Did encounters with Protestants always result in Catholic violence in the Southern Netherlandsduring the sixteenth century? The Dutch historian Judith Pollmann showed thatthis was only rarely the case in this geographical area. In fact, most of the Roman Catholicsadopted a rather passive attitude towards the increasing number of Protestants.According to Pollmann, the catholic clergy played a major role in this 'passivity of thelaity'. Was this also the case in Bruges during the Dutch Revolt or not? And did not, onthe other hand, the tempestuous political context at that time activate the Roman Catholics?Based on research on the funeral life and landscape of Bruges during the period1564-1584, this article tries to answer these questions.
