ABSTRACT
In the summer of 1566, a wave of iconoclasm spread through the Netherlands from the southwest of Flanders northwards, reaching the Brabant town of 's-Hertogenbosch on 22 August. Accounts like these are rich in emotional expression. Besides triggering emotions, this passage resounds with descriptions of emotions: the terror of the praying and weeping sisters, huddling together; the sudden shame of the image-breakers in the face of the sisters' devotion. The emotional impact of these stories must have been important. The references to martyrdom placed the situation of the nuns themselves in a very dramatic perspective. The approach of Jochen Kleres, which he calls 'narrative emotion analysis', deals not only with the language of emotions but also with other textual instruments, such as the structure of the text and agency. Constancy, resignation, and trust in a good Lord, divine providence, or eternal rewards for the just, were common ways of dealing with the experience of violence, insecurity, and social disruption.
