Jan van Hembyse

Jan van Hembyse
Jan van Hembyse, byFrans Pourbus the Elder
Born	9 July 1513 Ghent
Died	8 August 1584 Ghent
Occupation	Politician
Political party	Radical Calvinist
Spouse	Johanna van Waerhem
Parent(s)	Willem van Hembyse, Willemine Triest

Jan van HembyseorHembyze(Ghent,9 July 1513 – Ghent, 8 August 1584) was aFlemishpolitician and popular leader, with ademagogictendency, who together withFrançois van Ryhovebrought about theCalvinist Republic of Ghentand for two periods (1577-1578 and 1583-1584) led that regime in the early stage of theDutch Revoltand theEighty Years' Waras it unfolded in theCounty of Flanders.

Personal life

Jan was the son of Willem van Hembyse, a formerschepenof Ghent, and Willemine Triest.He married Johanna van Waerhem on 23 April 1539.They had a son (Guillaume) and a daughter (Catherina).

Career

Hembyse followed his father in Ghent politics.

After theStates General of the Netherlandsin defiance of king Philip in 1576 concluded thePacification of Ghentwith the Dutch rebels underthe Prince of Orange,the then royalstadtholderofFlanderssupported an insurrection of the Ghent citizens, led by Hembyse and Ryhove, resulting in a siege of the citadel of Ghent (theSpanjaardenkasteel), which resulted in the expulsion of the Spanish garrison. However, when the stadtholder chose the side of the new royal governor-general of the Netherlands,John of Austria,he was replaced by the States General byPhilippe III de Croÿ,duke of Aarschot, who was mistrusted by Calvinists like Hembyse (and also by the Prince of Orange). Hembyse and Ryhove conspired with Orange to stage acoup d'étaton 28 October 1577 in which Aarschot and a number of other provincial notables were arrested. On 1 November 1577 a revolutionary council was elected (the so-calledAchttienmannen,after the 18 members of the council) which took over the government of Ghent. Hembyse was made First Schepen of Ghent. This was the beginning of what became known as theCalvinist Republic of Ghent.

It was the start of a phase in which the radical Calvinists in Ghent in defiance of the provisions about thefreedom of religionafforded to the Calvinist andRoman Catholicreligions in the Pacification of Ghent, started to encroach on the rights of the Catholics, and to actually persecute those. In this context the Calvinist mob, incited by Calvinist preachers likePetrus Dathenus,and by Hembyze, in May 1578 staged anIconoclastic Furyagainst the property of the Catholic Church in the city. Also, monks of a local monastery were accused of practicingsodomyand after a show trial burnt at the stake. This caused much resistance by the defenders of the Catholic cause. When Hembyse armed the citizens of Ghent and also hired Scottish mercenaries, the Ghent regime began a campaign of conquest of other Flanders cities, that resulted in the founding of a number of other Calvinist city republics, governed by other councils ofAchttienmannen.This caused the reaction of Catholic partisans, known as theMalcontents,that eventually resulted in the secession of theWalloonprovinces in theUnion of Arras.

Orange and others in the States General were dismayed by these developments. In November and December 1578 Orange conspired with the more moderate Ryhove to bring about the fall of Hembyse. In December 1578 Orange came to Ghent at the head of a small army, and reformed the Ghent government, at the same time imposing a "religious peace" that gave equal freedom of religion to Calvinists and Catholics. Hem byse was forced to go into exile in thePalatinate,together with Dathenus.

Hembyse remained in exile until he was recalled by the Ghent government after anothercoupin August 1583, and restored in his function of First Schepen. The military situation for the Calvinists in Flanders had meanwhile become desperate afterAlexander Farnese, Duke of Parma,the royal governor-general, made steady progress in his reconquest of the "Disobedient" Dutch provinces with his SpanishArmy of Flanders,supported by the Malcontents. City after city fell to the Spaniards. Ryhove moved toDendermondeafter he in turn had been removed from power in Ghent, and blockaded the supply lines to Ghent fromAntwerp,thereby weakening the defensive efforts of Ghent against the siege that Parma laid in early 1584. While Hembyse held a dictatorial grip on the city he nevertheless started secret negotiations with Parma. When this was discovered by the city government he was arrested in May 1584 on suspicion of treason. He was tried and convicted by theschepenenof Ghent and executed by decapitation on 8 August 1584. The city surrendered to Parma on 17 August 1584.

Sources

• Ph. Blommaert (1839)."Het Beklag van joncheer Jan van Hembyse; dichlstuk der 16e eeuw".Google Books(in Dutch).Retrieved16 December2018.
• Bussemaker, C.H.T.(1895)."De afscheiding der Waalsche gewesten van de Generale Unie. Eerste Deel".Google Books(in Dutch). Erven F. Bohn.Retrieved5 December2018.
• Bussemaker, C.H.T.(1896)."De afscheiding der Waalsche gewesten van de Generale Unie. Tweede Deel".Google Books(in Dutch). Erven F. Bohn.Retrieved8 December2018.
• A. van der Lem."Het verhaal van de Opstand. Hoofdstuk 5: De scheiding in de Nederlanden".De Tachtigjarige Oorlog, Universiteit Leiden(in Dutch). Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2011.Retrieved14 December2018.
• B. Vander Schelden (2010)."De Gentse stadsmagistraat tijdens de calvinistische Republiek (1577-1584)"(PDF).Library University Ghent(in Dutch). Universiteit Gent.Retrieved14 December2018.