The production of history: Famiano Strada’s De Bello Belgico

This essay examines De Bello Belgico, one of the most popular contemporary accounts of the Dutch revolt from Spain. This three-volume history of the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) between Spain and the United Provinces, was commissioned by Ranuccio I Farnese in 1595 from the Jesuit historian Famiano Strada and, due to its complex production history, it took forty-one years to publish. This study addresses issues related to authorship and studio production, authenticity in historical narrative, and the nature of commemoration.