Dutch History for Dummies
Uninitiated in Utrecht?
Frazzled by Friesland?
Baffled by Batavia?
This is for you.
Kimberley Sorenson
The Waterford School
Sandy, UT
NEH Seminar 2005
The Place: North
The Place: South
13th Century
• Part of Holy Roman Empire, which is a
loose confederacy including Germany,
Bohemia (the Czech Republic), parts of
Austria, Sicily, parts of Northern Italy
• South (Flanders and Brabant) is urbanized
center of textile processing; linked to
Hansa in Baltic, England, and Tuscany.
• North is a frontier, being reclaimed by
windmills and dikes
14th century
• Neither North nor South is badly damaged
by Black Death.
• North: bulk shipping of timber and grain
from Baltic and salt from Portugal and W.
France
• Many medium cities, which are
commercialized but not ports.
• South: firmly entrenched in Mediterranean
and Tuscan cultural and economic life
15th century
• Death of last Count of Holland
• North and South united under house of
Burgundy
• 1430’s: States General and centralized
finance
• Headquarters in Brussels; south engaged
in 100 Years War in France
• North left to duke it out with Hansa on their
own
Revolt of 1477-1492
• Habsburgs bring foreign troops,
centralization, and high taxation to
Netherlands to help in their wars with
France
• Nobles revolt
• Large businessmen prefer stability of
Habsburgs
• Revolt fails
Modern Devotion
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Latin schools and literacy in the north
Inner development of the individual
Under the radar; did not address dogma
Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis,
1473
• Agricola is an adherent; first humanist
(literary Latin and Greek)
• Inspires Erasmus
Erasmus and Northern
Renaissance
• Humanism has the
potential to deepen and
purify man’s relationship
with Christ
• Important to avoid
paganism, “Judaism”
(ceremony, ritual, and
legalism), and schism
• Enchiridion (1503)
practical modeling on
Christ
• Armed truce with Luther
Habsburg Dynasty
• Ferdinand and Isabella unite Spain and
complete Reconquista, 1492
• Only institution which unites Spanish
districts is Catholic church
• Their daughter Juana “la Loca” marries
Philip the Fair, son of Maximilian Habsburg
and Mary of Burgundy
• (Juana’s sister is Catherine of Aragon,
Henry VIII’s first wife).
Charles V
• Son of Juana la Loca and Philip the Fair
• Nephew of Catherine of Aragon
• Holy Roman Emperor; defending Catholic
Europe against Luther (1519)
• Cortes (1519) and New World
• Hungarians petition for admission to get out of
way of Ottoman Turks
• “Defending” Rome from French invasion
• He’s got a lot on his plate
Charles V and Netherlands
• Provincial governors are “stadholders.”
• Nobles are less involved in cities; gone to
war and replaced by bureaucrats
• Pragmatic Sanction, 1548: Habsburg
Netherlands
• Stability, improved traffic and dam
management
Reformation
• Church in retreat after 1480
• Luther 1519
• Charles V imposes Inquisition and book
burnings 1521
• Eternal Edict 1550—death sentence
• No possibility of public discussion;
Protestantism in Netherlands does not
harden into clear party line
• William the Silent and the politiques
Dutch Agriculture and Economy
• Free peasants on small lots
• East is old tyme, maritime must produce
food for cities
• By 1500, Agricultural Revolution
– Drainage, dams, canals, windmills
– Manure from fodder crops and pens
– Some switch to dairy after import Baltic grain
– Need to provision cities
– High rents and small farms
16th century economy, South
• “Rich trades” textiles, spices, metals, and
sugar at Antwerp on Scheldt River;
associated trades of woolen cloth, linen,
tapestries, sugar-refining, metal-refining.
• Expensive ships for long-distance trade of
high-value goods owned by a few wealthy
merchants
16th century economy, North
• In North: growth of maritime “depot” cities
for Baltic grain and timber
• Shipping, including shipbuilding, rope,
sails, barrels, sacks, etc. By 1580,
Holland has 1,800 seagoing ships.
(Venice had 300 at height)
• Fluit by 1590s; simple (small crew) and
roomy
• Multiple owners
Dutch Grievances, 1549-1566
• Bureaucrats replacing nobles
• Drain of wars with France in 1540s
• Low countries become Habsburg fortress for the
invasion of France
• Spanish Philip II succeeds father in 1555, who
abdicates after Peace of Augsburg
• France slips into Wars of Religion
• Dutch exiles import Calvinism and “hedgepreaching”
• By 1560s, some toleration of Protestantism in
north
Intensification
• Beeldenstorm, 1566
• Duke of Alva and the Council of Blood, 15671572
• C of B targets non-noble wealthy; many leave
• 1569, Alva inaugurates taxes for standing army
• Sea-beggars (Protestants) seize ports
• William the Silent leads discouraging fight
• Dikes cut at Leiden, 1574 and “Almighty
intervenes.”
Union, 1575
• Union of Holland and Zeeland June 1575
• Nucleus of state; common financial,
administrative, military
• Religious toleration and University of
Leiden
• Collapse of Spanish finances, fall of 1575
• “Spanish Fury” at Antwerp by mutineers
Spanish resurgence
• Alva replaced by Don Juan, who is
replaced by the Duke of Parma
• Collapse of finances in 1575 leads to
mutiny and “Spanish fury”
• Nevertheless, Spain reconquers south
between 1579-1585
• William the Silent assassinated by a
Catholic in the spring of 1581
Spain or Holland?
• Elizabeth sends Earl of Leicester, who is
rabid Calvinist, to help against the Spanish
• Unpopularity of English makes Holland
look better
• Oldenbarnevelt: dike and secretary guy
with the personality of a cuttlefish, but he
strengthens Holland and gets things done.
• Spanish Armada, 1588.
• 1609: 12 Years Truce
Dutch Military Power
• Brilliant general Maurits, son of William
• New engineering (paying soldiers to dig,
wooden mats for guns) speeds sieges
• More money from trade; by 1597, 2nd
largest army in Europe and most
advanced; navy coming right along
• “Military revolution” & problem of
protecting civilians; discipline & feeding
• Drill, harbor dredging, and consulting
Institutional Framework
• 7 provinces and 18 towns
• All questions had to be distributed to towns (and
discussed) in advance
• Each province had one vote in States General
(the Generality)
• Raad van State, or Council of State, is basic
organ of administration
• Admiralty colleges for customs, port and river
maintenance
• Highest office in province was Stadholder, who
administered justice
Immigration after siege of
Antwerp, 1585
• People from South, many of whom
brought skills (linen bleaching, tile work,
etc) distinct from those in north, hence
little friction
• People from poorer eastern portion of
country
• During 30 Years War (1618-48) German
immigrants
Economic growth after 1590
• Spain gets involved in French Wars of Religion
in 1590 and lifts Dutch embargo 1609
• Military victories make rivers safe and institute
Flemish embargo
• 1590-1609 “rich trades” and trade with Asia,
Africa, and Americas; armed VOC 1602
• 1609-1621 truce and increase of European
trade; WIC (West Indies Company) 1621
• 1621-1647 resumption of conflict with Spain and
economic constriction, esp. in 1620s
Welfare System
• Urban growth after 1580
• Ambitious and highly regulated by
religious affiliation and domicile
• For one thing, they needed the labor
• Town pride/status
• (Well-ordered has happy implications for
mentally ill)
• On the order of 10% assisted