‘Spaert u Kingh Willem’. De beeldvorming van Willem III in het Antwerpse verzamelhandschrift Het Mengelmoes van 1696

Abstract

The texts in the Antwerp manuscript Het Mengelmoes of 1696 show an ambiguous picture of William III in the Catholic Southern Low Countries during the Nine Years' War (1688-1697). Texts with the function of propagating awareness, importance, and the preservation of the large administrative autonomy of the Southern Low Countries show William III as a hero who is too strong for the French enemies. William's Protestant faith is no issue in these texts. However, a text written from the Catholic point of view denounces William III for his Protestant faith and does not show him in the position of defending the Low Countries against the French threat.