Dutch Golden Age
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The Dutch Golden Age (Dutch: Gouden Eeuw [ˈɣʌudə(n) ˈeːu]) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the Rampjaar occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific developments, art and overseas colonisation was among the most prominent in Europe. The first half of the period spanned from the beginning of the Eighty Years' War until its conclusion in 1648, with the second half lasting until the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War. During the period, Dutch colonialists, many of them affiliated with the East India Company and West India Company, established trading posts and colonies in the Americas, Southern Africa and Asia, protected by the powerful Dutch States Navy. The Dutch also dominated the triangular trade and Atlantic slave trade during this period.
Dutch culture experienced a renaissance during this period as well. However, by the end of the 17th century, conflicts with neighbouring powers as well as a declining economic influence led the end of the period. The process by which the Dutch Republic became one of the foremost maritime and economic powers of the world during the era has been referred to as the "Dutch Miracle" by historian K. W. Swart.[1] The term "Dutch Golden Age" has been controversial in the 21st century due to the extensive Dutch involvement in slavery and colonialism during the period, and it has been deprecated by several museums in the Netherlands, including the Amsterdam Museum.[2][3]
Background
In 1568, the Seven Provinces that later signed the Union of Utrecht (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht) started a rebellion against Philip II of Spain that led to the Eighty Years' War. Before the Low Countries could be completely reconquered, a war between England and Spain, the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604, broke out, forcing Spanish troops to halt their advances and leaving them in control of the important trading cities of Bruges and Ghent, but without control of Antwerp, which was then arguably the most important port in the world. Antwerp fell on 17 August 1585, after a siege, and the division between the Northern and Southern Netherlands (the latter mostly modern Belgium) was established.[citation needed]
The United Provinces (roughly today's Netherlands) fought on until the Twelve Years' Truce, which did not end the hostilities. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Eighty Years' War between the Dutch Republic and Spain, and the Thirty Years' War between other European superpowers, brought the Dutch Republic formal recognition and independence from the Spanish crown.[citation needed]
Migration of skilled workers to the Dutch Republic
Protestants were especially well-represented among the
More Protestants moved to the north between 1585 and 1630 than Catholics moved in the other direction, although there were also many of these.[clarification needed] Many of those moving north settled in Amsterdam, transforming what was a small harbor into one of the most important ports and commercial centres in the world by 1630.[citation needed]
In addition to the mass migration of
Protestant work ethic
Economists
Cheap energy sources
Several other factors also contributed to the flowering of trade, industry, the arts and the sciences in the Netherlands during this time. A necessary condition was a supply of cheap energy from windmills and from peat, easily transported by canal to the cities. The invention[6] of the wind powered sawmill enabled the construction of a massive fleet of ships for worldwide trading and for military defense of the republic's economic interests.[citation needed]
Birth and wealth of corporate finance
In the 17th century the Dutch – traditionally able seafarers and keen mapmakers – began to trade with the Far East, and as the century wore on, they gained an increasingly dominant position in world trade, a position previously occupied by the Portuguese and Spanish.[citation needed] The maps used by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba to attack Dutch cities were made by Dutch mapmakers.[citation needed]
In 1602, the
Although the trade with the Far East was the more famous of the VOC's exploits, the main source of wealth for the Republic was, in fact, its trade with the Baltic states and Poland (then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). Called the "Mothertrade" (Dutch: Moedernegotie), the Dutch imported enormous amounts of bulk resources like grain and wood, stockpiling them in Amsterdam so Holland would never lack for basic goods, as well as being able to sell them on for profit. This meant that, unlike their main rivals, the Republic would not face the dire repercussions of a bad harvest and the starvation it accompanied, instead profiting when this happened in other states (bad harvests were commonplace in France and England in the 17th century, which also contributed to the Republic's success in that time).
Geography
According to Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O'Rourke, geography favored the Dutch Republic, contributing to its wealth. They write, "The foundations were laid by taking advantage of location, midway between the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic. Seville and Lisbon and the Baltic ports were too far apart for direct trade between the two terminal points, enabling the Dutch to provide profitable intermediation, carrying salt, wine, cloth and later silver, spices, and colonial products eastward while bringing Baltic grains, fish, and naval stores to the west. The Dutch share of European shipping tonnage was enormous, well over half during most of the period of their ascendancy."[5]
Dutch Empire
Outside of Europe, the Republic also prospered. The
The prosperity gained from this was accompanied by horrors against the local population. For example, in 1621, Jan Pieterszoon Coen had almost all the inhabitants of the Banda Islands massacred, see Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands.[citation needed]
For a short time, the Republic seemed very successful in
Curaçao was conquered in 1634. By 1648, Aruba and Bonaire were also in Dutch hands. A promising colony in North America was New Amsterdam (in present-day New York City).[citation needed]
The role that the Netherlands was able to play in the transatlantic slave trade was the result of a series of conquests against the Portuguese. Trade routes of African slaves in the seventeenth century ran largely through Elmina in Ghana to Brazil and the Caribbean Islands. Elmina was conquered in 1637, Axim in 1642. In 1641, led by Cornelis Jol, Angola was also conquered. It is estimated that more than 550,000 people were brought to America in slavery by Dutch ships. Conditions during these voyages were miserable, and it was commonplace for large numbers of enslaved people to die before they reached their destination. In addition to the personal hardships of enslaved people, the trade also massively disrupted African societies. Estimates of the direct profitability vary, but without slavery the colonization of the Americas would have looked very different.[citation needed]
Asian slaves were also traded extensively. The slave was indispensable in the economy of the Dutch colonial empire in the Golden Age as a labor force; in the second half of the seventeenth century, half of the inhabitants of Batavia were unfree.[8]
Monopoly on trade with Japan
Amsterdam's dominant position as a trade center was strengthened in 1640 with a monopoly for the
The collection of scientific learning introduced from Europe became known in Japan as Rangaku or Dutch Learning.[10] The Dutch were instrumental in transmitting to Japan some knowledge of the industrial and scientific revolution then occurring in Europe. The Japanese purchased and translated numerous scientific books from the Dutch, obtained from them Western curiosities and manufactures (such as clocks) and received demonstrations of various Western innovations (such as electric phenomena, and the flight of a hot air balloon in the early 19th century). In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch were arguably the most economically wealthy and scientifically advanced of all European nations, which put them in a privileged position to transfer Western knowledge to Japan.[11]
European great power
The Dutch also dominated trade between European countries. The Low Countries were favorably positioned at a crossing of east–west and north–south trade routes and connected to a large German hinterland through the Rhine river. Dutch traders shipped wine from France and Portugal to the Baltic lands and returned with grain for countries around the Mediterranean Sea. By the 1680s, an average of nearly 1000 Dutch ships entered the Baltic Sea each year,[12] to trade with markets of the fading Hanseatic League. The Dutch were able to gain control of much of the trade with the nascent English colonies in North America; and after the end of the war with Spain in 1648, Dutch trade with that country also flourished.[citation needed]
Other industries
National industries expanded as well. Shipyards and sugar refineries are prime examples. As more and more land was utilized, partially through transforming lakes into polders such as the Beemster, Schermer and Purmer, local grain production and dairy farming soared.[citation needed]
Social structure
In the Netherlands in the 17th century, social status was largely determined by income. The landed nobility had relatively little importance, since they mostly lived in the more underdeveloped inland provinces, and it was the urban merchant class that dominated Dutch society. The clergy did not have much worldly influence either: the Catholic Church had been more or less suppressed since the onset of the Eighty Years' War with Spain. The new Protestant movement was divided, although exercising social control in many areas to an even greater extent than under the Catholic Church.[13]
That is not to say that aristocrats were without social status. On the contrary, wealthy merchants bought themselves into the nobility by becoming landowners and acquiring a coat of arms and a seal. Aristocrats also mixed with other classes for financial reasons: they married their daughters to wealthy merchants, became traders themselves or took up public or military office. Merchants also started to value public office as a means to greater economic power and prestige. Universities became career pathways to public office. Rich merchants and aristocrats sent their sons on a so-called
After aristocrats and patricians came the affluent middle class, consisting of Protestant ministers, lawyers, physicians, small merchants, industrialists and clerks of large state institutions. Lower status was attributed to farmers, craft and tradesmen, shopkeepers, and government bureaucrats. Below that stood skilled laborers, maids, servants, sailors, and other persons employed in the service industry. At the bottom of the pyramid were "paupers": impoverished peasants, many of whom tried their luck in a city as a beggar or day laborer.[citation needed]
Workers and laborers were generally paid better than in most of Europe, and enjoyed relatively high living standards, although they also paid higher than normal taxes. Farmers prospered from mainly cash crops needed to support the urban and seafaring population.[citation needed]
Women's roles
The central role of women in the 17th-century Dutch household revolved around the home and domestic tasks.[15] In Dutch culture, the home was regarded as a safe-haven from the lack of Christian virtue and immorality of the outside world.[16] Additionally, the home represented a microcosm of the Dutch Republic, in that the smooth running of an ideal household reflected the relative stability and prosperity of the government.[16] The home was an integral part of public life in Dutch society. Public passers-by could clearly view the entrance halls of Dutch homes decorated to show off a particular family's wealth and social standing. The home was also a place for neighbors, friends, and extended family to interact, further cementing its importance in the social lives of 17th-century Dutch burghers.[16] The physical space of the Dutch home was constructed along gender lines. In the front of the house, the men had control over a small space where they could do their work or conduct business, known as the Voorhuis, while women controlled most every other space in the house, such as the kitchens and private family rooms.[17] Although there was a clear separation in spheres of power between husband and wife (the husband had authority in the public realm, the wife in the domestic and private),[citation needed] women in 17th-century Dutch society still enjoyed a wide range of freedoms within their own sphere of control.[15][16] Unmarried young women were known to enjoy various freedoms with their lovers and suitors, while married women enjoyed the right to publicly shame their husbands who patronized brothels.[citation needed] Moreover, married women could legally reject the sexual desires of their husbands if there were proof or reason to believe that a sexual encounter would result in the transmission of syphilis or other venereal diseases.[15][16] Dutch women were also allowed to take communion alongside men, and widows were able to inherit property and maintain control over their finances and husband's wills.[16] However, a woman's sphere of authority still primarily lay in household duties, though historical evidence exists showing certain cases of wives maintaining considerable control in family businesses.[15] Manuals written by men instructing women and wives in various aspects of domestic duties proliferated, the most popular being Jacob Cats' Houwelyck.[17] As evidenced by numerous 17th-century Dutch genre paintings, the most important domestic tasks performed by women included supervising maids, cooking, cleaning, needlework, and spinning.[17][18]
Unmarried women
As seen in art and literature at the time, unmarried young women were valued for maintaining their modesty and diligence as this time in a woman's life was regarded to be the most precarious.[15] From a young age, burgher women were taught various household-related duties by their mothers, including reading, so as to prepare them for their lives as housewives.[15] Dutch art at this time shows the idealized situation in which an unmarried young girl ought to conduct herself in situations such as courtship, which commonly included themes relating to gardens or nature, music lessons or parties, needlework, and receiving love letters.[17] However, ideals of the young women espoused by genre painting and Petrarchian poetry did not reflect the reality. Accounts from travellers described the various freedoms young women were provided in the realm of courtship. The prevalence of Calvinist sermons regarding the consequences of leaving young women unsupervised also spoke to a general trend of a lack of parental oversight in the matters of young love.[15]
Married women and mothers
Dutch writers, such as Jacob Cats, held the prevailing public opinion concerning marriage. He and other cultural authorities were influenced by Calvinist ideals that stressed an equality between husband and wife, considered companionship a primary reason for marriage, and regarded procreation as a mere consequence of that companionship.[15] However, non-egalitarian ideas still existed regarding women as the weaker sex, and the image of the turtle was commonly used to express the separate spheres and strengths of both genders.[15] In addition to supervising maids, cooking, cleaning, and prating needlework, women were also encouraged to maintain some financial control over domestic affairs, such as going to market and buying their own food.[15]
Maternity and motherhood were highly valued in Dutch culture. Mothers were encouraged to breastfeed their children, as using a wet nurse would prevent a bond from forming between mother and child. The Dutch believed that a mother's milk came from the blood originally in her womb and that feeding the infant such substances would also reap physiological and health related benefits.[15] Seventeenth-century Dutch society dictated that children should first begin to learn religion at home. Therefore, along with their husbands, women used family meal times to discuss religious topics and to focus on prayer.[15]
Old women and widows
Seventeenth-century Dutch culture maintained contradictory attitudes regarding the elderly, in particular, elderly women. Some Dutch writers idealized old age as a poetic transition from life to death. Others regarded aging as an illness in which one is gradually deteriorating until they reach their final destination, while some lauded the elderly as wise and people who deserve the highest forms of respect.[15] However, treatises on behaviour for elderly women and widows stressed not necessarily their inherent wisdom, but that they should maintain piety, practice moderation, and live a relatively secluded life.[15][16] Unlike other European artistic traditions, Dutch art rarely depicts elderly women as disgusting or grotesque creatures, but rather they are idolized as figures of piety and purity whom the younger generations of women can look up to.[16]
Religion
Calvinism was the state religion in the Dutch Republic, though this does not mean that unity existed. Although the Netherlands was a tolerant nation compared to neighboring states, wealth and social status belonged almost exclusively to Protestants. The cities with a predominantly Catholic background, such as
Tolerance towards Catholics was not so easy to uphold, as religion had played an important part in the Eighty Years' War of independence against Spain (with political and
Overall, the country was tolerant enough to attract religious refugees from other countries, notably Jewish merchants from Portugal who brought much wealth with them. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France in 1685 resulted in the immigration of many French Huguenots, many of whom were shopkeepers or scientists. However, some figures, such as the philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), experienced social stigma.[citation needed]
Science
Due to its climate of intellectual tolerance, the Dutch Republic attracted scientists and other thinkers from all over Europe. In particular, the renowned
Dutch lawyers were famous for their knowledge of international law of the sea and commercial law. Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) played a leading part in the foundation of international law. He invented the concept of the "Free seas" or Mare liberum, which was fiercely contested by England, the Netherlands' main rival for domination of world trade. He also formulated laws on conflicts between nations in his book De lure Belli ac pacis ("On the law of war and peace").[citation needed]
Famous Dutch hydraulic engineer Jan Leeghwater (1575–1650) gained important victories in the Netherlands' eternal battle against the sea. Leeghwater added a considerable amount of land to the republic by converting several large lakes into polders, pumping the water out with windmills.[citation needed]
Again due to the Dutch climate of tolerance, book publishers flourished. Many books on religion, philosophy, and science that might have been deemed controversial abroad were printed in the Netherlands and secretly exported to other countries. Thus during the 17th century, the Dutch Republic became more and more Europe's publishing house.[citation needed]
Culture
Cultural development in the Low Countries stood out from neighboring countries. With some exceptions (notably Dutch playwright
Centres of cultural activity were town militia (Dutch: schutterij) and chambers of rhetoric (rederijkerskamer). The former were created for town defence and policing, but also served as a meeting-place for the well-to-do, who were proud to play a prominent part and paid well to see this preserved for posterity by means of a group portrait. The latter were associations at a city level that fostered literary activities, like poetry, drama and discussions, often through contests. Cities took pride in their associations and promoted them.[citation needed]
In the Dutch Golden Age, the meals of the middle class consisted of a rich variety of dishes.
Painting
Dutch Golden Age painting followed many of the tendencies that dominated
This trend, along with the lack of
Today, the best-known painters of the Dutch Golden Age are the period's most dominant figure Rembrandt, the Delft master of genre Johannes Vermeer, the innovative landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael, and Frans Hals, who infused new life into portraiture. Some notable artistic styles and trends include Haarlem Mannerism, Utrecht Caravaggism, the School of Delft, the Leiden fijnschilders, and Dutch classicism.[citation needed]
Architecture
Dutch architecture was taken to a new height in the Golden Age. Cities expanded greatly as the economy thrived. New town halls, weighhouses and storehouses were built. Merchants who had made their fortune ordered a new house along one of the many new canals that were dug out in and around many cities (for defense and transport purposes), a house with an ornamented façade that befitted their new status. In the countryside, many new castles and stately homes were built; but most of them have not survived.[citation needed]
Early in the 17th century late Gothic elements still prevailed, combined with Renaissance motives. After a few decades French classicism gained prominence: vertical elements were stressed, less ornamentation was used, and natural stone was preferred above bricks. In the last decades of the century this trend towards sobriety intensified. From around 1670 the most prominent feature of a house front was its entrance, with pillars on each side and possibly a balcony above it, but no further decoration.[citation needed]
Starting at 1595, Reformed churches were commissioned, many of which are still landmarks today.[citation needed]
The most famous Dutch architects of the 17th century were Jacob van Campen, Pieter Post, Philips Vingboons, Lieven de Key, and Hendrick de Keyser.[citation needed]
Sculpture
Dutch achievements in sculpture in the 17th century are less prominent than in painting and architecture, and fewer examples were created than in neighbouring countries, partly because of their absence in the interiors of Protestant churches, as objections to the Roman Catholic veneration of statues had been one of the contentious points of the
Literature
The Golden Age was also an important time for developments in literature. Some of the major figures of this period were
During this time, a climate of tolerance developed in comparison to other European states with strict censorship restrictions paving the way for the Dutch to become a powerhouse in the book trade. This transformation is described by modern historians as the 'Dutch miracle.' Additionally, the Dutch enjoyed high literacy rates, and Dutch entrepreneurs took advantage of this. As a result, seventeenth-century Holland became a great centre for the production of news, Bibles, political pamphlets. Louis Elzevir and his descendants created what is considered one of the most eminent dynasties of the book trade. The House of Elzevir produced pocket editions of classical Latin texts which were scholarly, reliable, and reasonably priced. The Elzevir dynasty died out in 1712 and the 'Dutch miracle' waned as international competition caught up to the Dutch book trade.[28]
Controversy
The term "Dutch Golden Age" became a source of controversy during the 21st century due to the extensive Dutch involvement in slavery during this period; approximately 1.7 million people were enslaved by Dutch slavers from the 17th to 19th centuries as part of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades.[29] In a 2019 exhibition at the Amsterdam Museum, the museum announced it would stop using the phrase, with its artistic director Margriet Schavemaker stating that "the Golden Age is, in a way, the story of the winners, and it hides the colonial past of [the Netherlands]. It hides slavery, but also it covers up poverty more generally. Not everyone participated in the Golden Age, not at all." The museum's announcement was met with criticism, including from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and politician Michel Rog.[30] In contrast, Curaçaoan activist and artist Quinsy Gario wrote that "Most people [in the Netherlands] understand the Golden Age is a wrong term".[31]
See also
- Dutch Golden Age painting
- Golden Age of Flanders
- First Stadtholderless Period
- Flemish painting
- List of people from the Dutch Golden Age
- Tulip mania
- Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
Notes
- ^ Swart, Koenraad Wolter (1969). The miracle of the Dutch Republic as seen in the seventeenth century. London: H.K.Lewis & Co Ltd. Archived from the original on 19 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ^ Trouw (21 September 2019). "Het debat over de naam Gouden Eeuw is waardevol en nodig". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ "Amsterdam Museum gebruikt term 'Gouden Eeuw' niet meer". Historiek (in Dutch). 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ISBN 0-09-131051-2 – via Google Books.
- ^ ISBN 0-226-06598-7. Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- Jan Adriaanszoon Leeghwater
- ^ Quinn, Stephen; Roberds, William (August 2005). "The Big Problem of Large Bills: The Bank of Amsterdam and the Origins of Central Banking" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ VOC-kenniscentrum, thema slavernij
- ^ Sinnappah Arasaratnam, "Monopoly and Free Trade in Dutch-Asian Commercial Policy: Debate and Controversy within the VOC." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 4.1 (1973): 1-15.
- ^ Marius B. Jansen, "Rangaku and Westernization." Modern Asian Studies 18.4 (1984): 541-553.
- ^ Grant K. Goodman, Japan and the Dutch 1600-1853 (Routledge, 2013).
- ^ "Baltic Connections: Mercantilism in the West Baltic". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
- ^ Derek L. Phillips, Well-being in Amsterdam's Golden Age (Amsterdam University Press, 2008).
- ^ Klaske, Muizelaar, and Derek L. Phillips, Picturing Men and Women in the Dutch Golden Age: Paintings and People in Historical Perspective (Yale UP, 2003).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Koot, Gerard (2015). "The Portrayal of Women in Dutch Art of the Dutch Golden Age: Courtship, Marriage and Old Age" (PDF). University of Massachusetts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9780300178999.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Vegard Skirbekk, "Fertility trends by social status." Demographic research 18.5 (2008): 145-180.
- ^ Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosopy And Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1967. P.559.
- ISBN 978-0-387-68367-6. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2016. Extract of page 186 Archived 12 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-0-521-39940-1. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2016. Extract of page 186 Archived 23 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Antony van Leeuwenhoek". www.ucmp.berkeley.edu. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
- ^ de Graaf, Reitze A. (16 August 2004). "De rijke Hollandse dis". WereldExpat (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 23 December 2008.
- ^ "De Nederlandse keuken". Antiqbook (in Dutch). 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
- ^ a b Rose, Peter G. (2002). "Culinary History of New York" (PDF). 16 (1). Culinary Historians of New York: 1–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2013.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Thomson/Wadsworth, (2005): 718–19.
- ^ "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ Lyons, Martyn. 2011. Books: a living history. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
- ^ McGreevy, Nora (1 June 2021). "Confronting the Netherlands' Role in the Brutal History of Slavery". Smithsonian. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Siegal, Nina (25 October 2019). "A Dutch Golden Age? That's Only Half the Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Holligan, Anna (19 December 2022). "Netherlands slavery: Saying sorry leaves Dutch divided". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
References and further reading
- Cook, Harold(2007). Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Freist, Dagmar (2010). "The "Dutch Century"". Institute of European History. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- Helmers, Helmer J. and Geert H. Janssen, eds. The Cambridge Companion to the Dutch Golden Age (Cambridge University Press, 2018) 428 pp online review
- Hoftijzer, Paul G., The Dutch Republic, Centre of the European Book Trade in the 17th Century, EGO - European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, 2015, retrieved: March 8, 2020 (pdf).
- Margócsy, Dániel. Commercial Visions: Science, Trade, and Visual Culture in the Dutch Golden Age (University of Chicago Press, 2014).
- Schama, Simon (1987). The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New York: Alfred Knopf.
- de Vries, Jan; van der Woude, Ad (2010). The First Modern Economy: Success, failure, and perseverance of the Dutch economy, 1500–1815. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-57825-7.
External links
- "Castles, palaces and stately homes in the Dutch golden age".
- Dutch Golden Age at Art Painting Artist