De rol van bronnen in de imagologie: een case study van Vlaamse vreemdelingen, Engelse inwoners, ambtenaren en machthebbers van de stad Norwich in de zestiende eeuw

Abstract

In the middle of the 16th century many people left the Low Countries for England as a result of religious persecution and economic hardship. Several thousand of these people, mainly from the Southern Netherlands, went to Norwich, the second largest city in England. Some of them wrote letters to friends and family members whom they left behind in the Low Countries, which indicate that they valued the religious freedom and economic opportunities in Norwich. This suggests that they had a positive image of the local English people. However, if one looks at official English documents, the picture is more mixed. While some English valued the economic contribution that the migrants made, others were concerned about the effect on the local workforce, and measures were taken to restrict their economic activities. Furthermore, some people in Norwich had Catholic sympathies and this was an important motivating factor in a plot to eject the migrants from the city, which ultimately failed. In short, this article uses the situation in Norwich in the late 16th century as a case study for exploring how different sources can create contrasting images of how one group of people views another.