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How did William Iās relationship with Calvinists change after the failed campaigns of 1568?
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William I
Portrait of William I, oil on panel by Adriaen Thomaszoon Key, c. 1579; in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Following the failed military campaigns of 1568, a significant rapprochement occurred between William I and the Calvinists.1
Prior to these events, William had maintained a distance from the Calvinists, even suppressing their insurrections to uphold public order. However, after the 1568 failures, the dynamic shifted:2
- Mutual Recognition: The Calvinists were prepared to forgive William for his earlier refusal to take up arms in 1566, while William came to recognize them as the essential core of the resistance movement.1
- Strategic Alliance: William acknowledged Calvinism as an international power, noting that he had received his most effective support from its adherents in France and Germany.1
- Personal Reservations: Despite this political alliance, William remained personally uncomfortable with the movement, specifically disliking the Puritanism and intolerance associated with the Calvinists.1
This shift in relationship was a pragmatic development in the struggle against oppression, though it was not until 1573 that William finally joined the Reformed Church.1