Myth in History, History in Myth Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History General Editor A.J. Vanderjagt, University of Groningen Editorial Board C.S. Celenza, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore M. Colish, Oberlin College J.I. Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton M. Mugnai, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa W. Otten, University of Chicago VOLUME 182 Myth in History, History in Myth Edited by Laura Cruz Willem Frijhoff LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 On the cover: Rembrandt van Rijn, Th e Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, c. 1661, canvas, 196 × 309 cm, Stockholm, Nationalmuseum. Th is book is printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Society for Netherlandic History (U.S.). International Conference (3rd : 2006 : New York, N.Y.) Myth in history, history in myth : proceedings of the Th ird International Conference of the Society for Netherlandic History (New York : June 5-6, 2006) / edited by Laura Cruz, Willem Frijhoff . p. cm. -- (Brill's studies in intellectual history, ISSN 0920-8607 ; v. 182) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-17834-2 (hbk. : alk. paper) 1. Netherlands--History--Congresses. 2. Myth--Political aspects--Netherlands--Congresses. 3. Myth--Social aspects-- Netherlands--Congresses. 4. Netherlands--Politics and government--Congresses. 5. Netherlands--Intellectual life--Congresses. 6. Benelux countries--History-- Congresses. 7. Myth--Political aspects--Benelux countries--Congresses. 8. Myth-- Social aspects--Benelux countries--Congresses. 9. Benelux countries--Politics and government--Congresses. 10. Benelux countries--Intellectual life--Congresses. I. Cruz, Laura, 1969- II. Frijhoff , Willem. III. Title. IV. Series. DJ114.S68 2009 949.20072--dc22 2009031416 ISSN 0920-8607 ISBN 978 90 04 17834 2 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. Brill has made all reasonable eff orts to trace all right holders to any copyrighted mate- rial used in this work. In cases where these eff orts have not been successful the pub- lisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Th e Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS List of Illustrations ................................................................................ vii Introduction: Myth in History, History in Myth ............................... 1 Laura Cruz and Willem Frijhoff “How Great the Enterprise, How Glorious the Deed”: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Circumnavigations as Useful Myths .......................................................................................... 17 Donald J. Harreld Th e Orangist Myth, 1650–1672 .......................................................... 33 Jill Stern Myth, History, and Image in the Low Countries in the Sixteenth Century .................................................................................. 53 Jac Geurts Th e Wise Man Has Two Tongues: Images of the Satyr and Peasant by Jordaens and Steen ............................................................. 87 Kimberlee Cloutier-Blazzard Emblematic Myths: Anneke’s Fortune, Bogardus’s Farewell, and Kieft ’s Son ........................................................................................ 117 Willem Frijhoff International Law and National Existence: Th e Myth of Strict Neutrality (1918–?) ............................................................................... 147 Hubert P. van Tuyll Th e Epic Story of the Little Republic Th at Could: Th e Role of Patriotic Myths in the Dutch Golden Age ......................................... 159 Laura Cruz History and Myth of Dutch Popular Protest in the Napoleonic Period (1806–1813) ................................................... 175 Johan Joor vi contents ‘Neerlands Israel’: Political Th eology, Christian Hebraism, Biblical Antiquarianism, and Historical Myth .................................. 201 Th eodor Dunkelgrün Rembrandt and the Historical Construction of His Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis .................................................................................. 237 Jan Blanc Index ....................................................................................................... 255 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figures belonging to the article by Jac Geurts Map Philip’s II Tour through the Low Countries in 1549 (source: Cristobal Calvete de Estrella, El felicissimo viaje (Antwerp, 1552): ‘Itinerario breve del Principe’. G. Parker, Th e Dutch Revolt (London: Sphere Books, 1988), 24. Plate I Th e Nine Philipponymus. Engraving, Pieter Coecke van Aalst, in Cornelius Grapheus, Spectacolorum in Susceptione Philippi His- paniae Principis Caroli V Caesaris Filii, Anno Domini M.D.XLIX (Antverpiae, 1550). Radboud University Library, Nijmegen. Plate II Th e Temporary Town Hall. Engraving, Pieter Coecke van Aalst, in Cornelius Grapheus, Spectacolorum in Susceptione Philippi Hispaniae Principis Caroli V Caesaris Filii, Anno Domini M.D.XLIX (Antverpiae, 1550). Radboud University Library, Nijmegen. Plate III Druon Antigon. Engraving, Pieter Coecke van Aalst, in Cornelius Grapheus, Spectaculorum in Susceptione Philippi Hispaniae Principis Caroli V Caesaris Filii, Anno Domini M.D.XLIX (Antverpiae, 1550). Radboud University Library, Nijmegen. Plate IV Th e City Triumphal Arch at the Beginning of the Hoogstraat. Engraving, Pieter Coecke van Aalst, in Cornelius Grapheus, Spectaculorum in Susceptione Philippi Hispaniae Principis Caroli V Caesaris Filii, Anno Domini M.D.XLIX (Antverpiae, 1550). Radboud University Library, Nijmegen. Plate V View at Maastricht. Engraving by chaplain Simon a Bello Monte, ca 1555. City Archive Maastricht, Verzameling van prenten, tekeningen en plattegronden van LGOG. Figures belonging to the article by Kimberlee Cloutier-Blazzard Fig. 1 Jacob Jordaens, Satyr and Peasant, ca. 1620-1621, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, o/c. Fig. 2 Jordaens, ‘Natura paucis contenta’ (Nature is Happy with a Little), ca. 1644, Castle Hluboká (Bohemia), tapestry. viii list of illustrations Fig. 3 Jordaens, Peasant Eating, ca. 1650, Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Kassel, o/c. Fig. 4 Jan Steen, Satyr and Peasant, ca. 1650, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, o/c. Fig. 5 Steen, Fat Kitchen, 1650, private collection, o/panel. Fig. 6 Steen, Satyr and Peasant, ca. 1650, Museum Bredius, Th e Hague, o/c. Fig. 7 (Copy aft er) Steen, Lean Kitchen, ca. 1650, whereabouts unknown (Braun, fi g. 213a), o/panel. Figures belonging to the article by Willem Frijhoff Fig. 1 Th e embarkation of Dominie Bogardus on board Th e Princess, August 17, 1647. Anonymous painting attributed to Augustijn Heermans. Private collection. Courtesy of Erich Heinze and Brian McCarthy, Art dealers. Fig. 2 Peter van de Velde, Estuary landscape with a windmill and fi shing boats in a breeze (Auction at Christie’s, London, March 11, 1983). Courtesy of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, Th e Hague. Figures belonging to the article by Jan Blanc Fig. 1 Rembrandt van Rijn, Th e Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, c. 1661, canvas, 196 × 309 cm, Stockholm, Nationalmuseum. Fig. 2 Rembrandt van Rijn, Th e Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, c. 1661, pen and wash in bistre, 196 × 180 mm, Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. INTRODUCTION: MYTH IN HISTORY, HISTORY IN MYTH Laura Cruz and Willem Frijhoff Sometimes, defi nitions of myth seem as elusive as the myths them- selves. In 1975, the Dutch historian C.A. Tamse noted that the vener- able Van Dale Dutch dictionary once defi ned myth as “a cosmogonic account; a groundless story…or an unfounded representation about a person, thing, or case which is taken as accurate.”1 At present, in 2008, the same dictionary defi nes myth as a “narrative tradition of a people concerning its religion and world-view, a story about men and gods”, and secondly as a “baseless story, a fable”. It is only in the third meaning of a “historical myth” that the defi nition as “a groundless representa- tion of a person, thing, or case” now recurs.2 Th e diff erence in the two is subtle, yet evinces a signifi cant development in attitudes towards and understanding of the function of myths in modern society and schol- arship. Tamse wrote these words in his introductory article, “Th e Political Myth” which set up a volume of conference papers by British and Dutch scholars concerned with studying the usages of history in myth. Th at conference took place at Southampton in 1973. One gen- eration later, in 2005, a diff erent group of British, Dutch, and American scholars met in New York and considered the question of myth and history once again. As the changing defi nitions above suggest, the emphasis in this vol- ume has shift ed from debunking myths to rediscovering them as legiti- mate forms of discourse. In the hands of these authors, myths become 1 C.A. Tamse, “Th e Political Myth,” in: J.S. Bromley