Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

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IV. The Curriculum and Ethics of a young Huygens The Nobility, beautiful frame of bad paintings, Is the Mask of his actions, that is where he ventures to trust on Constantijn Huygens Sr. – “A Foolish Courtier” (Een Sott Hoveling) (1624) 179 Nobility could be in one’s actions, rather an inherited right at one’s birth. If there was one thing that Constantijn Huygens Sr. learned and showed at the eve of his sons’ education, it was that a man of medium social ranking could find his way into the highest regions through unremitting application of his talents. He also knew, however, that his endeavors for the family would be lost if his sons would not be able to acquire equal social and professional distinction like their father had. Survivance was crucial (see Chapter III), and for early noblesse de robe like Constantijn Huygens Sr. and his father in the competitive The Hague milieu, the fundamental means of securing their sons’ continuance of the position they had earned was a comprehensive and intensive education and further upbringing. The story of two generations of Huygens-education has been told many times. 180 Most accounts are based on Constantijn Sr.’s own generous account of his own and his sons’ education. Despite the necessary focus on Constantijn Sr.’s version of the story 181 (for we do not really have other sources) it is essential to pay heed to the almost natural exaggeration that 179 “Een Sott Hoveling’.” See www.let.leidenuniv.nl/dutch/Huygens/HUYG23.html, (CH1623:026) 180 See on Constantijn Sr.’s own education, for instance: HUYGENS, C. (1911) BW., xxix – xxxiii; HOFMAN, H. A. (1983) Constantine Huygens (1596-1687) : a christian-humanist bourgeois-gentilhomme in service of the House of Orange, Utrecht, HES Uitgevers., p31-8; STRENGHOLT, L., HUYGENS, C. & HEER, A. R. E. D. (1987) Constanter: het leven van Constantijn Huygens, Amsterdam, Querido., p9-15. See on Christiaan Jr.’s and Constantijn Jr.’s education: BRUGMANS, H. L. & HUYGENS, C. (1935) Le séjour de Christian Huygens à Paris et ses relations avec les milieux scientifiques français; suivi de son Journal de voyage à Paris et à Londres, Paris,, E. Droz., p10-5; HUYGENS, C. & HEESAKKERS, C. L. (1987) Mijn jeugd, Amsterdam, Querido. and HUYGENS, C. & BLOM, F. R. E. (2003) Mijn leven verteld aan mijn kinderen in twee boeken (De vita propria sermonum inter liberos), Amsterdam, Prometheus., p16-24. 181 The main source is: HUYGENS, C. & HEESAKKERS, C. L. (1987) Mijn jeugd, Amsterdam, Querido.. In Blom’s words: “The moment on which [Constantijn Sr.] Huygens wrote this youth biography, is significant. Completed when he made a start as a young father with the education of his two eldest sons, My youth could serve as a mirror and guideline.” HUYGENS, C. & BLOM, F. R. E. (2003) Mijn leven verteld aan mijn kinderen in twee boeken (De vita propria sermonum inter liberos), Amsterdam, Prometheus., p17. Furthermore, there are the Norma Studiorum that Constantijn Sr. gave to his sons as they studied in Leiden (HUYGENS, C. (1888) OC., Vol. I, No 4. – Constantijn Huygens Sr. to sons Constantijn and Christiaan (May 9, 1645)) and the letters that were sent between Constantijn Sr., and Hendrik Bruno and Caspar Barlaeus respectively. 56
Constantijn Sr. used in his writings (see section ii of Chapters II and III). The lack of ‘independent’ or new sources renders the task of telling an original, new story difficult and, for my purposes, unnecessary. Rather than telling a new or comprehensive story, it seems worthwhile to investigate the intentions of Constantijn Huygens Sr. with the intensive, broad and much-demanding (from both the father and the students) curriculum. Against the background of Constantijn Sr.’s socio-professional position and ambitions – nourished, naturally, by his own father’s ambitions and the education he had received from him – the educational program of Constantijn Sr.’s sons may be understood differently than has been done by some historians. Though it was quite common in the early modern period for the “affluent ranks” to use their offspring’s childhood to create “a model adult,” a “perceived advantage” had to be established for them to invest in their children’s higher education. 182 Constantijn Sr.’s 183 intentions were clear (as had Christiaan Sr.’s intentions been): his sons needed to be prepared for the fulfillment of a position in public service and their education needed to be tailored according to this prospect. What is more, they needed to be able to move in diplomatic and courtly circles, and to speak (multilingually) and behave accordingly. Erudition, multilingualism, musicality and skill in several practical arts thus needed to be developed and taught by the right teachers. Taking the education of their children in their own hands, the Huygens made great investments – investments that paid of handsomely later on. In many ways, Christiaan and his brothers learned to think about themselves together with their father in terms of a “team,” and “survivance” and the preservation and advancement of their family honor became part and goal of their teamwork. The boys were reared in the direction of a career in diplomacy or elsewhere in public service, and, as will be seen in the following chapters, this educational background proved to be essential for the successful development of Christiaan’s career in the natural sciences. 182 POLLOCK, L. A. (2001) Parent-Child Relations. IN KERTZER, D. I. & BARBAGLI, M. (Eds.) The history of the European family. New Haven, Yale University Press., p197, 204 183 As the mother of the boys died when Christiaan was eight (in 1637), it is difficult to distinguish which role she played in their education. It seems that Constantijn Sr. had the strings in hands as it came to the planning and program, but this is mostly speculation. Steven Ozment holds that “[p]arenting was not only or even primarily woman's work; it was too high a responsibility to be left to one parent. Mother and father shared it to an unusually high degree, the maternal role being greater in the infant and early childhood years, the father's role increasing in importance after age six or seven, when the maturing child could respond to a regular discipline." OZMENT, S. E. (1983) When fathers ruled : family life in Reformation Europe, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press., p132 57
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Christiaan Huygens - A family affai
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Abstract Christiaan Huygens - A fam
Page 5 and 6: present-day patent (the monopoly on
Page 7 and 8: Court, Constantijn Sr. requested th
Page 9 and 10: court, diplomacy and natural philos
Page 11 and 12: II. A “Grand Tour” de Force in
Page 13 and 14: opportunity to see the world, learn
Page 15 and 16: A same strategic use of his musical
Page 17 and 18: Constantijn’s objective - putting
Page 19 and 20: authorities out- and inside the Rep
Page 21 and 22: Barendrecht argues, the foreign min
Page 23 and 24: Constantijn Sr. may have encountere
Page 25 and 26: patronage of different ambassadors
Page 27 and 28: could be employed in that context v
Page 29 and 30: involved social and material benefi
Page 31 and 32: Council of States (Raad van State)
Page 33 and 34: From Huygens’s defense it shows t
Page 35 and 36: “honesty”), thus inviting the r
Page 37 and 38: this constituted but a relative sma
Page 39 and 40: 1627 to approximately f 300.000 in
Page 41 and 42: Orange - which itself in turn showe
Page 43 and 44: correspondence with and poems for h
Page 45 and 46: advice to the Stadholder. 139 This
Page 47 and 48: Post) by its natural inclusion in t
Page 49 and 50: Amongst the highest of the bourgeoi
Page 51 and 52: In many ways, Constantijn Sr. was p
Page 53 and 54: and England refused the diplomatic
Page 55: knowledge of the natural sciences.
Page 59 and 60: make “dry” matter more interest
Page 61 and 62: emphasized by Erasmus and Castiglio
Page 63 and 64: the seemingly dominant position for
Page 65 and 66: prominent role in the rest of their
Page 67 and 68: within the Dutch aristocracy throug
Page 69 and 70: Importantly, Constantijn Sr. made s
Page 71 and 72: applications he would later give th
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Page 75 and 76: donated his books to many of his no
Page 77 and 78: Christiana presented his evidence o
Page 79 and 80: VI. Zulekoms at Court Three galas i
Page 81 and 82: the father’s plans for Christiaan
Page 83 and 84: It seems likely that the father sti
Page 85 and 86: the summer of 1655 - first to Paris
Page 87 and 88: laudatory verse of Constantijn Sr.
Page 89 and 90: and sharing them with his brothers.
Page 91 and 92: appearances. Widely available and m
Page 93 and 94: than its literary value, may explai
Page 95 and 96: VII. The Business of Instruments -
Page 97 and 98: at many points the whole family Huy
Page 99 and 100: ii. Making and distributing instrum
Page 101 and 102: England in November 1658 346 and wa
Page 103 and 104: clocks. 357 Generally, the role of
Page 105 and 106: moment for these events. 363 As Huy
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the Zulichems, Father and Son: all
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from a repentant Petit himself, he
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VIII. Patronage and its Privileges
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You have acted wisely by not awaiti
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texts and inventions did vary a gre
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getting a privilege with the French
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operation” of Constantijn Sr. and
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observations. It is not true that C
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Appendix A The following list of bo
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Appendix B The following list of bo
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Folios - imprints of palaces, garde
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dans l’histoire………………
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BRUGMANS, H. L. & HUYGENS, C. (1935
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KAISER, F. (1846) Iets over de kijk
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SLIVE, S. & REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON V
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Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

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