Department of Forensic Biomedical Sciences, Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Biology, Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2018 May;166(1):219-227. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23409. Epub 2018 Jan 11.
War atrocities committed by the Spanish army in the Low Countries during the 16th century are so ingrained in the collective memory of Belgian and Dutch societies that they generally assume a signature of this history to be present in their genetic ancestry. Historians claim this assumption is a consequence of the so-called "Black Legend" and negative propaganda portraying and remembering Spanish soldiers as extreme sexual aggressors. The impact of the presence of Spaniards during the Dutch Revolt on the genetic variation in the Low Countries has been verified in this study.
A recent population genetic analysis of Iberian-associated Y-chromosomal variation among Europe is enlarged with representative samples of Dutch (N = 250) and Flemish (N = 1,087) males. Frequencies of these variants are also compared between donors whose oldest reported paternal ancestors lived in-nowadays Flemish-cities affected by so-called Spanish Furies (N = 116) versus other patrilineages in current Flemish territory (N = 971).
The frequencies of Y-chromosomal markers Z195 and SRY2627 decline steeply going north from Spain and the data for the Flemish and Dutch populations fits within this pattern. No trend of higher frequencies of these variants has been found within the well-ascertained samples associated with Spanish Fury cities.
Although sexual aggression did occur in the 16th century, these activities did not leave a traceable "Spanish" genetic signature in the autochthonous genome of the Low Countries. Our results support the view that the 'Black Legend' and historical propaganda on sexual aggression have nurtured today's incorrect assumptions regarding genetic ancestry.
16 世纪西班牙军队在低地国家犯下的战争暴行在比利时和荷兰社会的集体记忆中根深蒂固，以至于他们普遍认为这段历史的特征存在于他们的遗传祖先中。历史学家声称，这种假设是所谓的“黑色传说”和负面宣传的结果，这些宣传将西班牙士兵描绘和记住为极端性侵犯者。本研究验证了荷兰反抗期间西班牙人在低地国家的存在对遗传变异的影响。
对伊比利亚相关 Y 染色体变异在欧洲的近期人口遗传分析进行了扩展，包括代表荷兰（N=250）和佛兰芒（N=1087）男性的样本。还比较了这些变体在捐赠者之间的频率，这些捐赠者的最古老的报告父系祖先生活在现在的佛兰芒城市，这些城市受到所谓的西班牙狂怒的影响（N=116）与当前佛兰芒领土中的其他父系血统（N=971）。
从西班牙向北，Y 染色体标记 Z195 和 SRY2627 的频率急剧下降，佛兰芒和荷兰人口的数据符合这一模式。在与西班牙狂怒城市相关的确定样本中，没有发现这些变体频率更高的趋势。
尽管 16 世纪确实发生了性侵犯，但这些活动并没有在低地国家的本土基因组中留下可追踪的“西班牙”遗传特征。我们的结果支持这样一种观点，即“黑色传说”和关于性侵犯的历史宣传助长了今天对遗传祖先的错误假设。
