This essay presents a series of reflections on the relevance of Dutch history.Taking different angles of approach, it examines in particular the historical image and self-image of the Dutch and the nation's cultural identity; the role played by the heritage issue in the rise of the new political nationalism; the fascination of foreign historians for Dutch history and their influence on Dutch historiography itself; the role of language in history-writing and the question of whether 'relevance' is a meaningful category at all for historians. To conclude, four great themes of Dutch history are identified as of supranational relevance: water management; economy and society, in particular capitalism and colonialism; culture and intellectual life, tolerance and secularity, in particular -but not only -in the early modern era; and the national ambition to show the world an exemplary route to modernity.
National and trans-national historyThere is one Dutch historian whose name every cultivated European knows: or at least should know. 1 That man is Johan Huizinga (1872-1945). 2 From a professional perspective, Huizinga's career was that of an innovative and versatile scholar enjoying international recognition. Having graduated in the Indo-Germanic languages, he turned to history at the age of 25. Starting out as a teacher at a secondary school, he went on to become a professor of general and national history successively at Groningen and Leiden, where he served as rector of the university for a year. For thirteen years, he chaired the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Royal Netherlands Academy at Amsterdam; he served on the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations and received international rewards for his historical work and intellectual commitment. Yet his scholarly authority went far beyond his rather traditional professional career. In fact, there t BMGN.Opmaak.Special.indd 7 05-07-10 08:55 I would like to thank several anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this article. 1 Since this essay has been written for an international audience, only references in internationally known languages will be given in the footnotes. As a personal reflection, my aim is not to present an exhaustive treatment, but to provide some basic information and foster discussion. Of course, in many cases Dutch publications on the same issue or on similar themes do exist, often in abundance. Readers familiar with the Dutch language might refer to the bibliographical tools available, in particular the Digital Bibliography of Dutch History at www.dbng.nl. It should be remembered that the geographical concept 'Netherlands' is taken here in its present, narrow, national sense, although cooperation between Flemish or Belgian and Dutch historians is quite common at Low Countries level.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Im Gesamtbild der niederländischen Kultur des 17. Jahrhunderts sind Calvinismus und Lesekultur eng miteinander verknüpft. Der Protestantismus, insbesondere die Reformierte Kirche, gilt als wortbezogene und der Bibellektüre verpflichtete Konfession, die den hohen Grad der Alphabetisierung in der niederländischen Republik hervorgebracht habe. Auch dieser Beitrag geht von einer hohen kulturellen Wirkungskraft der frühneuzeitlichen Kirchen in der Republik aus, versucht diese aber in zweierlei Hinsicht zu differenzieren: Während Margaret Spufford den relativ hohen niederländischen Alphabetisierungsgrad vorwiegend auf die schon vorreformatorisch regen Handelsbeziehungen zurückführt, betont der Autor die spätmittelalterliche städtische Bürgerkultur und deren Lesekultur im Umkreis der Devotio Moderna. Auf dieser gemeinsamen Grundlage einer gesellschaftlich breiten Alphabetisierung haben sich dann im Anschluß an die Reformation mehrere unterschiedliche konfessionelle Lesekulturen ausdifferenziert. Bibellektüre wurde zum Kennzeichen der protestantischen Konfessionskultur, während die Katholiken eine stärker rituelle und visuelle Gruppenkultur ausbildeten.
Willem Frijhoff, Religious Migrations in the United Provinces Before the Second Refuge.
According to the traditional theory, the society of the United Provinces was to have been thoroughly altered under the influence of the religious immigration of the late xvith and early xvnth centuries : immigrants from Flanders and the Brabant would have imposed the orthodox alternative of Calvinism and at the same time introduced a richer culture, turned more openly towards the outside and tinged with a stronger taste for luxury. The present paper looks at this theory through the more recent findings of Dutch historical studies. The alterations it proposes lead to outlining a few questions that would deserve to be looked into more deeply.
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