New Course in European History
Fall 2013
At the time of the “Wonder Year” of 1566 and the revolt of 1568, the Dutch provinces were subject to the Spanish crown. A century later, they were governed as an independent republic with colonies from Asia to Africa to South America. This seminar explores this transformation, and more broadly, the political, social, cultural, and economic history of the Dutch Republic in its “Golden Age.” The Republic emerged to become one of Europe’s leading political and economic powers in the seventeenth century. In a period of religious conflict, the Republic was held up as a haven of toleration. As the home of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Dutch cities were also renowned as centers of art and culture. At the same time, the Republic’s culture was enriched by its connections abroad, which brought porcelain, coffee, and a host of other goods to European consumers. How did this small republic flourish on a continent dominated by absolutist monarchs? How did it develop into a colonial power with the world’s wealthiest shipping network? Most importantly, how did the Dutch Republic and the wider world shape one another in the Golden Age?
We will consider these questions from multiple perspectives both within and beyond the Republic itself: wealthy traders of the East India Company, town dwellers who went broke in the “tulip mania,” Sephardic Jews seeking refuge in Amsterdam, and residents of port cities around the world. We will also focus on Dutch art as a source for history, asking, for example, what illustrations might tell us about Dutch perceptions of the people they encountered abroad and how paintings can help us to trace shifts in European consumer culture. Through texts and images, we will follow the fortunes of the Dutch at home and the paths of the luxury goods that connected Amsterdam to other cities around the world. Ultimately, we seek to understand the Dutch Republic as a lens through which we can approach the increasingly international economy and culture of the seventeenth century.
Readings will include a book or several articles per week. Written work will include short book reviews and a longer historiographical essay or research project designed in consultation with the instructor.
