A bibliography of works about the remarkable and consequential “military revolution” that was playing itself out on battlefields, in sieges, and by recruiters in town squares and taverns. Armies of pikemen, musketeers, cannons, and cavalry were growing larger, and it was a challenge to pay these massed forces. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography focused on how the arts and the burgeoning world of natural philosophy (that would in time evolve into the scientific method) appeared in the Renaissance-era Netherlands. This is the realm of the chambers of rhetoric and the minds of Simon Stevin and Carolus Clusius. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography of works covering the revolution in print culture (printing, typefaces, publishing, mass media prints, cultural impact) and the “Golden Age of Cartography” that occurred in the Low Countries. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography focusing on the religious developments and turmoil of the Renaissance-era Low Countries—Calvinism, religious exile, and smaller sects—as well as educational efforts of Humanist scholars and the university at Leiden. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography of works about the broader Northern Renaissance, designed to set the Low Countries of the era in their proper historical and cultural context. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography focusing on the culture, society, and lived experiences of the Renaissance-era Low Countries. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
A bibliography covering works about the Dutch Revolt, broader Eighty Years War, and the political developments that would lead to the Dutch Republic. Part of a larger Dutch and Flemish Studies Bibliography.
Primary sources and academic works are the foundation of historical research. Fortunately, there has been a fair amount of scholarly writing in English about the Dutch Revolt and the culture of the Renaissance-era Low Countries.
Understanding a language from four hundred-plus years ago is a challenge: spellings are not standardized, word meaning change, handwriting is alien, and idioms are lost. This is made more complex when English speakers must learn and translate early modern Dutch. Here are some resources I use.
The Europe of the mid sixteenth century, at the dawn of the Dutch Revolt, was one of contrasts: a transitory peace between major powers with roiling social and religious turmoil about to boil over into war and carnage that would continue into the following century.
By this point in European history, you'll note many familiar names, but an equal number of borders and states that exist in vastly different ways in the 21st Century.
