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Celebrations of Dutch Heritage
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14394 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
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6 / 1988 |
3,858 Words |
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Kathleen Raterink
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May is a month associated with flowers, and in several places around the Untied States, communities large and small celebrate the return of the tulips in hearty Dutch style. Residents dust off their caps, baggy pants, lace, aprons, and wooden shoes. They practice dance steps and settle in for a good dose of Dutch heritage.
The Dutch have been influential in America since the first half of the seventeenth century. Anticipating rich trade, the Dutch had originally intended to travel to the Far East rather than to America. All the known trade routes to the East were dominated by the Portuguese and Spanish, who had originally discovered the southern routes. Thus, Henry Hudson, in the service of the Dutch East India Company, searched for a northern route. At one of the landing places, a colony was formed for the purpose of fur trading with the natives. This colony was named Fort Orange (later renamed Albany by the British).
The Netherlands is a nation not usually associated with world conquest or considered a center of culture. Yet during the 1600s, Dutch sea captains "discovered" many places far from their homeland and gave them Dutch names. Dutch traders, already old hands at buying wine and silk in the Mediterranean, traveled around the Cape all the way to China for porcelain and to the East Indian islands for spices. Trade and shopping became quite profitable, and when spice-bearing ships returned to Holland, Dutch East India Company stockholders received high dividends. This economic boom, particularly the rise of wealth among merchants, made it possible for the arts and sciences to flourish in Holland.
Prior to this "Golden Age," the Dutch had been involved in a bitter revolt against their feudal sovereign, the King of Spain. In 1555, King Philip II installed his sister as regent of the Low Countries. Philip, dreaming of the supremacy of Spain and the Roman Catholic Church, had Protestants brought before the Inquisition and forced tortured confessions from them before he had them executed. William of Orange inspired the Protestants, and the Northern Lowlands proclaimed themselves independent. In 1573 and 1574, Dutch leaders opened the sluices around the dikes, allowing the waters to breach the dikes. This action slowed the Spanish invasion and rendered the land unusable agriculturally for several years. The Dutch people suffered under Spanish rule until 1648, when treaty terms were finalized.
During the war, merchants had fared rather well, as they were not particular about whom they traded with. After the war, they had control of most of the money and became ruling burghers of the Dutch cities. As an economic boom ushered in the Golden Age, many merchants commissioned art works to display their wealth. They especially liked to see their own images in oils. The artists of the age included many of the greatest the world has ever known--Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hoogh, Jan Steen, Judith Leyster, and of course, Rembrandt van Rijn.
Dutch Protestants in the seventeenth century appropriated the Roman Catholic churches built three centuries earlier. Calvinism brought a resurgence of interest in the Bible, which became the most widely read book of the age. The Dutch-language version, published in the 1630s, enriched Holland's language and culture and helped establish uniformity among the many dialects.
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