Christiaan Huygens – A family affair - Proeven van Vroeger

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
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