historical and political thought in the seventeenth - RePub - Erasmus ...

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Chapter 7. The mistress of life
Boxhorn not only supplied etymological evidence, but also archeological
findings such as coins, pots and pans, and excavated foundations of ancient
buildings. 64 The first counts had conquered the Normans and had ruled over
their descendants and the other inhabitants of the county whose rights and
privileges were not described at all. 65
In the course of time, however, the political relationship between the count
and his subjects changed. The count entered into discussion with his nobles
and the delegates of the major towns about the most important issues concerning
the province. 66 This change is reflected in the many town charters,
which the counts, out of self-interest or out of benevolence, gave to towns.
Presented in chronological order, they become lengthier over time, giving
ever more rights to the towns. 67
64 Boxhorn refused to acknowlegde that the Normans had been utterly vanquished. According to
him, they had remained in the possession of the land and were in fact the ancestors of the Hollanders. An
opinion that, according to Boxhorn, had the approval of Scriverius. Boxhorn, Theatrum, p. 7. ‘Credibile
igitur est Nortmannos uno alterove saeculo, de quo accurate non constat, ante institutum Comitatum,
has oras bello infestasse & occupasse, ac alios quidem eorum, qui ex Hallandia Daniae advenerant,
Hollandos dictos, atque ab illis hanc, quam insedere, regionem; alios vero, qui Zailandia profecti sunt,
Zailandos dictos, atque ab illis etiam hanc, quam incoluere, ditionem. Progressu vero temporis à Francorum
Regibus bello impetitos, varia fortuna usos fuisse, nunc penitus expulsos, nunc partem Regionis
illis ademtam. Initio autem principatus Diderici Comitis & serie & nomine primi, non ad internecionem
usque deletos esse fugatosque, ut existimatum hactenus fuit, sed permansisse atque aborigines nostros.
Quam meam sive conjecturum, sive sententiam mirum in modum probavi clarissimo doctissimoque
Petro Scriverio, cui plurimum debent illustratae Bataviae Antiquitates, pluria adhuc debiturae.’ There is
no mentioning of the Batavians, the Hollanders’ famous alleged ancestors.
65 The early history of Holland continued to trouble Boxhorn. In the Reygersberch’s chronicle Boxhorn
excuses himself for the mistakes he had made in the past and claims that ‘neither the emperors of
the German empire, nor the kings of France ever had something to say about the princes of these countries’.
Jan van Reygersberch, Chroniick van Zeelandt, eertijdts beschreven door d’Heer Johan Reygersbergen, nu
verbetert, ende vermeerdert door Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Vol. 2 (Zacharias Roman; Middelburg, 1644),
p. 16. ‘… noch den keyseren des Duytschen rijck, noch de koninghen van Vranckrijck, oyt yets te segghen
ghehadt op de princen van dese landen.’ Here, Boxhorn aligns himself with the thesis expressed by
Hugo Grotius and Mathaeus Vossius (1610-1646), the son of Gerard Vossius. Both Grotius and young
Vossius claimed that the States had elected Dirk I as count of Holland. In their view the four royal charters
were false or they only expressed the resignation of a false claim made by the respective kings or
emperors. Kampinga, De opvattingen over onze oudere vaderlandsche geschiedenis, pp. 130, 149-52.
66 Thus, it was in collaboration with the nobles, the knights, and the towns of Holland and Zeeland
that count William III exempted the nobles from paying toll. This exemption was William’s reaction to
the frictions that had arose between the nobles and the common people. Here we see the count acting as
a broker between the different factions of society. Boxhorn, Theatrum, p. 60. It is also in the time of count
William III that we for the first time hear of a gathering of the States. Only nobles and knights comprised
these States. Boxhorn, Theatrum, p. 132. ‘Anno mcccxx Wilhelmus quartus, re & cognomento bonus,
celeberrima Comitia Harlemi indici jussit. Ad quae ingens nobilium & procerum concursus factus est.
Comites viginti numero, Barones centum, & mille Equites interfuisse illis dicuntur. Durabant autem
diebus septem.’ William IV (1307-1345) should be William III, who reigned from 1304-1337.
67 In the Theatrum it are the counts who are the main actors behind the town charters. Thus, Boxhorn’s
view is ‘top down’. In reality, however, the town charters were the result of a continuous interplay
between incentives and initiatives from below (peasants and town-folk), and cooperation and
steering from above (count and nobility). The crucial importance of the town charters was that they
gave the towns administrative and judicial autonomy. The fact that it was the count who gave the town
charters is a sign that Boxhorn attributed the count with sovereign power. See Peter Henderikx, “Graaf
en stad in Holland en Zeeland in de twaalfde en vroege dertiende eeuw”, in Reinout Rutte and Hildo