Trying-out. An Anatomy of Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Nineteenth Century, 1815-1885

Until the present day, whaling and sealing in the nineteenth century have hardly received attention in Dutch maritime historiography. During the two preceding centuries (seventeenth and eighteenth) whaling had developed into a prominent maritime industry. Various major external and internal problems, however, contributed to its rapid decline during the second half of the eighteenth century. After the Napoleonic Era (1795-1815), increasing numbers of Dutch entrepreneurs resumed whaling – both to the Arctic and to the South Seas (Indian and Pacific oceans). So far, no research was conducted as to the very nature and scope of the maritime industries, the socio-economic background of the people involved – be it as investors or crew – or to the profitability of whaling and sealing. This thesis, written in English and based on extensive research into hitherto unexplored archival sources and secondary literature fills many of the gaps in our understanding of how whaling and sealing were organised in the Netherlands; scope, technique, whaling grounds, investments en revenues, numbers of ships and origin of the crewmen are being discussed and placed within a broad, international context.LEI Universiteit LeidenFonds Directie der Oostersche Handel en Reederijen Stichting Vaderlandsch Fonds ter Aanmoediging van ’s-Lands Zeedienst Stichting Admiraal van KinsbergenColonial and Global Histor

Trying-Out: An Anatomy of Dutch Whaling and Sealing in the Nineteenth Century, 1815–1885

Until the present day, whaling and sealing in the nineteenth century have hardly received attention in Dutch maritime historiography. During the two preceding centuries (seventeenth and eighteenth) whaling had developed into a prominent maritime industry. Various major external and internal problems, however, contributed to its rapid decline during the second half of the eighteenth century. After the Napoleonic Era (1795-1815), increasing numbers of Dutch entrepreneurs resumed whaling – both to the Arctic and to the South Seas (Indian and Pacific oceans). So far, no research was conducted as to the very nature and scope of the maritime industries, the socio-economic background of the people involved – be it as investors or crew – or to the profitability of whaling and sealing. This thesis, written in English and based on extensive research into hitherto unexplored archival sources and secondary literature fills many of the gaps in our understanding of how whaling and sealing were organised in the Netherlands; scope, technique, whaling grounds, investments en revenues, numbers of ships and origin of the crewmen are being discussed and placed within a broad, international context.LEI Universiteit LeidenFonds Directie der Oostersche Handel en Reederijen Stichting Vaderlandsch Fonds ter Aanmoediging van ’s-Lands Zeedienst Stichting Admiraal van KinsbergenColonial and Global Histor

Quo patet orbis Dei: Dutch Deputies for maritime affairs and their global network in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Throughout history, Dutch maritime endeavours have been sparked by political, economic, military and sociocultural factors. This article focuses on the relationship between religion and maritime entrepreneurship in the Dutch Republic during the Early Modern period, at sea and in overseas territories. For almost two centuries, the deputies of a number of classis assemblies (departments) of the Dutch Reformed Church corresponded with representatives of the Dutch East and West India Companies and with merchant associations trading with Russia, the Baltic, and the Eastern Mediterranean, but also with the board members of the five admiralties in the Netherlands. This article is about the performance of the deputies within the framework of their global maritime and Dutch Reformed network; the construction of this network within the maritime communities in the Republic and abroad; and about the results of the deputies’ involvement