[vc_row unlock_row=”” row_height_percent=”0″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_use_pixel=”yes” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ uncode_shortcode_id=”194040″ column_width_pixel=”780″ el_id=”divideorunite”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ border_color=”color-125924″ border_style=”solid” shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″ uncode_shortcode_id=”164489″ css=”.vc_custom_1708599321843{border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}” border_color_type=”uncode-palette”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”214329″]<\/p>\n
RELIGIOUS OPPOSITES<\/p>\n
Jacobus Arminius believes that God determines who goes to heaven, based on how they live. Those who live well go to heaven; those who don\u2019t, are not granted entry.<\/p>\n
After Arminius’ death, the Arminians submit a petition for a revision setting out their views to the church. This request is called a remonstrance. The followers of Arminius begin to be called the Remonstrants.<\/p>\n
Franciscus Gomarus believes that God determines who goes to heaven and who does not. This is fixed before you are born and what one does in life has no influence over it.<\/p>\n
The Gomarists respond to the Arminians’ request with a counter-request: the Counter-Remonstrance. The followers of Gomarus are called the Counter-Remonstrants.<\/p>\n
Both sides make cartoons about each other. Slowly, relations between them deteriorate. Throughout the country there are local riots.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109236″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”156357″][vc_single_image media=”109237″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”699598″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”796655″]Attempts are made to reconcile the ideas of Arminius and <\/span>Gomarus<\/span>, but the conflict only escalates.\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109238″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”158120″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=”0″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_use_pixel=”yes” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ uncode_shortcode_id=”211930″ column_width_pixel=”780″ el_id=”17thcentury”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ border_color=”color-125924″ border_style=”solid” shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″ uncode_shortcode_id=”179738″ css=”.vc_custom_1708599395157{border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}” border_color_type=”uncode-palette”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”160578″]<\/p>\n POLITICAL OPPOSITES<\/p>\n Johan van Oldenbarnevelt wants to cease war with Spain because of the (financial) costs. He thinks peace would be better for trade. In the ongoing religious dispute, he supports the Remonstrants. He believes everyone should be free to choose their own faith.<\/p>\n For Van Oldenbarnevelt, Holland’s independence is key. He tries to diminish Prince Maurits\u2019 power by enabling cities to form their own mercenary armies.<\/p>\n Prince Maurits wants to continue the war with Spain. Contrary to Van Oldenbarnevelt, he sees war as beneficial to the economy, as it provides territory and war booty. He sides with the Counter-Remonstrants, mostly to restore the peace.<\/p>\n Prince Maurits is shocked when he hears that Van Oldenbarnevelt wants to allow cities to form their own armies. After all, this is his job. He thinks Van Oldenbarnevelt is far too tolerant, both religiously and politically, and sees this as treason.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109239″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”214581″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”211652″]Maurits uses his power (the sword) to tip the balance and influence justice.<\/span><\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109240″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”214460″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”164812″]Maurice sifts Remonstrants out of society with the sieve of justice. There is no room for them in society, according to the printmaker.<\/p>\n Printed pamphlets are used to reach many people. To attract attention, these pamphlets often contain an eye-catching image with compelling text. In this way, people try to convince each other of their rightness and malign their opponent.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109241″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”201117″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”109895″]The Remonstrants (also known as Arminians) are portrayed as a five-headed monster.<\/p>\n Tensions rise between Johan vvan Oldenbarnevelt and Prince Maurits. Van Oldenbarnevelt is keen to make peace with Spain. This leads to the Twelve Years\u2019 Truce (1609-1621).<\/p>\n Prince Maurits sees the peace negotiations as a rapprochement with Spain. He distrusts this Catholic enemy and does not want an armistice.<\/p>\n His distrust of Van Oldenbarnevelt also grows. In 1619, he gets him arrested and convicted of high treason. Van Oldenbarnevelt is beheaded at the Binnenhof in The Hague.<\/p>\n This polarisation also has major consequences for Van Oldenbarnevelt’s supporters. Hugo Grotius and Rombout Hogerbeets are imprisoned in Slot Loevestein.<\/p>\n This print shows the consequences for the Remonstrants. Van Oldenbarnevelt is sentenced to death.Hugo Grotius and Rombout Hogerbeets are taken to their cells at Slot Loevestein. Gilles van Ledenberg commits suicide before his sentence. He still receives his punishment; his coffin is hung on the gallows. A number of ministers, including Johannes Wtenbogaert, are banished.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image media=”109242″ caption=”yes” media_width_percent=”100″ uncode_shortcode_id=”327679″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”274148″]<\/p>\n Hugo Grotius is an important jurist. He supports Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and is therefore sentenced for life. He is imprisoned in this very room.<\/p>\n Hugo Grotius stays here with his wife Maria van Reigersberch and their children. Maria devises a clever plan, allowing Hugo to escape in a book chest after two years of imprisonment. He and his wife live in exile in France until his death.<\/p>\n Hugo Grotius\u2019 book chest?\u202f <\/strong><\/p>\n For years, the chest in this room was thought to be the one in which Grotius escaped from Slot Loevestein, until the castle keeper Van Rappard admitted in the 1980s that this was a fake. Nevertheless, the story of this chest is important and is part of the historical Canon of the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the real chest has been missing for 400 years.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row unlock_row=”” row_height_percent=”0″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_use_pixel=”yes” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ uncode_shortcode_id=”149696″ column_width_pixel=”780″ el_id=”dispute”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ border_color=”color-125924″ border_style=”solid” shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″ uncode_shortcode_id=”164489″ css=”.vc_custom_1708599321843{border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}” border_color_type=”uncode-palette”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”140941″]<\/p>\n After the Synod of Dort, Remonstrant ministers are no longer allowed to preach. Some of the ministers flee to Antwerp, where they establish the Remonstrant Brotherhood. There are also ministers who remain in the republic and secretly continue to preach.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rewards are offered for reporting Remonstrant ministers. A manhunt <\/span>ensues.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Eternal imprisonment’ <\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span> (AV)<\/span><\/p>\n Nine <\/span>Remonstrant ministers are imprisoned at Loevestein between 1621 and 1628. They are all given a life sentence. They are kept in small, dark and draughty rooms, often with their families. Their prisons are much like this room, divided into smaller cells.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While the ministers are locked up at Loevestein, an attack on Prince Maurits is planned in 1623. However, the plan is discovered and the conspirators, including the sons of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, are arrested. Reinier van Oldenbarnevelt is beheaded, his brother Willem escapes and flees abroad.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u202f<\/span>The consequence of the failed attack <\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span> (AV)<\/span><\/p>\n The atmosphere at Loevestein deteriorates after the failed attack on Maurits. When plague breaks out at Loevestein in 1625 and the ministers ask to be transferred, they are firmly told they have been placed at Loevestein ‘to die there’.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A written plea<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span> (AV)<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>prisoners write many letters. Minister Johannes Wtenbogaert is one of the people they write to. Wtenbogaert is court minister to Prince Maurits and later counsellor to Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. When Arminius dies, he becomes the leader of the Remonstrants. This puts him at odds with Maurits.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In their letters, the prisoners describe the harsh conditions in which they are kept. Wtenbogaert uses the contents of these letters to gain support among his influential friends for the prisoners’ release.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1625, Maurits dies. His more moderate half-brother Frederick Hendrik succeeds him.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From 1627 onwards, Hendrik is more tolerant of the Remonstrant faith, but not much changes at Loevestein. The Counter-Remonstrants fear that turmoil will return to the Republic if the prisoners are released. They also fear that they will consequently lose their important position.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Easing conditions for the prisoners<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When Prince Frederick Hendrik comes to power, life at Loevestein improves slightly. Rombout Hogerbeets is released, but the ministers continue to serve their sentences. There is even a ninth minister sentenced for life at Loevestein.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, there is an easing in the harsh conditions for prisoners. Prisoners are allowed to meet each other, and<\/span>\u202f<\/span>there is more contact with the outside world. Letters are no longer checked and barrels of wine sent to the prisoners are allowed in.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1631, seven ministers are still imprisoned at Loevestein<\/span>. <\/span>Prince <\/span>Frederick Hendrik wants to show that religious tolerance is important, but this imprisonment does not fit in with his idea of tolerance. However, he cannot simply release the ministers, because that would mean<\/span>s<\/span> loss of face.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nor do the ministers themselves want to ask for their release; that would mean admitting guilt.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The problem is cleverly solved with an escape! The ministers sail away unnoticed at night in a small boat. Soon after, their wives also get permission to leave.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row unlock_row=”” row_height_percent=”0″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_use_pixel=”yes” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ uncode_shortcode_id=”136311″ column_width_pixel=”780″ el_id=”geesteranus”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ border_color=”color-125924″ border_style=”solid” shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″ uncode_shortcode_id=”164489″ css=”.vc_custom_1708599321843{border-bottom-width: 1px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;}” border_color_type=”uncode-palette”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”106574″]<\/p>\n \u202f<\/span>Geesteranus thinks a lot about his former fianc\u00e9e Suzanna van Oostdijk during his imprisonment. When he was forced to go into hiding, he withdrew his wedding vow to her.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the death of Prince Maurits, prison rules ease a bit, and Geesteranus invites Suzanna to the prison. He soon asks her to marry him again.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On 22 December 1627, Father Geesteranus marries the two lovers here at Loevestein.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They then live in the kitchen below this room for four years. There, they have two daughters and a son. Their first child is born nine months after the wedding but unfortunately dies on the same day.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u202f<\/span>When Geesteranus escapes with the other six ministers in 1631, Suzanna and their children are free to go.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Suzanna is nicknamed ‘the Loevestein bride’ 200 years later. Their son, who also becomes a minister, calls himself ‘Justus van Loevestein’.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row unlock_row=”” row_height_percent=”0″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_use_pixel=”yes” shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ uncode_shortcode_id=”714045″ column_width_pixel=”780″ el_id=”polarisationtoday”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ width=”1\/1″ uncode_shortcode_id=”359059″ css=”.vc_custom_1708599891080{padding-bottom: 50px !important;}”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”769052″]<\/p>\n This part of the exhibition is composed by het Humanistisch Verbond (the Dutch Humanist<\/span><\/i> Association). <\/span><\/i>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That’s what the Humanist Alliance stands for.\u202f<\/span>But how do you do that, living together? <\/span>In practice, it’s not that simple. People sometimes stand firmly opposed to each other, battling from rock-solid positions and fixed opinions. Us versus them.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We invite you to look beyond clashing opinions.\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Traditionally, the Humanist Association fights for humanity, for mutual respect. We don’t do this alone: with our 19,000 members, we make our voice heard loud and clear.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Do you also think a humane society is important? <\/span>Get inspired by this exhibition. And join us. <\/span>Together, we break the us-versus-them mentality.<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Perceived polarisation is different from actual polarisation, as the facts and figures show.\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How polarised is the Netherlands according to research?\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 60% of adults in <\/span>the Netherlands say they do not experience polarisation in their own environment. 40% do experience some degree of polarisation. Of these, 13% say they have less or no contact with some people because of polarisation. <\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Polarisation is not new. The current degree of polarisation in the Netherlands is similar to that in the 1970s. Percentage who agree and completely agree:\u202f<\/span>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1970: <\/span> 19%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>17th Century<\/h2>\n
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt<\/h3>\n
Prince Maurits of Orange<\/h3>\n
Polarisation through pictures<\/h3>\n
Increasing polarisation<\/h3>\n
The consequences of polarisation<\/h3>\n
Hugo Grotius<\/h3>\n
Dispute<\/h2>\n
Nine times life sentence<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
The conspiracy against Maurits\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
T<\/span>he death of Maurits\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
The escape by night<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span> (AV)<\/span><\/h3>\n
Geesteranus<\/h2>\n
The <\/span><\/b>married minister<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
Polarisation Today<\/h2>\n
Thinking freely, living together\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
What do you think? <\/span><\/b>How polarised is the Netherlands?<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
Facts and figures<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n<\/span>1975: <\/span> 11%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>1980: <\/span> 11%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>2012\/2013: <\/span> 13%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>2017\/2018: <\/span> 16%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>2019: <\/span> 15%<\/span>\u202f<\/span>
\n<\/span>2022\/2023:<\/span> \u202f9%<\/span>