In 1777, the American commissioners in Paris, Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, contractedwith French naval captain Jacques Boux to design two frigates for theRevolutionary cause. The design was... Show moreIn 1777, the American commissioners in Paris, Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, contractedwith French naval captain Jacques Boux to design two frigates for theRevolutionary cause. The design was the first of a new concept of very large frigates,able to outgun anything they could not outrun. The ships were to be built at a privateyard in Amsterdam. One of these vessels, laid down as L’Indien, would ultimately servethe American cause in the South Carolina State Navy under the name South Carolina.This article examines the Dutch period of the two ships built at the yard of ArieStaats in Amsterdam in 1777–1781. Despite the attention given to South Carolina inthe historiography, the Dutch sources have not yet been studied. The case of L’Indienand Tijger, her sister ship, illustrates the continuing importance of private contractorsto navies in the late eighteenth century. Show less
This study analyses the representation of the Atlantic world in the Dutch periodical press throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. How did the periodical press cover the Dutch invasion... Show moreThis study analyses the representation of the Atlantic world in the Dutch periodical press throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. How did the periodical press cover the Dutch invasion and colonization of Brazil, the continuous warfare in the Caribbean in the latter part of the seventeenth century, the increasing confrontations between the French and the British in North America in the course of the eighteenth century, and the issue of slavery and slave revolts? It demonstrates how ordinary readers could gain knowledge of a world far beyond their daily horizons and shows how the (tone of the) coverage in the newspapers developed in correlation with the changing position of the Dutch Republic in the geopolitical constellation. Secondly, this study illuminates the news networks themselves, exploring how news travelled from one place to the next and how news networks influenced, and were influenced by, geopolitical developments. Thirdly, by taking a long-term perspective, this study also analyses the development of the periodical press and its function in the wider arena of early modern print media while also tracing the various transformations of the Atlantic world over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Show less
This article seeks to examine seventeenth-century public diplomacy through the combined lens of print and pageantry. Both are rarely discussed alongside each other in contributions on early modern... Show moreThis article seeks to examine seventeenth-century public diplomacy through the combined lens of print and pageantry. Both are rarely discussed alongside each other in contributions on early modern diplomacy, news media, and correspondence networks. It will be shown that ceremonial rituals and theatrical entertainments were nonetheless oft-discussed subjects in French-language pamphlets of the seventeenth century on diplomatic events, policies, and debates. This study argues that such events could constitute the focus of a pamphlet or surface as an important theme or reference point on the basis of which authors could build arguments, introduce or defend diplomatic agendas, or propose new solutions to a political conflict or dilemma. Pamphlets on the Habsburg-Bourbon marriages of 1614–1615, held at Marsh’s Library in Dublin within the collection of the English theologian and scholar Edward Stillingfleet (1635–1699), and the tour of Marie de Médicis (1575–1642), the exiled Queen Mother of France, across the Low Countries in 1638, kept in the Bibliotheca Thysiana of the Leiden University Library, will be discussed as tools for the public diplomacy of a wide range of transnational stakeholders. Show less
Cet article se concentre sur l’échange continu et réciproque d’idées et de personnes qui a existé tout au long de l’ère révolutionnaire entre la Hollande et les États-Unis. Nous soutenons tout d... Show moreCet article se concentre sur l’échange continu et réciproque d’idées et de personnes qui a existé tout au long de l’ère révolutionnaire entre la Hollande et les États-Unis. Nous soutenons tout d’abord que l’influence américaine aux Pays-Bas ne se limitait pas au Parti Patriote, mais incluait également les partisans du stathouder. Deuxièmement, l’influence de la Révolution américaine sur les penseurs politiques néerlandais ne s’est pas arrêtée au tournant du siècle. Ces deux phénomènes sont le résultat de connexions transatlantiques qui semblent étranges d’un point de vue idéologique mais font sens lorsque le véhicule d’échange est pris en compte. Nous démontrons, troisièmement, que l’accent mis sur les rencontres et les expériences personnelles permet de saisir le caractère transnational de l’ère révolutionnaire. Show less
How did individuals advance to the highest ranks in the Dutch colonial administrations? And how, once appointed, was this rank retained? To answer these questions, this book explores the careers of... Show moreHow did individuals advance to the highest ranks in the Dutch colonial administrations? And how, once appointed, was this rank retained? To answer these questions, this book explores the careers of Dutch colonial governors in the 17th century with a focus on two case-studies: Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, governor of Dutch Brazil (1636-1644) and Rijckloff Volckertsz van Goens, Governor-General in Batavia in the 1670s.By comparing a Western (Atlantic, WIC) and an Eastern (Asian, VOC) example, this book shows how networks sustaining career-making differed in the various parts of the empire: the West India Company was much more involved in domestic political debates, and this led to a closer integration of political patronage networks, while the East India Company was better able to follow an independent course. The book shows that to understand the inner workings of the Dutch India companies, we need to understand the lives of those who turned the empire into their career. Show less
How did early modern Dutch people relate to distant suffering? As charitable relief is as much a thing of the present as it is of the past, the question is still relevant in modern aid campaigns.... Show moreHow did early modern Dutch people relate to distant suffering? As charitable relief is as much a thing of the present as it is of the past, the question is still relevant in modern aid campaigns. This dissertation engages with the scholarly debate on early modern solidarity which presupposes that solidarity was confined to one’s own social or religious group. Therefore, aid to foreign fellow believers is commonly explained as religious brotherhood and long-distance solidarity with domestic disaster victims is thought to be absent, especially in the decentralised and particularistic Dutch Republic. This thesis demonstrates, first, that transnational aid to persecuted foreign fellow-believers was not just about confessional brotherhood but also about political interests and, second, it shows that long-distance solidarity with disaster victims was fairly common in the Dutch Republic. By analysing the arguments put forward by the victims in their aid requests, the reasons underlying the decisions of the civil authorities to support of reject these pleas, and the way in which the general public was persuaded to donate, this study reveals the multifaceted character of early modern aid. Furthermore, it provides insight into the emergence of humanitarian argumentation long before the Enlightenments ‘humanitarian revolution’. Show less
Alphen, Marc van; Hoffenaar, Jan; Lemmers, Alan; Spek, Christiaan van der 2021
In 1667 the Dutch Republic was at the height of its military and mercantile might. A century and a half later, little of that glory remained as Napoleon wiped the country off the political map.... Show moreIn 1667 the Dutch Republic was at the height of its military and mercantile might. A century and a half later, little of that glory remained as Napoleon wiped the country off the political map. Military Power and the Dutch Republic explores the often overlooked role of the military in the Republic’s remarkable economic rise in the seventeenth century and its subsequent fall. It examines the ways in which the Dutch army and navy were organised and financed, the strategies and tactics that were used, and the operations of military leaders on land and sea. It also investigates methods of recruitment, where and how the army and navy found their troops, how those troops were housed and fed, and how they behaved in battle. And it looks at the various kinds of interaction between the many thousands of ordinary soldiers and sailors and the civilian society whose taxes supported them. Show less
This article investigates the position of the Dutch consuls in the diplomatic network of the Dutch Republic as defenders of the interests of Dutch merchants and as quasi-public officials. Although... Show moreThis article investigates the position of the Dutch consuls in the diplomatic network of the Dutch Republic as defenders of the interests of Dutch merchants and as quasi-public officials. Although consuls did not enjoy diplomatic status, Dutch consular practice in Spain between the Peace of Munster (1648) and 1661 shows that they were more than suppliers of economic, political, and military intelligence. Consuls were a vital connecting element in Dutch diplomacy and could affect the States General’s policy by exerting influence on politicians at home and on Dutch diplomats abroad. Provisional research on Dutch consuls in more European countries indicates that the Spanish case was no exception. Show less
The Revolt in the Low Countries against the Spanish monarch received a lot of international attention in the seventeenth century. In Italy too, the events in the Low Countries were closely followed... Show moreThe Revolt in the Low Countries against the Spanish monarch received a lot of international attention in the seventeenth century. In Italy too, the events in the Low Countries were closely followed. This apparent from the large number of Italian historical works on the war. Using a variety of texts, this research focuses on different aspects of early modern Italian historiography on the conflict in the Low Countries. The first question of this thesis has sought to address is how we can explain the great historiographical interest in Italy for the military, religious and political complications during the Revolt. This research shows that some Italian texts about the Revolt have their origins in a local context, such as political debates in Italian cities. The second part of this study concerns the impact of the transnational historiography on political opinions, in particular the question of the implications of the Italian histories of the Revolt for the political debates in Italy and in the Republic of the United Provinces. How were those Italian publications received and what can we learn from them when it comes to the influence of transnational works on the writing of history and on political debates, both in the Republic and in Italy? This study aims to contribute to a greater knowledge of the international attention for the Revolt and to our contemporary view on the conflict in the Low Countries. Show less
This PhD thesis has studied the meeting practice of the Dutch States General to address the role of tradition and culture in times of political and institutional transition in the first half of the... Show moreThis PhD thesis has studied the meeting practice of the Dutch States General to address the role of tradition and culture in times of political and institutional transition in the first half of the 19th century. Dutch revisionist historians of the Revolutionary Era have emphasized the sense of rupture surrounding the year 1800. The Batavian revolutionaries, together with French Revolutionary and Napoleonic armies, caused a clear break between the ancien régime of the Dutch Republic and the 19th-century Kingdom of the Netherlands. Modern constitutions replaced the de- centralized government system of the Dutch Republic with a unitary state from 1798 onwards. When the Dutch regained their independence after the fall of Napoleon in 1813, the new state did not turn the clock back to 1795. In that respect, the Netherlands has been studied as a fine example of Reinhard Koselleck’s concept of Sattelzeit. Continuities, such as the name States General for the bicameral parliament, were merely invented traditions to hide the new institutions of the Restoration state. Notwithstanding obvious evidence of discontinuity, in political practice there was more continuity in the Netherlands during the transitional period from the 18th to the 19th century than historians have assumed. Show less
In the historiography of the period of Dutch rule in the Cape of Good Hope, from 1652 until 1795, Cape burghers are represented as the perpetual underdogs bristling against the rule of a... Show moreIn the historiography of the period of Dutch rule in the Cape of Good Hope, from 1652 until 1795, Cape burghers are represented as the perpetual underdogs bristling against the rule of a restrictive Dutch East India Company (VOC). But was this relationship really so antagonistic? The author places Cape colonial society in the wider context of the Dutch Republic and, in doing so, compares the political structures, institutions and dynamics of the Republic and its overseas settlement. He shows that Cape residents in the middle and upper layers of society took their cues from the Dutch political world and that connections between Company administrators and burghers were fashioned in much the same way as regent families in the Dutch Republic formed political factions. Cape burghers were, in fact, able to influence policies in their favour by using the means open to them within the Dutch tradition of politics. The author offers new evidence, new interpretations and a new narrative about well-known events in Cape history, based on an exploration of where the burghers came from, what their position was, and how the Cape political world operated. The picture that emerges is not a conflict between burghers and government per se but rather a fight for power between factions, consisting of both VOC officials and burghers, within the ruling elite. Show less
In the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups... Show moreIn the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups were among the most controversial and consequential policies of early modern states. There was therefore a genuine interest in news about religious persecutions among different strata of society, and writers and publishers were keen to meet this demand. Especially in the Dutch Republic, numerous newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals flowed from the presses to confront news consumers throughout Europe with the plight of foreign communities. To reach and affect their audiences, opinion makers had to answer a fundamental question, which we still grapple with in our own times: Why should we care about distant suffering? This dissertation investigates, first, which arguments were used to communicate religious persecution ca. 1650-1750, a period that is often approached in terms of political secularization. Second, it identifies which stakeholders were engaged in the international production of topical persecution literature, and examines who they saw as their audience. Finally, tying in with the nascent historiography of early modern ‘public diplomacy’, this study explores the role which topical persecution literature played in domestic and international politics. Show less
This thesis argues that lobbying was an important phenomenon in the seventeenth-century and that it had far-reaching influence on the course of history. Seventeenth-century lobbying took the form... Show moreThis thesis argues that lobbying was an important phenomenon in the seventeenth-century and that it had far-reaching influence on the course of history. Seventeenth-century lobbying took the form of petitions, personal relations, and pressure through public opinion. The importance of lobbying means that people (including ordinary people) could be more important than large organizations such as the WIC for, for example, the colonial empire. An example of successful lobby includes the introduction of regulations governing the storage of sugar during the night. This quality amelioration was an initiative of the sugar producers and not of the Company. Another example is the successful lobby by the Brazilian inhabitants to not only employ enslaved Africans, but to also force the indigenous population into slave labor on the sugar plantations. Moreover, within the Dutch Republic people were forced to tone down their reports or to alter their opinion because of 'political sensitivities'. It is interesting that lobbying alliances transcended traditional boundaries in society. This means that Jews lobbied with Christians, women with men, soldiers with captains, French people with Scotts and Hollanders, and inhabitants of The Hague together with citizens in Middelburg, Leiden, and Dordrecht.In other words, people made a difference. Show less
How could an individual attain high rank in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch colonial empire and once appointed, how could one retain high office? This dissertation seeks to answer these... Show moreHow could an individual attain high rank in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch colonial empire and once appointed, how could one retain high office? This dissertation seeks to answer these questions by means of a detailed case-study of the careers of two colonial governors: Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679)and Rijckloff Volckertsz. van Goens sr. (1619-1682). By following their careers through the rise to high office and the appointment procedures, their time in office and finnaly their fall from power, this dissertation shows how different interests could align to further careers or to break them. By comparing a case from the history of the West India Company with a case from the East India Company, this dissertation shows how the internal workings of both companies actually differed in practice. Both governors spent most of their overseas career in what were atypical colonies: Brazil and Ceylon. Close examination of the policies they proposed not only sheds light on the reasons for their eventual fall from power, it also shows that the assertion that the Dutch companies were mostly interested in trade over territory does not hold true. This suggests that empire is a proper frame for studying the Dutch Republic and its colonies. Show less
Travel narratives are a historical source full of pitfalls. Nevertheless, these stories do provide much historical information, not just about the country visited and its people, but about the... Show moreTravel narratives are a historical source full of pitfalls. Nevertheless, these stories do provide much historical information, not just about the country visited and its people, but about the traveller as well. Texts of this genre in particular tell us much about the traveller’s perceptions of the other. At the same time, the self-image vis-à-vis the other will be reconsidered on the basis of the visit to the other’s country, and will be adjusted or reconfirmed with old and new arguments. This rarely leads to a completely new image; rather, there will be adjustments within the framework of existing perceptions. All of this applies to Lodewijck Huygens (son of Constantijn) and his Spanish Journal (1660–1661), where the Spaniard gets a new position within the prevalent perceptions and opinions about relations between Spain and the Dutch Republic after the Eighty Years’ War. The ordinary Spaniard is no longer perceived as the enemy; instead, like the Dutch in the sixteenth century, he, too, is a victim of Spanish tyranny and of the Roman Catholic Church. The author’s self-image is also reconsidered; in this particular case it leads to a confirmation of his identity and a justification of the emancipation of his fatherland as an independent free nation because, if the Dutch Revolt had not succeeded, the Netherlanders might have been living in the same miserable conditions as the Spaniards. Show less
This dissertation focused on the prolific early European trade and consumption of three Asian manufactured goods: Chinese silk and porcelain, and Japanese lacquer in the sixteenth and early... Show moreThis dissertation focused on the prolific early European trade and consumption of three Asian manufactured goods: Chinese silk and porcelain, and Japanese lacquer in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and has shown how the material cultures of late Ming China and Momoyama/early Edo Japan became inextricably linked with the West. Multiple sources provided new and unexpected documentary and material evidence of this trade by the Iberian Kingdoms of Portugal and Spain, and the trading companies formed in the Northern Netherlands/Dutch Republic and England. They also informed us about the commercial networks through which these Asian goods circulated, and the way in which they were acquired, used and appreciated in the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English societies in Western Europe, and in the multi-ethnic societies of the colonies in the New World. Some new finds relate to the use of porcelain in Western Europe in the sixteenth century, the terminology employed in northwestern Europe to refer to Kraak porcelain, and the Japanese lacquer objects made in European shapes for the Dutch and English trading companies earlier than in Chinese porcelain. This study provides a better understanding of the intercultural exchanges that occurred between the East and West at the time. Show less
To commemorate the Dutch Revolt people from both the Northern and Southern Netherlands commissioned, kept, and collected a large variety of objects. From paintings to clay pipes, from hearth plates... Show moreTo commemorate the Dutch Revolt people from both the Northern and Southern Netherlands commissioned, kept, and collected a large variety of objects. From paintings to clay pipes, from hearth plates to gable stones, from clothing to cannonballs; all these objects were used to either remember of forget the war in the late sixteenth and seventeenth century. Especially on an urban level many of these material memories survive. They are part of an urban memory landscape, a set of shared memories which survived on several levels of the urban community and involved multiple stakeholders such as the magistrate, the church, corporations, and individual citizens. Within the urban community these stakeholders used diverse objects to promulgate a certain message about the Revolt. Subsequently this could become part of a city's urban identity and civic representation. Whether in the Dutch Republic or in the Habsburg Netherlands cities were well aware of their options either to include, exclude or reinterpret stories about the past. Material memories of the Dutch Revolt were therefore continuously and carefully (re)selected and used to reflect on what the urban community had gone through during eighty years of war Show less
