History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

moat, others battered open the gates, while
hundreds, by the help of scaling-ladders, climbed
the walls, and swarmed down into the city. Along
every street and lane poured a torrent of furious
men, robbing, murdering, violating, without
making the least distinction between friend and
foe, Papist and Protestant.
No age, nor sex, nor rank, nor profession had
exemption from the sword, or the worse brutality
of the soldiery. Blood flowed in torrents. Churches,
monasteries, private dwellings, and public
establishments were broken into and pillaged to the
last penny. Altars were pulled down, the chalices
and other rich vessels used in the mass were carried
off, the very Host itself was profaned and trodden
under foot by men who professed to regard it as the
body and soul of Christ, and who had come from a
distant land to avenge the insults which had been
offered to it by others. Their rage far exceeded that
of the iconoclasts, who had vented their fury on
idols alone. Three days this dreadful work went
on,[3] and then the soldiers of Alva collected their
booty, and carrying it on board ship, sent it off to
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