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Charity in the Dutch Republic: an introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2012

LEX HEERMA VAN VOSS  and
MARCO H. D. VAN LEEUWEN
LEX HEERMA VAN VOSS
Affiliation:
Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands.
MARCO H. D. VAN LEEUWEN
Affiliation:
ICS/Department of Sociology, Utrecht University.
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Abstract

This article surveys the literature on charity in the Dutch Republic, while also presenting the principles of our social science history approach to understanding charity in past societies. We specify a threefold theory on giving in the past, looking at characteristics of donors, characteristics of charitable causes, and at the giving structure at large. We discuss the research design we employ to test this theory on Dutch charity in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Giving in the Golden Age, or GIGA, project.

Les œuvres de bienfaisance dans la république hollandaise: une introduction

Nous faisons le bilan des recherches historiques consacrées aux œuvres de bienfaisance dans la République hollandaise, tout en présentant les grands principes qui guident notre démarche en histoire des sciences sociales, anxieux de comprendre le fonctionnement des œuvres de bienfaisance dans les sociétés du passé. Nous précisons une théorie à trois volets concernant le mécanisme de la charité dans le passé, regardant les caractéristiques des donateurs, celles des causes caritatives et la structure du phénomène du don en général. Nous soumettons au débat la conception de la recherche qui est la nôtre dans le cadre de notre projet de recherche consacré aux œuvres de charité à l'Âge d'or (projet GIGA) et nous testons ce modèle théorique avec le cas des œuvres de bienfaisance en Hollande, au cours des seizième, dix-septième et dix-huitième siècles.

Wohltätigkeit in der republik der niederlande: eine einführung

Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über die Literatur zu den Wohltätigkeitseinrichtungen in der Republik der Niederlande, wobei wir auch die Grundsätze unseres historisch-sozialwissenschaftlichen Ansatzes zum Verständnis der Wohlfahrtspflege in vergangenen Gesellschaften vortragen. Dazu führen wir eine dreipolige Theorie des Spendens näher aus, die an den Charakteristika der Spender, den typischen Gründen für die Wohltätigkeit und der übergreifenden Struktur der karitativen Leistungen ansetzt. Wir erörtern ferner das Forschungsdesign, das wir im Rahmen des Projektes, „Giving in the Golden Age‘‘ (GIGA) verwenden, um diese Theorie an Hand der niederländischen Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts zu testen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Continuity and Change , Volume 27 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Giving in the Golden Age: Charity in the Dutch Republic , August 2012 , pp. 175 - 197
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

ENDNOTES

1 See, for instance, Th. N. M. Schuyt, B. M. Gouwenberg and R. H. F. P. Bekkers eds., Giving in the Netherlands: donations, bequests, sponsorship and volunteering (Amsterdam, 2011).

2 This assertion is based on Lindert, P., ‘Poor relief before the welfare state: Britain versus the Continent, 1780–1880’, European Review of Economic History 2, 2 (1998), 101–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Lindert gives estimates for charitable expenditure at the end of the eighteenth century. The Dutch Republic and England and Wales were well above the levels of all other European countries. We assumed that, given the stage of economic development of both countries, that means expenditure in the Dutch Republic must have been well above that of Britain for long before the end of the eighteenth century. Two limitations of this assessment should be taken into account. Lindert's data do not cover Italy, and northern Italy is the best candidate for a region approaching the level of expenditure of both North Sea states. Further, the data can estimate only the level of cash transfers, not charity in kind.

3 Solar, Peter M., ‘Poor relief and English economic development before the industrial revolution’, Economic History Review 48, 1 (1995), 1–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Recent Dutch studies on early modern philanthropy include M. Prak, ‘Armenzorg 1500–1800’, in J. van Gerwen and M. H. D. van Leeuwen eds., Studies over zekerheidsarrangementen. Risico's, risicobestrijding en verzekeringen in Nederland vanaf de Middeleeuwen (Amsterdam and The Hague, 1998), 49–90; J. W. Spaans, Armenzorg in Friesland 1500–1800 (Hilversum and Leeuwarden, 1997); S. Groenveld, J. J. H. Dekker and T. R. M. Willemse, Wezen en boefjes. Zes eeuwen zorg in wees- en kinderhuizen (Hilversum, 1997); A. E. C. McCants, Civic charity in a golden age: orphan care in early modern Amsterdam (Urbana, 1997); A. Buursma, “Dese bekommerlijke tijden”. Armenzorg, armen en armoede in de stad Groningen 1594–1795 (Assen, 2009); E. van Nederveen Meerkerk and G. Vermeesch, ‘Reforming outdoor relief: changes in urban provisions for the poor in the Northern and Southern Low Countries (c. 1500–1800)’, in M. van der Heijden, E. van Nederveen Meerkerk, G. Vermeesch and M. van der Burg, Serving the urban community: the rise of public facilities in the Low Countries (Amsterdam, 2009), 135–54; C. H. Parker, The reformation of community: social welfare and Calvinist charity in Holland, 1572–1620 (Cambridge, 1998); I. van der Vlis, Leven in armoede. Delftse bedeelden in de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 2001); H. van Wijngaarden, Zorg voor de kost. Armenzorg, arbeid en onderlinge hulp in Zwolle, 1650–1700 (Amsterdam, 2000); D. Teeuwen, ‘“Vande groote swaricheyt der armen deser Stadt”. De reorganisatie van de armenzorg in Utrecht, 1580–1674’, in Jaarboek Oud-Utrecht (2010), 48–65.

5 Prak, ‘Armenzorg’; M. H. D. van Leeuwen, The logic of charity: Amsterdam, 1800–1850 (Aldershot and New York, 2000); McCants, Civic charity.

6 Van Nederveen Meerkerk and Vermeesch, ‘Reforming outdoor relief’.

7 M. Prak, Republikeinse veelvoud, democratische enkelvoud. Sociale verandering in het Revolutietijdvak, 's-Hertogenbosch 1770–1820 (Nijmegen, 1999).

8 D. Van Damme, Armenzorg en de staat (Ghent, 1990); L. Heerma van Voss, ‘The embarrassment of poverty: why do the proverbial welfare states border on the North Sea?’, in A. Knotter, B. Altena and D. Damsma eds., Labour, social policy, and the welfare state (Amsterdam, 1997), 17–33; van Leeuwen, Logic of charity.

9 R. D. Putnam, Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community (New York, 2000).

10 C. Fairchild, Poverty and charity in Aix-en-Provence, 1649–1789 (London, 1976); C. Jones, Charity and bienfaisance: the treatment of the poor in the Montpellier region 1740–1815 (Cambridge, 1982); Kappelhof, A. C. M., ‘Het Bossche Geefhuis. Het inkomen uit het vermogen van de Tafel van de H. Geest in den Bosch 1450–1810’, Varia Historica Brabantica X (1981), 1–54Google Scholar; Kappelhof, A. C. M., ‘De hoeven van het Bossche Geefhuis. Opbouw, beheer en liquidatie van een omvangrijk hoevenbezit’, Noordbrabants Historisch Jaarboek 1 (1984), 83–142Google Scholar; de Kruif, J., ‘De prijs van de armenzorg. De financiering van de armenzorg in Den Bosch 1750–1900’, Tijdschrift voor sociale geschiedenis 20, 1 (1994), 24–51Google Scholar; J. L. Marais, Histoire du don en France de 1800 à 1939. Dons et legs charitables, pieux et philantropiques (Rennes, 1999); M. Prak, ‘Goede buren en verre vrienden. De ontwikkeling van onderstand bij armoede in Den Bosch sedert de Middeleeuwen’, in H. D. Flap and M. H. D. van Leeuwen eds., Op lange termijn. Verklaringen van trends in de geschiedenis van samenlevingen (Hilversum, 1994), 147–69; van Leeuwen, M. H. D., ‘Liefdadige giften in Amsterdam tijdens de achttiende eeuw’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 22, 4 (1996), 417–42Google Scholar; van Leeuwen, M. H. D., ‘Amsterdam en de armenzorg tijdens de Republiek’, NEHA-Jaarboek 59 (1996), 132–61Google Scholar; J. Kocka and G. Lingelbach eds., Schenken, Stiften und Spenden [Special issue of Geschichte und Gesellschaft 33, 1 (2007)].

11 See, for instance, S. Cavallo, Charity and power in early modern Italy: benefactors and their motives in Turin, 1541–1789 (Cambridge, 1995); A. E. Komter, Social solidarity and the gift (Cambridge, 2005); Th. N. M. Schuyt, B. Gouwenberg and R. H. F. P. Bekkers, Geven in Nederland 2009 (The Hague, 2009); R. H. F. P. Bekkers, Giving and volunteering in the Netherlands (Utrecht, 2004); P. Wiepking, For the love of mankind: a sociological study on charitable giving (Amsterdam, 2008).

12 N. Z. Davis, The gift in sixteenth-century France (Oxford, 2000).

13 M. Vovelle, Piété baroque et déchristianisation en Provence au XVIIe siècle: Les attitudes devant la mort d'après les clauses des testaments (Paris, 1973); W. K. Jordan, Philanthropy in England 1480–1660: a study of the changing pattern of English social aspirations (London, 1959); W. K. Jordan, The charities of rural England 1480–1660: the aspirations and achievements of the rural society (London, 1962); den Boer, P., ‘Naar een geschiedenis van de dood; mogelijkheden tot onderzoek naar de houding ten opzichte van de dode en de dood ten tijde van de Republiek’, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 89, 2 (1976), 161–201Google Scholar; J. Spaans, ‘Testamenten als bron voor de geschiedenis van de armenzorg’, in J. A. Mol ed., Zorgen voor zekerheid. Studies over Friese testamenten in de vijftiende en zestiende eeuw (Leeuwarden, 1994), 215–32; Spaans, Armenzorg in Friesland; J. A. Mol, ‘Friezen en het hiernamaals. Zieleheilsbeschikkingen ten gunste van kerken, kloosters en armen in testamenten uit Friesland, 1400–1580’, in N. Lettinck and J. J. van Moolenbroek eds., In de schaduw van de eeuwigheid. Tien studies over religie en samenleving in laatmiddeleeuws Nederland (Utrecht, 1986); D. Green, ‘To do the right thing: gender, wealth, inheritance and the London middle class’, in A. Laurence, J. Maltby and J. Rutterford eds., Women and their money 1700–1950: essays on women and finance (London, 2009), 133–50; Kaiser, D., ‘Testamentary charity in early modern Russia: trends and motivations’, Journal of Modern History 76, 1 (2004), 1–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar; I. Krausman Ben-Amos, The culture of giving: informal support and gift-exchange in early modern England (Cambridge, 2008).

14 R. B. Evenhuis, Ook dat was Amsterdam. De kerk der late hervorming in de achttiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1974), 78 and 83.

15 When the three projects on gifts of different sizes are finished, the results will be integrated in a synthesis on charitable giving in the Dutch Republic, to be written by van Leeuwen.

16 Mol, ‘Friezen en het hiernamaals’, 28–65, 259–68, 29, our translation.

17 Van Leeuwen, ‘Liefdadige giften’; M. H. D. van Leeuwen, ‘Inleiding tot de moderne filantropie’, in V. Kingma and M. H. D. van Leeuwen eds., Filantropie in Nederland. Voorbeelden uit de periode 1770–2020 (Amsterdam, 2007); H. Cunningham and J. Innes eds., Charity, philanthropy and reform: from the 1690s to 1850 (London, 1998); M. R. Cohen ed., Poverty and charity in past times [Special issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary History 35, 3 (2005)]; Cavallo, Charity and power; Schuyt, Gouwenberg and Bekkers, Geven in Nederland 2009; Bekkers, Giving and volunteering in the Netherlands; Wiepking, For the love of mankind. Present-day studies that make that comparison include Bekkers, R. and Schuyt, Th., ‘And who is your neighbor? Explaining denominational differences in charitable giving and volunteering in the Netherlands’, Review of Religious Research 50 (2008), 74–96Google Scholar; Bekkers, R. and Wiepking, P., ‘A literature review of empirical studies of philanthropy: eight mechanisms that drive charitable giving’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 40, 5 (2011), 924–73CrossRefGoogle Scholar; van Leeuwen, M. H. D. and Wiepking, P., ‘National campaigns for charitable causes’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector QuarterlyGoogle Scholar (forthcoming); Wiepking, P. and Maas, I., ‘Resources that make you generous: effects of social and human resources on charitable giving’, Social Forces 87 (2009), 1973–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and P. Wiepking and M. H. D. van Leeuwen, ‘Picturing generosity: factors of success and failure of national campaigns in the Netherlands’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (forthcoming).

18 K. Zandvliet, De 250 rijksten van de Gouden Eeuw (Amsterdam, 2006).

19 The median estate left on their death by a member of the urban patriciate in the eighteenth century was 50,000 guilders in Gouda, 140,000 guilders in Hoorn and 120,000 guilders in Leiden. The average yearly family income of the poorest half of the urban population in Holland's towns was about 300 guilders. J. de Vries and A. van der Woude, The first modern economy: success, failure, and perseverance of the Dutch economy, 1500–1815 (Cambridge, 1997), 562, 589–90.

20 Wiepking, P., ‘The philanthropic poor: in search of explanations for the relative generosity of lower income households’, Voluntas 18, 4 (2007), 339–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 Similarly McCants, Civic charity, 188, notes that there is a continuity between the Catholic past and subsequent Protestantisation in the way the Amsterdam Burgerweeshuis collected donations.

22 Bekkers, R., ‘Who gives what and when? A scenario study of intentions to give time and money’, Social Science Research 39, 3 (2010), 369–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 378.

23 For the role of female regents, see Schmidt, Ariadne, ‘Managing a large household: the gender division of work in orphanages in Dutch towns in the early modern period, 1580–1800’, The History of the Family: An International Quarterly 13, 1 (2008), 42–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a more general version of this argument, see Kwolek-Folland, Angel, ‘Gender and business history’, Enterprise and Society 2, 1 (2001), 1–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Rogers, Rebecca, ‘Retrograde or modern? Unveiling the teaching nun in nineteenth-century France’, Social History 23, 2 (1998), 146–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Anna de Haas, ‘Graas, Maria van der’, Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland, http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/Graas [accessed 14 February 2012]. For another example see C. Baar-de Weerd, Uw sekse en de onze. Vrouwen en genootschappen in Nederland en in ons omringende landen (1750–ca. 1810) (Hilversum, 2009), 128.

25 ‘Sy was een braave Godsvreesende en seer milddadige ryke vrouw, daar veele nooddruftige en arme menschen veel aan verliesen.’ This and other examples in M. Bosman, De polsslag van de stad. De Amsterdamse stadskroniek van Jacob Bicker Raije (1732–1772) (Amsterdam, 2009), 127, 164, 176–7, 191–2, 231. For Maria Le Seutre, see J. E. Elias, De vroedschap van Amsterdam, 1578–1795 (Amsterdam, 1963), vol. II, 558.

26 van Nederveen Meerkerk, E., ‘Geven na de dood. Liefdadige giften en stedelijke geefcultuur in Utrecht en Zwolle, 1600–1800’, Stadsgeschiedenis 5, 2 (2010), 129–47Google Scholar, 142.

27 Van Leeuwen, ‘Liefdadige giften’, 434–8.

28 H. F. J. M. van den Eerenbeemt, Armoede en Arbeidsdwang. Werkinrichtingen voor ‘onnutte’ Nederlanders in de Republiek 1760–1795 (The Hague, 1977), 9–11.

29 Van Wijngaarden, Zorg voor de kost.

30 Lesger, C. and van Leeuwen, M. H. D., ‘Residential segregation from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century: evidence from the Netherlands’, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 42, 3 (2011), 333–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar; H. Looijesteijn and M. H. D. van Leeuwen, ‘Identity registration in the Dutch Republic’, chapter 8 in K. Breckenridge and S. Szreter eds., Registration and recognition: documenting the person in world history (Proceedings of the British Academy 182) (Oxford, forthcoming).

31 M. H. D. van Leeuwen, De rijke Republiek. Gilden, assuradeurs en armenzorg 1500–1800 (The Hague and Amsterdam, 2000), 395–401.

32 R. Bekkers, ‘De bijdragen der kerckelijken’, in Th. N. M. Schuyt ed., Geven in Nederland 2003: Giften, legaten, sponsoring en vrijwilligerswerk (Houten and Dieghem, 2003), 141–72.

33 ‘Tax farmers’ could be described as ‘tax collectors’. The figures are from R. Dekker, Holland in beroering. Oproeren in de 17de en 18de eeuw (Baarn, 1982). On 6 June 1651, a crowd of several thousand Middelburg citizens looted the house of the mayor Jacob Lansbergen, and only the intervention of the Protestant ministers prevented the same thing from happening to the house of his colleague Hendrik Thibaut. Among the long list of grievances, aggravated by tax rises in times of economic hardship, were complaints by the guilds about the way Lansbergen as president ran the orphanage. Regents were paid high salaries, while the orphans had to work harder. Hart, Marjolein 't, ‘Autonoom maar kwetsbaar. De Middelburgse regenten en de opstand van 1651’, De zeventiende eeuw 9, 1 (1993), 51–62Google Scholar, 56. In the Rotterdam food riot of 1740, the crowd turned first against Jakob de Vijver, a grocer who was accused of using his position as deacon to favour those of the poor who bought his wares. R. M. Dekker, Oproeren in Holland gezien door tijdgenoten. Ooggetuigenverslagen van oproeren in de provincie Holland ten tijde van de Republiek (1690–1750) (Assen, 1979), 119.

34 Van den Eerenbeemt, Armoede en Arbeidsdwang, 13–14.

35 Bekkers and Wiepking, ‘Literature review’. The cases quoted in note 34 are examples of anger directed at untrustworthy charity administrators.

36 This is also true for guild welfare. See van Leeuwen, M. H. D., ‘Guilds and middle-class welfare 1550–1800: provisions for burial, sickness, old age, and widowhood’, Economic History Review 65, 1 (2012), 61–90CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

37 K. A. Lynch, Individuals, families, and communities in Europe, 1200–1800 (Cambridge, 2003).

38 See M. H. D. van Leeuwen, ‘Overrun by hungry hordes? Migrants’ entitlements to poor relief in the Netherlands, 16th–20th centuries', in S. Hindle and A. Winter eds., Migration, settlement and belonging in Europe, 1500–2000: comparative perspective (Oxford, forthcoming).

39 For example, the Catholic and Reformed charities in Amsterdam discussed in van Leeuwen's contribution in this special issue. For their activities today see J. Vis, Liefde het Fundament. 400 jaar Roomsch Catholijk Oude Armen Kantoor in Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 2008) and T. L. Korporaal, Saligh zyn de barmhertige. Amsterdams Hervormd diakonaat in de 20e eeuw (Amsterdam, 1998).