Historical Context Chapter 12

When looking at Scherpenheuvel, Luxembourg, and Kevelaer, it will help to have some historical context. We will be looking at the first half of the 17th century (1600 to 1650). The Reformation began in the 16th century. Because of the Reformation there is now religious division and wars of religion. Secular leaders are interested in the outcomes of these wars for various reasons. The region we will be looking at, the Spanish Netherlands, is mostly Catholic. Calvinism is making great strides to the west in France and to the north in what would become the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Lutheranism is making great strides in the collection of small countries to the east that would eventually become Germany. The small Catholic region in the middle is surrounded. The 80 Years War and the 30 Years War are being fought. The 30 Years War results in 3.5 to 8 million deaths of soldiers and civilians. These wars are ended by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The nations of Belgium and Luxembourg do not yet exist. The City of Luxembourg does. (The Spanish Netherlands becomes the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. Belgium seceded in 1830 to form a separate country. Half of Luxembourg also became part of Belgium at that time.)   The region is ruled by Spain. Some in the region do not want to be ruled by Spain. Also, the plague has shown up again. It had been gone about 3 centuries, but it is suspected it merely lay dormant in the rodent population all that time.

Mathias Hovius is Archbishop of Mechelen. He oversees Scherpenheuvel. He approved of Scherpenheuvel, had the oak tree there cut down, and sent the Oratorians there to minister to the pilgrims. Hovius was instrumental in the Counter-Reformation in that area. He became a priest in 1566, the same year the Beeldenstorm came to the Netherlands. The Beeldenstorm was an extreme movement of iconoclasts. Many statues were destroyed or were hidden by the faithful. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Hovius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeldenstorm

The Beeldenstorm hit the region that would become Belgium very hard beginning in 1566. It is amazing that any Marian statues survived. 

Archbishop Mathias Hovius oversaw the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent in his diocese. He also oversaw the creation of a catechism that was still used in Belgium into the 20th century. For more information on Archbishop Hovius, see "A Bishop's Tale" by Craig Harline and Eddy Put, published by Yale University Press. I have that book. It has an entire chapter on Our Lady of Consolation.

 Interesting side note: Some of the Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 for New England. They left from the Spanish Netherlands. They had moved there from England because of religious persecution. 

Now, let's look at Scherpenheuvel.