The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 09: 1564-65

Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.2

Word count: 105K words
Chapters: 11

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.The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 09: 1564-65 by John Lothrop MotleyAuthor: Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877,Language: English, Class: DH: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

Volume 09 picks up where the previous volume left off, advancing to 1564–1565 as religious and political tensions in the Netherlands continue to escalate. Motley proceeds by chronicle and character sketch, drawing on letters and speeches to create a sense of immediacy; the narrative is highly readable. The volume is brief but occupies a transitional position in the larger work, as it shifts from buildup to conflict, and it lays useful groundwork for understanding the later revolt. The public-domain electronic text is easy to search for names, places, and key events, making it suitable for topical excerpts and for comparison in the history of historiography. Readers should note that the author's sympathies are pronounced and his narration carries moral judgments, so it should not be treated as the sole authority. Reading it alongside general history chapters is recommended; trace the timeline as you go and treat it as a sample of nineteenth-century historical writing style.

Who it's for

A good fit for

History specialists charting the timeline of the prehistory of the Dutch War of Independence
Researchers who need English public-domain historical sources for topical excerpts
In-depth readers interested in political maneuvering during the Reformation
Readers of literature and history studying nineteenth-century narrative historiography

Not a good fit for

General readers who want a Chinese translation and prefer not to read the English original
Rigorous researchers who need contemporary scholarly annotation and a critical introduction to the sources
Casual readers who want a complete storyline and have little patience for fragmentary reading

Reading tips

Read alongside Volume 08; first draw up a table of major events from 1563 to 1565, then fill in people and events chapter by chapter.
Mark the letters and speeches quoted in the book and compare the author's narration with the choices made from the source material.
After each chapter, summarize the focus of conflict in two or three sentences to keep the threads of people and factions from becoming confused.
If citing in research, be sure to check other historical sources and do not treat Motley's judgments as factual conclusions.

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

What is the relationship between Volume 09 and Volume 08?

The two volumes are consecutive in time: Volume 08 covers 1563–1564, and Volume 09 covers 1564–1565; they are adjacent parts of the same narrative sequence. People and events carry over from one to the next, so it is best to read them in order; otherwise it is easy to lose the thread.

Is this book suitable for citation in a paper?

It can be cited as a sample of nineteenth-century historical narrative and viewpoint, but it should not be used as the sole factual authority. Motley writes from a distinct standpoint, and this electronic edition has no contemporary scholarly annotation. When writing, compare other historical sources and note the work's period and standpoint.

What is the reading experience of the electronic edition like?

The Project Gutenberg edition is mainly plain text, which makes it easy to search and excerpt, but it usually lacks maps, notes, and an introduction. Readers need to supply their own maps and chronology; there are many long sentences and archaic expressions, so adjusting the font size and reading in sections is recommended.

What background knowledge is needed first?

It is best to first understand the relationship between the sixteenth-century Netherlands and Spanish Habsburg rule, the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants during the Reformation, and the tensions between local privileges and central authority. With this background, the people and events in this volume are easier to place.

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

Motley, John Lothrop, 1814-1877 Author

John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877) was an American historian and diplomat, known for his historical works on Dutch independence and the Dutch Revolt. His major work, The Rise of the Dutch Republic, narrates in detail how the Dutch provinces threw off Spanish rule and established a republican government, combining rigorous scholarship with a strong narrative drive. His History of the United Netherlands continues the account of political and military developments from the death of William the Silent to the end of the sixteenth century. The collection here contains 103 of his works, mostly different volumes and editions of these general histories. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted; his works show a respect for primary sources and a talent for portraying major historical turning points, and they have had a lasting influence on the study of Dutch history in the English-speaking world.