The Belgic Confession was written in 1561 by Guido de Brès during the Protestant struggle in the Low Countries. It set out Reformed doctrine under conditions of persecution. The text circulated in a tense political world ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs.

Confessional writing shaped the psalms, hymns and martyr poetry of Dutch and French-speaking Protestants. It gave communities a shared language of suffering, identity and resistance that poets could intensify in song.