Covering defeat or disaster in print required considerable journalistic finesse in the Southern Netherlandish news market, since the primary role of privileged courantiersin the Habsburg empire was... Show moreCovering defeat or disaster in print required considerable journalistic finesse in the Southern Netherlandish news market, since the primary role of privileged courantiersin the Habsburg empire was to provide accounts of royal successes. This article investigates the ways in which the Antwerp printer-publisher Abraham Verhoeven and Brussels newsman Pierre Hugonet covered two main Atlantic events with a negative outcome for the Habsburg monarchy: the Dutch invasion of Brazil in 1624 and the English capture of Jamaica in 1655 respectively. By comparing these major Atlantic news stories, this article will deepen our understanding of how these gazetteers, who differed in professional background and operated decades apart, dealt with defeat suffered in the Western Hemisphere. It will argue that both newspapermen presented the Habsburg setbacks in a strikingly similar way, using largely the same editorial and rhetorical strategies. This suggests that there appeared to be a ‘discourse of defeat’ in the Habsburg Netherlands, which newspaper publishers adapted to satisfy both their customers and central authorities throughout the seventeenth century. This ‘discourse of defeat’, however, was not confined solely to the southern provinces, as Dutch and English courantiers employed similar tactics to cover up bad news. Therefore, government control and pre-emptive censorship, which continue to be considered dominant features of the Southern Netherlandish media landscape, appear to have played a less decisive role in the way newspaper publishers covered defeat than hitherto has been presumed. Show less
Over the years the 1640 naval battle of Paraíba (Brazil) has attracted the attention of several historians, including F.A. Varnhagen, H. Wätjen and J.C. Warnsinck, who made extensive use of Dutch... Show moreOver the years the 1640 naval battle of Paraíba (Brazil) has attracted the attention of several historians, including F.A. Varnhagen, H. Wätjen and J.C. Warnsinck, who made extensive use of Dutch sources. By combining the Dutch and Portuguese accounts, C.R. Boxer and, more recently, M.J. Guedes shed new light on the episode. The Portuguese material comprises the original papers of Fernando Mascarenhas, the commander in-chief of the armada. These papers are gathered in four voluminous codices and record events concerning the armada between April 1638 and October 1640. Written in Portuguese and Spanish, they comprise various documents, including correspondence, as well as instructions, reports, and minutes of meetings of the Council of Captains. The documents in these codices constitute the bedrock of this article which focuses on the armada leaders’ perceptions of their opponent during their sojourn in Brazil, a topic still insufficiently explored in the literature. Given the goal of the expedition, gathering information on the Dutch military and naval power was crucial for defining a strategy to oust them from Pernambuco. How did the armada leaders acquire intelligence? How reliable was it when cross-checked against other sources and to what extent did the outcome of the battle depend on it? Show less
For nearly twenty-five years, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) occupied part of the northeast of Brazil. This situation, which pertained long ago in the distant past of the XVII century remains... Show moreFor nearly twenty-five years, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) occupied part of the northeast of Brazil. This situation, which pertained long ago in the distant past of the XVII century remains one of the most discussed and studied themes both within and outside the academic world up to the present day. The sugar trade, society, religion, slave trade and the life and work of individuals are all discussed. Although the most important battles on land and sea in the area were regularly described in many historical narratives, some of the most important protagonists in the process of the conquest and occupation of Brazil were forgotten: the soldiers of the WIC. This research was set up with the objectives of reconstructing the life history of a selection of the many anonymous characters who participated in the conquest and occupation of Brazil and investigating the conditions of everyday life for the people of war sent to Brazil between 1629 and 1653. Show less
Arguing that landscape is culturally constructed by social relations and power, my analysis of Frans Post’s landscapes has shown two things: Post’s first canvases, commissioned by Johan Maurits,... Show moreArguing that landscape is culturally constructed by social relations and power, my analysis of Frans Post’s landscapes has shown two things: Post’s first canvases, commissioned by Johan Maurits, Count of Nassau-Siegen, depict specific Brazilian sites according to chorographical and accurate topographical profiles. Frans Post was representing Brazil as a New Holland in the Tropics, a visual strategy due to a Nassau-orangist colonial project. The later paintings, done in the context of colonial defeat, were related to a market of the “Exotic”. They seem to show a crack that revealed two distinct Dutch attitudes to Brazil: a) General expectations about Brazilian landscapes were related to economical interests about sugar production, slave trade and naturalia for cabinets of curiosity. Therefore, these pushed Frans Post’s production toward an indiscriminating image, depicting Brazil as Amoenitates exoticae; and b) Some other few images, that still depicted Brazil in straight reference to specific Brazilian localities, used the motif of ruins to evoke vanitas conventions in order to mark a visual memento of colonial failure. This smaller public for Brazilian landscapes were probably discontented with civil rule after the end of stathouderate in 1650. Show less
