ABSTRACT
The metamorphosis of Antwerp from a bastion of the Revolt to a Catholic bulwark2 began immediately the city surrendered to Alexander Farnese in August 1585. As part of that process, the Jesuits established in December that year a prestigious lay sodality dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which organised ‘conversion sessions’.3 At one such gathering, held on Sunday 9 March 1586,4 the sodalists together with many magistrates heard Jean Haren, a Reformed minister of some standing, solemnly abjure his Calvinist faith and announce his return to the bosom of the Catholic Church.5 Haren was then in his early forties, and he went on to make a name for himself as a Catholic polemicist. Yet, he did not die in that faith for
1 Because Jean Haren led such an itinerant life, I have relied on the expertise of an unusually large number of scholars. My chief debt is to Ludo Vandamme, ‘wetenschappelijk medewerker Historische Collecties’ of the Openbare Bibliotheek Brugge, who furnished large numbers of photocopies and information about Haren’s ministry at Bruges. Mireille François of the Bibliothèque Municipale Nancy, kindly arranged for me to consult the unique copies of the works Haren published at Nancy. As usual, I am grateful to the librarians of the Hartley Library, University of Southampton, especially to the staff of the indispensable Inter-Library Loan service. I also wish to thank Andrew Spicer of Oxford Brookes, Judith Pollmann of the Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden and Jean Tsushima, the Honorary Archivist of the Honourable Artillery Company for chasing leads on my behalf.
