Everyday life in the Netherlands was reformed by women
The history of Dutch Calvinism is in need of a serious correction, according to the American historian Amanda Pipkin. Calvinism took root in the Netherlands precisely because of the influence of women. ‘The image is: the woman had to be silent. But it wasn’t like that at all.’
The famous Calvinist theologian Gijsbert Voetius had already noticed this. Women, he wrote, have a much greater talent for orthodoxy than men. This was clearly the case not only in biblical times, but also in his own day, the seventeenth century. He thought of a number of very talented female figures in his own circle of family and friends. With great fervor they reciprocated the Puritan interpretation of Calvinism that Voetius had patented: hard work and frugality in clothing, household goods and food.
The spread of Calvinism in the Netherlands is a matter for pastors and learned gentlemen alone? No, says American historian Amanda Pipkin. Precisely these kinds of women around Voetius and other influential theologians also played a crucial role in the spread of Calvinist faith in the Netherlands.
The Golden Age is her favorite time
“Theology was not at all a matter exclusively for men, as is often thought. It was women who ensured that everyday thinking and life was reformed,” she says via video link. As a background she has a museum room with Dutch masters from the Golden Age. That’s her favorite time, says Pipkin, who is an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Recently made by her hand Deviant daughters, a thorough English-language study on the role of Reformed women in the Dutch republic in the period 1572–1725, the heyday of Calvinism in this region. “It is precisely by understanding their role, position and writings that you can understand how the protest spread,” says Pipkin, who speaks and reads Dutch well.
“The picture is: the woman had to be silent at that time. But that wasn’t the case at all. No, they weren’t in the pulpit, but outside they were very active. Women spoke full, they wrote full. Contrary to popular belief, it was also permitted to conduct meetings in a home and teach the faith there. They were valued by their contemporaries, women and men. Their writings experienced pressure upon pressure. Even after their death.”
Worried Faith
Amanda Pipkin makes her point on the basis of six Reformed writers who are not unknown in historical research. “Ten many historically assume that they are the exception to the rule.”
Though not light-hearted and rather heavy-handed, the writings of this and many other women were hugely popular in their day, reaching peaks as she tallying numbers and printing numbers, among other things. Their books—poetry, meditations, and other devotional literature—were on many a Reformed bedside table, next to the Bible.
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The women don’t lay much on any substance and some brooding faith, but also don’t work in just about everything. “It is difficult for modern people to understand what made the Reformed faith so attractive. Until you start targeting these women and reading their lyrics. You see that they took great comfort in their faith, it offered a counterbalance to the worries of everyday life. Think of the unexpected death of war and lifelong war and disease.”
At the old paper
Pepijn: “A important reasons of the history of men in editions preserved in collections, which of women in many cases ended up in the paper.”
She points to the creed of Cornelia Teellinck, one of the women about whom she writes extensively. In 1625 the fifth edition of that book. An indication that she was an important interpreter of the Reformed doctrine. People couldn’t get enough of it. Yet today only one copy can be found, in the library of the university in Leiden. And probably the book has been preserved, because the author has kept it as her much more famous cousin Willem. Much more of the men was preserved, in abundance.”
The talented pious women did, however, derive support, prestige and status from men in their environment. She formed part of the networks surrounding a number of prominent male theologians, including Willem Teellinck (1579–1629), Gijsbert Voetius (1589–1676) and Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711). The women each other and each other, Pipkin concludes. “There was a lively exchange of ideas.”
Who had met whom contact?
History of religion focuses too much on church matters, with Pipkin. Gradually, according to her, a large part of historical reality has been preserved under light for a long time. “You do the past more justice by also looking at the social structures: with whom did you have contact, how did people start to get along, which ideas were important in daily life? Religious history is social history, something that is sometimes forgotten.”
And there is another reason the religious past of the Netherlands is an exclusively male leek matter. Pipkin suspects that various Calvinist theologians and religious, who do not often have a religious background, believe that there is something fishy about women. They would not have been pure in doctrine. “The women arise the mystical side of the faith, it is often whole and intense.”
According to Pipkin, it is important to combine women and their networks in religious history. “Creating a historical purpose for why people in the past acted the way they did. by watching the activities of these women, you see how they make the faith comprehensible for many ordinary people. You see that they could expect others that the faith offered a lot of strength and support. That way you better understand how Calvinism found its way into Dutch society.”
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Six Calvinist Women
Amanda Pipkin focuses in her book Deviant daughters in particular on six women who played a role in the rooting of Calvinism in the Netherlands.
Cornelia Teellinck (1553–1576) grew up in a developed Zeeland environment that converted to the Reformed faith around 1570. At nineteen she wrote a confession of faith, a writing that deeply impressed her contemporaries.
Her sister Susanna Teellinck (1551–1625) published this confession plus religious poetry posthumously in 1607, because a copy was in high demand. The bundle was in great demand and experienced pressure after pressure. Susanna herself was also known for her great piety and works of charity.
Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678) was the first Dutch female student. She was known for her very sharp mind and was in contact with many scholars of her time. In addition to her great interest in theology, she was also interested in medicine and literature. She also excelled in foreign languages. A French scholar wrote to her: ‘There is nothing you cannot understand, nothing you cannot create. You are the miracle of this time.’ She was very involved in the church in her hometown of Utrecht, among other things by holding meetings.
Sara Nevius (1632–1706) became known for her spiritual meditations. She was inspired by spiritual experiences and Bible texts. She wrote extensively about the history of her life, her encounters, struggles and consolations, with the life of faith as a central point of interest. Her writings, including An attentive disciple of the Lord Jesusare displayed in reformatory circles to this day.
Cornelia Leydekker (1654-1725) was also a literate woman. One of her books is called Serious soul aspirations and contains musings on the sacrament.
Henrica van Hoolwerff (1658–1704) was best known during her lifetime as a devotional poet. While confined to bed by illness, she wrote comforting poems for others. There were regular devotional gatherings near her box bed. According to a contemporary, the poetess had made her soul a ‘book room of the divine word’.
Amanda Pipkin
deviant daughters,
Reformed women in the Dutch Republic: 1572-1725
Oxford University newspaper; 288 pages. € 90
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