When the Dutch declared independence from the Spanish crown in 1581, the public practice of Catholicism was prohibited in the Dutch Republic. This policy persisted until the Peace of Münster in 1648. Nevertheless, Catholics continued to practice their faith discreetly in private churches.
 
On 3 March 1644, French ambassador Claude de Mesmes, Comte d’Avaux, addressed the Dutch States General in The Hague, advocating for greater religious tolerance toward Catholics. He argued that one could oppose the Spanish monarchy while remaining a faithful Catholic. The Dutch States General, however, responded with a resolution reaffirming prior decrees outlawing Catholicism.
 
The present manuscript is a contemporary French translation of that resolution. Notably, the document begins by emphasizing the Dutch Republic's commitment to religious tolerance. However, it justifies the prohibition of Catholicism by linking it to loyalty toward “le Roij de l’Espagne, enemij hereditaire de ce pais” (“the King of Spain, hereditary enemy of this country”).
 
Lieuwe Aitzema explores these events in the second volume of Saken van Staet en Oorlogh (pp. 965-6), where he quotes the address of Claude de Mesmes and the reply from the States General.
 
The Latin manuscript, apparently written in the same hand, begins with a succinct history of Catholicism in the Dutch Republic, followed by four chapters that discuss the reasons for the ban on public Catholic practices in the Dutch Republic.