House Of Orange Research Articles

Spinoza, Before and After the Rampjaar

ABSTRACT Up to 1670, when the Theological-Political Treatise was published, Spinoza supported Johan De Witt’s government, against the House of Orange and the orthodox Calvinists. By 1676, while writing the Political Treatise, that fight had been lost, and Spinoza was now positively opposed to the sovereign of his country. Scholars argue that the violence that marked the intervening “year of disaster” of 1672 saw security prioritised in the Political Treatise, where the Theological-Political Treatise had focused on freedom. This essay contests this view. Analysing the Political Treatise’s response to contemporary events, and comparing the two books, it sees the Political Treatise as less concerned than the earlier text with the stability of the sovereign, and more concerned with the subjects’ freedom from oppression by the sovereign: more than a dispassionate treatise on the organization of the state, it is a plea for the role of the ordinary citizen, written in response to authoritarian times.

Vorst in het vizier

Abstract Looking at the monarch Nationalism and the representation of Orange monarchs after disasters in the 19th century The 19th century Dutch monarchs from the House of Orange often played a proactive role in the aftermath of major catastrophes, such as storm surges, river floods and destructive explosions. Authors repeatedly praised their commitment afterwards and characterised them as symbols of the nation. In this article I demonstrate that the discourse through which monarchs were celebrated should quintessentially be understood as manifestations of nationalism, that is: these discourses cultivated a national sense of unity and thus popularised a the notion of the Netherlands as a national community. As it turns out, authors commonly cultivated a conservative notion of national community, concentrated around conformist concepts such as unity, hierarchy and moderation.

From juvenile criminal to Jewish scholar: the nineteenth-century Protestant mission among Amsterdam Jews which culminated in a murder attempt on a clergyman

This article concerns the assassination attempt by Samuel Abraham Hirsch on a minister, Carl Schwartz, a converted Jew, on 1 August 1858. Hirsch, a member of the Orthodox Jewish establishment in Amsterdam, was fifteen years old. The incident, which took place in the Scottish Mission Church in Amsterdam, was motivated by growing resentment among Amsterdam Jews against the missionary endeavours of the Free Church of Scotland and sympathizing members of the Dutch Reformed orthodoxy. A remarkable fact is that the attempted assassination of a clergyman by a Jew during a church service had no repercussions, whereas a similar event in Eastern Europe might have incited a violent response. This episode can best be appreciated against the historical background of the position of the Jewish community in the Netherlands from the seventeenth century onwards. The present study, furthermore, sheds light on the role of the House of Orange regarding the request for royal recognition of an initiative to convert Jews. Schwartz was injured in the incident, but resumed work after two months. Hirsch was sentenced to twelve years in a correctional institution, and was pardoned after four. Eventually, he moved to London, where he grew into an erudite scholar. He published numerous scientific papers and served for years as the secretary of the London branch of Hovevei Zion (“those who love Zion”).

The Légion Hollandaise d’Orange: Dynastic Networks, Coalition Warfare and the Formation of the Modern Netherlands, 1813–14

Despite that the bicentenary commemoration of the events of 1812–15 has shifted historical attention onto the Napoleonic era, the understanding of this period of Dutch history has evolved only little. The perception remains that the Dutch and the House of Orange did little to shake of the French yoke, or to take their destiny into their own hands. This article challenges that perception. Through drawing on its patronage network and its political and dynastic ties I contend that Orange established itself as rallying point for Dutchmen. This pivotal position in Dutch affairs allowed Orange to raise a military force, the Dutch Legion of Orange, with which it participated in the liberation of the Netherlands, and it got Orange accepted into the Sixth Coalition. And as a member of the coalition that defeated Napoleon, Orange, and by extension the Netherlands, could claim its position amongst the victors of the Napoleonic Wars, rather than being considered liberated, or, worse still, conquered territory.

MOBOCRACY AND MONARCHY A Ritualistic Reconciliation with the Anachronism of the Dutch Monarchy

The relation of the Dutch people towards their monarchy has always been ambiguous. The celebration of the monarch’s birthday has become a festive and massive expression of Orangeism, turning the event into a national feast day for all. The celebration is, however, characterized by a certain suspension of rules (“freemarkets”) and brings up forms of social inversion und charivaresque behaviour towards the House of Orange. This contribution examines to what extent this seemingly uncritical expression of contemporary Orangeism can be interpreted as a temporary symbolic “mobocracy” that helps to reconcile the nation’s republican traditions and strive for modernity with an anachronistic monarchical system.¹

Il nazionalismo come negoziazione e interazione. "Orangismo" e nation building nei Paesi Bassi del XIX secolo

‘Orangism’ and Nation Building in the Netherlands in the 19th Century In the Netherlands a popular attachment to the later royal family existed even before its accession to the throne in 1813-1815. In the second half of the nineteenth century this popular ‘Orangism’ was stimulated by Liberal politics, commerce and the House of Orange itself and it was used as a means to overcome socio-religious divisions. In this case nation building appears to be much more a process of negotiation and interaction between social classes and groups rather than a top-down process, as it has often been presented. The case of the Dutch monarchy demonstrates the shift from an early nineteenth-century state-centred type of nation building, in which the monarchy played an important political role, to a more societal type of nationalism that wanted to please and mobilize the masses. Around 1900 Dutch nationalism would reach a peak and it was hard to conceive of an element of cultural nation building that did not involve the monarchy.

The Empire Illuminated: Electricity, "ethical" colonialism and enlightened monarchy in photographs of Dutch royal celebrations, 1898-1948

This article examines photographs of royal festivals in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Indies (colonial Indonesia) during the reign of Queen Wilhelmina (1898-1948). The association of electricity with the royal House of Orange in vernacular visual culture expressed the idealised connections made, in colonial as well as in Dutch politics, between the queen and the Ethical Policy in the Indies. Electric lights and nocturnal illuminations featured strongly in images of royal celebrations in the Indies from the early 1900s onwards—a pattern that was not followed in the Netherlands until the late 1930s. Monarchy was thus particularly linked with modernity in Dutch colonies in Asia during the twentieth century.

Instruments of Science and Citizenship: Science Education for Dutch Orphans During the Late Eighteenth Century

One of the two most extensive instrument collections in the Netherlands during the second half of the eighteenth century—rivaling the much better known collection at the University of Leiden—belonged to an orphanage in The Hague that was specially established to mold hand-picked orphans into productive citizens. (The other was housed at the Mennonite Seminary in Amsterdam, for use in the education of its students.) The educational program at this orphanage, one of three established by the Fundatie van Renswoude, grew out of a marriage between the socially-oriented generosity of the wealthy Baroness van Renswoude and the pedagogical vision of the institute’s director and head teacher—a vision that fit with the larger movement of oeconomic patriotism. Oeconomic patriotism, similar to ‘improvement’ and oeconomic movements in other European countries and their colonies, sought to tie the investigation of nature to an improvement of society’s material and moral well-being. Indeed, it was argued that these two facets of society should be viewed as inseparable from each other, distinguishing the movement from more modern conceptions of economics. While a number of the key figures in this Dutch movement also became prominent Patriots during the revolutionary period at the end of the century, fighting against the House of Orange, they did not have a monopoly on oeconomic ideas of societal improvement. This is demonstrated by the fact that an explicitly pro-Orangist society, Mathesis Scientiarum Genitrix, was organized in 1785 to teach science and mathematics to poor boys and orphans for very similar reasons: to turn them into productive and useful citizens. As was the case with the Fundatie van Renswoude, a collection of instruments was assembled to help make this possible. This story is of interest because it discusses a hitherto under-examined use to which science education was put during this period, by revealing the link between such programs and the highly charged question of citizenry.

Religion and the Orangists 1650–1675

In February 1659 the poet and dramatist Jan Zoet appeared before the Amsterdam church consistory accused of spreading error. A radical free thinker, Zoet had an abiding contempt for the public church. Yet this scourge of the Calvinist ministry was an ardent and committed supporter of the House of Orange. This article examines the relationship between the supporters of William III and the public church as expressed in the books and pamphlet literature of the stadholderless period. The article takes as its starting point the alliance between the stadholderate and sections of the public church and details how Calvinist ministers assisted the cause of William III in print and pulpit. In the second half some key Orangist texts are examined to reveal that while the supporters of William III were happy to deploy the forces of the public church in their cause, Orangist opinions on the religious settlement in the Dutch Republic varied considerably and not all were favourable to the Calvinist Church. It is the argument of this article that Orangism was not the prisoner of any section, however powerful, of the public church and that its constituency could include a free thinker like Jan Zoet.

Van staatsgezind tot liberaal. De beeldvorming over Johan de Witt in de revolutietijd (1757-1840)

From republican to liberal. The image of Johan de Witt during the years of revolution (1757-1840)In the fateful year of 1672, Johan and Cornelis de Witt were brutally murdered by an angry mob in The Hague that had sympathies with the House of Orange. The question is raised: was it the case, one hundred years later in the eighteenth century, that the underlying political motive behind the death of the de Witt brothers led to them being used by a disparate group of political admirers, from republicans to patriots and Bataven, in their own struggle against the ancien régime and stadholder of the time? The answer is simple but clear: no it wasn’t. The republicans defended Johan de Witt against orangeist attacks, but the patriots in the late 1780s were unimpressed with the Grand Pensionary and his brother because of their aristocratic background. During the French occupation of the Netherlands opinions about the de Witt brothers changed and they were suddenly held in great esteem by both patriots and liberals alike. The massacres committed by ordinary citizens during the revolution in France greatly influenced public opinion about Johan and Cornelis. From that time onwards, they were regarded as victims of the angry masses and their fate came to symbolise the dangers of direct democracy.

The rhetoric of popular Orangism, 1650–72*

Abstract During the period 1650–72, the Dutch Republic was without a stadtholder prince of Orange. This article examines the rhetoric of the supporters of the House of Orange throughout these years in relation to the common people of the Republic. Within this context, it investigates the arguments that Orangists used to justify the restoration of the stadtholderate, and examines how, at critical times, direct action by the commonalty was incited and justified. The article draws on the printed pamphlets of the period as well as on drama, poetry and visual imagery.

Courtly Gardens in Holland 1600-1650: The House of Orange and the Hortus Batavus

Courtly Gardens in Holland 1600-1650: The House of Orange and the Hortus Batavus

Werkelijkheid of schijn. Het beeld van het Hollandse interieur in de zeventiende-eeuwse genreschilderkunst

werkelijkheid of schijn. Het beeld van het Hollandse interieur in de zeventiende-eeuwse genreschilderkunst

The House of Orange and the House of Stuart, 1639–1650: A Revision

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Oranje's erfgoed in het Mauritshuis

Oranje's erfgoed in het Mauritshuis

Bentham versus Pitt: Jeremy Bentham and British Foreign Policy 1789

The successes and failures of British foreign policy from the end of the American war of independence until the outbreak of the conflict with revolutionary France will be familiar, at least in outline, to many students of late-eighteenth-century history. In 1783 Britain was widely regarded as having been reduced to the status of a second-rank power. British ministers, and especially Pitt the Younger and his first foreign secretary, the marquess of Carmarthen, sought a European alliance to end their country's isolation and vulnerability. The Anglo-French commercial treaty of 1786, the product of French rather than British pressure, was of little help in this respect, as it never developed beyond a limited trade agreement. Negotiations for similar reciprocal commercial concessions with other powers all proved fruitless. In 1787 and 1788, however, political and military arrangements were concluded with the Dutch and the Prussians after Prussian troops – with British encouragement and support – had intervened in the United Provinces to secure the position of the house of Orange and to crush the pro-French ‘Patriot’ party. Fortified by this new British – Prussian – Dutch connexion, or Triple Alliance as it was called, Pitt's government was able to exert considerable influence in Europe and farther afield. In 1788, when the Swedes attacked Russia, which was already at war with the Turks, Denmark, in accordance with its treaty obligations to Russia, invaded Sweden. The British and Prussians threatened the Danes and forced them to withdraw. A few months later, in April 1789, renewed Anglo-Prussian pressure compelled Denmark to maintain a strict neutrality in the continuing Russo-Swedish conflict. In 1790 the British were just as successful in a confrontation with Spain over the Nootka Sound in North America. Only when the government backed down during the dispute with Russia over possession of the Turkish fortress of Ochakov on the Black Sea coast, were the limits of British power fully exposed.

'De eer des vaderlands te handhaven': Costerbeelden als argumenten in de strijd

'De eer des vaderlands te handhaven': Costerbeelden als argumenten in de strijd

Aantekeningen over Venus en Adonis-taferelen van Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert en zijn invloed op de Hollandse schilderkunst

AbstractAttention is drawn to an unpublished oil sketch belonging to Mr. Guy Folkner of Brussels (Fig. 11), which is a modello for the signed painting by Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613/14-54) of Venus Lamenting Over Adonis in Jagdschloss Grunewald near Berlin (Fig. 2, Note 1). Another version, not signed and formerly attributed to Anthony van Dyck, is in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (Fig. 3, Note 2). The pose of Adonis is derived from the figure of Christ in the central panel of Rubens' Descent from the Gross (1611-12) in Antwerp Cathedral (Fig. 4, Note 3) it should be noticed that the left arm of Adonis is a reverse rendering of the right arm of Christ (Fig. 5). However, the figures are treated by Willeboirts in the more elegant style of Van Dyck, the predominant influence on Flemish history painting shorty after 1640 or thereabouts. Two paintings by Willeboirts, ectch representing a different episode in the story of Venus and Adonis, are known to have belonged to the collections of the House of Orange: the Venus Lamenting Over Adonis now at Jagdschloss Crunewald and an Adonis Leaving Venus, formerly in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, which was destroyed by fire in 1940 in Middelburg, where it was on loan (Fig. 6). It is not easy to determine which of the two corresponds with the picture that Willeboirts painted for the Stadholder Frederick Henry in 1642 and which thus belonged to the first, commission received from him (Note 7), since in the documents concerned this is referred to only as Venus and Adonis. However, some characteristics of the painting formerly in the Mauritshuis are to be found in other works by Willeboits dating from 1646 and 1647 (Notes 20- 22) , so that it must have been done at about the same time as these. The painting at Grunewald may represent a somewhat early tage in his artistic evolution and might thus correspond with the one made for Frederick Henry in 1642. The discovery of this modello brings the number of known oil sketches by Willeboirts up to four, of which it is the earliest. The others are: a bozzetto in the Louvre for the large painting of The Princes Maurice and Frederick Henry on Horseback, commissioned by Amalia van Solms in 1649-50 for the Oranjezaal in the Huis ten Bosch (Note 24), a sketch for the large altarpiece of The Immaculata painted for the high altar of the church at Fuensaldana in 1652-4 and now in the Museo Nacional at Valladolid (Note 25), and an oil sketch in the Musée de Picardie at Amiens for The Assumption of the Virgin in the Church of Our Lady at Duffel (Note 26). A fifth sketch, a Venus and Adonis on paper belonging to the Earl of Wemyss (Note 27), proves to be the model for another Adonis Leaving Venus (Fig. 9), attributed to Willeboirts by Ludwig Burchard, which was on the art market in Berlin in 1930 (present whereabouts unknown). Here we see the same type of Venus as in, for example, The Toilet of Venus signed and dated 1644, which probably belonged to the House of Orange (Fig. 10, Note 29) and which came up at an auction in Stockholm in 1981. It seems likely that the paintings which Willeboirts and other Flemish painters made for the court in The Hague exerted some influence on Dutch painters active at the same period. Mythological pieces by Ferdinand Bol (Fig. 12, Note 45), Jacob Backer (Note 50), Caesar van Everdingen (Note 51) and others, in which a 'elassistic' tendency appears after about, 1650, do indeed show a rather similar elegant style and are characterized by the same idyllic mood. However, this is a matter which still requires further study.

The American Dutch, their church, and the revolution

F the outset of the American Revolution, the British rightly realized that their hope for victory lay in dividing the northern colonies from the middle and southern colonies by controlling the Hudson River valley. Little could Henry Hudson have realized in 1609, as he sailed up the river that was to bear his name, that the who were to take up his claim would provide the backbone of resistance to the British cause 170 years later. These middle colony Dutch—those who spoke the language, worshipped mostly in the Reformed Church, and exemplified the heritage in their homes and manners—were by no means limited to those of Netherlandish blood. Some, like the House of Orange itself, were German in origin; others were Swiss; some were French; and some had even come from Britain. A few were assimilated in the colonies; but most had Dutch in the old country itself. A typical example was the boy Robert Livingston, who, with his family, migrated to Rotterdam from Scotland among a group of religious refugees at the time of the Stuart restoration. In 1673, having adopted the culture of his neighbors, nineteen-year-old Robert sailed for the New World, where he was to become one of the richest and most powerful men in New York. In Albany he married the widow Alida Schuyler van Rensselaer, and their offspring for generations were among the leaders of the community. The ancient hospitality to foreigners was a part of the cultural pattern that these new Dutch absorbed and brought with them to America. The pivotal role of the Hudson Valley in American history became most powerfully clear in the 1750's, at the time of the French and Indian War. Archibald Kennedy, married to the widow of a settler, was an astute American political observer of the time. He noted

Portraits of Members of the House of Orange in a Historic Setting

Portraits of Members of the House of Orange in a Historic Setting