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The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/20582 holds various files of this University dissertation.

Author: Visser, Willem Gerrit Title: De classis Brielle 1574-1623 Issue Date: 2013-02-28 Summary

This book consists of a completely annotated transcription of the acts of the Brielle classis covering the years 1574-1623, preceded by a comprehensive Introduction. In 1953 the Royal Commission for National History initiated a project to publish the acts of the classes of South in the period 1574-1620. In the decades that followed about three-quarters of the acts from were published as well as the acts from the Deventer, Kampen and Steenwijk-Vollenhove classes of Overijssel province and the Walcheren and South-Beveland classes of Zeeland province; the acts of the Tholen and Schouwen- Duiveland classes will follow. In the summer of 2012 the acts of the Gelderland classes came out.

The acts of the classes are important sources for writing local and regional church history. The acts of the classes also shed light on the middle position of the classes between church councils and provincial synods. The classes served as the bodies that prepared the synod meetings and later implemented the decisions taken by the synods. The acts of the classes have great importance for church history and, up to a certain level, we can also learn from the decisions taken by the classes about the development of canon law or church order. They can be used in writing intellectual history and biographies as well. Finally, the acts of the classes are an irreplaceable source for a view of how Calvinism spread in the countryside even though they leave many detailed questions on the local level unanswered.

The Introduction to the transcription provides historical context and the background for the acts of the Brielle classis and begins with a discussion of the concept of classis: ‘the official assembly where a number of delegated office-holders of neighboring churches come together to provide leadership for collective living and working in their jurisdiction.’ The classis served, on the one hand, as a Reformed alternative to the middle level of the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church and, on the other, as a means to guarantee the unity of the church. The classes formed the middle level of the Reformed Church, the link which joined the local congregations to the provincial and national synods.

Beginning with the 1571 synod of Emden we can witness a gradual development of the classis to the status of a fully-fledged church institution by the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. This development is described on the basis of the provisions regarding the classes adopted by successive synods. This account is constructed on three elements: the composition of the classis (personae), the scope of activities (res) and the operating procedures (processus). Although the original intention was that the elders would participate in the work of the classes, in practice it was the ministers who dominated and carried out the work. The classis functioned in the first instance as a forum for the supervision and disciplining of the ministers. The classes also supervised the local congregations, dealt with all the issues pertaining to religion, advised upon request the local church councils and sent delegates to the provincial synods. One of the most important duties of the classis was to train and examine candidates for the ministry. The classis played an active role in recruiting new ministers, especially in rural congregations. The synods determined the frequency and the direction of the meetings of the classes.

Under the influence of the Historical School of Law historical writing about the classis at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century focused primarily on the formal juridical aspects dealing with the rules governing church life. Later we observe a shift of focus away from juridical towards institutional concerns where the procedures and functions of the classis as an institution take center stage (see Tukker’s work on the classis). In the 1960s and 1970s social-historical aspects get more attention: the socio-economic position of the ministers as a group (Groenhuis), the geographic origins of the ministers (Van Lieburg), religious life on the local level (Van Deursen) and the proselytizing of society (Abels and Wouters’s work on the classis, Geudeke’s work on the Edam classis).

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From 1980 on, in parallel to the historical works, editions were published in the ‘small series’ of the Rijks- Geschiedkundige Publications (Royal Historical Publications). These contained the acts of several classes: those of Dordrecht, , Walcheren and South Beveland, Delft, Leiden and Woerden, (accompanied by a detailed introduction by Verschoor) and, recently, the Gelderland classes.

The second part of the Introduction focuses on the environment in which the Brielle classis emerged and in which it operated. Given the area’s geographic characteristics, the way the classis functioned was in part determined by its physical environment: roughly the present-day islands of Voorne, Putten and Goeree- Overflakkee. Natural conditions made this area difficult to travel through, especially in winter, and the living conditions were considered unhealthy by people of the time. Located on the periphery of the heavily urbanized province of Holland this watery region was home in the late 16th and early 17th century to a rural population that for the most part earned its living from agriculture and, in some places, from fishing. The only town of any significance was Brielle, which occupied only a modest position among the towns of Holland. In the western province of Holland as a whole around half of the population lived in cities or towns, but the percentage of urban dwellers in the islands of Voorne, Putten and Goeree- Overflakkee was only 15% It is probable, although data are lacking, that in this period the area profited in a limited way at best from the favorable economic situation in Holland.

The islands of Voorne, Putten, Goeree-Overflakkee and a few even smaller ones combined to form a pair of administrative entities: the seigniory of Voorne and the protectorate of Putten, each with its own administrative structures. They were in fact two different bailiwicks with their own rights, statutes, administration of justice and finance, and with their own administrators from the different upper and lower ranks of officials. Because religious and political life were closely linked, the classis was in regular contact with the officials of the secular government: the bailiffs of Voorne and Putten and the bailiffs and sheriffs of the seigniories, who represented their principals in the classis.

The classis was formed in 1574 in an area which had already experienced a half century of Protestantization. From the beginning of the the traditional, nearly ubiquitous Catholic Church and the Catholic faith of the population had been showing increasing signs of decay. Shortly after Luther’s actions heretical ideas about the holy sacrament and the veneration of saints had attracted adherents in this region. After 1530 the Anabaptists also appeared. This group, in particular, was severely persecuted in some periods. Calvinism arrived here in the 1560s. A visitation committee reported in 1571 that on Voorne and Putten the church was divided with some of the clergy adopting Protestant views while another group held an eroded sense of Catholic norms and duties.

By the time Reformed worship services were instituted in 1572/1573 a part of the population of Voorne, Putten and Goeree-Overflakkee was in a sense experienced in Protestant views, which is not to say that the Reformed Church could count on massive support among the people. There certainly were many within the Catholic Church who had some Protestantising views but when in 1573 Catholic worship was outlawed in Holland did not become convinced members of the Reformed Church. On the contrary: if we are talking about the professed members of the Calvinist church we are talking at this time about only a small minority of the population. A large part of the community was in the growing group of the ‘undecided’; some of these did attend the Reformed Church and were known as ‘lovers of the truth’. In 1622 a third of the population of Brielle could be considered as belonging to the Reformed Church (including the ‘lovers of the truth’), while in the rural areas (where the figures varied from village to village) at most a quarter of the population can be counted in this group.

665 We do not know precisely how the Brielle classis came into being; perhaps it split off from the Dordrecht classis. We do know that the first meeting was held on April 19, 1574. After some discussion of the question of whether Overflakkee should be part of the Brielle classis or of the Schouwen-Duiveland- Tholen classis it was finally decided that the classis would include the following areas: the islands Voorne, Putten, Korendijk, Piershil, and Overflakkee (except for the enclave of Sommelsdijk which belonged to Zeeland) and the town of Bommenede that was an enclave of Holland in/on Schouwen island. The borders of the classis thus largely followed the administrative borders in this part of Holland. Within these borders the former parochial divisions remained intact. Conditions obliged the classis to at least temporarily make do with combined congregations; in the beginning not every place could be provided with a minister. In spite of the fact that the classis was hesitant to create new congregations, many villages took the initiative in this regard.

The operating procedures of the classis took shape in the early years of its existence. Ordinary meetings, held four times a year on average, took place in various locations, although Brielle was the favored meeting place. The extraordinary meetings, attended by the Brielle ministers and those from neighboring villages, were usually held in Brielle. Attendance was high: about 80% for the ordinary meetings where we can note a small correlation between the minister’s place of residence and the locations of the classis meeting. The presiding minister was chosen from among a relatively select group as was, to a lesser degree, the scribe. Over the course of time a group of more or less fixed agenda items emerged, although these were not forced into a rigid meeting program.

With regard to the other congregations in the classis the Brielle congregation assumed the position of primus inter pares, although this position seemed to lose its significance somewhat over time. During the period of the conflict between the Remonstrants and the Counter-remonstrants during the second decade of the seventeenth century Brielle’s leading position was completely lost. Furthermore, it seems that the Brielle classis held a modest position within the particular synod of South Holland, in keeping with the peripheral position of the entire area in western Holland. If we compare the Brielle classis with other classes that have been studied in detail we can see that the degree of organization of the Brielle and Delft classes are closer to one another and further from the Dordrecht classis than are the classes of Gorinchem and Edam. Thus the Dordrecht classis was still the mostly rigidly organized classis.

After a discussion of the operating procedures (processus) the Introduction examines the people (personae), that is the ministers, who determined the course of events in the classis. In total 138 ministers served for shorter or longer periods in the Brielle classis. In 1623 there were still 26 in active service; thus 112 ministers ended their official duties in the classis before 1623. The average period of service was around six and a half years; by far most terms were shorter than five years. The majority of periods of service were ended by death or by relocation to another place.

In its first decade many of the ministers in the Brielle classis were of Flemish origin, fewer than in the Zeeland classes but more than in the classes of Dordrecht or Delft. We have information about the social background or education of only circa half of the ministers so it is difficult to draw any conclusive generalizations. Twelve of the ministers were former Roman Catholic priests, but this group disappeared over time as did the so called Duytsche clercken who had had to be recruited when there was a scarcity of ministers. Many of these Duytsche clercken had formerly been schoolmasters. As the universities graduated more ministers, the average educational level of the minister corps also slowly rose.

Entrance into the ministry always required a peremptory exam administered by the classis. We encounter such exams regularly in the acts. However, the acts do not tell us much about the content of the exams; the recorded remarks mostly deal with the construction of propositions. Catechisms and confessions of

666 faith served as the guiding principles for the exams. Moreover, there are many examples indicating that the assigned text for the proposition was carefully chosen to demonstrate what kind of person the classis was dealing with.

In addition to training and examining future ministers, the enforcement by the classis of church discipline on serving ministers was the second cornerstone of the Reformed Church. To this end the classis had several instruments at its disposal: removal, suspension, an annotation in the certificate provided to a minister leaving for elsewhere, and reprimand. The removal from office was the heaviest penalty that was used in cases of deviation from doctrine or when a minister committed serious social or doctrinal offenses. Apart from the measures taken against the Remonstrants in 1619 there were relatively few cases of removal or suspension for reasons of doctrine; there were more cases of disciplining arising from a minister’s actions. Punishments were usually limited to suspension; in the case of minor offenses a minister could return to office after demonstrating contrition. In the case of more serious offenses, it was possible to return to service but not in the same community.

The gist of the various cases is that the classis (with the other classes) listened to both sides of the argument and did not hesitate to intervene when that was necessary. The result at any rate is that the classis was successful in building up a minister corps of good quality. There are hardly any cases of disciplinary action against ministers after 1600.

Although the Reformed Church rejected a hierarchical structure, the classis nevertheless stood as the ‘superior’ assembly in a certain power relationship vis-à-vis the local congregations. However, the classes were reluctant to intervene directly on the local level. In the establishment of new congregations and the appointing of new church councils which this entailed the role of the classis was primarily supportive in nature.

Education in the village schools was a matter in which the classis became more directly involved as the years went on. Mostly this was a question of whether the schoolmaster, who usually was also a lay reader or precentor, was a professed member of the church. After the 1618-1619 synod of Dordrecht the schoolmasters also had to sign written professions of faith.

The local church councils put to the classis all kinds of questions about baptism, marriage, communion, and the application of the rules on the local level. With regard to the baptism of young children the classis took, in line with the church as a whole, a very liberal stance. In fact anyone who was carried to the baptismal font was baptized. A somewhat stricter standard was applied to adults (the setting of an age limit seems to have been a thorny issue). In principle an adult was baptized only if the intention was to take part in communion.

The classis was also regularly confronted with questions about marriage. Although marriage was an affair of ‘government’, the church had a role in it: weddings usually took place in the Reformed Church; only those who in conscience did not wish to get married in the church could turn to the sheriff’s court.

The Sunday rest is a subject closely associated with our images of the spread of Calvinism. From the data presented here we can see not only that the classis argued convincingly for the Sunday rest, primarily during church services, but also that these efforts were not exclusively Calvinistic. The Reformed Church was continuing an existing longer tradition, and the Catholics also fought for Sunday as a day of rest. The same applied to the attitude of the classis toward the rhetoricians. The objections that the classis had about the rhetoricians were again absolutely not uniquely a pet interest of Calvinists: in the pre- Reformation times there had been much friction between the rhetoricians, on the one hand, and the

667 religious and secular authorities, on the other. In fact, in the period 1574-1623 the matter of the rhetoricians seldom appeared on the agenda of the Brielle classis. The classis had little involvement in censoring books. We can cite two reasons for this. First, during the period under review there were no printers active in the classis’s jurisdiction. In the second place, there were few prolific writers among the ministers working in the classis.

Finally, a chapter is devoted to the relationship between the classis and government. This chapter focuses on three subjects: the calling of a new minister, ministers’ pay, and poor relief. All of these subjects are closely connected to a continuation of juridical and institutional relationships from the past.

In matters regarding the calling of a new minister the church had to deal with existing traditional patronage rights, dating from roman catholic times. In practice the church encountered few difficulties in choosing new ministers. Nevertheless, in times of conflict such as during the dispute between the Remonstrants and Counter-remonstrants, a minister could be forced on a congregation against the will of the classis or the congregation.

Salaries for ministers were also a recurring subject for the classis. The payment of the salaries was assigned to the Ecclesiastical Office in Brielle, which was supervised by the Ecclesiastical Office in Delft. The Ecclesiastical Office was responsible for the management of spiritual and pastoral things, mainly deriving from the pre-Reformation period. The congregation’s ability to pay a minister’s salary was a necessary condition before a ministerial position could be created.

Poor relief was for the Calvinists, as it had been for the Catholics in the past, a duty of the church. Since the late Middle Ages there had been an active form of civil poor relief, mostly under the name of Heilige- geestmeesters (Masters of the Holy Spirit). The church’s social welfare activities were at this time still limited by a lack of funds so generous hand-outs to the poor were not a factor in notably increasing the appeal of the Reformed Church.

The Brielle classis provided for ministers’ widows an arrangement copied from the Dordrecht classis that was reminiscent of the guild benefits. It is one of the oldest forms of survivors’ insurance.

The controversy between Remonstrants and Counter-remonstrants during the Twelve Years’ Truce (1609-1621) had drastic consequences for the operations of the Brielle classis. Article XVI of the Dutch Articles of Faith, which dealt with the doctrine of predestination, was not an undisputed tenet of faith. But apart from a few incidental cases of church members in Brielle with problems concerning this doctrine no further problems about this issue arose in the Brielle classis. Up to 1608 there was nothing evident in the acts of the Brielle classis regarding the controversy between Arminians and Gomarists until Caspar Barlaeus entered the Brielle classis. He was ‘suspected of holding Arminian views’ and was therefore interrogated by the classis about his ideas. Nonetheless he passed the examination by the classis and became a minister in Nieuwe Tonge. Gradually conflict on the spiritual level flared up in the classis. For instance, in 1611 pressure from the Middleharnis officials forced the appointment of a Remonstrant to the ministerial opening in Middleharnis. In Rockanje and Nieuwe Tonge as well the sheriff and local government officials also forced the appointment of Remonstrant ministers. In Brielle the succession following the retirement (on account of old age) of Libertus Fraxinus caused much controversy. The town officials under the leadership of sheriff Otto van Zevender forced the naming of Cornelis Pietersz. Burgvliet in 1613. Two more Remonstrants were named to the pulpits in Abbenbroek and Stad aan het Haringvliet in 1614, and another in in 1616. Counter-remonstrants were named only in Dirksland and Simonshaven.

668 There was a rupture in the classis in 1615. The Counter-remonstrants decided to no longer meet with the Remonstrants. The Brielle city officials, whose delegates took part in the classis, tried vainly to keep the classis together. The Counter-remonstrants refused to change their position and continued to persist in it.

This division also affected the congregations. There was fighting back and forth over the pulpits, and in many places (Brielle, , Stad aan het Haringvliet) Counter-remonstrants decided to attend the services in neighboring places.

The rupture in the classis entered a new phase as a result of the Brielle minister Willem Crijnsz. switching from the Remonstrant to the Counter-remonstrant camp. The Brielle city officials removed Crijnsz. from his position and banned him from the city after he conducted services for Counter-remonstrants in private houses against the orders of the city officials. In spite of an appeal to the Court of Holland the Brielle government succeeded with the cooperation of the Holland government attorney Oldenbarnevelt in banning Crijnsz. from the city for two years. During that time he lived in Delft and still received his salary. His successor in Brielle was Geesteranus.

The tide turned in the fall of 1617. In late September Prince Maurits forced the city officials to stop employing mercenaries (waargelders) and to agree to replace the garrison. After more disturbances between Counter-remonstrants and Remonstrants in Nieuwe Tonge and Goedereede in the winter of 1617-1618, Counter-remonstrants were permitted to hold their own church services beginning in March 1618. After the particular synod of Delft at the end of 1618, the national synod in Dordrecht and the particular synod in Leiden in the summer of 1619, the results were that ten Remonstrant ministers were removed. After a confession of guilt, Tijckmaecker, who remained from the Remonstrant part of the classis, was kept in his position.

The Introduction concludes with a description of the material sources, some archival details, and an account of the technical aspects of editing the transcription.

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