Table Of ContentBRILL'S STUDIES
IN
INTELLECTUAL HISTORY
General Editor
A.J. VANDERJAGT, University of Groningen
Editorial Board
M. COLISH, Oberlin College
J.I. ISRAEL, University College, London
J.D. NORTH, University of Groningen
H.A. OBERMAN, University of Arizona, Tucson
R.H. POPKIN, Washington University, St. Louis-UCLA
VOLUME 42
PUBLISHED FOR THE SIR THOMAS BROWNE INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF LEIDEN
BRITISH TRAVELLERS IN HOLLAND
DURING THE STUART PERIOD
Edward Browne and John Loch
as Tourists in the United Provinces
BY
CD. VAN STRIEN
EJ. BRILL
LEIDEN · NEW YORK · KÖLN
1993
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library of Congress C at aloging-in-Public at ion Data
Strien, CD. van.
British travellers in Holland during the Stuart Period : Edward
Browne and John Locke as tourists in the United Provinces / by CD.
van Strien ; in cooperation with the Sir Thomas Browne Institute.
p. cm. — (Brill's studies in intellectual history, ISSN
0920-8607 ; v. 42)
Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph.D.) — Vrije
Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1989.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9004094822 (alk. paper)
1. Netherlands—Description and travel. 2. Locke, John,
1632-1704—Journeys—Netherlands. 3. Browne, Edward, 644-1708-
-Journeys—Netherlands. 4. British—Travel—Netherlands-
-History—17th century. I. Sir Thomas Browne Instituut. II. Title.
III. Series.
DJ36.S77 1993
914.9204'4—dc20 93-2166
CIP
ISSN 0920-8607
ISBN 90 04 09482 2
© Copyright 1993 by E.J. Bull, Leiden, The Netherlands
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, ekctronw,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior watten
permission of the publisher.
Authonzation to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by E.J. Bull provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to Copyright
Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street, Salem MA
01970, USA. Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1
Survey of studies on travel in Europe and in Holland; outline of the
present book; various groups of travellers; travel as education; advice
for travellers; British students at Dutch universities; women travellers;
Anglo-Dutch relations in the seventeenth century.
I. SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY TRAVEL ACCOUNTS 17
Introduction 17
Private diaries and other personal notes 17
Little information on travel in Holland.
Memoirs 19
Authors write about their careers for the benefit of relatives or the
public at large; memoirs often summaries of other documents; literary
models; picture of Holland determined by time of writing; usually no
detailed accounts of travel.
Correspondence 22
Specific travel correspondence; long descriptive letters; literary models;
more freedom in letters than in formal travel journals; accounts pub
lished after c.1680 more entertaining.
Travel journals 25
Introduction. Journals written by tourists; advice on keeping ajournai;
journal kept for parents and friends; large variety of journals on Hol
land, published and in manuscript; narrative and descriptive aspects.
Narrative aspects. Form determined by itinerary and dates; little infor
mation on cost of transport, lodging and people met during the jour
ney; few events involving traveller himself; factual report on itinerary
more important than adventures and anecdotes, which become more
frequent after about 1680; conclusion of journal.
vi BRITISH TRAVELLERS IN HOLLAND
Descriptive aspects. Description is the most important aspect; system
atic descriptions of cities; also less detailed ones as Dutch cities were
well-known; various sights; historical anecdotes; account concluded by
general observations on the country, particularly its history and gov
ernment.
From rough draft to publication. Great variety in length and quality of
journals; unfinished journals; ingredients of a journal; illustrations;
revision after many years; journals prepared for publication; growing
emphasis on natural sciences in published journals; book reviews.
Sources. Guidebooks used by most authors of travel journals; huge
qyantity of books on Holland; specific guidebooks: Guicciardini and
works by Dutch scholars; Parival and other guidebooks in French;
Carr and more books in English and French; published travel accounts
used as guidebooks; guidebooks seldom mentioned; examples of
borrowings from guidebooks: descriptions, anecdotes, opinions, long
passages for general observations, the tone of the journal.
The travel journal as a personal document. Use of language, subject
matter, opinions and events generally reveal little about the traveller.
Conclusion
II. THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE UNITED PROVINCES
The crossing to Holland
Preparations; from London direct by yacht; by river boat to Gravesend;
by road to Dover or Margate; cost of this journey; crossing in convoy;
by water or road to Harwich; crossing in packet boats; customs;
merchant vessels; duration of the crossing; storms; pirates and priva
teers; occupations on board; approaching the Dutch coast; pilots;
arrival in a Dutch port.
Various routes through the United Provinces
From Helvoet to Amsterdam; North-Holland; from Amsterdam to
Utrecht; excursions into Gelderland; via Gorkum and Dordrecht back
to Rotterdam; to Zeeland and Antwerp; fortresses in Brabant; from
northern Germany through Groningen and Friesland; through Overijs
sel via Amersfoort to Amsterdam; the route along the Rhine (Nijme
gen); routes to the Spanish Netherlands via Sluis, Antwerp or Den
Bosch and Maastricht.
CONTENTS vu
Transport in Holland in the seventeenth century 76
Frequency of services; speed of travel; cost of transport; additional
costs. Travelling on foot and by waggon; roads; ferries; waggoners.
Sailing boats. Trekschuit; canals. Travel in winter.
Accommodation 90
Going to British or Dutch inns; meals and drinks; prices of meals;
gentlemen often overcharged; other experiences at inns; cost of board
and lodging.
Contacts and language 97
Tourists mixed with countrymen; contacts with the Dutch limited;
few travellers knew Dutch; contacts with the Dutch in French and
English.
Money matters 100
Cost of travel in Europe and in Holland; cashing letters of credit and
bills of exchange; changing money; Dutch coins.
Conclusion 102
III. SIGHTSEEING 113
General remarks on the towns 113
Panoramic view. Cities in the east and south interesting for their
fortifications. Cities in Holland, Zeeland and Friesland: neat streets and
canals; construction work; sledges; Amsterdam like a paradise.
Visiting the principal sights 118
Tourist guides. Binnenhof and courts in The Hague. Town halls with
collections of art and antiquities; town hall of Amsterdam. Other
public collections, particularly those of the university of Leiden: its
buildings and students; printing house and library; botanical garden;
anatomy schools. Private collections, a.o. Van Leeuwenhoek, Smetius
and Van Vliet. Churches and visits to religious services: monuments of
admirals; inscriptions; the New Church at Amsterdam; modern
churches; visits to services of Jews, English, sects, Dutch. More sights
mainly at Amsterdam: the Exchange; the Admiralty buildings; the East
India Company; the port; charitable institutions, Dolhuis, old people's
homes; Rasphuis; Spinhuis.
Vlll BRITISH TRAVELLERS IN HOLLAND
Leisure time 136
Taverns and coffee houses. Purchases, markets, shops and fairs. Enter
tainment: fairs and theatres; "tour à la mode" and assemblies in The
Hague; music houses in Amsterdam.
Touring the countryside 144
General impressions of the country in Holland and the eastern prov
inces; the struggle against the sea. Industry and farming; bleaching
fields; the digging of peat. Country houses and their gardens; Zorg
vliet, De Voorst, Middachten, Zeist, Dieren, Soestdijk; the Prince of
Orange's houses near The Hague (the House in the Wood [Huis ten
Bosch], Rijswijk, Honselaarsdijk); Het Loo.
Conclusion 154
IV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS MADE BY TRAVELLERS 169
Introduction 169
History 170
Before 1550, Romans at Nijmegen and Katwijk; St. Mary's at Utrecht;
Haarlem and the crusade to Damiate; the miracle of Loosduinen; the
1421 flood. The beginnings of the United Provinces: union under the
House of Burgundy; rising against Spanish rule; some events from this
war, Den Briel (1572), sieges of Haarlem (1573) and Leiden (1574),
assassination of William of Orange (1584), the capture of Breda (1590).
Historic events of the seventeenth century: synod of Dordrecht (1618-
19); embarkation of Charles II (1660); death of admiral Tromp (1653);
French invasion of 1672; murder of the De Witt brothers; peace
negotiations at Nijmegen (1678), Rijswijk (1697) and Utrecht (1713).
Government 178
Government of the cities, provinces and the Union: States General and
Council of State; Holland a commonwealth or not? Army and navy;
Holland a great military power; well-disciplined army; troop review;
the admiralties; Dutch and British navies compared. Laws and the
administration of Justice: remarks on odd punishments; few references
to legal matters apart from those on crime; torture; murderers often get
a chance to flee; prisons, inmates work or pay; Rasphouse, exemplary
or dreadful; the judgement hall in Amsterdam; public executions;
gallows and anecdotes on criminals; tourists victims of theft; praise of
Dutch laws. Taxes, almost everything is taxed; taxes give rise to
