Burgundian Netherlands to Dutch Republic

Twenty-five years ago professor J. H. Elliott first called attention to the obvious problem faced by all historians of early modern Europe: 'how far can historians, accustomed to look for innovation among revolutionaries, enter into the minds of men who were themselves obsessed by renovation – by the desire to return to old customs and privileges, and to an old order of society?' Why was it that those individuals and groups behind the most militantly radical and revolutionary movements were always claiming to be defending traditional liberties and ancient privileges? Part of the problem, as Professor Elliott made clear, was that 'renovation in theory does not of itself preclude innovation in practice; and the deliberate attempt to return to old ways may lead men, in spite of themselves, into startlingly new departures.' ' This does not resolve the main issue, however. Did sixteenth-century actors bent on renovation stumble on to revolution despite themselves or did they knowingly use and sometimes invent tradition to mask innovation? Twenty five years after professor Elliott first raised this question, the cautious answer is still probably a bit of both.