8 - Turmoil in the Netherlands, February 1582–January 1583

Summary

Around noon on Thursday, 8 February 1582, the duke of Anjou departed from England, accompanied by forty or so English gentlemen. Late Friday afternoon his party reached the outer islands off the coast of Zeeland, where they anchored for the night; and the following morning, 10 February, the duke made his official entry into Flushing. The town had been alerted to his impending arrival, and marked the occasion with bonfires and fireworks. As Anjou stepped off his ship, he was greeted by William of Orange and a host of deputies from Brabant, Holland, Flanders, Zeeland, Friesland, and Gelderland, who had been anxiously awaiting his arrival for months. Thus, the prince of Orange and the duke of Anjou, who had been in such close correspondence for so long, finally met for the first time. It was a festive occasion, and one observer remarked upon the ‘bonfires of joy which were burning and lasted almost all night’. The following morning Anjou observed mass in his household, the first time mass had been performed in the province of Zeeland in nearly eight years. Later that afternoon the entourage moved on to Middelburg, the principal town of Zeeland, where he sojourned for about a week. Then on Saturday, 17 February, he reboarded his vessel and sailed up the mouth of the Schelde River toward Antwerp. Two days later at ten o'clock in the morning, a volley of cannon and a blast of trumpets announced his arrival.