Abstract

From Acceptance to Proclamation. The Implementation of the Pragmatic Sanction in the Austrian Netherlands 1720–1725

In the year 1713, Emperor Charles VI proclaimed a new law of succession applicable to the Habsburg lands. This law marked the beginning of his well-known struggle for assurances and guaranties from other European powers and from the estates of his own countries. This article focuses on the interactions between the monarch, his agents and the estates of the Austrian Netherlands. It elucidates how the emperor was able to win the support of his subjects for this new law, which was designed to bind his territories closer to the Habsburg dynasty.

Of particular importance to the garnering of support by the estates was the acknowledgement and respect given to traditional ‘ceremony’. As Charles VI had bound his rule to ancestral tradition, his Minister, de Prié, was ordered to respect the provincial customs in implementing the emperor's new law. De Prié was required to work in partnership with the estates in order to organize proper ceremonies that were traditionally appropriate. While the members of the Council of State in Brussels had claimed a principal role in this process, each of the estates was entitled to act as the arbiter of their own particular traditions. For these estates, this new law offered stability and the further protection of their own traditional privileges. Furthermore they could assume the role of ‘good’ and ‘willing’ subjects, and could thereby appeal to the future mercy and good will of their sovereign.

After each province had individually accepted the new law, a final, solemn ceremony of proclamation was held in Brussels. An interpretation of the details of this process allows us to conclude that both parties – the sovereign and his subjects – were not antagonists, but rather acted as partners with common goals. Both desired stability and both used the traditional political order as a point of reference to legitimize their position. The importance of these traditions and the strong role of the estates in the process also points to a final conclusion: that through this process, not only did Charles VI incorporate the estates into his monarchy (a well-documented process); it also allowed the estates to assimilate Charles VI into their own political system – a process worthy of further research.