Nova Belgica

Just a few years after the Pilgrim Fathers of Massachusetts founded their colony on Plymouth Rock, the Dutch Republic was establishing the colony of New Netherland, the original territorial claims of which reached from what is now about Delaware up to southern Massachusetts (obviously there were competing colonial claims that would only be ended by the settlement, holding and development of an area). This was during the "Golden Age" of the Netherlands and we can only imagine how history would have been different if the Dutch colonial effort had not been taken over later by the English and re-named New York. But regardless of that, after studying in America I know that not many people are aware that New York and the surrounding area was once New Netherland and naturally no one knows (unless you read it here since I think I mentioned it early on from starting this blog) that many Belgians were involved in this and, in fact, because many still did not consider the status of the independent Netherlands and the Austrian Netherlands "settled" the names where interchangeable and New Netherland was called on some maps "Nova Belgica" or "New Belgium".

New Netherland was the product of the Dutch West India Company that wanted to find a western passage to Asia and later to establish a commercial trading colony on the North America continent. The Dutch West India Company included many people what would today be Belgians. Many of the founders or investors were Flemish Protestants who left Belgium (then belonging to the Catholic Roman Emperor) to go to the Dutch Republic and they helped in establishing the Dutch West India Company which organized the voyages of discovery and colonization to North America. Many people have heard the story about how the GWC agent Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan island from the natives for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. Some think he was Dutch, others think he was German, because he was born in Germany, but Peter Minuit was actually a Belgian and not Flemish but Walloon, his family being from Tournai. They were Protestants though and left Belgium to go to Germany because the Protestants were in power there. It is also not true, I have learned, that he cheated the natives out of Manhattan. He was actually the one cheated because the natives he first bought the island from were not really from there and had no right to sell it and later, when Peter Minuit found this out, he had to buy the island again from the correct owners -so he bought Manhattan twice!

This map has both names "Nova Belgica" and "New Netherland"

In 1664 the New Netherland colony was first taken by the English (the Dutch did not make an effort to protect the colony since it was supposed to be a place of total liberty) but later the powerful Dutch navy defeated the English and restored the colony to Dutch rule in 1673, however, only the next year the Netherlands was attacked by France, England and parts of Germany, exhausted her resources and had to give up the colony to England again who re-named it New York.

Is Willem I Statue a Sign?

A committee in the city of Ghent has asked to put up a statue of King Willem I of the Netherlands, saying that he was very good for their city. This caused some disquieted feelings when I saw the news but not only because of this alone. It is not so bad for Ghent to want a statue of King Willem I (though I am unsure of other countries with statues of foreign kings put up in today's times). He was, after all, a figure of Belgian history and he was our monarch as part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands from the defeat of Waterloo to the 1830 Revolution. That conflict and the independence probably would not have been able to happen if Willem I had been not so heavy-handed but regardless, it is true he was a significant figure. Taken together though with the risen popularity of the Flemish radical nationalists, the inability to form a government and the recent suggestion by the NV-A that the Benelux countries combine their militaries to save costs all makes me worry that Belgium (and possibly even Luxembourg) could be lost in such a union so much dominated by the greater numbers of the Dutch. I like the Netherlands, I like their Family Royal and admire their history, all they accomplished around the world and I want to be good neighbors but I do not want anything that endangers the continued life and independence of the Belgian kingdom.

Crown Princesse Mathilde Honors Dutch Language

Prinses Mathilde is zaterdag in Brugge bij de viering van de dertigste verjaardag van de Nederlandse Taalunie. Prinses Máxima moet verstek laten gaan vanwege het huwelijk van prins Carlos en Annemarie Gualthérie van Weezel in Brussel op hetzelfde tijdstip.

Ter gelegenheid van de verjaardag brengt de Nederlandse Taalunie voor de allereerste keer alle landen bijeen waar het Nederlands een rol speelt. Beleidsmakers uit deze landen gaan op zoek naar samenwerking om de positie van het Nederlands in de wereld te verstevigen.

In dat proces speelt de jeugd een belangrijke rol. Daarom nodigde de Taalunie vooral jeugdige creatieve taalgebruikers uit. Het thema van het feest is: Nederlands, wereldtaal! Aan prinses Mathilde de taak de nieuwe website 'De Wereld van de Nederlandse Taal' te openen.

De Vlaamse krant Het Nieuwsblad uitte verbazing over de uitnodiging van Mathilde. 'Een Franstalige die het Nederlands moet verdedigen, is dat niet vreemd?' vroeg Het Nieuwsblad aan de Taalunie. ,,Nee", aldus Luddo Permentier van de Nederlandse Taalunie. ,,Haar Nederlands is meer dan behoorlijk en bovendien wilden we de klemtoon leggen op buitenlanders die Nederlands willen leren. In dat opzicht is ze een uitstekend voorbeeld."

Indirect Irish Help to Belgium

From an outside tip I have been thinking again about the massive conflict known as the 'Eighty Years War'. Basically this decided the fate of the modern Low Countries, Dutch independence from Spain and the boundaries between Protestant and Catholic religions in the area. This was very much an international conflict or perhaps to say, in more modern terms, a proxy war on the part of the major Catholic and Protestant powers. The Dutch easily had the most allies and help. The German states that were mostly Protestant (Lutheran) sent their formidable troops to help and most importantly the English, recently Protestants again, sent major help with their powerful navy and tens of thousands of soldiers. The Spanish had almost no outside help. The French were fighting each other and even the Catholic Bourbons of France had usually seen as rivals the Catholic Hapsburgs who ruled Spain and Austria. The Austrians were naturally with Spain but they had the Turks to worry about and their own problems with Germany. The Dutch were also very good fighters, inventing many new tactics especially in siege warfare. They also had alot of money from their merchant capitalism and control of vital trade ports.

The Spanish had some advantages, the infantry Spanish tercios pikemen were world renowned and they had a very talented commander in the person of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (raised in Spain but born, married and later headquartered in Brussels) but he died in 1592. Although he had brought the Dutch almost to defeat, intervention by the English navy saved the Dutch Protestant cause from disaster. The English at this time were a dominant power. At the height of Queen Elizabeth I the English had a presence in Europe, aiding French Protestants and the Dutch, their navy asserted control of northern waters, they ruled Ireland and since bringing about the downfall of Mary Queen of Scots also dominated Scotland. The English were safe at home after beating the "Invincible" Armada and could resume their strategy of wearing down Spain by supporting rebelling Protestant forces in Europe. However, in 1594 traditional leaders of the native Catholic population in Ireland started a rebellion against English rule. This was to have an important indirect impact on the war in the United Provinces/Spanish Netherlands (Netherlands and Belgium and Luxembourg).

Ireland was often a problem for England but never too serious and this was at first not taken too seriously. However, when the Irish rebels won a major victory over the English at the battle of Yellow Ford the government in England realized they were facing a possible disaster. With just a little outside help (from Catholic powers like Spain) it seemed possible that the Irish might even be able to drive out the English and restore their independence. This fear caused the Queen of England to recall the majority of English forces from the Netherlands and send a great big army to Ireland under the Earl of Essex. However, he was not a good commander and after the Irish humiliated he was later put to death by the Queen. On the other hand, when Spain sent a small army to help the Irish (using the English strategy against them) they ended in failure also. This took the wind from the sails of the fighting powers in the Netherlands and soon a truce was arranged and though fighting resumed after that both sides had consolidated their positions and the Protestant-Catholic boundaries settled into their mostly continuous status.

This was ultimately very significant for Belgium, even the modern country of today. The Irish were finally defeated, their traditional leaders driven into exile and England started the policy of moving settlers to Northern Ireland to maintain their control. So, the rebellion did not work out very well for the Irish. However, their rebellion may have saved the life of Belgium. Keep in mind that one of the few things that have always been something in common of the Belgian people has been the Catholic Church. It might have been destroyed all those centuries ago. If the Irish had not went to rebellion the English could have kept their army in the Netherlands to fight the Spanish there and help the Dutch (who were doing pretty good already). Because of the Irish the English had to shift their attention and finally had many more troops in Ireland than in the Low Countries. If they had not had to do this it is probably very likely that the Dutch and allied Protestant forces could have totally defeated the Catholics, taken over the Spanish Netherlands and suppressed the Catholic Church from the whole region. Because of this, it can be seen that, indirectly, the Irish rebellion, even though it failed for them, their sacrifice allowed the Spanish Netherlands, later Catholic Belgium, to survive.