History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

who has taken up arms against him, or at least who
has been polluted with heresy, to live and remain in
it."[7] On the other side Protestantism also lifted
itself up. Amsterdam, the capital of Protestant
Holland, still remained in the hands of the
Romanists.
This state of matters, which weakened the
religious power of the Northern States, was now
rectified. Mainly by the mediation of Utrecht, it
was agreed on the 8th of February, 1578, that
Amsterdam should enroll itself with the States of
Holland, and swear allegiance to the Prince of
Orange as its Stadtholder, on condition that the
Roman faith were the only one publicly professed
in the city, with right to all Protestants to practice
their own worship, without molestation, outside the
walls, and privilege of burying their dead in
unconsecrated but convenient ground, provided
that neither was psalm sung, nor prayer offered,
nor any religious act performed at the grave, and
that the corpse was followed to the tomb by not
more than twenty-six persons. To this was added a
not less important concession -- namely, that all
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