The Duke of Alva's entry into Brussels from The Pacification of Ghent, duration : 2 min
music : Peter Benoit
arr. : Marc Goris
Peter Benoit composed music based on the historical drama with the
title 'De Pacificatie van Gent' by Emiel Van Goethem. Because of the
combination of drama and music he defined the piece as a lyrical drama.
He completed The Pacification of Ghent on 11 July 1876, the world
premiere happening on 3 September at the Ghent Municipal Theatre.
On 8 November 1576 a treaty was proclaimed from the balcony of the
city hall in Ghent between the different regions of the southern and the
northern Netherlands. This "Pacification of Ghent" occurred after the
revolt against the Spanish occupation of Philip the Second and was the
great ideal of William of Orange: he was striving for unity in the
seventeen provinces in the Netherlands as well as for freedom of
religion. Furthermore the treaty stipulated that the Spanish troops were
to be removed from the Netherlands. Although this treaty was observed
for only three years, the Pacification was embellished with a mythical
aura in the Flanders of the 19th century.
King Philip II sent the Duke of Alva to Brussels on 22 August 1567,
at the head of a powerful army. On arrival, Alva replaced Margaret of
Parma, the sister of the Spanish king, as head of the civil
jurisdiction. He decided that the local nobility was in open rebellion
against the king and supported the new Protestant teachings, heresy in
his view.
A few days later, on 5 September 1567, Alva established the "Council
of Troubles", popularly known in the Netherlands as the "Court of
Blood," to prosecute those responsible for the riots of 1566, especially
those who were deemed heretics. Alba also targeted the local Catholic
nobility, who favoured dialogue and opposed outside intervention. Two of
the three heads of the Flemish nobility, the Count of Egmont, a
Catholic General for Philip II, who had led the cavalry that defeated
the French at the Battle of San Quentin, and Philip de Montmorency,
Count of Horn, were arrested. The court sentenced both counts to death.
The Major of Antwerpen, Anthony van Stralen, Lord of Merksem and Jan van
Casembroot were other famous victims of the bloody repression, along
with a large group of other "heretics". The condemned persons were
executed on 5 June 1568 in the Town Hall Square in Brussels. Alva had
little confidence in Flemish justice, which he perceived as sympathetic
to the defendants, and witnessed the executions in person.