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

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Chapter 7. The mistress of life
make clear that the present cannot always be seen as a repetition of the past,
but this insight itself also leads to the conclusion that the present can only be
understood as a product of events and changes that have happened in the
past and lead up to the present. It is here that we come across a strong sense of
causation. Especially in the Nederlantsche historie it becomes evident that Boxhorn
possesses a notion of development that sees development as a patron in
the changes that occur in time, and that he, unlike most Dutch historians of
his time, does put the past ‘in a broader framework of long-term structural
change’. 205 Indeed, in sharp contrast to Vossius, Boxhorn does not minimise
the notion of change, but actually puts it centre stage. 206 The consequences of
this choice do not only confine themselves to his historical works, but are also
visible in Boxhorn’s political works. It is to Boxhorn’s most important political
work that we will now turn our attention.
205 Haitsma Mulier, “De humanistische vorm”, p. 30. See also Raedts, “Ter verdediging van kerk en
vaderland”, p. 378.
206 Wickenden, G.J. Vossius and the Humanist Concept of History, p. 193.