The black legend on the Spanish presence in the low countries: Verifying shared beliefs on genetic ancestry

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• dc.contributor.author Larmuseau, Maarten H. D.
• dc.contributor.author Calafell i Majó, Francesc
• dc.contributor.author Princen, Sarah A.
• dc.contributor.author Decorte, Ronny
• dc.contributor.author Soen, Violet
• dc.date.accessioned 2019-05-07T08:01:40Z
• dc.date.available 2019-05-07T08:01:40Z
• dc.date.issued 2018
• dc.description.abstract Objectives: War atrocities committed by the Spanish army in the Low Countries during the 16th century are so ingrained in the collective memory of Belgian and Dutch societies that they generally assume a signature of this history to be present in their genetic ancestry. Historians claim this assumption is a consequence of the so‐called “Black Legend” and negative propaganda portraying and remembering Spanish soldiers as extreme sexual aggressors. The impact of the presence of Spaniards during the Dutch Revolt on the genetic variation in the Low Countries has been verified in this study. Materials and methods: A recent population genetic analysis of Iberian‐associated Y‐chromosomal variation among Europe is enlarged with representative samples of Dutch (N = 250) and Flemish (N = 1,087) males. Frequencies of these variants are also compared between donors whose oldest reported paternal ancestors lived in—nowadays Flemish—cities affected by so‐called Spanish Furies (N = 116) versus other patrilineages in current Flemish territory (N = 971). Results: The frequencies of Y‐chromosomal markers Z195 and SRY2627 decline steeply going north from Spain and the data for the Flemish and Dutch populations fits within this pattern. No trend of higher frequencies of these variants has been found within the well‐ascertained samples associated with Spanish Fury cities. Discussion: Although sexual aggression did occur in the 16th century, these activities did not leave a traceable “Spanish” genetic signature in the autochthonous genome of the Low Countries. Our results support the view that the ‘Black Legend’ and historical propaganda on sexual aggression have nurtured today's incorrect assumptions regarding genetic ancestry.
• dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
• dc.identifier.citation Larmuseau MHD, Calafell F, Princen SA, Decorte R, Soen V. The black legend on the Spanish presence in the low countries: Verifying shared beliefs on genetic ancestry. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2018;166(1):219-27. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23409
• dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23409
• dc.identifier.issn 0002-9483
• dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/37178
• dc.language.iso eng
• dc.publisher Wiley-Blackwell
• dc.relation.ispartof American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 2018;166(1):219-27
• dc.rights This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Larmuseau MHD, Calafell F, Princen SA, Decorte R, Soen V. The black legend on the Spanish presence in the low countries: Verifying shared beliefs on genetic ancestry. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2018; 166(1):219-227. DOI 10.1002/ajpa.23409, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23409. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
• dc.subject.keyword 16th century
• dc.subject.keyword Ancestry testing
• dc.subject.keyword Collective history
• dc.subject.keyword Genetic genealogy
• dc.subject.keyword Spanish army
• dc.subject.keyword Y chromosome
• dc.title The black legend on the Spanish presence in the low countries: Verifying shared beliefs on genetic ancestry
• dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
• dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion