HugoGrotius’sRemonstrantieof1615 HugoGrotiusisoneofthesixjuristswhosestatuesstandoutsidetheSupremeCourtoftheNetherlandsin TheHague. Sculpture by Johan Polet, photo by René & Peter van der Krogt, http://standbeelden.vanderkrogt.net Hugo Grotius’s Remonstrantie of 1615 Facsimile,Transliteration, ModernTranslations and Analysis By David Kromhout Adri K. Offenberg LEIDEN | BOSTON Coverillustration:PortretvanHugodeGroot(1583–1645),MichielJansz.vanMierevelt(ateliervan),1631, https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/SK‑A‑581 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Grotius,Hugo,1583–1645,author.|Kromhout,David,1976-writerofadded commentary.|Offenberg,A.K.,contributor.|Blankman,Marijke,contributor.| Heertum,Cisvan,1958-translator. Title:HugoGrotius'sremonstrantieof1615:facsimile,transliteration,modern translationsandanalysis/byDavidKromhout,AdriOffenberg. Othertitles:RemonstrantienopendedeordredijeindelandenvanHollandtende WestvrieslandtdijentgesteltopdeJoden.English.|Remonstrantieonthe regulationstobeinstitutedinHollandandWestFrieslandregardingtheJews Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,2019.|Includesbibliographicalreferences. Identifiers:LCCN2019005678(print)|LCCN2019006792(ebook)| ISBN9789004397446(ebook)|ISBN9789004396074(hardback:alk.paper) Subjects:LCSH:Jews–Legalstatus,laws,etc.–Netherlands–17thcentury. Classification:LCC KKM2467.M56(ebook)|LCC KKM2467.M56G7642019 (print)|DDC342.49208/73–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019005678 TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISBN978-90-04-39607-4(hardback) ISBN978-90-04-39744-6(e-book) Copyright2019byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands. KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi, BrillSense,HoteiPublishing,mentisVerlag,VerlagFerdinandSchöninghandWilhelmFinkVerlag. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,translated,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise, withoutpriorwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher. AuthorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluseisgrantedbyKoninklijkeBrillNVprovided thattheappropriatefeesarepaiddirectlytoTheCopyrightClearanceCenter,222RosewoodDrive, Suite910,Danvers,MA01923,USA.Feesaresubjecttochange. Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaperandproducedinasustainablemanner. Contents Foreword vii MariankavanLunteren-Spanjaard Prologue ix PietHeinDonner ListofIllustrations xvii NotesonContributors xix NotesonThisEdition 1 AdriK.OffenbergandDavidKromhout 1 IntroductionandAnalysisoftheRemonstrantie 6 DavidKromhout 2 FacsimileoftheOriginalTextwithTransliterationandModernDutchTranslation 57 AdriK.OffenbergandMarijkeJ.Blankman 3 EnglishTranslation:aRemonstrantieontheRegulationstoBeInstitutedinHollandandWest FrieslandregardingtheJews 199 CisvanHeertum Bibliography 217 Foreword In2015itwasfourhundredyearsagothattheemi- DrJaapMeijerpreviouslypublishedanedition nentjuristHugoGrotius,thenpensionaryof Rot- of the Remonstrantie in 1949, though without a terdam,wrotehisRemonstrantieattherequestof retranslation or an English translation, so that it theStatesofHollandandWestFriesland.Tomark was not accessible internationally. It was time to theoccasion,chairmanJaapSajetof theMorasha engagewiththeRemonstrantieoncemore. foundationtooktheinitiativein2014foraschol- Publishingtheworkofascholarasexceptional arlystudythatplacedtheRemonstrantieinitshis- and eminent as Hugo Grotius requires much of torical and social context, including a new com- everyone in the project.The researcher has to be plete edition of the Remonstrantie with explana- well acquainted with the period and the issues torynotes,afacsimileof theoriginal,aretransla- HugoGrotiuswasfacedwithin1616.Wearevery tionintomodernDutchandanEnglishtranslation. fortunate that Dr David Kromhout expressed a Asfellowboardmembersof Morashaatthetime greatinterestintheprojectandwasavailableand wecouldnotimaginethevastscopeofthisproject. willing to do the research. Not only did he write Sajet’svisionsurpassedourimagination. the article on the backgrounds to Grotius’ advi- The Remonstrantiemarksthebeginningof the sory report, he also had to identify and translate debateontheJewishpresenceintheDutchRepub- the numerous Latin references and notes in the lic, by one of the greatest contemporary jurists. Remonstrantie.Weappreciatetheadviceprovided GrotiusdiscussestheissueoftherightsofJewsin toDrKromhoutbyProf.MarcdeWildeandProf. connection with the political and religious situa- HenkNellen.DrAdriOffenbergbroughthisgreat tionintheDutchRepublic.Itistheprincipalpur- expertise as a book specialist at the Bibliotheca poseof the Morashafoundationtopromotepub- Rosenthalianatobearonthetranscriptionof the licationsonaspectsofDutch-Jewishhistorywhich seventeenth-centurymanuscript. have so far been insufficiently explored. As such, As a historical text can be challenging to read thiseditionishighlyappropriatetotheobjectives even when presented in a contemporary font, a of Morasha. retranslation into modern Dutch in the edition wasincluded.Thiswasaformidabletask,andwe In1615HugoGrotiusgavehisviewonhowtodeal aredelightedwiththeresultprovidedbyMarijke with the influx of Sephardi Jews at the request Blankman MA. She has come up with a contem- of the States of Holland and West Friesland. In poraryretranslationthatneverthelessremainedas thisRemonstrantienopendedeordredijeindelan- close as possible to the source text. Dr Cis van denvanHollandtendeWestvrieslandtdijentgestelt HeertumtranslatedthisretranslationintoEnglish, opdeJoden (A Remonstrantie on the Regulations usingtheAuthorizedVersionof1611forthebiblical to be Instituted in Holland and West Friesland quotes so that these, too, are consonant with the RegardingtheJews),Grotiusfirstraisedtheques- periodoftheRemonstrantieitself.WillKellycare- tion whether Jews ought to be admitted in the fully read the final version of David Kromhout’s first place. After having answered in the affirma- Englishtext.Wearehonouredbytheintroduction tive, he considered the terms and conditions to by Piet Hein Donner LLM, who as former Justice be applied to their admission. That the Remon- MinisterandVice-PresidentoftheCouncilofState strantiewaseventuallyshelvedisnoreflectionon operatedattheinterfaceofpoliticsandscience,as its contents. If anything, it had to do with the Grotiusbeforehim. political situation in the Dutch Republic at the Ascientificcouncilwasestablishedtosupervise time. theprojectandensureahighacademicstandard, viii foreword consistingof Prof.IreneZwiep,Prof.EmileSchri- jver, Dr Adri Offenberg and Steph Scholten MA, whowassucceededbyRachelBoertjensMAafter heleftforScotland.Weareverygratefultothemall for their dedication, their valuable contributions andtheircommitmentinseeingthisbookthrough to completion. We also thank Rachel Cilia Werd- mölder MA for her expert assistance in the final editingprocessofthebook. Dr Ruud Koster coordinated all aspects of this complexprojectfrombeginningtoendwithgreat enthusiasmanddetermination,fromgrantappli- cationstocontactswiththepublisher. Inadditiontoagreatdealofworkandeffort,it was necessary to find sponsors to make sure this edition would see the light of day. We thank our sponsorsanddonorsforhavingrespondedgener- ouslytoourrequestforsupport,andsohavingpro- videdthefinancialmeanstorealisethisedition. OurdeepgratitudegoestoJaapSajet,chairmanof Morashauntilhisdeathin2015,whowassocom- mitted to the history of the Jews in the Nether- lands.Hewastheinspiringforcebehindthispub- lication,anditissadthatJaaphasnotbeenableto seehisvisionreachfruition. Thisbookisdedicatedtohismemory. MariankavanLunteren-Spanjaard Presidentof Morasha October2018 Prologue HugoGrotius’sRemonstrantie as the late 13th century, for example, there was a Jodenstraat (Street of the Jews) in Maastricht, The book you have in your hands is one of Hugo andbythe14thcenturythereisevidenceof Jew- Grotius’slesser-knownworks,translatedintomod- ishcommunitieselsewhere.Butafterthedevasta- ern Dutch, entitled: Remonstrantie betreffende de tion of the Black Death in the mid-14th century, regelgeving die in Holland enWest-Friesland moet Jews were persecuted in many places for being wordenopgesteldtenaanzienvandeJoden(Remon- the supposed cause of the epidemic. By the 15th stranceregardingregulationsthatshouldbedrawn centurythecommunitieshadseeminglyvanished up in Holland and West Friesland regarding the completely; there is, at any rate, no further men- Jews).Grotiuswascommissionedtowritethetext tionoftheminthehistoricalrecord. by the States of Holland, in his capacity as pen- Following the Reconquista in Spain, Ferdinand sionaryof Rotterdam.Thisrequestwasprompted andIsabella(the‘CatholicMonarchs’)increasingly by unrest surrounding the settlement of Jews in turned against the country’s Jews, who had lived townsinHollandafterittranspiredthataresident there for hundreds of years under the protection ofHoornhadconvertedtoJudaism.BecauseAms- of Moorishrulers.In1492theJewsof Spainwere terdamandRotterdamwere,atthattime,theonly presentedwithastarkchoice:converttoChristian- Holland towns with a Jewish community, their ity or leave the country; in 1497 a similar ultima- pensionarieswereaskedbytheStatestodrawup tumwasissuedinPortugal.SomeoftheJewswho aconceptofregulationsgoverningthesettlement choseexileendedupinAntwerporintownsinthe andresidenceofJews.1 Rhineland.There,thepatternwasrepeated:in1549 Today, the Remonstrantie is primarily of inter- CharlesV,thegrandsonoftheCatholicMonarchs, estasahistoricaldocument,anillustrationofthe ordered Jews who had sought refuge in Antwerp problems confronting the young Dutch Republic toleavethecity.ThisdidnottriggerJewishmigra- asabeaconoftolerationandprosperityinaworld tion to Holland, since Charles was the ruler of wherebothwereinshortsupply.Assuch,itsheds that province as well. Indeed many Jews simply lightsonthethinkingandpoliticalrelationshipsof remained in Antwerp; even then, the city fathers early17th-centuryHolland,atthebeginningofthe knew a thing or two about ‘toleration’. But once Golden Age. But it also holds up a mirror to our Antwerp fell into Spanish hands and the Dutch owntime,inwhichtoexaminerecurringissueslike Republicseemedtobegainingtheupperhandin migration,identityandcoexistenceindiversity. itswarwithSpain,Jewswhohadinitiallyfledelse- where (especially Hamburg and Cologne), began toseeksafetyinHolland,attractedbythespiritof Background toleration in the Dutch Republic and the oppor- tunitiescreatedbyitseconomicboom.Forexam- Around1592/1593groupsofSephardicJewsbegan ple, in the 1590s a group of Sephardic Jews set- settling in the towns of Holland. This was a new tledinAmsterdam,whileagroupofGermanJews phenomenonforthetime,thoughJewishcommu- madetheirhomeintheareaaroundGroningen.2 nities had existed in a number of towns in the In the entry for 1598 in his Jaerboeken en Histo- LowCountriesduringtheMiddleAges.Asfarback riën (Annals and Histories) Grotius mentions the 1 HansBlom,etal.,GeschiedenisvandeJodeninNederland 2 JonathanI.Israel,TheDutchRepublic(Oxford:OxfordUni- (Amsterdam:UitgeverijBalans,2017),p.85. versityPress,1995),p.376. x prologue arrivalofPortugueseJews,citingfearoftheInqui- TheRepublichadnotraditionofbeingeitherforor sitionandthehopeofsettingupaprofitablebusi- againstJews,6andCalvinismwasnotbydefinition ness in Amsterdam as the twin motives for their hostiletothem.Theirstandpointshouldbeseenin decision.Totranslatethisintocontemporarylan- thecontextofthe‘confessionalisation’7ofthepop- guage:theywereamixtureof asylumseekersand ulation, the struggle over the position of Calvin- economicmigrants. ism within society and its political influence on Although we now talk about Jewish immi- governmentpolicy.TheDutchRevoltwasaccom- grants, contemporary sources describe them as panied by a revolutionary reform of the Roman ‘newChristians’;inanyeventtheywerenotalways Catholic Church and the introduction of a new openabouttheirreligion.AccordingtoSwetschin- (Reformed)ecclesiasticalorder.8Inthatsensethe ski3 it was not until 1602 that the first public newChurchwasnowestablishedasaninstitution, expression of Judaism is found, in the form of a but Calvinists were still in the minority. Around statementbyamanaccusedoftraffickinginstolen the transition from the 16th to the 17th century, goodswhogavehisreligionasJewish.Intheyears theCalvinists’aimwastoexpandtheirpositionin thatfollowed,otherSephardicJewsstartedcoming society,inthefaceofcompetitionfromLutherans ‘outofthecloset’andbeganlookingintothepossi- andRomanCatholics.AlthoughtheStatesofHol- bilityofopeningtheirownsynagogue.Duringthat landhadrecognisedfreedomof religion(andthe sameperiodLutheransandMennoniteswerealso freedomtopractiseone’sreligion)atDordrechtin pushingtheboundsof tolerationintheRepublic, 1572—towinoverthepublicfortherevoltagainst while a number of towns had substantial Roman Spainandnottoalienateanyone—theprevailing Catholicminorities.Itwaschieflythetownauthor- opinion among patricians and municipal author- itiesthatwerecompetenttodecideonsuchmat- ities was that toleration of the public practice of ters.ItthereforemadesenseforJewstoapproach otherreligionsjeopardisedsocialunity.Although the towns with the most tolerant attitude. In his the town councils were often accused of ‘free studyoftheRepublic,JonathanIsraelnoteshowa thinking’byorthodoxCalvinists,theytooviewed groupofJewishfamilieswhohadcometoAmster- toleration with great suspicion, not unlike those damfromVeniceandThessalonikisoughtpermis- wholookaskanceatmulticulturalismtoday. sion from the town council of Haarlem to estab- lish a synagogue there.4 When that request was denied because of opposition from local Calvin- WhyDidGrotiusWritetheRemonstrantie? ist consistories (church boards), they tried their luckinRotterdamin1610.Theretheywereinitially ThebackgroundtotheRemonstrantiecanbefound grantedpermission,butwhenthatpermissionwas in Blom’s History of the Jews in the Netherlands.9 revokedafewyearslatertheyreturnedtoAmster- The sheriff of Hoorn had arrested a certain Hans dam,wheretheJewishcommunityhadmanaged Joostensz, who had converted to Judaism and toorganiseitselfwithoutexplicitpermissionfrom together with his wife had begun making kosher theauthorities.5 cheese for Jews in Amsterdam. The conversion The consistories’ opposition to the establish- of Jews to Christianity was not a problem, but mentofsynagoguesinthetownsandcitieswasnot rooted in antipathy towards the Jewish religion. 6 D.M.Swetschinski,ibid.pp.80–84. 7 See J.I. Israel, op. cit., p. 361 et seq. See also H.A. Enno 3 D.M.SwetschinskiinBlometal.,GeschiedenisvandeJoden vanGelder,VrijheidenonvrijheidindeRepubliek(Haarlem: inNederland,p.85. H.D.TjeenkWillink&Zn,1947). 4 Ibid.,pp.376–377.Seealsop.74etseq. 8 H.A.EnnovanGelder,RevolutionnaireReformatie(Amster- 5 A.T.vanDeursen,Delastvanveelgeluk(Amsterdam:Uit- dam:VanKampen&Zn,1943). geverijBertBakker,2004),p.183etseq. 9 Blomop.cit.,pp.78/79and85.