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The Golden Age of the Dutch Republic. European History Kagan, Ch. 15. Dutch Republic. Government: Republic (States-General) – gained independence from Spain in 1648 (P of W); practiced international diplomacy
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The Golden Age of the Dutch Republic European History Kagan, Ch. 15
Dutch Republic • Government: Republic (States-General) – gained independence from Spain in 1648 (P of W); practiced international diplomacy • other republics at this time: Swiss cantons, Genoa, Venice and England (for a time, think Cromwell) • Build strong national identity • Great cultural & intellectual achievements
Religious Tolerance • The Dutch Republic was founded by Calvinists who built an intolerant Calvinist theocracy. • Calvinist precepts of leading a God-fearing, productive, thrifty life had no direct impact on the Dutch. • State religion = Calvinism • BUT Dutch Calvinism does NOT control the state policy • no one majority religion • large Catholic minority – private worship only • Lutherans • Mennonites welcome • Jews • Calvinist calling aids in the economic miracle
Dutch Republic Commerce and Colonialism Vermeer’s TheGeographer, 1668 Economic wealth: banking, stock market, international trade Rembrandt’s The Syndics of the Clothmakers Guild, 1662
Dutch Commerce • c. Agriculture and fishing served only as a nutritious food supply in the Dutch Republic. • d. The Dutch Republic had a primarily agricultural economy with little interest in other industries. • Population and wage increases • Grain from Poland = ability to focus on other agricultural products’ • Butter, cheese, hops, livestock, fishing • Other industries boom • Land reclamation, • urban construction work, • printing and engraving, • shipbuilding
Commerce & Colonialism • major European freight carrier between Spain, France, England, and the Baltic • 1660 = 10,000 ships; throughout 17th century owned majority of European shipping • 1609 – founded the Bank of Amsterdam & established the most sought after currency (gold Dutch guilder) • Amsterdam financial center of Europe until French Revolution • Stock Market is born in Amsterdam
Commerce & Colonialism • e. The Dutch Republic had no trade contact with Spain due to their long on-going political and religious battles. • f. The Dutch Republic had no interest in establishing trade in East Asia. • ~1600 – reach Japan, after 1641 Dutch sole Europeans in Japan • 1602 – Dutch East India Company • 1612 – ManhattanIsland • 1616 – Willem Schouten & Jacob le Maire round Cape Horn (Kaap Hoorn) • 1619 – Batavia, Java (Jakarta) • 1621 – Dutch West India Company: Spanish/Portuguese Americas • 1652 – captured the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
Cultural Advances • International law: Hugo GrotiusLaw of War and Peace • "I saw in the whole Christian world a license of fighting at which even barbarous nations might blush. Wars were begun on trifling pretexts or none at all, and carried on without any reference of law, Divine or human.“ • Scientists: • Leeuwenhoek& Swammerdam – microscopic world, biology • Huyghens– physics & mathematics, telescopic improvements, wave theory of light, pendulum clock
Cultural Advances • Scholarly writing: • Bekker World Bewitched debunked witchcraft myth • Anna Maria van Schurman The Learned Maid or Whether a Maid May Be Called a Scholar • Dutch Realism: Frans Hal, Jan Vermeer, Rembrandt
