174 Readings in European History 284. Procla- mation outlawing William the Silent (1580) (Condensed.) attention of the inquisitor or officers of the bishops. . . . Likewise all shall be required, if they know of any place where any heretic is concealed, to report the same to the officer of the place on pain of being regarded as an aider, abettor, and adherent of heresy and of receiving the same punishment as the heretic or delinquent, should he be captured. In 1580 Philip II decided to declare William the Silent an outlaw and put a price upon his head. In so doing he gives an interesting account of the troubles in the Netherlands from a Spanish standpoint. Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, the Indies a?id terra firma, the Atlantic Ocean ; duke of Burgundy, Lorraine, Braba?it, Limburg, Luxemburg, Gelderland, Milan ; coimt of Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, etc. ; to all to whom these presents may come, greeting: It is well known to all how favorably the late emperor, Charles the Fifth, of exalted memory, our father, treated William of Nassau in the matter of the succession to his cousin, the prince of Orange, and how, from William's ear- liest youth, he promoted his advancement, as we, since the emperor's death, have continued to do, by appointing him lieutenant general of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and Bur- gundy, summoning him to our council of state, and heaping upon him honors and emoluments. By reason of this and the oaths of fidelity and homage taken to us for fiefs and lands held of us in various of our countries and provinces, he was specially bound to us, and under obligation to obey and keep faith with us and safeguard our interests and to do all in his power to secure peace and tranquillity in our several dominions and provinces. Nevertheless, as every one knows, we had scarcely turned our back on the Netherlands before the said William of Nas- sau (who had become, in the manner mentioned above, prince of Orange) began to endeavor, by sinister arts, plots, and
