Editing Pieter Bruegel the Elder (section)

==Historical background==
[[File:Pieter Bruegel d. Ä. 007.jpg|thumb|''[[The Procession to Calvary (Bruegel)|The Procession to Calvary]]'', 1564, Bruegel's second largest painting at 124 cm × 170 cm (49 in × 67 in)]]

Bruegel was born at a time of extensive change in Western Europe. Humanist ideals from the previous century influenced artists and scholars. Italy was at the end of its High Renaissance of arts and culture, when artists such as [[Michelangelo]] and [[Leonardo da Vinci]] painted their masterpieces. In 1517, about eight years before Bruegel's birth, [[Martin Luther]] created his ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' and began the [[Protestant Reformation]] in neighbouring Germany. Reformation was accompanied by [[Iconoclasm#Protestant Reformation|iconoclasm]] and widespread [[Beeldenstorm|destruction of art]], including in the [[Low Countries]]. The Catholic Church viewed Protestantism and its destructive iconoclasm of art as a threat to the Church. The [[Council of Trent]], which concluded in 1563, [[The Reformation and art#Council of Trent|determined]] that religious art should be more focused on religious subject-matter and less on material things and decorative qualities.

At this time, the Low Countries were divided into [[Seventeen Provinces]], some of which wanted separation from the Habsburg rule based in Spain. The Reformation meanwhile produced a number of Protestant denominations that gained followers in the Seventeen Provinces, influenced by the newly Lutheran German states to the east and the newly Anglican England to the west. The Habsburg monarchs of Spain attempted a policy of strict religious uniformity for the Catholic Church within their domains and enforced it with the [[Inquisition]]. Increasing religious antagonisms and riots, political manoeuvrings, and executions eventually resulted in the outbreak of the [[Eighty Years' War]].

In this atmosphere Bruegel reached the height of his career as a painter. Two years before his death, the Eighty Years' War began between the United Provinces and Spain. Although Bruegel did not live to see it, seven provinces became independent and formed the [[Dutch Republic]], while the other ten remained under Habsburg control at the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Foote|first=Timothy|title=The World of Bruegel|year=1968|publisher=Time-Life Library of Art|location=Library of Congress|pages=18–27}}</ref>