When the Netherlands broke away from the Spanish Empire to practise Protestantism were all religions welcome?
No, not at all. Protestants were just as bloodthirsty as Catholics when it came to suppressing dissident views (‘heresy’). To make things worse, there were many rival Protestant sects: Calvinist, Zwinglian, Arminian, Lutheran… and they were as keen on suppressing each other as on killing Catholics. Q. Elizabeth I was as keen as the Spanish Inquisition on torturing and executing those who went to the wrong church. Calvin had a religious opponent burned to death in Switzerland. In the Dutch/Spanish wars (which were not purely about religion but certainly had a religious aspect) neither the Catholics (Spain) nor the Protestants (Holland) took many prisoners of war. If caught, they had only a rope to look forward to. It is true that after the settlement of this conflict (following the battle of Fleurus which finally broke the Spanish power in the area) the Dutch gradually settled down to accept that the Calvinists and the Catholics among them were equally citizens. As a trading nation, t
