The Time of Troubles in the Low Countries

The writings of Pasquier de le Barre describe the terrible results of the intrusion of Calvinist ideology and of Spanish absolutism into the life of the small province of Tournai in the Low Countries between 1559 and 1567. The magistrates were challenged by Calvinists in their midst and by Philipp II from afar, but both had the goal of remaking the government to new specifications. The result was the destruction of the city and its government in a series of confrontations which le Barre described in personal but dispassionate terms. His position as a magistrate made him a rare witness to these times.