Liever Turks dan Paaps ("Rather Turkish than Papist"), also Liever Turksch dan Paus ("Rather Turkish than Pope"), was a Dutch slogan during the Dutch Revolt of the end of the 16th century. The slogan was used by the Dutch mercenary naval forces (the "Sea Beggars") in their fight against Catholic Spain.[1] The banner of the Sea Beggars was also similar to that of the Turks, with a crescent on a red background.[2]

Fundamentally, the Protestant Dutch had strong antagonisms to both the Catholics and the Muslims. In some cases however, alliances, or attempts at alliance between the Dutch and the Muslims were made possible, as when the Dutch allied with the Muslims of the Moluccas to oust the Portuguese,[3] and the Dutch became rather tolerant of the Islamic religion in their colonial possessions after the final subjugation of Macassar in 1699.[4]

During the Dutch Revolt, the Dutch were under such a desperate situation that they looked for help from every nationality, and "indeed even a Turk", as wrote the secretary of Jan van Nassau.[5] William of Orange had already sent ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire for help in 1566, and it may have been in response to William's request that Selim II sent his fleet to attacks the Spanish at Tunis in 1574.[6] The Dutch saw Ottoman successes against the Habsburgs with great interest, and saw Ottoman campaigns in the Mediterranean as a indicator of relief on the Dutch front. William wrote around 1565:
"The Turks are very threatening, which will mean, we believe, that the king will not come to the Netherlands this year"
—Letter of William of Orange to his brother, circa 1565.[7]
The British author William Rainolds (1544-1594) wrote a pamphlet entitled "Calvino-Turcismus" in criticism of these tendencies.[8]

The phrase "Liever Turks dan Paaps" was coined as a way to express that life under the Ottoman Sultan would have been more desirable than life under the King of Spain.[9] The Flemish noble D'Esquerdes wrote to this effect that he:
"would rather become a tributary to the Turks than live against his conscience and be treated according to those [anti-heresy] edicts"
—Letter of Flemish noble D'Esquerdes.[10]
In effect, the Sultan was also known for his tolerance of the Christian and Jewish faiths within his dominions, whereas the King of Spain did not tolerate the Protestant faith.[11] At one point, a letter was sent from Suleiman the Magnificent to the "Lutherans" in Flanders, offering troops at the time they would request,[12] and claiming that he felt close to them, "since they did not worship idols, believed in one God and fought against the Pope and Emperor".[13][14] The Ottoman Empire was indeed known at that time for its religious tolerance. Various religious refugees, such as the Huguenots, some Anglicans, Quakers, Anabaptists or even Jesuits or Capuchins were able to find refuge at Istanbul and in the Ottoman Empire,[15] where they were given right of residence and worship.[16] Further, the Ottomans supported the Calvinists in Transylvania and Hungary but also in France.[17]

The slogan Liever Turks dan Paaps seems to have been largely rhetorical however, and the Dutch hardly contemplated life under the Sultan at all. Still, someone like Martin Luther is known to have expressed that in Germany some would have thought such rule as beneficial:
"[There exists those who] actually want the Turk to come and rule because they think our German people are wild and uncivilized - indeed that they are half-devil and half-man"
—Martin Luther in On War against the Turk, 1529.[18]
Source: Liever Turks dan Paaps - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia