Antwerp in the Age of Reformation: Underground Protestantism in a Commercial Metropolis, 1550-1577 (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)

16th-century Antwerp attracted numerous Protestants from other parts of Europe who found safe haven in this city, even during the tumultuous years of Spanish domination. Yet historians have not fully appreciated how the Protestant Reformation came to the Netherlands, a nation commercially and politically important far beyond its small size. This work charts the social and economic networks that enabled Protestants, especially Calvinists and Anabaptists, to create a well organized church. Covering the period of the great Netherlands' revolt against Spain, it explores the interplay between religion and politics and examines tensions within the Protestant community.