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The Reformed Church and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World, 1621-1674

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The Reformed Church and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World, 1621-1674 SERVING GOD AND MAMMON: THE REFORMED CHURCH AND THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1621-1674 A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Danny L. Noorlander, M.A. Washington, DC July 31, 2011 Copyright 2011 by Danny L. Noorlander All Rights Reserved ii SERVING GOD AND MAMMON: THE REFORMED CHURCH AND THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1621-1674 Danny L. Noorlander, M.A. Thesis Adviser: Alison Games, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation asks how the Reformed Church informed and shaped the Dutch experience in the seventeenth-century Atlantic world. It challenges a common view that Dutch expansion was a uniquely commercial phenomenon, that Dutch trade and religion occupied separate, distinct spheres. While the West India Company (WIC) was certainly a business, designed to generate wealth, it bore the powers and responsibilities of a state. Political, religious, and economic goals were combined under the company. Favoring religion brings extra-commercial aims and activities into sharp focus, demonstrating the diversity of Dutch interests, contesting the stereotypes that sometimes divide the story of European expansion too neatly along lines of national difference. The broad framework of Atlantic history serves a similar purpose: By giving equal weight to Dutch activities in Europe, West Africa, and America, this study avoids drawing conclusions about the WIC and Dutch expansion based on one place. The main body of the dissertation is divided into six chapters. They examine the religious life of company directors and merchants in cities like Amsterdam, the nature of worship at sea, religious rituals in times of war, efforts to convert indigenous peoples and reform colonial societies, the role of Reformed consistories as centers of opposition to iii unpopular policies and rulers, and related matters. As the only colonial power with a Reformed Church, the Dutch provide a unique chance to study Calvinist expansion. The church‘s diffuse structure complicated the question of oversight, but its various councils found ways to work together on important issues. Reformed clergy embraced the WIC as a divine tool. Calvinist ideas about religious authority also allowed merchants to participate on major church councils, influence clerical views of their vocation, and conduct a great deal of business with the church as they strove to meet ecclesiastical needs abroad. Conversely, the church‘s inflexibility and fear that foreign influences might corrupt its doctrines and traditions were detrimental to planting Protestantism. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the many individuals and institutions who made this project possible. The History Department and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University offered various kinds of support over the years. I also received funding from the International Seminar on the History of the Atlantic World at Harvard University and, most importantly, the U.S. Fulbright Program and Netherland-America Foundation. I could not have conducted the necessary research without them. Also very helpful were the many archivists and librarians in the Netherlands who put up with my endless questions and requests. The Stadsarchief Amsterdam and the Nationaal Archief in The Hague were especially important to this study. Closer to home, I owe many thanks to the Interlibrary Loan office at the Lauinger Library at Georgetown University. I don‘t know how I would have survived my year in Holland without Mark and Debby Gunderman. Thank you for the accommodations, the rides, the chocolate I took more than once from your pantry, and everything else. Others who have encouraged me along the way include Eric Hinderaker, Bob Goldberg, and my other professors at the University of Utah, not to mention my parents, siblings, and in-laws. To my advisers at Georgetown, thank you will never seem like enough. The suggestions and insights of Alison Games, Adam Rothman, Amy Leonard, and (at Clark University) Wim Klooster were invaluable. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my wife, Kim, and our three children. Thanks for carrying me through so many years of school. Thanks for all the adventures. v To the Golden Eagle and her crew vi CONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... ix Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. The Dutch Reformed Church and the World .............................................. 24 The Reformation in the Netherlands ........................................................................ 27 Amsterdam and Zeeland Take Charge ..................................................................... 37 The Role of Other Reformed Churches .................................................................... 49 Chapter 2. Faith and Worship in a Merchant Community ............................................ 67 The Religious Life of WIC Directors ....................................................................... 73 “I will pay my vows unto the Lord ...”...................................................................... 83 Practicing Piety Within the Company ...................................................................... 94 Chapter 3. Calling and Controlling Company Clergy ................................................ 101 Recruitment, Preparation, Patronage .................................................................... 103 The Quest for Quality and Orthodoxy ................................................................... 121 The Material Rewards of WIC Service .................................................................. 136 Chapter 4. Planting Christ‘s Kingdom in Stony Ground ............................................ 147 The World in a Small Wooden Shoe ...................................................................... 152 Baptized by Fire: Calvinists at War ....................................................................... 162 Manliness and Sin in Company Forts .................................................................... 175 Chapter 5. Dutch Brazil: A Harvest of Thorns and Weeds ......................................... 189 From Military Church to Public Church ............................................................... 193 Reforming the Land of the Holy Cross .................................................................. 201 The Failed Reformation and the Revolt ................................................................. 215 Chapter 6. From the Garden of Eden to the Isles of the Sea ....................................... 240 The Reformation of the Dutch Atlantic .................................................................. 244 Defending the Garden Before the Fall ................................................................... 262 Fighting Philistines, Resisting Sinners .................................................................. 274 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 289 vii Appendix A. Clergy and Schoolmasters of the Dutch Atlantic .................................. 318 Appendix B. WIC Directors – Amsterdam Chamber ................................................. 325 Appendix C. WIC Directors – Zeeland Chamber ....................................................... 328 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 330 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AAC Archief Admiraliteitscolleges (NA) Aanw. Aanwinsten (NA and ZA) ABA Archief Burgemeesters Amsterdam (SAA) ABS Archief Burgerlijke Stand (SAA) ACA Archief Classis Amsterdam (SAA) ACALK Archief Classis Alkmaar (NHA) ACAM Archief Classis Amersfoort (UA) ACD Archief Classis Dordrecht (NA) ACDD Archief Classis Delft en Delfland (NA) ACE Archief Classis Edam (NHA) ACENK Archief Classis Enkhuizen (WFA) ACG Archief Classis Groningen (GA) ACH Archief Classis Haarlem (NHA) ACL Archief Classis Leiden en Neder Rijnland (NA) ACM Archief Classis Middelstum (GA) ACMA Archief Classis Marne (GA) ACR Archief Classis Rhenenwijk (UA) ACT Archief Classis Tholen en Bergen op Zoom (ZA) ACU Archief Classis Utrecht (UA) ACW Archief Classis Walcheren (ZA) ACWE Archief Classis Westerkwartier (GA) ACZ Archief Classis Zierikzee (GASD) ADA Archief Diaconie Amsterdam (SAA) AEKA Archief Engelse Kerk Amsterdam (SAA) AEKM Archief Engelse Kerk Middelburg (ZA) AHZ Archief Huis Zuilen (UA) AKD Archief Hervormde Kerk Dordrecht (SADOR) AKDE Archief Hervormde Kerk Delft (GAD) AKDEV Archief Hervormde Kerk Deventer (SADEV) AKA Archief Kerkenraad Amsterdam (SAA) AKAR Archief Hervormde Kerk Arnhem (GEA) AKE Archief Hervormde Kerk Enkhuizen (WFA) AKG Archief Kerkenraad Groningen (GA) AKGO Archief Hervormde Kerk Gouda (SHM) AKH Archief Hervormde Kerk Hoorn (WFA) AKHA Archief Hervormde Kerk Haarlem (NHA) AKL Archief Hervormde Kerk Leiden (RAL) AKO Archief Hervormde Kerk Oostkapelle (ZA) AKR Archief Hervormde Kerk Rotterdam (GAR) AKU Archief Hervormde Kerk Utrecht (UA) AKV Archief Hervormde Kerk Vlissingen (GAV) AKVE Archief Hervormde Kerk Veere (ZA) AKZ Archief Kerkenraad
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