Collateral Councils of the Low Countries (1531-2031)
Collaterale Raden – Conseils collatéraux
Our collaborative workgroup aims to bring together scholars and researchers from the four countries that share a common past as the Habsburg Low Countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and (Northern/North-Eastern) France. The workgroup focusses on the 500th anniversary of the so-called “Collateral Councils” in 2031.
The Emperor and King Charles V reorganised and reformed the political institutions of the Habsburg Low Countries in 1531. On the central level, this process gave birth to three specialized “Collateral Councils” meant to assist and advise the governor-general in governing the Habsburg Netherlands:
a Council of State,
a Privy Council, and
a Council of Finances.
On a provincial level, there were also important institutional adaptations, for instance in the Duchy of Luxembourg, where the Provincial Council was renovated the same year. The context of the reforms is well documented, as are the structure, composition, and evolving competences of the various Councils throughout the decades.
Recent research has focused on the ways early modern dynastic agglomerates or so-called “polycentric” monarchies worked, among others on the chronic tensions between centre and periphery. However, there is still a lot to say about the power balances within the Habsburg Low Countries and between the central government in Brussels and the various provincial authorities. In the (Northern) Netherlands, the “Raad van State” subsisted (and still subsists) as “legitimate successor” to the “Collateral Councils”, while the competences of the “Geheime Raad” were absorbed by other institutions. In the Southern Low Countries (today’s Belgium and Luxembourg), the Councils disappeared at the end of the 18th century. Their legacy and memory are strongly linked to the “ancien régime” but they have many layers and should be studied in depth. Exploring them can further knowledge about the modern and contemporary states that succeeded the Early Modern Habsburg Low Countries.
Call for contributions
The multinational workgroup aims to stimulate and publish hitherto unpublished and novel research in a special issue in the Journal for Digital Legal History (Open Access, peer-reviewed, with ongoing publications). Topics can cover, but are not limited to, the organisation and its functioning, throughout three centuries of conflict; “Give faces” to the Councils through special dedicated (short) contributions on those men that served in the councils; interesting finds in and/ or overviews of entries of sources in institutions. https://openjournals.ugent.be/dlh/.
Call for participation:
If you want to contribute in any kind of way and are interested in the topic, we warmly welcome your participation. Please contact any of the listed authors through their institutional e-mail addresses to learn more.
Illustration: Engelbert Maes, chairman of the Privy Council by Adriaan Waterloos (1622). Source Rijksarchief Amsterdam