Holiness, a title of the Pope, See Pope.
Holkot, See Holcot,
HOLLAND
299
HOLLAND
Holland, also called The Netherlands, a king- dom ill Europe, has an area of 13,890 English square miles. Holland still owns extensive colonies in the East and West Indies, and in South America, which together make an area of about 085,700 English square miles.
I. Church History. — At the beginning of the Chris- tian tera, the country which is now called HoUand or the Netherlands was inhabited by Germanic tribes, of whom the I3atavians and Frisians (q. v.) are best luiown. Their subjection, begun by Cajsar, was completed by Germanicus. At the beginning of the 4th century the Eranks conquered a large portion of the coimtry ; only the Frisians maintained their independence until the 7th century. Charlemagne appointed counts in Batavia and in Zealand, and compelled the people to embrace the Christian religion. After the division of the em- pire of Charlemagne, the Netherlands were united with Lorraine, and they both were made a dependcncj' of Ger- many. But gradually a niunbcr of princes became semi- independent; among them the bisliops of Utrecht, who ruled over Upper- Yssel and (Jroningen. The most pow- erful among the princes were the counts of Flanders, and after the extinction of these last their land fell by marriage to the dukes of Burgundy, who gradually came into possession of the whole of the Netherlands, remain- ing, hoM'ever, feudal to the German emperor. The mar- riage of the daughter of the last duke of Burgundy Avith Maximilian, archduke of Austria (later, emperor iMaxi- milian I of Gcmiany), made the Netherlands a part of the extensive dominions of the house of Hapsburg.
The Christianization of the country has been referred to in the arts. Belgium and Friesland. Holland, Uke Belgium, early became distinguished for its excellent ca- thedral schools, especially that of Utrecht. A great in- fluence upon the rehgious life not only of Holland, but of many other countries, was exercised by the Brothers of Common Life, who were founded by Gerhard Groote (q. V.) (13-10-1384). This order soon established a num- ber of schools, especially in the Netherlands and the adjacent parts of Germany, which imparted not only elementary instruction, but also a higher education. Thus Holland became celebrated for its learning and scholarship, which in the 15th century was further pro- moted by the establishment of the Universitj- of Deven- ter. I\Iany of the prominent men of Holland took an active part in the efforts to reform the Church of Rome ; the best known of these reformers is John de Wessel. The !Mennonites (q. v.) fully separated from the Church of Rome, and, living in a country which was favorable to rehgious toleration, suffered less from persecution than most of the medieval sects.
The Reformation of the IGth century found in few countries so congenial a soil as in Holland. Favored by the liberal traditions of the country, the national spirit of independence, and the extensive commerce with for- eign countries, it spread rapidly. In vain did Charles V issue a number of cruel edicts (the first in March, 1520, the last in 1550) to put it down ; it grew in spite of all persecution. Among the different reformed sys- tems which then began to estabhsh themselves, it was especially that of Calvin, first introduced by young Dutch students of Geneva, which struck deep root. The Lu- theran doctrines, and, still more, Anabaptist movements, ako found numerous adherents, but Calvinism soon ob- tained the ascendency, owing to a large extent to the influence of the Relbrmed churches of England and France. Thus arose the Dutch Efformed Church, em- bracing at its origin the reformed churches of Belgium, as well as those of Holland, as these countries were at this time politically united. [The inner history of this Church is given in the article Reforjied Church.] Philip II was determined to destroy the new doctrine, and introduced into the Netherlands all the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. Tliis called forth a general op- position. The lower nobility united in presenting to the regent jMargaret of Parma a protest against religious persecutions ; the citizens assembled in the open field for
divine service. In 15GG, general attacks began against the Roman Catholic churches. In 1507, Philip sent duke Alba to the Netherlands with an army, consisting of Spaniards and Italians, to subdue the religious move- ment; but the cruel tyranny of the duke led to very different results. AN'miam of Orange, the stadtliolder, who had escaped death by flight, unsuccessfully at- tempted, at the head of an army of exiles, to expel the Spaniards, but in 1572 nearly the whole of the northern provinces fell into the hands of the jiatriots. The ef- forts of Alba to supjiress the revolution by force of arms having entirely failed, he was recalled, and depart- ed in Jan. 1574, boasting that during his administration 18,000 men had been executed, chiefiy on account of re- ligion. The efforts of his successors likewise failed to re- establish the rule of Spain. In 1579, the provinces of HoUand, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Over- yssel, and Guelderland formed the Ihiion of Utrecht, and thus laid the foundation of the republic of the Seven United Provinces. From this time the history- of the Netherlands divides itself into that of Holland, in which the ascendency of Protestantism was henceforth estab- Hshed, and that of Flanders (subsequently J?(>((/«rw,q. v.), or the ten provinces, which remained under tlie S])anish dominion, and adhered to the Roman CathoUc Chiu-ch. Wilham of Orange was assassinated in 1 584 by a partisan of Spain, but his son JMaurice successfully defended the independence of Holland, and in 1009 compelled Spain to agree to a truce for twelve years. During the peace an unfortunate quarrel broke out between the Calvinists and the AiTniiiians (q. v.). JMaurice, who aspired to be- come hereditary sovereign of Holland, placed himself, from political reasons, at the head of the strict Calvin- ists, and when he prevailed, the venerable head of the Arminian party, Banieveldt, one of the most illustrious of the Dutch statesmen, was (Jlay 13, 1019) executed, Tthile Hugo Grotius, another distinguished leader of the Avminians, or, as they were generally called, from their remonstrances in favor of rehgious toleration, Remon- strants, escaped by an artifice. The war with Spain wa.s renewed in 1021, but r.t tl.e Peace of Westphalia in 1048, Spain had to recognise the independence of HnUand.