Council of Troubles

The Council of Troubles was a special tribunal established on 9 September 1567 in the Spanish Netherlands by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, the 3rd Duke of Alba, acting on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, to prosecute those involved in the recent political and religious unrest. Popularly known as the Council of Blood for its harsh sentences, it convicted roughly 9,000 people of heresy or treason, though only about 1,000 of those sentences were actually carried out, with most others facing exile and the confiscation of their property. The council conducted its proceedings in writing and expanded to several chambers by 1569 to manage its heavy caseload. It was formally abolished in 1574 but continued operating until a popular uprising in Brussels in 1576 ended its work. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/