A Brill Calendar: October 3

The Founding of Leiden University

Few cities in Holland have risen so dramatically to international fame than Leyden.

When the efforts of Habsburg Spain and General Valdes’ army to starve the completely surrounded and long-beleaguered citizenry into submission came to naught on October 3rd 1574, this prosperous but modest town became a symbol for the idea that a new era had begun: politically, religiously and culturally.

Still, it took another 72 years before all European Powers had come to recognize the sovereignty of an unprecedented Republic of United Provinces. The leadership of resistance against Spanish domination over the Low Countries - embodied in Willem, Prince of Orange - honoured the stubborn heroism and self-denial of the city with an innovative gift to its community, an endowment with unexplored potential: a governmental grant of a municipal university, the first in the Northern European delta.

Within four months, the idea of a University as a valuable asset for Leyden - which had been driven economically by crafts and regional manufacture - materialized in its festive Day of Birth, its ‘Dies Natalis’. It is seldom that the sudden metamorphosis of a municipality is mirrored in its main institute of learning; and vice versa.

Before October 3rd 1574 Leyden may be compared readily with market-cities in Holland like Dordt, Delft, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Gouda. After this day’s "redemption", academic learning caused the city to develop a uniqueness amongst these former peers. Within the city-walls, mercantile printers, publishers and booksellers were among the first beneficiaries of a unique reward for staunchly defending liberty.