Project 2 :17th-century Society

Society and economy in the Dutch republic

o The state tolerated many different religions.
o The Dutch had large merchant and shipping fleets. In 1670, about ten per cent of Dutch adult males were sailors; - the Dutch had more ships than England, France, Germany, Portugal, Scotland, and Spain combined.

• Dutch fishermen caught vast quantities of herring, particularly in the North Sea fishing grounds. On purpose-built ships called buizen ("busses") the fish were gutted, salted and barreled. Other faster ships - ventjagers ("sale-hunters") - sailed out to meet the buizen, so that the catch could be transferred and delivered to market quickly while the large, slow buizen returned to the fishing ground to catch still more fish.



o Dutch vessels were very important in the carrying trade. Western Europe's major source of timber was the wooded southern shore of the Baltic - the most important port being Danzig. Dutch vessels moved almost all the timber in the seventeenth century, but the English were also concerned in the trade. Both the Dutch and the English depended on Baltic timber for shipbuilding, and the wars and diplomacy with Sweden and Denmark revolved around these countries' need to guarantee freedom of timber supplies through the Baltic Sound.
o The Dutch exploited the the wind-powered saw-mill (invented 1596) to turn timber into lumber more efficiently than their rivals.
o The Dutch built ships more cheaply, more quickly and better than did any of their rivals.


o Dutch ships also carried exports of cloth manufactured in the Netherlands (Leiden and Amsterdam were the largest centers).


• Dutch religious tolerance attracted skilled workers, many of whom came to work in the new draperies - light cloths that increasingly replaced expensive high-quality woolen cloth.

o Dutch agricultural output had increased in part because of land reclamation. During the first half of the seventeenth century, the Dutch drained large areas of land.



o Another necessity that the Dutch turned into a virtue was the shortage of land. In other Western European countries the wealthy bought large estates, but unable to do this, the Dutch invested in trade, insurance, and banking.



o There was some poverty in the Netherlands despite its overall prosperity, but the Netherlands did have a system of civic poor relief and charitable institutions that was the envy of Europe. The old, the insane, the sick, disabled, and orphans were all supported and put to useful work wherever possible. The system was - of course - also one of social control and its dependents were given religious instruction and subjected to discipline. Nevertheless, perhaps as many of ten per cent of the larger cities' inhabitants benefited directly from the system.



o To maintain local order, Dutch towns raised civic militias from the ranks of the modestly wealthy (shopkeepers, lumber dealers). Militia officers were often closely related to local government officials. The Civic militias were not usually of any political importance, but in 1672 their decision to side with the populace and against those members of the elite willing to capitulate to France, was crucial.