A Brill Calendar: December 18

"Praesidium Libertatis"

Few visitors to Leyden fail to notice its heraldic device: ‘Praesidium Libertatis’, in the original Latin (not Dutch, by the way); usually translated in English as ‘Bulwark of Freedom’.

Certainly, the ‘exemplar’ surpasses in expressiveness any translation: the Italian verdict to the effect that translators and traitors fit the same mould applies eternally. In the special case of translation into English there is a typical problem. As with many words, Shakespeare’s medium has a unique power to contrast those of a Saxon origin with words imported later (after 1066 ‘and all that’); hailing from Normans, a conquering small elite. ‘Sheep’ or ‘cattle’ whilst still pasturing; once on the table ‘mutton’ or ‘beef’. The duet ‘freedom’ & ‘liberty’ is another example. In Dutch vocabularies such a distinction can hardly be made: ‘vrijheid’ has no real equivalent.

It is seldom that a civic motto – a rallying cry really – is so closely related to the exigencies of three consecutive and dramatic years in Holland’s history. In the last month of 1572, from December 18 to be exact, the prosperous city of Haarlem came under Spanish siege. When starvation of the citizenry left no choice but to surrender – under the covenant that persons and properties wouldn’t be abused – the triumphant victor allowed massive slaughter and plunder.

Alkmaar, the next municipality confronted and terrifyingly warned with Habsburg military might, stood fast and was relieved in the nick of time. The besiegers had to withdraw, due to the flooded country-side surrounding the city; a ploy infeasible in Haarlem’s case for geological reasons. The national proverb has it since, then that ‘Victory begins in Alkmaar’, in the original, culturally obligatory Latin: ‘Alcmaria Victrix’. Leyden, third in this fearsome triple in 1574, may have surmised that resistance was not entirely hopeless; its surrounding country-side being comparable in terms of ‘water-management’ with the one of Alkmaar.