In recent years, there has been much research on early modern migration movements, driven by causes of various kinds. The large-scale migratory movements that emerged in response to the persecution of religious dissidents in the sixteenth-century Netherlands and as a result of the violence caused by the Dutch Revolt have received much attention in the past. In this context, historians have emphasised the importance of refugee churches in England and the Holy Roman Empire. In doing so, they often stressed that those refugee churches were of great importance for the development of the early Reformed Church in the Low Countries. Moreover, the refugee Reformed would have developed in their exile places a militant and sharply delineated form of the Reformed tradition – a kind of ‘Exulant theology’ as the well-known church historian Heiko Oberman put it.

Jesse Spohnholz and Mirjam van Veen’s research aims to test such findings and ideas, avoiding anachronistic national and religious assumptions that had crept into earlier historiography. Partly supported by two doctoral students – to whose results they regularly refer in this book – and a postdoc, they were able to realise a comprehensive research project. Specifically, they focused on eleven refugee communities in the Holy Roman Empire: three imperial cities (Cologne, Aachen and Frankfurt), a number of towns in the religiously mixed border area of the Duchy of Cleves (Wesel, and the smaller towns of Emmerich, Goch, Gennep, Kalkar, Rees and Xanten), and Frankenthal, a new settlement in the Palatinate founded by Dutch Reformed migrants. The database compiled by the research team contains data on more than 19,000 emigrated Dutch Reformed who resided in one of the listed places. 70 per cent of them were men and likewise 70 per cent came from the southern provinces of Brabant (44 per cent) and Flanders (26 per cent). That is an absolutely impressive database composed of individuals who could be identified as Reformed and were Dutch-speaking. For the interpretation of the term ‘refugee’, they avoid making rigid distinctions. They see refugees ‘as people who fled from their place (or places) of residence out of fear of ongoing or anticipated hardships that posed a serious threat to life, safety or livelihood’ (p. 12). The book is based on an extensive and varied corpus of sources that includes material from Reformed institutions (records of consistories, classes and synods, letters and attestations) as well as Reformed refugees (mainly correspondence).

If there is one thing that runs like a thread throughout the book, it is that the existence of reformed refugees was more complex and multi-layered than previously assumed. This is already evident in the first chapter, in which the authors examine, through seven concrete cases, the motives that drove refugees to leave. Often there was a complex interplay of religious, political and personal motives. Moreover, social position and gender had a real impact on the opportunities and circumstances for leaving, travelling and settling outside one’s home country. Chapter ii makes it clear that refugee communities were not closed entities in their host cities and that confessional differences were not always as sharply defined as previously assumed. Moreover, the Holy Roman Empire’s imperial laws were not static and consistent. The question of who could be seen as Konfessionsverwandten after the conclusion of the Peace of Augsburg (1555) thus offered opportunities for the Reformed refugees. On the local scene, concrete policies often proved more moderate than the legal framework demanded. Power relations within the city council, regime changes and the economic position of the migrants could also play a role. Chapter iii, on the social experiences of the Dutch Reformed migrants, also presents a complex picture. The further the migrants moved, the greater the cultural and linguistic differences were. In some cities, migrants lived widely dispersed, in others more clustered in specific areas. Access to and need for citizenship also showed variation, related to the policies of the city concerned, the social position of the migrants and the political conjuncture in their homeland. Whereas earlier research often focused on conflicts between migrants and the host communities, the authors argue that there was also room for good relations, sometimes across denominational boundaries. The authors extend this latter observation into chapter iv on worship. When it came to the rites de passages such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, the emigrated Dutch Reformed were willing to compromise, but that did not apply to holy communion. The Lord’s Supper the Reformed always tried to celebrate in their own community although the town of Wesel, where there was a multi-denominational communion, offered an exception.

In chapter v, Spohnholz and van Veen examine the transnational, transregional and regional networks that members of refugee communities developed. They particularly stress the importance of the latter two levels, where historians used to often highlight the importance of transnational networks in the Dutch diaspora. This view fitted in with the focus on an ‘international Calvinism’ aimed at international cooperation and solidarity. They also nuance the previously often presented view that refugee communities from the 1570s onwards contributed strongly to the formation of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands, for example by sending out preachers. That the authors do justice to the networks in the Holy Roman Empire and their importance is certainly a great merit of this study. Indeed, in earlier studies, they remained underexposed. Still, I wonder whether the transnational networks are not underestimated. To estimate the weight of those networks, they mainly look at the early Dutch Republic (see especially pp. 198–201), but it is also important to systematically include the southern regions, especially Flanders and Brabant, since 70 per cent of the Dutch Reformed migrants came from those two provinces. Especially during the so-called ‘Calvinist Republics’ (1577–85), many ministers were active in Brabantine and Flemish towns, including several who came over from refugee churches in the Holy Roman Empire. Furthermore, returned exiles also took up leadership positions in consistories and city administrations. With regard to charitable giving, the authors also make clear the importance of transregional and regional networks. The wealthy Cologne refugee community in particular appeared to give support to needy fellow believers in other places of the German Empire. Again, they put into perspective the importance of transnational support. The question arises, however, to what extent the refugee community sources provide a complete picture. If we take the perspective of Antwerp, we get a very different picture. When the rebellious city ruled by Reformed leaders was besieged by Alexander Farnese in 1585, the ailing city received full support from refugee churches in England and the Holy Roman Empire. Moreover, the sums received from the refugee communities were substantial. For instance, £422 came from Cologne, £330 from Frankfurt, £360 from Wesel and £225 from Aachen. In other words, there was an important movement of transnational solidarity. The refugee community of Wesel, which according to Spohnholz and van Veen acted mainly as a recipient of support, also participated emphatically in that movement.

Finally, chapter vi examines whether a specific culture of memory developed among the migrants and among later generations and whether their narrative influenced the religious landscape of the Dutch Republic. Among the refugees themselves, memories of exile do not appear to come to the fore, although they did bring with them an internationally oriented worldview that influenced the religious culture of the republic. Heidelberg in particular appeared to play an important role in this as a centre of international Reformed learning. Among subsequent generations, the memory of the exile did gain a special place and influenced the memory culture of the Dutch Reformed Church.

With this book, the authors bring a complex picture of refugee communities in the Holy Roman Empire based on extensive source material. In doing so, they bring many nuances and corrections to the earlier historiography. This correction also applies to the view that the Dutch Reformed migrants in their refuges developed a specific belief system that drove the Reformed tradition in a militant and sharply defined direction. Moreover, the analysis of the eleven selected places allows an interesting comparative perspective. Some of the authors’ arguments certainly invite further research. I am thinking especially of the international, transnational dimension of the Reformed movement in the second half of the sixteenth century.