Views of Peace and Prosperity – Hopes for Autonomy and Self-Government, Antwerp 1599

In Flanders, the Entry of a new ruler into one of the cities of his domain (Joyeuse Entrée) transformed the urban landscape into a visual pamphlet – an opportunity to lay out the most urgent needs, hopes and demands of the people through a series of ephemeral monuments and civic ceremonies. The triumphal procession of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella into Antwerp in 1599, was likewise used by the city and by the creator of the pageant, humanist and city secretary Johannes Bochius, to lay out the main concerns and worries of their time. The article focuses on two of the monuments and the two ceremonies of oath taking in order to reveal the use of the pageant's structure as a 'progressing viewing experience'. The consideration of the viewing order reveals not only the strive for peace and the call to establish a self-governmental system under the rule of the new governors, but also the political thought of the time and the surprising demand to establish a mixed government, containing the fundaments of aristocracy and democracy within the monarchic rule of Spain.