Life in 17th century Netherlands
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| Roelant Roghman, (Dutch 1627–1692), The Breach in the Dike between Amsterdam and Diemen in 1651 |
Frisian is a Dutch dialect spoken by a Dutch minority. They were recognized as far back as Roman times and they inhabited the coastline of Holland and the Jutland Peninsula. Frisia was comprised of West and East Friesland and North Friesland, the area from which Jan and Volkje came. There has been much discussion on whether the name Van Huss and Van Hoesen is Dutch or Frisian. The question can not be answered clearly. Husum and Nordstrand where the two came from was once upon a time Danish, then part of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, but in the main, the inhabitants were culturally Dutch.
Historically, it is important to know that the nation state of the Netherlands only came into being in 1596 when the kings of France and England arranged a treaty with the Republic of the United Netherlands, giving the fledgling state international recognition. The Kingdom of Spain continued to wage war on the Dutch until 1609 when they too recognized Dutch independence. The North Friesland coast where Jan Fanz Van Husum originated was for the most part a "vast swampy moor." Husum was a seaport and it is likely that Jan, who was a sailor, sailed into the North Atlantic to catch cod. Because of its remoteness from Amsterdam and the major Dutch cities, Husum and the island of Nordstrand escaped the fighting between the Spanish and the Dutch. Dutch engineers had come to the island of Nordstrand to battle the sea and reclaim the land.
It was not a battle they could win.
Go stroll along the sandy dunes and march through the muddy marshes. See the world the way they saw it. For a good article on Dutch life in the 16th and 17th century with images go to the following link:
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