History of the Revolt of the Netherlands — Volume 01

Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0

Word count: 178K words
Chapters: 18

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.History of the Revolt of the Netherlands — Volume 01 by Friedrich SchillerAuthor: Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805,Language: English, Class: DH: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Release Date: Oct 1, 2004

Editor's review

Schiller's History of the Revolt of the Netherlands, Volume 01, treats the sixteenth-century Dutch revolt against Spanish rule with a literary historian's verve, combining a scholar's command of sources with a dramatist's sense of scene. This volume typically sets out the background of the revolt, the regional and political landscape, religious tensions, and early conflicts, and will suit readers who want to understand early modern European power structures and the political consequences of the Reformation. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, it is easy to search and to check against the original text; it is read mainly for course reference, specialized research, or independent reading by those curious about Schiller's historical writing. Note that this is an English translation from the eighteenth century, whose historiography and narrative manner bear the marks of its time; it should not be treated as the only introductory work, but it remains uniquely valuable as a primary text for understanding Schiller's historical writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to understand the background of the Dutch revolt and the sixteenth-century European political landscape
Those interested in Schiller's historical works and in literary modes of historiography
Students who need a public-domain English historical source for course reference or specialized reading
Independent readers accustomed to searching electronic texts and willing to read long historical narratives slowly

Not a good fit for

Beginners who want only a concise general history or a modern scholarly survey
Readers who find the style and long sentences of an eighteenth-century English translation difficult
Readers expecting abundant illustrations, chronologies, or introductory notes

Reading tips

Read the opening sections on regional and political background before turning to the narrative of events, to avoid confusion over people and place names.
Jot down the correspondences between Spain, the Dutch provinces, and religious factions, and refer back to them when reading the later volumes.
Read alongside a modern general history of the Dutch Revolt to distinguish the factual framework from Schiller's narrative tendencies.
Treat the book as a sample of Schiller's historical writing and notice how he arranges scenes and characters, rather than extracting conclusions only.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book an English original or a translation?

It is an English translation of Schiller's German historical work, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Note the eighteenth-century English syntax and diction; some long sentences require slow reading.

What does Volume 01 roughly cover?

According to the title and public-domain information, this volume is the opening part of the History of the Revolt of the Netherlands; it usually sets out the regional, political, and religious background of the revolt and begins the narrative of early conflicts. For the specific chapter divisions, consult the ebook's table of contents.

Can I read it without any background in Dutch history?

You can, but it is advisable first to read a concise overview of sixteenth-century relations between the Netherlands and Spain; otherwise the province names, noble factions, and religious conflicts are easily confused. The book is better used as a comparative text than as the only introduction.

Why is the electronic edition recommended for reading?

A public-domain ebook makes it easy to search place names, personal names, and events throughout the text, and to compare with later volumes. If you take notes, build an index of people and events as you read; this noticeably reduces the burden of reading a long historical narrative.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805 Author

Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) is a major writer in German literary history, often mentioned alongside Goethe. The collection here contains 60 of his works, covering drama, narrative poetry, and writings on aesthetics, with his plays being especially influential. His representative works include The Robbers, Intrigue and Love, Wallenstein's Death, Mary Stuart, Wilhelm Tell, and The Maid of Orleans. Set mostly against historical and political backgrounds, his plays explore freedom, justice, power, and moral conflict, featuring vivid characters and a language full of passion and tension that combines Enlightenment ideals with the beauty of classical form. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; nevertheless, these works show him as both a representative of Germany's Sturm und Drang movement and a key founder of German classicism, exerting a lasting influence on later European drama and intellectual culture.