Mirjam van Veen

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | VU

Historians tend to agree that the experience of exile had a decisive impact on the organizational structures of Calvinism, and on its theology and identity, encouraging the development of independent church structures, and a strong Reformed confessional culture. Meanwhile, the decision to go into exile is considered a catalyst for wider radicalizat...

This article discusses the question of a specific refugee theology among the Reformed which was first introduced by Heiko A. Oberman. In particular, the author analyzes John Calvin’s writings and John Utenhove’s tract Fidelis Narratio in order to throw light on two questions: Which terms did Calvinist refugees use to describe themselves and did the...

Exile Memories and the Dutch Revolt: The Narrated Diaspora, 1550–1750. Johannes Müller. Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions 199. Leiden: Brill, 2016. x + 244 pp. $180. - Volume 70 Issue 3 - Mirjam van Veen

According to historiographical convention, the experience of exile by Protestants from the Habsburg Netherlands between the 1550s and the early 1570s played a critical role in promoting confessional Calvinism in the early Dutch Republic. But there are too many problems in the evidentiary basis to sustain this conclusion. This essay traces the histo...

Sebastian Castellio (1515−1563) gilt neben Erasmus von Rotterdam als einer der großen Humanisten des 16. Jahrhunderts. Entschiedener noch als Erasmus vertrat er ein Menschenbild, das an die Freiheit des Denkens und an die Kraft der Vernunft des Menschen glaubte. Dass er mit dieser Überzeugung nicht zurückhielt, sondern öffentlich dafür kämpfte, ind...

Imagology, not gender studies, sets the stage for the analysis of the perceptions of the European Anabaptist/Mennonite 'sisters', from the 16th-19th centuries, within their religious, moral, cultural and social landscapes of Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and the Ukraine. © 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The...

In this study, I argue that Protestant religion in the Netherlands and the German empire was remarkably innovative and creative in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and that a cultural-historical approach to the Enlightenment reveals its debts to Dutch and German religion.

C. Scott Dixon schreef met Contesting the Reformation een prachtig boek over de historiografie van de reformatie. In dit boek staat hij stil bij het Reformatie-onderzoek en de grote debatten binnen dat onderzoek, en neemt hij vanuit een scherp inzicht in de zestiende eeuw een eigen positie in.

With the publication of the Gouda catechism in 1607 the polemic between supporters and ‘citicasters’ of the Heidelberg catechism reached a new climax. The supporters of the Heidelberg catechism perceived the Gouda catechism as an attack on the Heidelberg catechism. Their polemic against the Gouda catechism is a striking example of the arguments the...

In spite of the reformed opposition, the ideas of David Joris (1501-1556) remained influential after his death. Men like Herman Herberts (a reformed minister) and Emmerye de Lyere (commandant in Willemstad) propagated his spiritualistic opinions on the Bible, on humans and the devil, as well as his plea for religious tolerance. Around 1600 adherent...

A comparison between the ideas of David Joris (1501-56) and Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert (1522-90) provides further evidence of the far-reaching influence of spiritualism in the Netherlands. Joris is known in history as an "arch-heretic" and an ecstatic visionary. Coornhert, on the other hand, who was acquainted with the Stadholder of the Netherlands...

The knowledge we have of the so called 'Nicodemites' is based on Calvin's polemical treatises against them. By 'Nicodemite' we mean someone who did not confess his-evangelical-faith openly but kept his conviction a secret in face of persecution. Calvin's treatise Response à un certain Holandois is remarkable, because it is his only work against a k...