Genji Yasuhira (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science): Precarious Coexistence: Catholic Citizens vis-à-vis Huguenot Refugees in the Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic has been famous for its religious diversity. While the Dutch Reformed Church was the only publicly sanctioned church of the Republic, various dissenters including Catholics continued to live as legitimate citizens there. In the second half of the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic acted as the Protestant champion in Europe, intermittently fighting wars against Catholic France under the ‘universal monarchy’ of Louis XIV, while parts of the Northern Netherlands were occupied by the French army from 1672 to 1674. The French occupation served to reinforce the lingering image of Dutch Catholics as the potential political traitors to the Reformed public order in the Republic. Once the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, the Dutch Republic became one of the most popular sites for asylum for Huguenot refugees. How, then, did Dutch Catholic citizens survive in the antagonistic situation after the end of the French occupation? How did they react to the incoming Huguenot refugees who were persecuted by French Catholics? My presentation will attempt to answer these questions by consulting such primary source materials as minutes of the city councils, legal records, and documents concerning donation to Huguenot refugees.

• Zeit: 16-18 Uhr c.t.