The Frigid Golden Age: Experiencing Climate Change in the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720 Dagomar Degroot A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History York University Toronto, Ontario May 2014 © Dagomar Degroot, 2014 ii Dissertation Abstract During the nadir of the Little Ice Age between 1565 and 1720, average European temperatures declined by nearly one degree Celsius. While altered weather patterns strained the adaptive abilities of Europe’s agricultural societies, the northern Netherlands enjoyed the prosperity of its Golden Age. The economy, culture, and environment of the Dutch Republic yielded a distinct pattern of vulnerability and resilience in the face of early modern climate change. In this dissertation, newly interpreted documents are examined alongside scientific evidence, first to establish relationships between local, short-term environmental conditions and human activity, and ultimately to identify broader connections between long-term climate change and the history of the Dutch Republic. This methodology reveals that the coldest decades of the Little Ice Age presented not only challenges but also opportunities for Dutch citizens. Central to the increasingly capitalist economy of the Dutch Republic was the development, maintenance, and continued expansion of transportation networks that spanned the globe. Complex relationships between local environments, weather, and climatic trends stimulated new discoveries in Arctic waters, quickened the journeys of outbound United East India Company ships, hampered Baltic commerce, and altered how travellers moved within the borders of the Republic. Weather patterns that accompanied the Little Ice Age also affected how commerce was forcibly expanded and defended. The Anglo-Dutch Wars, fought from 1652 to 1674, were contested in a period of transition between decade-scale climatic regimes. In the first war, meteorological conditions that accompanied a warmer interval in the Little Ice Age granted critical advantages to English fleets, which were usually victorious. By contrast, in the latter wars, weather patterns that now reflected a cooling climate repeatedly helped Dutch fleets prevail over the English and later French armadas. Finally, climatic fluctuations affected mentalities within the Dutch Republic. Understandings of weather in the Republic may have demonstrated a vague awareness of climate change, and cultural responses to weather reflected the resilience of the Republic by expressing the conviction that weather could be confronted and endured. Ultimately, the influence of the Little Ice Age was ambiguous for the resilient society of the Dutch Republic in its Golden Age. iii Dedicated to my father, Bas Degroot Beste Vriend iv Acknowledgements A dissertation is a reflection of both student and supervisor, and so my first thanks are to Richard Hoffmann. The core methodologies and conceptual approach of this dissertation were developed with Richard’s encouragement, and its findings are a product of opportunities that Richard helped make possible. I am also deeply grateful for the tireless guidance of Petra van Dam, who (re)introduced me to the Dutch environment and urged me to engage deeply with its vast scholarship. The third member of my committee, Colin Coates, provided a unique perspective that clarified my conclusions and streamlined their presentation. I am thankful for his insight and support. I am very grateful for the assistance of the many scholars who suggested sources, offered criticism, and guided my inquiries. This dissertation would not have taken its present form without the help of Milja van Tielhof, Marjolein ’t Hart, Dennis Wheeler, Victor Enthoven, Emmanuel Kreike, Alan MacEachern, Sam White, Karel Davids, Edmund Russell, Graeme Wynn, Elena Ivanova, Verena Winiwarter, Adriaan de Kraker, Dolly Jorgenson, Richard Unger, Bradley Skopyk, Jan Oosthoek, Richard Tucker, Jan de Vries, Elisabeth Crespin, Kathy Young, Ernst Hamm, and Stephen Mosley, among others. I am grateful for the recommendations of archival staff across the Netherlands, especially at the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. I am indebted, also, to my professors at York University’s department of history, especially Rachel Koopmans, Tom Cohen, Elizabeth Cohen, Deborah Neill, Sean Kheraj, and Jonathan Edmondson. For their commiseration and suggestions, I thank fellow graduate students Brad Meredith, Hannah Elias, Raphael Costa, and Andrew Watson. v Many organizations provided essential financial and logistical support for this dissertation. In particular, federal and provincial scholarships provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Ontario Student Assistance Program enabled lengthy research trips to the Netherlands and extensive conference participation. Moreover, the International Institute for the History and Heritage of Cultural Landscapes and Urban Environments (CLUE) supported a four-month stay at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Finally, the Network in Canadian History and Environment (NiCHE) generously funded conference activity in three continents, which tested and refined my scholarly arguments. I am very grateful to my mother, Jannie, my brother, Aldemar, and my sister, Godelinde, both for their comfort and for their expectations. I am deeply thankful for the support of my partner and colleague, Madeleine Chartrand, who not only provided constant encouragement but also offered many suggestions that improved this dissertation. Finally, I am profoundly grateful for my late father, Bas. An artist, author, and educator, Bas nurtured in me the intellectual curiosity that is among the greatest gifts a parent can grant a child. Bas taught me that what is difficult is often most worthwhile, and lived the conviction that work should always serve a higher purpose. In exploring new avenues in the study of climate change, this dissertation reflects his inspiration. It would not have been written without him. vi Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..ii Dedication…………………………………………………………………………………..iii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………...iv-v Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….vi-viii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………..ix-xi List of Maps……………………………………………………………………………….xii-xiii Introduction: Climate Change and Human History…………………………………….1 Reconstructing Past Climates……………………………………………………….9 Reconstruction of the European Climate, 1200-1850 ………………………………14 A Brief History of the Dutch Republic……………………………………………...23 The Frigid Golden Age: an Overview of Climate Change in the Dutch Republic….32 Methodology and Conceptualization………………………………………………..44 Outline: Acquiring and Defending Wealth in a Changing Climate…………………53 PART I: COMMERCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE……………………….…………..58 Acquiring Wealth in the Little Ice Age: Case Studies on Exploration, Trade, and Travel in the Dutch Trading Empire, 1565-1750 Chapter 1: Exploring the Periphery in a Colder Climate: the Quest for the Northeast Passage………………………………………………………………………………….…..68 Planning the Expeditions during the Grindelwald Fluctuation……………….……..71 The First Expedition: Frustration and Promise, 1594……………….………………82 The Second Expedition: Failure and Discouragement, 1595……………….……….87 The Third Expedition: Discovery, Disaster, and Survival, 1596-1597……………...94 Conclusion: the Enduring Significance of the Barents Voyages in a Colder Climate……………………………………………………………………………...107 Chapter 2: Exploiting the Periphery in a Fluctuating Climate: United East India Company Ship Journeys……………………………………………………………………………...112 Climatic Shifts and Storms in VOC Correspondence and Day Registers……….....120 Changes in Prevailing Wind and Storm Frequency Reflected in VOC Ship Logbooks…………………………………………………………………………...133 Beyond the Northeastern Atlantic: Climate, Weather, and Dutch Trade with Asia…………………………………………………………………………………160 Conclusions: Trends, Consequences, and Reactions…………………………….....175 vii Chapter 3: Supplying the Metropole in the Little Ice Age: Mobility Within, and Near, the Dutch Republic…………………………………………………………………………….182 Climatic Fluctuation and Sea Ice Extent in the Sound Toll Registers……………...186 Correspondence, Baltic Trade, and the Consequences of Sea Ice during the Little Ice Age……………………………………………………………………………...195 Wind Velocity, Wind Direction, and Baltic Commerce in a Shifting Climate……..207 Climatic Fluctuation and Baltic Commerce: Conclusions and Consequences……..214 Climatic Fluctuation and Transportation within the Borders of the Republic……...219 The Beurtvaart and Trekvaart in Little Ice Age Minima and Maxima……………..227 Climatic Fluctuations and Travel through the Republic by Boat, Road, and Ice…..235 Conclusions: Travel through the Dutch Republic during the Little Ice Age…….....248 PART II: CONFLICT AND CLIMATE CHANGE……………………………………253 Defending Wealth in the Little Ice Age: Case Studies of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, 1652-1674 Chapter 4: Warfare in a Warmer Climate: the First Anglo-Dutch War, 1652-54……259 Overview of Environmental Structures……………………………………………..263 Commercial Rivalry and Competing Military Structures…………………………..278 Beginning of the First Anglo-Dutch War…………………………………………...281 Conclusion of the First Anglo-Dutch War………………………………………….291 Chapter 5: Warfare in a Colder Climate: the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1664-67…...311 Beginning of the Second Anglo-Dutch War………………………………………..317 Conclusion of the Second Anglo-Dutch War…………………………………….....335 Chapter