Military Rebellion and Reason of State Pacification of Mutinies in the Habsburg Army of Flanders, 1599-1601

The frequent mutinies in the Army of Flanders confronted the Spanish-Habsburg authorities with both military-strategic and political dilemmas. Although military rebellion violated moral and religious laws of authority, rulers depended on the army for the preservation of their state, or the power and dominion on which the integrity of their realms depended. This article focuses on the negotiations that the Spanish-Habsburg authorities conducted with their rebel soldiers in order to regain their support. One case, the negotiations during the great mutiny of Hamont (1599-1601), not only sheds new light on the practical solution to the dilemma of mutiny, but also provides insight into contemporary political discourse concerning civil and military rebellion applied to concrete moments of decision-making. Reactions of authorities were suffused with political realism and directed at the interest of the state.