Five Brothers and a War

History—1600 to 1700 AD

The Gouden Eeuw (Dutch “Golden Age”) was marked by supremacy in trade, science, the military and art. Trade was massive during this time. In 1602, the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie VOC (“United East India Company”, known outside Holland as the Dutch East India Company) was established. It was the first-ever multinational corporation, financed by shares that established the first modern stock exchange. For more than two hundred years, the VOC kept its Asian trade monopoly. This firm was the world's largest commercial enterprise of the 17th century. Spices were imported in bulk to satisfy unending demand. This trade brought huge profits, mostly due to the high prices of goods sold, caused by the efforts and risks involved on the supply side, and the seemingly insatiable market on the demand side. To finance the growing trade within the region, the Bank of Amsterdam was established in 1609, the precursor to, if not the first true national central bank. The Dutch empire stretched from Holland to South Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and Asia. Of course, New York began as New Amsterdam in the early 1600s. In the area of science, the Dutch excelled on two levels. Willem van Oranje (“William of Orange”) was so grateful to the city of Leiden for their unrelenting efforts in fighting Spain that he established Leiden University in the latter part of the 16 th Century, which almost immediately blossomed into the world class university that it still is—a gathering spot for best minds in the world. Combined with the intellectual freedom largely created by the rejection of the Roman Catholic Church, an atmosphere was created that drew people from all over Europe into an environment of scientific discovery. Astronomy was highlighted, as was physics. The development of optics led to far better telescopes and microscopes—thereby allowing for the study of microbiology. The perpetual battle against the sea propelled Dutch hydrology engineers to the top of that discipline—a position that has never been relinquished. Among those who migrated to Holland was René Descartes, who lived there from 1628 1649. Thomas Hobbes and John Lock, among many others also found fertile intellectual soil in Holland. When combined with the Dutch leadership in printing, the entire atmosphere of the nation was electric. On the art front, there are three artists whose names are locked in history with the Golden Age: Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. Note that the Dutch did not contribute in the same manner to literature, music, dance, or sculpture. Ludwig van Beethoven had a grandfather from southern Holland (now part of Belgium). Lodewijk (the Dutch name from which “Ludwig” was derived in German) van Beethoven, moved to Bonn, Germany when he was 20 years old. Ludwig’s father, Johann, lived his entire life in Germany, as did Ludwig. In any event, Beethoven lived much later, from 1770-1827. The Dutch contributed monumentally to the art world, but almost entirely in the oil painting area.

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Five Brothers and a War

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