million Brabant guilders. Important concessions by the central administration in respect of the taxing authority in the county were necessary to gain the consent of the estates. Secondly, the credits and subsidies of 1738, 1739 and 1740 have been made possible because of the intermediation of the Duke of Arenberg between the estates of Brabant and Hainault, the central administration in Brussels and Charles VI. Arenberg’s social capital in the estates’ assemblies and his service for the imperial cause will shed light on the negotiations and proceedings between the estates and the emperor. Finally, a never realized debt restructuring project entrusted to the Duke of Arenberg indicates first plans of a debt management in the Habsburg monarchy at the very end of Charles’ reign.

- by Sébastien Dubois
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- Early Modern History, History of Education, 18th Century, Austrian Netherlands

Even though there is a growing body of literature on investigation techniques, that early modern judges, examining magistrates, bailiffs, and other actors deployed to solve all sorts of criminal cases, literature has largely failed to link these procedures to the social profile of victims. Were criminal courts prepared to invest the same time and energy when a penniless greengrocer was murdered as when a merchant was slain? Did burglary in a modest middle-class house generate the same hue and cry as a housebreaking in a luxurious mansion? These questions remain hard to answer, as most literature on criminal justice zooms in on the social bias of suspects – foreigners were one of the favourite targets – but largely ignore the victims. Textbook-wisdom suggests, that these social differences really mattered in civil courts. Middle-class and poor defendants stood less chance to win their case, as their financial reserves were more quickly depleted by the substantial legal costs, stamp taxes, and other court fees. Even though pro deo was in theory available, their chances on legal aid advice were slim. In this lecture, I will focus on the extensiveness of investigation techniques in criminal courts, and more especially on the link with the social profile of victims. The research is based on the informatieën en examinatieën of the Antwerp Hoogere Vierschaer, the local court of criminal justice. These dossiers include eyewitness reports, cross-examinations, forensic reports, testimonies of material experts, minutes of the bailiff and his lads, as well as full biographical information of the victim – including occupation, place of birth, sex, and age. Together these reports shed a new light on the link between investigation techniques and social profile in more detail.

- by Gerrit Verhoeven
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- History, Criminal Justice, Early Modern History, Urban History
- by Gerrit Verhoeven
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- History, Cultural History, Early Modern History, Eighteenth Century History
- by Sébastien Dubois
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- Diplomatic History, Political History of Belgium, Belgium, Austrian Netherlands

The second issue of the multidisciplinary Open Access journal Early Modern Low Countries is now available online! Early Modern Low Countries is dedicated to the study of the history and culture of the Low Countries between 1500 and 1830. It is published by Uopen Journals (Utrecht University) and appears twice a year. We consider it as our mission to offer a home to state-of-the-art academic scholarship on any aspect of the early modern Low Countries and their overseas territories. If you want to stay informed about new issues or other developments please take a few moments to register. Early Modern Low Countries is a peer-reviewed journal. Articles are refereed by internal and external experts with different disciplinary backgrounds. We will consider new contributions in the fields of history, literary studies, art history, and related areas of study. We also welcome suggestions for book reviews or notes. If you want to contribute to Early Modern Low Countries please visit our website.

- by Joris Oddens and +1
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- European History, Military History, Intellectual History, Cultural History

Whereas early modern migration history has been traditionally based on citizenship rolls, marriage registers, censuses and myriad other sources, this research explores the value of eyewitness reports before the Antwerp criminal court in the eighteenth century. On the face of things, these proceedings of the hoogere Vierschaer corroborate earlier findings. Due to the economic slump, Antwerp merely drew an endless stream of humble, unskilled labourers from its rural fringe; immigrants who were often relegated to the most menial, dirty and low-paid jobs. Acts of xenophobic violence against these new arrivals, who spoke a (slightly) different language or had different habits, were no exception. Most migrants seemed to have left town after they had saved a penny. Yet, the files of the Vierschaer also shed light on some slow-burn processes of integration, which have been less thoroughly scrutinized in the past. Some migrants blended smoothly into their new environment, by finding a permanent job (mostly as publican, peddler, or unskilled labourer); by mastering new skills (literacy and language); by seizing opportunities for (modest) social rise; or by establishing strong bonds with their new neighbours, friends, colleagues or parishioners. Findings also suggest that this integration process eventually stroke home.

- by Gerrit Verhoeven
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- History, Cultural History, Economic History, Literacy

After his ascension to the throne in 1813, William Frederick was quickly accepted as a father-monarch who united the various factions previously vying for power in the Dutch Republic. When in 1815 the Sovereign Principality of the Netherlands merged with the former Austrian Netherlands to form the United Kingdom, the new Southern subjects were far less inclined to accept William I as father of the nation. So goes the prevailing interpretation in the historiography, based as it is on politically and culturally elite sources. In this article, we investigate how ordinary folk imagined the new monarch. We examine the identification strategies and monarchical imagery they employed in writing pauper letters, comparing the restoration monarchy with the various regimes that came before it. Ultimately, we conclude that, despite the officially sanctioned imagery, in both North and South, perceptions of the new monarch represented a less distinct rupture with the past than has been thought.

- by Joris Oddens
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- Cultural History, Nationhood, Identity (Culture), Political Culture

The third issue of the multidisciplinary Open Access journal Early Modern Low Countries (EMLC) is now available online! EMLC is dedicated to the study of the history and culture of the Low Countries between 1500 and 1830. It is published by Uopen Journals and appears twice a year. If you want to stay informed about new issues or other developments please take a few moments to register. EMLC is a peer-reviewed journal. We will consider new contributions in the fields of history, literary studies, art history, and related areas of study. We also welcome suggestions for book reviews or notes. If you want to contribute to EMLC please visit our website.

- by Joris Oddens and +3
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- Cultural History, Art History, Early Modern History, Political History
- by Olivier Latteur
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- Intellectual History, Roman roads, Austrian Netherlands, Barrows

Food had become a serious issue in eighteenth century Antwerp. Knives and forks, spoons, cups, glasses, napkins, salt & pepper cellars, coffee sets, and a wide range of other tableware were increasingly listed by notaries in post-mortem inventories. Notarial deeds not only bear witness of the snowballing quantity, variety and fashionable appeal of cutlery, earthen- and glassware, but also seems to hint at a slow but sure domestication – or even individualization – of food culture. However, these inventories only shed light on one part of the story, as they fail to illustrate other – less tangible – eating habits. In fact, the act of wolfing down some cheese and bread in the street, the nibbling on a smoked plaice, freshly bought from a stall, or the ordering of some salted meat in an inn hardly left any trace at all. In this lecture, a more comprehensive picture of early modern food culture is painted, by a meticulous analysis of the eyewitness reports before the Antwerp criminal court. Files of the Hoogere Vierschaer enable to resuscitate early modern food culture in detail and help to answer some moot questions. Was street and finger food gradually substituted by meals at home? Did fast food only appeal to the seamy side of society? Was there a particular timing for snacking?

- by Gerrit Verhoeven
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- History, Cultural History, Economic History, Criminal Justice History

When rinderpest broke out in the Austrian Netherlands in 1769, a stamping-out policy was instituted in which koeimeesters – local lay veterinary healers – played a pivotal role. They continued to be relied upon despite criticism by academic doctors and the failure of experiments in which cures were attempted. This is explained by the construction of disease and expertise by both koeimeesters and doctors: as both groups saw disease as a matter of humoural imbalance and corruption, necessitating an individual program of purgative and purifying remedies, they were both unable to satisfy state demands for a quick and simple treatment. Nevertheless, their recognised ability to diagnose the illness, as well as their pervasive presence throughout the countryside, meant that government elites continued to rely on koeimeesters and their judgement in the execution of policy.

- by Filip Van Roosbroeck
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- Expertise, History of Medicine, Rural History, History of Science

When perusing the current historiography about the provision of medical services in the early modern era, it is hard to avoid the umbrella term 'the medical marketplace': a term which one encounters often and which, as with all such terms, seems to encompass an ever-wider set of phenomema. As Mark Jenner and Patrick Wallis point out, it is used not only as a general descriptive term, a simple underlining of the plurality of practitioners present in one place or the other, but also both to refer to a specific historic situation -a 'shorthand for claims about the fundamental transformation of the medical economy during the early modern period' i.e. its growing commercialisation, especially in England -as well as 'functioning as a more direct analogy to suggest that medicine can be analysed a service provided through the workings of market mechanisms almost irrespective of period' 1 .

The War Treasury of the Southern Netherlands has as yet received very little scholarly attention. This institution was created in 1718 as part of a broader reform of the Brussels central government by the Austrian crown, and it was intended to take over the military responsibilities of the Finance Council of the Southern Netherlands. The War Treasury is generally believed to have managed all military income and expenditure in the Southern Netherlands in a highly autocratic manner, thereby strengthening the control of the Austrian government over the Brussels military budget. Recently discovered evidence, however, suggests that the War Treasury’s independence was much more limited than previously thought. In fact, the Finance Council continued to control both the income of the War Treasury and the management of its expenditure. Moreover, the interdependence between these two councils was deliberately maintained by both the Brussels and Viennese governments, since the Austrians realized that they were incapable of managing the military budget without the cooperation of the Finance Council. In the end, the exigencies of maintaining the army of the Southern Netherlands at operational strength continued to trump any desires on the part of Vienna to limit the influence of Brussels civil governments over the management of the region’s military budget.

- by Thomas Goossens
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- History, Military History, Public Administration, Eighteenth Century History

In early modern times, noblewomen played a crucial role in estate manage-ment and patronage. Especially in times of crisis, such as during the Dutch Revolt (15681648), women could hold important and hitherto underesti-mated functions... more

- by Mirella Marini
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- History, Early Modern History, Courts, Habsburg Studies