Van Gelder

Question 1

1) In her paper Van Gelder aims to adjust our perception of the relationship between the Dutch Republic and Dutch converts to Islam in the seventeenth century. Mention some of the old notions that Van Gelder thinks are in need of revision.

Answer 1

Van Gelder mentions three notions that need revision. Firstly, The assumption that converts did not reconcile their Dutch and Muslim identities. Instead, Van Gelder suggests that many Dutch converts to Islam navigated these complex identities and maintained loyalty to their Dutch and Muslim heritage. For example, the converts often chose their new names based on something related to their old life, like their previous profession. Another notion was the idea that Dutch converts to Islam were insignificant or marginal figures in Dutch society. Van Gelder argues that Dutch converts were important to Dutch trade and diplomacy with North Africa. Lastly, the notion that Dutch converts to Islam were simply traitors or renegades who betrayed their country and religion. Van Gelder argues that many Dutch converts to Islam were motivated by complex personal, religious, and economic factors and that they were not necessarily disloyal to the Dutch Republic.

Question 2

2) What are crucial elements of the more complex picture that emerge in Van Gelder’s article on Dutch converts to Islam? Name concrete examples.

Answer 2

1. The article highlights the role of Dutch converts to Islam as informants, intermediaries, and even informal diplomats for the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century. This challenges the traditional view of renegades as marginal figures and emphasizes their significant impact on Dutch-North African relations.
2. It demonstrates how Dutch renegades operated as part of a continuum that encompassed both the Islamic Mediterranean and the Dutch Republic, rather than being caught in a dichotomy of a Christian past and a Muslim present. E.g. their new names usualy refer to their past identity or profession
3. The article provides concrete examples of how renegades, such as Soliman Rais and Moerad Rais, facilitated diplomatic relations between the Dutch Republic and North African polities. They acted as mediators, advisors, and protectors, and played crucial roles in the liberation of Dutch captives and the negotiation of diplomatic agreements.
4. It sheds light on the long-term relations between the States General and specific renegades, demonstrating the evolution of their roles from aggressors to protectors and diplomatic mediators.E.g letter sent from renegade to state general and Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, pensionary of Holland and the Republic’s foremost politician at that time.
5. The article also highlights the reliance of the Dutch state and its representatives on the information provided by renegades, as well as the network of Jewish traders and liberated Dutch captives, in navigating the complex political and social landscape of the Mediterranean.

Question 3

3) What kind of sources does Van Gelder use for her research and how does she apply them for her argument?

Answer 3

Van Gelder uses a variety of primary sources for her research, including diplomatic correspondence, peace treaties, shipping logs, and letters by the converts themselves. She also references inquisitorial records, which often cast the renegades as stereotypical traitors or religious opportunists, but notes that for the seventeenth-century Dutch case, inquisitorial records do not exist. Additionally, she relies on secondary sources and scholarly works to provide context and support her argument.
Van Gelder applies these sources to demonstrate the activities of Dutch converts to Islam as informants, intermediaries, and informal diplomats, facilitating and shaping cross-confessional diplomatic relations between the North African polities and the Protestant Dutch Republic. She uses specific examples from her sources to illustrate how the converts maintained close contact with Dutch political and diplomatic circles, offering services of mediation directly to the States General or their official representatives. Through her analysis of these sources, she aims to challenge stereotypes and emphasize the importance of the renegades in Dutch-North African relations.

Another significant source used by Van Gelder is Reinier Nooms paintings. Nooms collected strategic information in sketches on North African harbours, which he later turned into paintings for the Amsterdam Admiralty. In one drawing, De Ruyter’s warships are dominant in the foreground while the fortified North African harbours present an impenetrable and defensive background. These are stereotypical representations of Christian Europe’s struggle against the corsair nests of the Islamic Maghreb. In another drawing De Ruyter’s crew visited the ancient city of Carthage. In the foreground is the artist sketching the ruins of Hannibal’s palace. He has put aside his weapon, and the nonbelligerent atmosphere is emphasised in the background where Dutch rowers admire the Roman and Punic ruins in the company of the “renegade Bairam alias Jan Willemse from Amsterdam.” Contemporaries used the pejorative term “renegade” to indicate a person who had renounced his or her faith, usually, but not exclusively, referring to those who converted to Islam. In this case it seems that the Amsterdam-born convert accompanied his countrymen to the site, perhaps acting as their guide