Geuzen

Geuzen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣøːzə(n)]; lit. 'The

Beggars'; French: Les Gueux) was a name assumed
by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles, who
from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands.
The most successful group of them operated at sea,
and so were called Watergeuzen (Dutch
pronunciation: [ˈʋaːtərɣøːzə(n)]; lit. 'Sea Beggars';
French: Gueux de mer). In the Eighty Years' War, the
Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen in 1572
provided the first foothold on land for the rebels, who Battle between Dutch and Spanish
would conquer the northern Netherlands and ships on the Haarlemmermeer, 26
establish an independent Dutch Republic. They can be May 1573. Sailing before the wind
from the right are the Spanish
considered either as privateers or pirates, depending
ships, identified by the flags with a
on the circumstances or motivations.[1][2] red cross. Approaching from the
left are the ships of the Sea
Beggars. Hendrick Cornelisz
Contents Vroom.

Origin of the name

Sea Beggars
Geuzen symbols
In popular culture
See also
Notes
References Relief of Leiden by the Sea
Beggars on flat-bottomed boats,
on 3 October 1574, during the
Origin of the name Siege of Leiden. Otto van Veen,
1574.

The leaders of the nobles who signed a solemn league

known as the Compromise of Nobles, by which they bound themselves to assist in
defending the rights and liberties of the Netherlands against the civil and religious
despotism of Philip II of Spain, were Louis of Nassau and Hendrick van Brederode. On 5
April 1566, permission was obtained for the confederates to present a petition of
grievances, called the Request, to the regent, Margaret, Duchess of Parma. About 250
nobles marched to the palace accompanied by Louis of Nassau and Brederode. The regent
:
 was at first alarmed at the appearance of so large a body, but one of her councillors,
Berlaymont, allegedly remarked "N'ayez pas peur Madame, ce ne sont que des gueux"
("Fear not madam, they are only beggars").

The appellation was not forgotten. In a speech at a

great feast held by some 300 confederates at the Hotel
Culemburg three days later, Brederode declared that
if need be they were all ready to become beggars in
their country's cause. Henceforward the name became
a party title. The patriot party adopted the emblems of
beggary, the wallet and the bowl, as trinkets to be
worn on their hats or their girdles, and a medal was
struck having on one side the head of Philip II, on the
Traditional emblem of the Geuzen. other two clasped hands with the motto Fidèle au roy,
jusqu'à porter la besace ("Loyal to the King, up to
carrying the beggar's pouch"). The original league of
Beggars was short-lived, crushed by Alva, but its principles survived and were to be
ultimately triumphant.

In the Dutch language the word geuzennaam is used for linguistic reappropriation: a
pejorative term used with pride by the people called that way.

Sea Beggars
In 1569 William of Orange, who had now openly
placed himself at the head of the party of revolt,
granted letters of marque to a number of vessels
manned by crews of desperadoes drawn from all
nationalities. Eighteen ships received letters of
marque, which were equipped by Louis of Nassau in
the French Huguenot port of La Rochelle, which they
continued to use as a base.[3][4] By the end of 1569,
already 84 Sea Beggars ships were in action.[3]

The sea beggars were powerful military units that

made capturing coastal cities easy. These fierce
privateers under the command of a succession of
daring and reckless leaders, the best-known of whom
is William de la Marck, Lord of Lumey, were called William II de la Marck (1542-
"Sea Beggars", "Gueux de mer" in French, or 1578), a leader of the Sea
"Watergeuzen" in Dutch. At first they were content Beggars.
merely to plunder both by sea and land, carrying their
booty to the English ports where they were able to
refit and replenish their stores.
:
 However, in 1572, Queen Elizabeth I of England abruptly refused to admit the Sea
Beggars to her harbours. No longer having refuge, the Sea Beggars, under the command
of Willem Bloys van Treslong, made a desperate attack upon Brielle, which they seized by
surprise in the absence of the Spanish garrison on 1 April 1572. Encouraged by this
success, they now sailed to Vlissingen, which was also
taken by a coup de main. The capture of these two
towns prompted several nearby towns to declare for
revolt, starting a chain reaction that resulted in the
majority of Holland joining in a general revolt of the
Netherlands, and is regarded as the real beginning of
Dutch independence.

In 1573 the Sea Beggars defeated a Spanish squadron

under the command of Admiral Bossu off the port of
Hoorn in the Battle on the Zuiderzee. Mixing with the Capture of Brielle, 1 April 1572
native population, they quickly sparked rebellions (Frans Hogenberg).
against Duke of Alba in town after town and spread
the resistance southward.

Some of the forefathers of the Dutch naval heroes began their naval careers as Sea
Beggars, such as Evert Heindricxzen, the grandfather of Cornelis Evertsen the Elder.

Geuzen symbols
Geuzen medal, cast silver, tooled,
about 1570, with the slogans
LIVER TVRCX DAN PAVS
("Rather Turkish than Papist") and
EN DESPIT DE LA MES ("In spite
of the Mass").
As part of a propaganda campaign including prints,
pamphlets and much else, many Geuzen medals were
created as badges of affiliation, using a wide range of
symbolism, including that associated with the
Ottoman Empire. William I of Orange sought
Ottoman assistance against the Spanish king Philip
II.[5]
The "Geuzen" were expressing their anti-Spanish and
anti-Catholic sentiments. They considered the Turks
to be less threatening than the Spaniards. During the
years between 1579 and 1582, representatives from
Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Paşa travelled several
times from Istanbul to Antwerp.[6]

There were, in fact, objective grounds for such an alliance. At the same time that the
Dutch rebels were conducting their raids on Spanish shipping, the Ottoman Empire was
involved in its own naval war with Spain, culminating in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto.
Obviously, facing Spain with a coordinated double-pronged naval challenge, by the
Ottomans in the Mediterranean and the Dutch in north European waters, would be to the
advantage of both of Spain's foes.
:
 The slogan Liever Turks dan Paaps seems to have
been largely rhetorical, and their beggars medals in
the form of a half moon were meant symbolically. The
Dutch hardly contemplated life under the Sultan.
Moreover, there was no direct contact between the
Geuzen and the Turkish authorities. The Turks were
considered infidels, and the heresy of Islam alone
disqualified them from assuming a more central (or
consistent) role in the rebels' propaganda.[7]
Dutch Ships Ramming Spanish
In popular culture Galleys off the Flemish Coast in
October 1602, 1617, oil on canvas
The Geuzen are featured very prominently in by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom and
Dutch and Flemish popular novels, such as Cornelis Vroom
Charles de Coster's The Legend of Thyl
Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak and comics
series such as Cori, de Scheepsjongen by Bob De Moor, Tijl Uilenspiegel and De
Geuzen by Willy Vandersteen and Gilles de Geus by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit. In
English they appear in Cecelia Holland's novel The Sea Beggars.

During the German occupation of The Netherlands in 1940-1945 an anti-German

resistance group in the area of Vlaardingen, Maassluis and Rotterdam adopted the
name of Geuzen.

The Sea Beggars are also a unique unit of the Dutch Empire in Civilization V.

The Sea Beggar is the mascot of Providence Christian College.

See also
Dutch Revolt
Sea Dogs

Notes
1. Pennell, C. R. (April 2001). Bandits at sea: a pirates reader - C. R. Pennell p.101 Note
28 (https://books.google.com/books?id=uB7ODGowJ3AC&pg=PA101).
ISBN 9780814766781. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
2. Rasor, Eugene L. (2004). English/British naval history to 1815: a guide to the
literature (https://books.google.com/books?id=D4oNNsTdvEoC&pg=PA247). p. 247.
ISBN 9780313305474.
3. Pratt, Fletcher; Gorey, Edward (27 March 2000). The Battles That Changed History by
Fletcher Pratt p.155 (https://books.google.com/books?id=-ErnqPO3VCYC&pg=PA155
). ISBN 9780486411293. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
4. Wernham, R. B. (November 1968). The new Cambridge modern history: The
:
 Counter-Reformation by R. B. Wernham p.288 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Z
-48AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA288). ISBN 9780521045438. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
5. Dimmock, Matthew (2005). New Turkes: dramatizing Islam and the Ottomans in early
modern England by Matthew Dimmock p.75 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Dx0
BFlJd3lIC&pg=PA75). ISBN 9780754650225. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
6. Hoenkamp-Mazgon, Marlies (2002). Palais de Hollande in Istanbul: the embassy and
envoys of the Netherlands since 1612 (https://books.google.com/books?id=9zVpAAA
AMAAJ&q=%22were+expressing+their+anti-Spanish+and+anti-Catholic%22). Boom.
p. 19. ISBN 9789750804403.
7. Schmidt, Benjamin (12 November 2001). Innocence abroad: the Dutch imagination
and the New World, 1570-1670 by Benjamin Schmidt p.104 (https://books.google.com
/books?id=U-OshMIPD48C&pg=PA103). ISBN 9780521804080. Retrieved
2013-08-11.

References
Kervyn de Lettenhove, Les Huguenots et les
Gueux, (six volumes, Brussels, 1882–85)
Renon de France, Histoire des causes de la
désunion ... des Pays-Bas, (three volumes,
Brussels, 1886–91)
Jurien de la Gravìere, "Les gueux de mer" in
Silver medal commemorating the
Revue des Deux Mondes (Paris, 1891–92).
Capture of Brielle in 1572 by the
Van der Horst (2005) Nederland: de vaderlandse Sea Beggars
geschiedenis van de prehistorie tot nu. (3rd
edition; in Dutch). Amsterdam, Bert Bakker.
ISBN 90-351-2722-6. p. 132
McCabe, Ina Baghdiantz (2008) Orientalism in early Modern France, Berg. ISBN 978-
1-84520-374-0
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm,
Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gueux, Les". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.

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