Marnix, Philipp van (1538–1598)

Netherlandish Calvinist theologian and statesman. An adviser of William of Orange, he played a prominent part in drafting the Pacification of Ghent in 1576. He wrote a number of influential polemical works, including De biënkorf der heilige roomsche kerche/The Beehive of the Holy Roman Church (1569), a satirical attack on the Catholic Church (in the style of Rabelais), which was translated into English as early as 1579.

Born a member of the lesser Netherlands nobility in Brussels, Marnix studied in Geneva as a young man and became a personal disciple of the reformers Calvin and Beza. He took part in the insurrection against Spain in 1566 and was consequently forced to go into exile in Germany, where he helped organize the Synod of Emden in 1571. Returning to Holland in 1572 he became a close political and religious advisor to William of Orange. As mayor of Antwerp (1583–85) he defended the city against Alexander, Duke of Parma.

He published his De biënkorf der heilige roomsche kerche (sometimes known as De Roomsche Byenkorf) under the pen-name Isaac Rabbotenus. He also made a translation of the Psalms into Dutch.