Medievalism and Political Rhetoric in Humanist Historiography from the Low Countries (1515-1609)

Considering that humanist scholars often referred to the Middle Ages as a period of darkness and ignorance, it is surprising that early modern historians were, in fact, highly interested in this period. Focusing on Latin works by (humanist) historians from Holland and Brabant, the central argument of this book is that this choice of medieval subject matter and the way in which these historians described their provinces' medieval past served a highly political agenda. The case studies in this book bring forward some key characteristics of early modern medievalism, a subject that has recently attracted a lot of scholarly attention. These chapters show how concepts of the medieval were used as rhetorical tools, how and why medieval forms and ideals were appropriated, and how the classical heritage was invoked in the representation of the medieval. In focusing on political rhetoric, the historians' position in the political arena is shown to be a catalyst for new developments in the study of the past rather than a menace to objective historiography. They made medieval history serve life by (re)discovering in the past the desire for financial control, the rulers' majestic power, the legal right to govern oneself, or the resistance against tyrannical oppression that had always been constitutive of their communities' selves.