oa ‘De aert van Spaensche Inquisitie’ Coornherts opvattingen over de verhouding tussen kerk en staat

In recent publications the Dutchman Dirk Volckertsz Coornhert (1522-1590) is honoured as the forerunner of religious tolerance and of the modern idea of the separation of church and state. This picture is one-sided and therefore mistaken. Coornhert feared the influence of the Dutch reformed church and was convinced that this church aimed at a new inquisition. Moved by this fear he urged the city-magistrates to set bounds to the reformed influence. In his view the only way to avoid a new tyranny was the establishment of a national church ruled by the magistrates. Coornhert was not an advocate of a separation between the church and the state; he was a clear exponent of erastianism.