society of merchants and regents. This thesis is largely based on studies that follow solely on the province of Holland. In contrast to Holland however, the landward provinces in the eastern half of the country (Guelders, Overijssel and Drenthe) were still feudal in character. As members of regional assemblies (ridderschappen and statenvergaderingen), noble families took part in each provinces' sovereignty and had considerable power. These families believed that right of birth provided them with natural authority over the land and the people that lived on it. Honour was the underlying principle according to which they lived their own lives and viewed the world, In the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the concept of honour was undergoing a transition. The rising influences of humanism, the Dutch Revolt and the Reformation meant that old notions were redefined and new ones developed. As the seventeenth century progressed, the emphasis on heroic autonomy, impulsive behaviour and the actual use of violence declined. The concept of honour had become much more abstract and civilised. This could happen only because of the pacification of the countryside in the Eastern Provinces at the beginning of the century, when the whole societal framework was rebuilt and law and order were implemented for the first time. Whilst honour had hitherto been a fleeting quality which could easily be either gained or lost, honour in the seventeenth century became institutionalized and primarily connected with fixed positions within the hierarchical structures: the historical foundations of the family, the familial order, the moral order.