Confessional Coexistence and Perceptions of the ‘Public’: Catholics’ Agency in Negotiations on Poverty and Charity in Utrecht, 1620s-1670s
<p>The reorganisation of the poor relief system in Dutch cities in the second half of the seventeenth century marked a new manner of confessional coexistence in which dissenting communities were entrusted to care for their own poor co-religionists. In the negotiations to solve the financial pr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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openjournals.nl
2017-12-01
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| Series: | BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review |
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| Online Access: | https://www.bmgn-lchr.nl/articles/10258 |
| Summary: | <p>The reorganisation of the poor relief system in Dutch cities in the second half of the seventeenth century marked a new manner of confessional coexistence in which dissenting communities were entrusted to care for their own poor co-religionists. In the negotiations to solve the financial problems of Utrecht from the 1620s to the 1670s, which led to the separation of charity along confessional lines in 1674, Catholics did not remain passive. They were one of the actors, along with the Dutch Reformed Church and the political authorities. All the actors attempted to defend their own interests by referring to the term ‘public’ based on their own definition. Catholics actively created room for survival by participating in the delimitation of the ‘public’. The public sphere was a much more dynamic space and Catholics had much more active agency in the<br />delimitation of the ‘public’ than previous studies have assumed.</p><p> </p><p>De reorganisatie van het armenzorgsysteem in Nederlandse steden in de tweede helft van de zeventiende eeuw werd gekenmerkt door een nieuwe manier van confessionele co-existentie waarin religieuze dissidenten de zorg voor hun armen werd toevertrouwd. Katholieken bleven niet passief tijdens de onderhandelingen voor de oplossing van de financiële problemen van Utrecht in de jaren 1620 tot 1670, die in 1674 tot de verdeling van liefdadigheidswerk langs confessionele lijnen leidde. Zij waren één van de actoren naast de Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk en de politieke autoriteiten. Alle actoren probeerden hun belangen te verdedigen door te verwijzen naar de term ‘publiek’ op basis van hun eigen definitie van dat begrip. Door deel te nemen aan de afbakening van het ‘publieke’, schiepen katholieken ruimte om zich te handhaven. De publieke sfeer was een veel dynamischer ruimte en katholieken hadden veel meer actieve agency in de afbakening van het ‘publieke’ dan voorgaande studies doen vermoeden.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 0165-0505 2211-2898 |