From Phantom to Icon : The Mythogenesis of Count Lamoraal Van Egmont (1522-1568)

Abstract

This article tries to explain why and how Count Lamoraal van Egmont (1522-1568) became a mythical figure in European culture. After evaluating the existing myth literature, this paper tries to find out what the textual traces which constitute the basis of Egmont's mythogenesis actually reveal about the underlying interest in this figure. This analysis consists of three sections, which correspond to different but strongly interrelated stages of the Egmont reception. This approach enables one to reconstruct the development of the semantic tableau of the Egmont myth and thus provides a methodological instrument for the unraveling of similar historical myths. The first part examines the immediate impact of the decapitation of Egmont, using sources such as eyewitness reports, pamphlets etc. The second part investigates the evolution period of the myth in the historiography of the seventeenth century. The final part focusses on the crystallisation of the myth in predominantly literary sources on the eve of the French Revolution. It is argued that Egmont eventually became a myth because he could be deliberately instrumentalised by different groups in order to gain support for their respective confessional, political, or anthropological programmes.