 Local magistracies were often opposed, but ineffective in stopping the destruction.<ref>Petegree, 119–124; Arnade, 120–122</ref> In many towns the archer's guild, who had a function in controlling public order, took no steps against the crowds.<ref>Arnade, 120</ref>

In 1566, unlike the situation after the Eighty Years War and today, Protestantism in the Low Countries was mainly concentrated in the south (roughly modern Belgium), and much weaker in the north (roughly now the Netherlands), and iconoclasm in the north began later, after news of the events in Antwerp was received, and was more successfully resisted by local authorities in some towns, although still succeeding in most.<ref name="Brouwer2016"></ref> Once again individually socially prominent laymen often took the lead.<ref>Petegree, 124–128</ref> In many places there were, or were later said to have been, false claims of official commissions from some local authority to perform the actions, and by the end of the outbreak some northern towns removed images by order of the local authority, presumably to prevent the disorder that would accompany a mob action.<ref>Arnade, 120–122</ref>

Analysis of the records of the later trials show a wide range of occupations, covering craftsmen and small tradespeople, especially in the textile trade, and also a variety of church employees, at a fairly low level.Where wealth and property are recorded, it is "modest at best".<ref>Arnade, 102</ref>

Following the 1566 attacks in Antwerp there was a further period of iconoclasm there in 1581, after a Calvinist city council was elected and purged the city's clergy and guilds of Catholic office-holders.This is known as the "quiet" or "stille" beeldenstorm, as the removal of images was carried out by the institutions they belonged to, the council itself, churches and the guilds.