Pictures, power and the polity: a vision of the political imagesof the early Dutch Republic. In two volumes

摘要

The Dutch Revolt (c. 1568-1648) led to the establishment of a new state in thenorthern provinces of the old Habsburg Netherlands. This new polity confrontedintense hostility from Habsburg dynastic interests. It sustained itself militarily againstthese interests, and extended its power globally. In addition it developed aremarkable and wealthy mercantile culture. However configurations of power in thenew state differed radically from those within the surrounding monarchies, and itspolitical texts remain problematic.Thus there is no dynamic political theory to match the reality of its might. However,one of the remarkable features of its culture was the unprecedented output of pictorialart, including thousands of political prints. Therefore, this thesis addresses the issueof power in the Republic on the basis of pictorial evidence, using a combination ofthree routes.First, instead of examining evidence made up of texts, it was decided to use a range ofpolitical imagery, largely political prints, to serve as primary sources, inverting theusual practice of alluding to images from an argument based on texts.Second, there is a requirement upon historians for a systematic approach to primarysources, allowing argument to be tightly referenced. However, imagery is not subjectto the usual methods (footnoting chapters and pages for example), so a methodologywas developed which incorporates digitally modelled representations of the prints.This was based upon work undertaken by Gerhard Jaritz at the Instituts fürRealienkunde des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit in Austria.Thirdly, prompted by the doubts of several scholars about the utility of conventionalpolitical theories in the context of the Dutch Republic, the work of Michel Foucault,in particular his prescription for the study of power, has been adapted and used as ananalytical framework in which to discuss the sources.The thesis demonstrates the systematic exploitation of pictorial sources in the contextof historical study. It demonstrates the advantages and limitations of digital modelsand computer analysis. On the basis of these novel methodologies, the thesissummarises a thorough exploration of a range of political imagery. It also highlightsthe extraordinary success of a particular image of the Revolt, the Tyranny of Alva.On the basis of the evidence examined, it also demonstrates that there was a profoundantipathy towards monarchic, 'top down1 power in the early Republic, and argues thatpower there was more easily diagrammed than textualised.