Anti-Remonstrant print showing Remonstrants mourning the 1621 end of the Twelve-Years Truce during the Eighty-Years War for Dutch independence from Spain (1568-1648). The beginning of the Truce in 1609 - concluded in The Hague in what is therefore now called the "Trêves-zaal" - signalled the first formal recognition by outside powers of the United Provinces as an independent nation, the Dutch Republic. This "peaceful" period was, however, overshadowed by endless religious disputes and quarrels between two groups of Protestants: the more moderate "Remonstrants" (Arminians) and the dogmatic Calvinist "Contra-Remonstrants" (Gomarists).
Claes Janszoon Visscher II (1587-1652), a famous artist, engraver, mapmaker and publisher of the Dutch golden age drew and etched the plate (with his monogram in the lower left corner) and no doubt published the broadside, though it has no imprint.
The broadside has been divided as noted, with the etching in the upper two-thirds now separate from the letterpress text in the lower third. That meant that in the process, the foot of the etching was slightly shaved. The left margin next to the text is repaired (not affecting the text). Muller, Historieplaten 1449; Atlas van Stolk 1525; Hollstein, C.J. Visscher 38 .