Restoring a Tangible Past. Antiquarian Mentalities and the Search for a New Political Culture in the Habsburg Low Countries (1570-1648).

In the second half of the sixteenth century, erudites and amateurs became imbued with a visual sense of the past, eager to discover and accurately reproduce tangible evidence from a native 'antiquity'. In the Southern Netherlands, this paradigmatic shift coincided with the open revolt against Habsburg authority and the subsequent endeavours to restore a dynastic order acceptable to all. This research project wants to assess the practical impact of this waxing antiquarian attitude - with its emphasis on the empirical documentation and preservation of dynastic remnants - on the actual redefinition of a new political culture (1570-1648). The main issue at stake is how a selective and ambiguous uncovering of profane 'relicts' provided both a model and a means to redress a constitutional framework under the guise of a return to authenticity? Studying changes introduced in the infrastructure of rulership on the basis of tangible proof of continuity will lead us to a new understanding of the alleged 'restoration' of Habsburg power. It calls for a multi-layered view wherein antiquarianism is recognized as a possible mediator between various interest groups (court, aristocracy and civic or regional stakeholders). As such, the approach not only aspires to gain better insight in the interaction between learned developments and popular politics. It will also contribute to the study of the visual and material dimension of early modern political culture.

Keywords:LOW COUNTRIES

Disciplines:History