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Andrew Taber

“You May Be What Devil You Will:” Depictions of Dutch Religious Plurality in English Print, 1609-1699

• Date: June 18, 2018
• Time: 10:30am
• Location: Tilley 123

Abstract

Through the examination of seventeenth century English print culture, this thesis illustrates how changes to England’s church policy and the fluctuating perceptions of the Dutch Republic in pamphlets, travel accounts and surveys altered English depictions of Dutch confessional policy and created long-lasting narratives of Dutch society. Challenging the Anglican Church’s dominion over the individual’s conscience, English nonconformist polemicists integrated the Dutch Republic’s policy of religious toleration into the discourse over England’s domestic church policies. Differences in religion between the English and the Dutch also proved to be an important source of evidence for political pamphleteers, who did not hesitate to point to Anglo-Dutch differences during periods of increased domestic strife and international tensions. The narratives created by English authors, especially popular publications, proved to be key in the construction and perpetuation of Dutch stereotypes over decades, even when their original contextual motivations no longer had meaning.