Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety 9789048550777

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Establishing Order via National, Provincial, and Local Church Orders: “Let All Things Be Done with Decency and Order”
2 Establishing Authority: Electing Elders and Deacons
3 Establishing Confessional Identity : An “Honest Citizen, Even Though a Catholic”
4 Navigating Intra-Confessional Conflict: “Live at Peace with Everyone”?
5 Establishing Belief and Practice: Rural Approaches to Sabbath Observance
Conclusion : Establishing and Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Low Countries
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic

Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic Communities, Belief, and Piety

Kyle J. Dieleman

Amsterdam University Press

Cover illustration: Van Ruysdael, Salomon. River View with Church and Ferry. 1649, Mauritshuis, The Hague. Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout isbn 978 94 6372 762 4 e-isbn 978 90 4855 077 7 doi 10.5117/9789463727624 nur 685 © K.J. Dieleman / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2023 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.

To: Andrea, the one who shapes my identity and our family’s identity for the better each day Emden, the one whose self-authored “chapter” did not quite make editing cuts Hendrik, the one who sits with me too early in the morning to practice Dutch Theissen, the one whose snuggles remind me that “author” is only part of my identity



Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 11 Lived Religious Experience, Sources, and Methodology 13 Religious Identity, Confessionalization, and Tolerance 21 Rural vs. Urban and Rural Religion 29 Research Questions and Argument 39 1 Establishing Order via National, Provincial, and Local Church Orders: “Let All Things Be Done with Decency and Order” 57 Reformed, Theological Understandings of Order 61 National Church Orders 69 Provincial Church Orders 73 Church Order in Wemeldinge 75 Accepting Church Orders in Arnemuiden 82 Conclusions 84 2 Establishing Authority: Electing Elders and Deacons 91 Introduction 91 Theology of Elders and Deacons 93 Church Orders for Electing Elders and Deacons 98 Consistorial Elections: Elders and Deacons 101 Complications: Necessities, Adaptations, and Conflicts 109 Ecclesiastical Offices beyond Elders and Deacons 114 Conclusions 118 3 Establishing Confessional Identity: An “Honest Citizen, Even Though a Catholic” 125 Introduction 125 Case Studies in Arnemuiden 127 Case Studies in Sluis 133 Themes 145 Conclusions 150 4 Navigating Intra-Confessional Conflict: “Live at Peace with Everyone”? 155 Conflict and Consistory Members 156

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Conflict and Schoolmasters 159 Conflicts and Pastoral Vacancies 171 Church Order Accommodations 177 Conclusions 181 5 Establishing Belief and Practice: Rural Approaches to Sabbath Observance 189 Expositions of the Sabbath: Catechetical Commentaries 191 Practicing and Disciplining Sabbath Observance 206 Prevalence of Sabbath Offenses 215 Conclusions 220 Conclusion: Establishing and Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Low Countries Lay Religious Experience Rural Religious Experience Religious Identity Research Limitations and Trajectories

225 228 230 232 234

Bibliography 237 Index 261

Acknowledgements In my experience, the journey of researching and writing is a wandering one. At times, the work is delightful and progresses quickly and easily, like leisurely cruising on a wide-open road. The care that I have received from others for my own well-being and for my research has been humbling and inspiring. When I first journeyed into the world of academia, I was always pleasantly surprised when preeminent scholars would answer my random emails with careful attention. I continue to be grateful when scholars who are clearly giants in the field provide advice, encouragement, and insight. At the risk of leaving someone out, these generous, brilliant people have included Drs. Fred van Lieburg, Christine Kooi, Karin Maag, Richard Muller, Charles Parker, Herman Selderhuis, Jesse Spohnholz, and Mirjam van Veen. Raymond Mentzer, my dear friend, continues to play a vital role in my academic career, and his advice and care are invaluable to me, professionally and personally. Not only did individuals aid in helping me complete this book, but institutions also provided various forms of support. Trinity Christian College provided me with summer research grants from 2018–2022. In 2019–2020, I was the grateful recipient of a Teacher-Scholar Grant, made possible through a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. also financed a research trip in the summer of 2019 and a reduction in my regular teaching load for multiple semesters. These opportunities for research were wonderfully supported by my colleagues at Trinity, even when it meant extra departmental work. I am especially grateful to John Fry and David Brodnax, Sr. Librarian colleagues at Trinity, especially Sarah Hoeksema, and Paul Fields at the H. Henry Meeter Center have also aided me in securing the necessary and occasionally obscure secondary sources. This book has been shaped for the better by Erika Gaffney’s excellent editorial skills, which were superb from the beginning and polished this work from a rough manuscript into the final product. I have a difficult time imagining working with another editor in the future should Erika gracefully continue to be willing to work with me. Mike Sanders, Chantal Nicolaes, and Kimberley Skelton were also helpful in bringing the manuscript to publication, and what follows is much improved because of their work. I am also grateful to Amsterdam University Press (AUP) for seeing the potential of this project and for remaining flexible when the COVID-19 pandemic made completing the manuscript at the originally agreed-upon date all but

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impossible because so much of the research and writing process became more complicated. AUP was generous in allowing me more time, and that generosity at least somewhat prevented sleepless nights worrying, in the midst of a global pandemic, about due dates, the quality of my research, and the impact that all of “this,” however defined, might have on my career. Writing a book while trying to carry out the demands of teaching and simply living in the midst of a global pandemic was certainly stressful and draining. I continue to stress over the fact that the final work is not as thorough as I might like. Yet, as these few short paragraphs have indicated, I have never been on this journey alone. The mistakes along the way and any that remain in the final product are, of course, my own. At the very beginning of the research for this book, my wife, daughter, and I welcomed twin boys to our family. As perhaps only parents of multiples can grasp, our family life has been a wonderful chaos ever since. Yet, Andrea and, to the extent that they are able, Emden, Hendrik, and Theissen have been incredibly supportive of my work, including the incredible time and travel it has required. While I spent the summer of 2018 in archives around the Netherlands, Andrea tended to the much more important task of caring for and loving our children; our children have developed into something far better than this book. I am beyond grateful for the support of Andrea, Emden, Hendrik, and Theissen, and this book is dedicated to them.

Introduction Abstract The introductory chapter discusses the importance of researching rural Reformed churches of the early modern Dutch Republic in order to better understand the lived religious experiences of Dutch Reformed Christians. These religious experiences included theology and practice, two categories which did not always neatly align. The introduction argues for the predominance of rural communities and churches in the early modern Dutch Republic and highlights the need for more studies of those communities. Research questions are raised regarding the similarities and differences between urban and rural churches and how rural churches’ unique features, such as geographical isolation and smaller population, affected their religious lives. Furthermore, understanding how rural communities navigated confessional disagreements and sought to establish Reformed identities provides a better understanding of early modern religious life in the Dutch Republic. Keywords: Dutch Reformed; Lived Religion; Confessionalization; Tolerance; Rural

In 1610, the provincial synod of Zeeland received gravamina from four of its classes--Classis Walcheren, Classis Schouwen, Classis South-Beveland, and Classis Tholen. Each classis had a long list of gravamina. Classis Walcheren registered the most gravamina, twenty-five, and Classis South-Beveland had the fewest gravamina with only seven. Classis Schouwen and Classis Tholen had fourteen and fifteen gravamina, respectively. Within the Dutch Reformed church structure, gravamina addressed to the provincial synods contained complaints that the lower ecclesiastical bodies could not fully address or solve. Within these gravamina addressed to the provincial synod of Zeeland in 1610 are a variety of complaints, but a number of them, at least one-third, refer in some way to confessional disputes, religious conflict, or Sabbath observance.1 1 J. Bouterse, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995), 162–70.

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_intro

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These concerns often progress from one to another in a logical progression, a progression that, even if the entries are grouped together in the records, is also evidenced by the quick succession of entries. For example, Classis Tholen’s seventh gravamen inquires about how to best educate the “baptized children of Christians” in the “foundation of the Christian faith.”2 The entry suggests that a shorter catechism might be of use and notes the importance of catechism lessons each Sunday afternoon. The following gravamen, the eighth, moves from education on the Sabbath to the petition for a placard to be issued regarding proper Sabbath observance because “in all villages there is great desecration of the holy Sabbath.”3 The Classis immediately progresses from this Sabbath desecration to, in the ninth gravamen, the “great disorder” that included a large crowd of “papists” traveling to Catholic churches in places like Tholen, Bergen op Zoom, and Steenberg. 4 The tenth gravamen continues with complaints about “papists and Jesuits,” but this gravamen shifts attention away from Sabbath observance and church attendance to education. The gravamen notes that “a great number of inhabitants of this province send their children to school in Brabant where the youth are corrupted by papists and Jesuits in the cloisters.”5 Notably, gravamina eleven through fourteen all continue with complaints about Catholic activity.6 One can clearly see, then, how the presence of confessional competition, Sabbath observance, and conflicts over religious life are closely intertwined and, indeed, overlap with one another. Similarly, Classis Walcheren’s twentieth gravamen requested that the provincial synod address the “abuse of witnesses at baptism” and then went on to describe the difficulty of living in close proximity with “the papists who come over to be witnesses [at the baptisms].” The twenty-first gravamen goes on to lament the profanation of the Sabbath and requests that “order … be established.” The twenty-second gravamen returns explicitly to interconfessional relationships, noting that members of the Reformed church who “are married to those who profess another religion are subjected to many sorrows and the quelling of their partnership.”7 Taken at the individual level, the topics raised in these classical entries might be considered a random amalgam of practical and theological complaints. The wide array of topics might even be seen as tangential to early 2 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 168. 3 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 169. 4 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 169. 5 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 169. 6 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 169–70. 7 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 165.

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modern Dutch Reformed religious experience. One might, for example, be tempted to dismiss complaints about the presence of Catholic witnesses at baptisms as an isolated complaint reflecting a random encounter within a particular congregation. Similarly, the complaints about Sabbath observance might be considered minute disagreements over basic religious piety. Yet, what if we were to approach complaints like the ones lodged at the provincial synod of Zeeland not as isolated or random but, instead, as essential features of the tangled fabric of religious life in the early modern Dutch Republic?

Lived Religious Experience, Sources, and Methodology At least part of the impetus for researching rural communities arises from a commitment to uncovering and understanding the lives of everyday Christians who, in the historical context which is the focus of this book, may or may not have identified themselves as Reformed and Dutch. While historians have typically turned to social history to better understand the religious lives of ordinary people, I combine social history, church history, intellectual history, and historical theology to explore the religious lives of Christians in the early modern Dutch Republic. Scholars of religion have described this approach in a variety of ways, initially speaking of “folk religion,” then of “popular religion,” and more recently of “lived religion.”8 As Robert Orsi has argued, “Rethinking religion as a form of cultural work, the study of lived religion directs attention to institutions and persons, texts and rituals, practice and theology, things and ideas—all as media of making and unmaking worlds.”9 As other religious studies scholars have demonstrated, the lived religion approach requires attending to the material ways in which religion takes shape in people’s lives. Thus, David Morgan has demonstrated the importance of the human body in religious experience, and Colleen McDannell provides examples of the importance of material objects, such as Bibles and cemeteries, in the lives of religious communities and individuals.10 8 Robert A. Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880–1950, 3rd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), xxxi–xlii. For the other seminal work on lived religion, see, David D. Hall, ed., Lived Religion in America: Toward a History of Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997). 9 Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street, xxxvii. Italics are original to the quote. 10 David Morgan, “The Material Culture of Lived Religion: Visuality and Embodiment,” in J. Vakkari et al, eds., Mind and Matter: Selected Papers of Nordik 2009 Conference for Art Historians (Helsinki: Society of Art History, 2010), 15–31.

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This particular book is especially focused on two of the types of interactions highlighted by Orsi: (1) those between institutions, such as Reformed synods, classes, and consistories, and persons, such as Reformed pastors, elders, deacons, and church members and (2) those between practices, such as discipline, Sunday observance, and consistorial elections, and theology, such as theological ideas about order, heresy, and the Sabbath. A core tenet of this book’s research is a commitment to understanding Dutch Reformed Christianity during the early modern period in all the complexities of lived religious experience, a task which requires paying attention to the intertwined realities of a wide range of categories, from practice to theology. This approach is not unique to the field of religious studies. Historical studies since the 1960s have recognized the importance of “reconstructing ordinary people’s experience of large structural changes,” and the importance of ordinary people has become a staple of social history, although pinning down a definition of social history has proven elusive.11 Over the past several decades, scholars of the Reformation have given increased attention to the study of lay experience. As Mack Holt has described, “One of the fields most affected by social history has been the Protestant and Catholic reformations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.”12 Holt goes on to describe longstanding academic interest in lay piety, liturgical and sacramental rituals, and social discipline. The use of social history for studying the Reformation—the singularity here is important—was not without its critics, including major German scholars, such as Bernd Moeller.13 Repetition of these debates is not necessary here, but it is worth noting the importance of early scholarly works in pioneering the application of social history to the Reformation. These works include, for example, A. G. Dickens” The German Nation and Martin Luther, Robert Scribner’s journal article entitled “Is there a Social History of the Reformation?,” and Peter Blickle’s Die Revolution von 1525.14 11 Charles Tilly, “Retrieving European Lives,” in Reliving the Past: The Worlds of Social History, ed. Olivier Zunz (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1985), 15. 12 Mack P. Holt, “The Social History of the Reformation: Recent Trends and Future Agendas,” Journal of Social History 37, no. 1 (Autumn, 2003): 133. 13 Thomas A. Brady, Jr., “‘Social History of the Reformation/Sozialgeschichte der Reformation’: A Conference at the Deutsches Historisches Institut London, May 25–27, 1978,” Sixteenth Century Journal 10, no. 1 (Spring, 1979): 89–92. 14 A. G. Dickens, The German Nation and Martin Luther (London: Edward Arnold, 1974); Robert W. Scribner, “Is There a Social History of the Reformation?,” Social History, 4 (1977): 483–505; Peter Blickle, Die Revolution von 1525 (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1975). Blickle’s book was first published in English as The Revolution of 1525: The German Peasants’ War from a New Perspective, trans. Thomas A. Brady and H.C. Erik Midelfort (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1977).

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For the most part, historians of the Protestant Reformations—the plurality here is significant—now acknowledge the importance of considering the lives of ordinary Christians. This trend in Reformation scholarship is now so widely adopted that the historiography is well known, and trends in this scholarship have already been outlined.15 While mentioning key scholarly contributions risks leaving out other important works, it is worth noting the groundbreaking contributions of female scholars, such as Natalie Zemon Davis and Susan Karant-Nunn, whose approaches and impacts have sparked the extraordinary work done by the next generation and more.16 The same might be said for a scholar such as Robert Kingdon whose work with consistory records in Geneva has opened up new means of exploring lived religious experiences.17 Social historical studies of the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition have also found a home in modern scholarship. Philip Benedict’s Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism is one seminal example of a social history approach to the Reformed tradition.18 As Amy Nelson Burnett observes, “Benedict’s masterful overview demonstrates the shift in the Blickle’s book has undergone a number of reprints in both English and German, the most recent of which is a German edition published in 2004. 15 See, for example, Carter Lindberg, “History, Historiography, and Interpretations of the Reformations,” in The European Reformations, 3rd ed. (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2021). 16 Among others of Davis’s works, see: Natalie Zemon Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France: Eight Essays (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975) and The Return of Martin Guerre (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984). Among others of Karant-Nunn’s works, see: Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Luther’s Pastors: The Reformation in the Ernestine Countryside (Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1979) and The Reformation of Ritual: An Interpretation of Early Modern Germany (London: Routledge, 1997). Subsequent scholarship following these two scholars directly or indirectly is too daunting to broach in a footnote, although a sense of the continuing impact of Karant-Nunn’s scholarship on research trajectories is evident from a Festschrift compiled in her honor: Victoria Christman and Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer, eds., Cultural Shifts and Ritual Transformations in Reformation Europe: Essays in Honor of Susan C. Karant-Nunn (Leiden: Brill, 2020). 17 For examples of Kingdon’s works, see: Robert M. Kingdon, Geneva and the Coming Wars of Religion in France, 1555–1563 (Geneva: Droz, 1956); Adultery and Divorce in Calvin’s Geneva (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995); and Registers of the Consistory of Geneva in the Time of Calvin, Vol. 1: 1542–1544 (Grand Rapids,: Eerdmans, 2000). Kingdon’s scholarly impact cannot be contained to one footnote, but two Festschrifts in his honor begin to convey the reverberating impact of his work: Lee Palmer Wandel, ed., History Has Many Voices (Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2003); Amy Nelson Burnett, Kathleen M. Comerford, and Karin Maag, eds., Politics, Gender, and Belief. The Long-Term Impact of the Reformation: Essays in Memory of Robert M. Kingdon (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2014). 18 Philip Benedict, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002).

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historiography of the Reformed tradition away from theology and great men, and toward a new concern with social and political context and with the impact of religious reform on common people.”19 Certainly, this interest in social history and lived religion has encompassed the Low Countries and their Reformations; in fact, there has been a significant amount of scholarship produced over the past several decades. Arie van Deursen’s pioneering study, Bavianen en slijkgeuzen, led the way.20 Many subsequent works have presented careful, excellent research on local histories to illuminate the religious lives of Dutch communities— for instance, by utilizing consistory records.21 Historians’ interest in the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, including the Reformed tradition more specifically, has continued to expand. This expansion has coincided with increased attention to lived religious experiences of women, religious minorities, and native peoples in Asia, Africa, and the Americas—groups whose experiences included interactions with the Low Countries and with Dutch Reformed Christians.22 Attempts to investigate the lives of early modern Dutch Reformed Christians in rural settings are beset with numerous challenges, particularly in 19 Amy Nelson Burnett, “Contributors to the Reformed Tradition,” in Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research, ed. David M. Whitford (Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2008), 25. 20 A. Th. van Deursen, Bavianen en Slijkgeuzen. Kerk en kervolk ten tijde van Maurits en Oldenbarnevelt (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1974). Bavianen en Slijkgeuzen has undergone numerous editions; the most recent (fifth) edition appeared in 2016. 21 For only a few examples, see Joke Spaans, Haarlem na de Reformatie: Stedelijke cultuur en kerkelijk leven, 1577–1620 (The Hague: Stichting Hollandse Historische Reeks, 1989); Guido Marnef, Antwerp in the Age of Reformation: Underground Protestantism in a Commercial Metropolis, 1550–1577 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996); Charles H. Parker, “Moral Supervision and Poor Relief in the Reformed Church of Delft, 1579–1609,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 87 (1996): 334–61; Christine Kooi, Liberty and Religion: Church and State in Leiden’s Reformation, 1572–1620 (Leiden: Brill, 2000). 22 A few recent examples of each include: Sarah Joan Moran and Amanda C. Pipkin, eds., Women and Gender in the Early Modern Low Countries, 1500–1750 (Leiden: Brill, 2019); Elise Watson, “The Jesuitesses in the Bookshop: Catholic Lay Sisters’ Participation in the Dutch Book Trade, 1650–1750,” Church History 57 (2021): 163–84; Yudha Thianto, The Way to Heaven: Catechisms and Sermons in the Establishment of the Dutch Reformed Church in the East Indies (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2014); Erica Heinsen-Roach, Consuls and Captives: Dutch-North African Diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2019); D. L. Noorlander, Heaven’s Wrath: The Protestant Reformation and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019); Jeroen Dewulf, “Emulating a Portuguese Model: The Slave Policy of the West India Company and the Dutch Reformed Church in Dutch Brazil (1630–1654) and New Netherland (1614–1664) in Comparative Perspective,” Journal of Early American History 4, no. 1 (March 2014): 3–36.

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terms of sources. Consistory records from rural churches have often been lost or do not begin until the second half of the seventeenth century. Records that do survive are frequently in poor physical condition. I encountered innumerable pages with tears, water stains, and ink that was simply too faded to be legible. In my experience, consistory records of small churches also tend to be terser than those of larger churches; these records provide primarily the most basic and essential information and tasks. In addition, because of limited resources in the community, someone with little skill usually wrote these records, making it difficult for us now to decipher them. All of these factors limit what and how much the scholar can understand regarding these communities and the people who lived in them. Nonetheless, consistory records have still proven to be remarkable sources for exploring the local, everyday religious and social practices of individual communities, even in rural areas. As sources, consistory records most certainly have their limitations. As Judith Pollmann has articulated through a meticulous study of Arnold Buchelius, these limitations include issues of what the records include or omit, in addition to the biases of the scribe and even of the consistory itself.23 Furthermore, the consistory is an “official” religious institution that may or may not reflect the concerns, experiences, and expectations of everyday, lay Christians. When read with care and attention to issues of bias and subjectivity, however, consistory records can provide insights into the lives of Dutch Reformed Christians. Much of the attention to Dutch Reformed consistories has focused on larger communities and cities. Furthermore, many of the most in-depth investigations have studied congregations in the province of Holland. The focus on these large, urban congregations, often in Holland, is understandable. The consistory records for these congregations are often extant for longer periods of time and are often more complete. The importance of Holland as a province is also certainly not to be ignored and worthy of the research that it has garnered. What has been largely lacking is attention to consistory records from smaller, rural congregations throughout the Low Countries, although some remarkable exceptions do exist. In addition to van Deursen’s work, which was mentioned above, Fred van Lieburg’s Een eiland na de Reformatie: Schouwen-Duiveland, 1572–1700 pays close attention to religious life on the 23 Judith Pollmann, “Off the Record: Problems in the Quantif ication of Calvinist Church Discipline,” Sixteenth Century Journal 33, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 423–38; Judith Pollmann, Religious Choice in the Dutch Republic: The Reformation of Arnoldus Buchelius, 1565–1641 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999).

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island in the province of Zeeland. Van Lieburg’s findings, especially for the earlier years that he covered, provide helpful comparisons and contrasts to my research and thus will feature occasionally in what follows.24 Enny de Bruijn’s book, De hoeve en het hart. Een boerenfamilie in de Gouden Eeuw, is less closely focused on lived religious experience but still considers the church in society, pastors, theology, religious faith, and morality across rural communities in Gelderland.25 Her work, too, offers useful context for the research presented in this book. Even with these studies, however, Christine Kooi’s following observation still holds true: “More local studies of revolt and reformation are needed, especially outside the core provinces of Holland, Flanders, and Brabant.”26 This book discusses consistory records for these more far-flung areas in order to shed light on the religious experiences of Dutch Reformed Christians. Additionally, some attention is given to classis records, which are the records of regional groupings of churches and, to a lesser extent, records of the higher-up provincial synods. The following chapters draw primarily from the consistory records of the Reformed churches in Arnemuiden, Huissen, IJzendijke, Wemeldinge, Serooskerke, and Sluis. The general method for choosing the consistory records of these congregations included searching online databases of archives throughout the Netherlands for consistory records of Reformed churches from as early on as possible, ideally in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. The parameters of searching for small, Reformed churches combined with the chronological preferences limited the search results significantly. I then compiled a list of archives to visit during a summer research trip and charted an itinerary that allowed for visiting the most archives possible within my time constraints. The geographical diversity of the churches is not as wide as I and others might like, and the omission of northern provinces, such as Groningen, is particularly regrettable. However, limitations needed to be made on the archives visited, the research conducted, the numbers of words written for this book, and so on. Thse limitations were exacerbated with the COVID-19 global pandemic, which prevented international travel to archives for years. Having visited the archives and taken numerous photographs, I worked through the consistory records of the churches listed above. The consistory 24 Fred van Lieburg, Een eiland na de Reformatie. Schouwen-Duiveland, 1572–1700 (Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2011). 25 Enny de Bruijn, De hoeve en het hart. Een boerenfamilie in de Gouden Eeuw (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2019). 26 Christine Kooi, “The Netherlands,” in Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research, ed. David M. Whitford (Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2008), 286.

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records of Arnemuiden and Sluis have the distinct practical advantage of having been transcribed and published. The English translations of those records are my own. All other consistory records were consulted in manuscript form, and the transcriptions and translations are my own. As the previous paragraph indicates, studying these churches and their consistory records is helpful for at least two reasons. First, these churches are all from small and rural areas. These congregations are not in major, or even middling, cities in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Low Countries. While some of these areas did have city rights and some had economic import, their populations and churches were small, particularly in comparison to urban centers across the Low Countries. Second, the congregations are drawn from a variety of provinces. While most communities are in the province of Zeeland, I have also included communities from the provinces of Gelderland and Flanders. Zeeland is a particularly interesting case study because it was both theologically stringent and geographically close to areas outside the control of the Dutch Republic, in addition to being largely rural. Moreover, comparing communities in Zeeland with communities in other provinces adds useful context and so assures that this work does not extrapolate too boldly from a single province. Again, to be clear, additional work on rural churches in other, particularly northern, provinces in the Dutch Republic would be beneficial but was impractical to carry out here. As much as possible, this book seizes the opportunity to explore churches from various parts of the Dutch Republic. Beyond the local level, the process of a classis gathering complaints from its individual congregations and then formulating those gravamina for presentation at the provincial synod provides a sense of how the Dutch Reformed churches functioned and gives access, albeit f iltered, to the everyday lives of rural churches and Dutch Reformed Christians. This system enacted in the consistory records, for example, relies on theological convictions about church offices, particularly pastors, elders, deacons, and schoolmasters, and the men who served in those offices. Similarly, the roles of participating ecclesiastical bodies were shaped by common agreements, which had been devised and articulated in church orders, about how church life should be conducted. Understanding the systems and mechanisms at play in these Dutch Reformed churches sheds valuable insights into the beliefs, articulated or assumed, and practices surrounding religious authority, the agency of lay Christians, the exercise of religious power, and resistance to that power. In an effort to provide a more complete understanding of the religious environments across the Low Countries, this book seeks to weave together

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the concept of religious identity and the importance of rural Reformed communities throughout the Reformations occuring in the Low Countries. Pursuing those topics leads to other familiar topics in the study of the Reformation world. Most notably, the concept of religious identity is closely tied to the process of confessionalization and the concern for order in early modern Reformed communities. As one engages in increasing detail with these issues, the complexity becomes even greater because the concepts become ever more interwoven. Another issue which arises is the historical relationship between churchgoers or church members and church leaders. Here terms tend to become confusing since the categories of “elite” and “lay” can be problematic. Clearly, pastors and theologians occupied places of power and authority that were not always accessible to the typical churchgoer. These power relationships are at the heart of the “confessionalization thesis.” How did those in power seek to shape their churches and the identities of the church members, and were they effective? Why was order such an important concept to these authorities, and how did they use confessionalization to maintain or restore order? However, part of the weakness of the confessionalization theory is that it assumes, to a certain extent, that church and political authorities had the power and ability to shape the identities of those under their jurisdiction. The fields of social history and lived religion need to take into account the fact that such power was certainly not absolute and, in fact, may have not been able to shift identities, including religious ones, in any discernible manner. In fact, lay Christians could demonstrate a significant amount of agency in their religious experience and in their theological beliefs and articulations. Lee Palmer Wandel has articulated precisely this argument in her book Voracious idols and Violent Hands. Her approach, which I largely adopt in this book, is worth quoting at length: “This book seeks to redress the distortions of the two-tiered model in two ways: first, to return to ordinary people their agency in the process of reform and, thereby, to suggest a more dynamic vision of ‘Reformation’; second, to recover something of their theologies, their conceptions of the nature of God and of humanity’s relation to Him.”27 My research seeks to explore the interactions between Wandel’s two tiers of learned elite and ordinary people, paying close attention to the ways in which those dynamic interactionss were navigated. However, my argument is that those tiers are arbitrary constructs that often were not fully reflective 27 Lee Palmer Wandel, Voracious Idols and Violent Hands: Iconoclasm in Reformation Zurich, Strasbourg, and Basel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 3. For the broader context of Wandel’s approach, see Voracious Idols, 1–16.

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of Dutch Reformed communities in rural areas. The following chapters will demonstrate that the boundaries between religious elites and ordinary people were often fluid and defined primarily by negotiations between or among individuals in the intimate spaces and communities they inhabited. One final aspect of the approach of this book is the attention given at various points to theology. While I do not offer a systematic theology, my study at points might resemble a work of historical theology. If one is to investigate the relationship between religious elites and lay Christians, then it is worthwhile to consider the ways in which churches and individuals adopted, rejected, or changed theological tenets of their confessional tradition. Across this book, discussion of theology will serve as a reminder that theological confessions were themselves quite varied. Within that variety, an entrée into intellectual history via examinations of theology can provide insights into how theology was translated into daily practice. While this book may seem to foolishly attempt to weave together (or, is the metaphor of untangling more apt?) some of these strands, there is no claim of arriving at a definitive account here. Instead, this book will highlight various aspects of church life in early modern Dutch Reformed churches and use those aspects to provide clarity on the aforementioned topics. Before proceeding to the main argument, it is prudent to sketch in slightly more detail the important themes at play throughout the book.

Religious Identity, Confessionalization, and Tolerance As previously mentioned, one of the lenses used throughout this book is that of religious identity. The confessionalization thesis, popularized in the 1980s by Schilling and Reinhard, is no longer considered fully convincing in most scholarly circles.28 Philip Benedict helpfully and succinctly traces the origins and development of the theory of confessionalization, and he also 28 Wolfgang Reinhard, “Gegenreformation als Modernisierung?: Prolegomena zu einer Theorie des konfessionellen Zeitalters,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 68 (1977): 226–52; Reinhard, “Konfession und Konfessionalisierung in Europa,” in Bekenntnis und Geschichte. Die Confessio Augustana im historischen Zusammenhang, ed. Reinhard (Munich: Vögel, 1981), 165–89; Heinz Schilling, Konfessionskonflikt und Staatsbildung. Eine Fallstudie über das Verhältnis von religiösem und sozialem Wandel in der Frühneuzeit am Beispiel der Grafschaft Lippe (Gütersloh: Mohn, 1981); Heinz Schilling, “Die Konfessionalisierung von Kirche, Staat und Gesellschaft. Profil, Leistung, Defizite und Perspektiven eines geschichtswissenschaftlichen Paradigmas,” in Die katholische Konfessionalisierung. Wissenschaftliches Symposion der Gesellschaft zur Herausgabe des Corpus Catholicorum und des Vereins für Reformationsgeschichte, eds. Wolfgang Reinhard and Heinz Schilling (Munich: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1995), 1–49.

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distinguishes between what he terms a “strong theory of confessionalization” and a “weak theory of confessionalization.”29 The former theory Benedict defines as the view that “links the development of confessional identities to social disciplining and state-building.” He gives a lengthy definition of the latter by describing it as the view that “simply defines confessionalization as the process of rivalry and emulation by which the religions that emerged from the upheavals of the Reformation defined and enforced their particular versions of orthodoxy and orthopraxy, demonized their rivals, and built group cohesion and identity.”30 The scholarly debate around the legitimacy of confessionalization has not gone away in recent years. Ute Lotz-Heumann has carried out much of the finest scholarly work.31 The most comprehensive examination of the applicability of the theory to Reformation Europe is the volume Confessionalization in Europe, 1555–1700, a collection of essays in honor of the late Bodo Nischan.32 The conclusion in that volume, drawn from a wide array of excellent essays, follows Benedict’s distinction in the previous paragraph. The summative quote is as follows: “If a hard confessionalization was unique to the German scene, while the rest of Europe experienced varying degrees of restraint exercised by an established church, the oppressive emotional realities of confessionalization as a system of mutually hostile religious camps hovered over the entirety of the European scene.”33 Naturally, scholarly examinations of the Reformations in the Low Countries have not escaped the debates surrounding confessionalization. Joke Spaans, for example, has highlighted the impact of the arts on the process of confessionalization, while noting that the process lasted well 29 Philip Benedict, “Confessionalization in France?: Critical Reflection and New Evidence,” in Society and Culture in the Huguenot World, 1559–1685, eds. Raymond A. Mentzer and Andrew Spicer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 44–61. 30 Benedict, “Confessionalization in France?,” 48. 31 Among a number of other works, see Ute Lotz-Heumann, “The Concept of ‘Confessionalization’: A Historiographical Paradigm in Dispute,” Memoria y Civilización 4 (2001): 93–114; Ute Lotz-Heumann and Matthias Pohlig, “Confessionalization and Literature in the Empire, 1555–1700,” Central European History 40 (2007): 35–61; Ute Lotz-Heumann, “Confessionalization,” in Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research, ed. David M. Whitford (Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2008); Ute Lotz-Heumann, “Confessionalization is Dead, Long Live the Reformation?: Reflections on Historiographical Paradigm Shifts on the Occasion of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation,” in Multiple Reformations?: The Many Faces and Legacies of the Reformation, eds. Jan Stievermann and Randall C. Zachman (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018). 32 John M. Headley, Hans J. Hillerbrand, and Anthony J. Papalas, eds., Confessionalization in Europe, 1555–1700: Essays in Honor and Memory of Bodo Nischan (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004). 33 Headley, “Introduction,” in Confessionalization in Europe, xxv.

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into the seventeenth century.34 Benjamin Kaplan has also observed that confessionalization “sheds light on developments in the Netherlands,” but he goes on to demonstrate that the “case of the Netherlands casts a reflective and not uncritical light back on the [confessionalization] paradigm.”35 Kaplan and Judith Pollmann have advocated for a similar nuance.36 Not coincidentally, as scholars have questioned the extent to which confessionalization is a valid theory, the concept of identity in the Protestant Reformations has been given increased attention.37 This research has included investigations of how identity functioned in the Low Countries. As has been well established, the Low Countries was a religiously diverse society.38 How religious identities were shaped and contested in the early modern Low Countries has been investigated at length.39 For example, Christine Kooi, Charles Parker, and Judith Pollmann have detailed how

34 Joke Spaans, “Reformed in the Low Countries,” in A Companion to the Reformation World, ed. R. Po-chia Hsia (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006), 118–34. 35 Benjamin Kaplan, Calvinists and Libertines: Confession and Community in Utrecht, 1578-1620 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005), 5–12. 36 Benjamin Kaplan and Judith Pollmann, “Conclusion: Catholic Communities in Protestant States, Britain and the Netherlands, c. 1570–1720,” in Catholic Communities in Protestant States. Britain and the Netherlands (1570–1720), eds. Benjamin Kaplan et al. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008), 249–50. 37 Barabara B. Diefendorf and Carla Hesse, eds., Culture and Identity in Early Modern Europe (1500–1800): Essays in Honor of Natalie Zemon Davis (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993); Raymond A. Mentzer, Blood and Belief: Family Survival and Confessional Identity among the Provincial Huguenot Nobility (West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1994). 38 Beyond those works listed above, see: Arie-Jan Gelderblom, Jan L. de Jong, and Marc Van Vaeck, eds., The Low Countries as Crossroads of Religious Beliefs (Leiden: Brill, 2004); Judith Pollmann, Religious Choice in the Dutch Republic: The Reformation of Arnoldus Buchelius, 1565–1641 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999); Sherrin Marshall, “Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish Women in the Early Modern Netherlands,” in Women in the Reformation and CounterReformation Europe: Private and Public Worlds, ed. Sherrin Marshall (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), 120–39; Samme Zijlstra, “Anabaptists, Spiritualists and the Reformed Church in East Frisia,” Mennonite Quarterly 75, no. 1 (2001): 57–73; Jan Machielsen, “When a Female Pope Meets a Biconfessional Town: Protestantism, Catholicism, and Popular Polemics in the 1630s,” Early Modern Low Countries 3 (2019): 1–31. 39 Most recently, see Robert Stein and Judith Pollmann, eds., Networks, Regions, and Nations: Shaping Identities in the Low Countries, 1300–1650 (Leiden: Brill, 2010); Judith Pollmann and Andrew Spicer, eds., Public Opinion and Changing Identities in the Early Modern Netherlands: Essays in Honour of Alastair Duke (Leiden: Brill, 2007); Alastair Duke, Dissident Identities in the Early Modern Low Countries, eds. Judith Pollmann and Andrew Spicer (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2009). Christine Kooi notes the trend in “The Early Modern Low Countries,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 40, no. 1, (Spring, 2009), 254.

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Catholic identities were altered and formed. 40 These studies have helpfully altered scholarly understandings of religious identity so that Dutch Catholics and other religious minorities are no longer seen as devotees struggling to maintain underground churches. Instead, as Geert Janssen summarizes, “Catholics constituted an integral, if unprivileged, part of this multi-confession society.”41 Similar understandings of religious identity have also been pursued for other religious minorities, such as Dutch Anabaptists and Lutherans. 42 Individual and collective identities in the Low Countries were complex because identities were also pluralistic in terms of politics, culture, and even language.43 Some of these differences in identity, such as political ideology, clearly had significant implications for the Low Countries. Other identity markers, particularly language, appear to have been less of an obstacle in negotiating life in the Low Countries. 44 The means by which these various aspects of identity were shaped is also a blossoming scholarly field. Judith Pollmann and Jasper van der Steen have done extensive work on the importance of memory in shaping religious and political identities.45 Andrew Pettegree has detailed the important role 40 Christine Kooi, Calvinists and Catholics during Holland’s Golden Age: Heretics and Idolaters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012); Charles H. Parker, Faith on the Margins: Catholics and Catholicism in the Dutch Golden Age (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Judith Pollmann, Catholic Identity and the Revolt of the Netherlands, 1520–1635 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). 41 Geert H. Janssen, The Dutch Revolt and Catholic Exile in Reformation Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 157. 42 Among a host of works, see: Alastair Hamilton, S. Voolstra, and Piet Visser, eds., From Martyr to Muppy (Mennonite Urban Professionals): A Historical Introduction to Cultural Assimilation Processes of a Religious Minority in the Netherlands the Mennonites (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1994); Alastair Duke, “Martyrs with a Difference: Dutch Anabaptist Victims of Elizabethan Persecution,” in Dissident Identities in the Early Modern Low Countries, 289–325; August den Hollander, Mirjam van Veen, Anna Voolstra, and Alex Noord, eds., Religious Minorities and Cultural Diversity in the Dutch Republic: Studies Presented to Piet Visser on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday (Leiden: Brill, 2014); Sabine Hiebsch, “De bibliotheek van EvangelischLuthers Seminarium: boekenschat van een religieuze minderheid,” Tijdschrijft voor Nederlandse Kerkgeschiedenis 23, no. 4 (2020): 311–28. 43 Robert C. Tash, Dutch Pluralism: A Model in Tolerance for Developing Democracies (New York: Peter Lang, 1991). 44 Robert Stein, “Introduction,” in Networks, Regions and Nations, 16; Brune Blondë, Marc Boone, and Anne-Laure van Bruaene, “City and Society in the Low Countries: Urbanisation and Urban Historiography,” in City and Society in the Low Countries, 1100–1600, eds. Brune Blondë, Marc Boone, and Anne-Laure van Bruaene (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2020), 9–10. 45 Judith Pollmann, Memory in Early Modern Europe, 1500–1800 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017); Jasper van der Steen, Memory Wars in the Low Countries, 1566–1700 (Leiden: Brill,

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played by print media, including news and books—a question particularly important for exile communities abroad or religious minorities prevented from public discourse. 46 Mirjam van Veen, Geert Janssen, and Jesse Spohnholz have all made significant contributions concerning the importance of exile to Dutch identity. 47 This book fits within the scholarly discussion of religious identity and confessionalization in that it attempts to clarify how various Reformed communities in the early modern Low Countries understood their identities. In particular, I focus on the interactions among Reformed churches within these communities. Often, such interactions have been, to some extent, characterized as a relationship between lay Christians and elite religious authorities. The dichotomy of such characterization is understandable, but it is also problematic. It is true, of course, that pastors were ordained through a process that could be complex and time consuming. Elders and deacons, too, were officeholders in Reformed church polity. These men, and the gender was important, held official positions and, in the case of pastors, were often highly educated, especially in theology. However, this book argues that such divisions—here, of pastors from elders and deacons—were not nearly as stark as the terminology might indicate. The reality of religious life in rural Reformed communities was one where the lines between official and unofficial religion or elite and lay Christians were often blurred and permeable. As a result, attempts to establish religious identity were not 2015); Erika Kuijpers, Judith Pollmann, Johaness Müller, and Jasper van der Steen, eds., Memory before Modernity: Practices of Memory in Early Modern Europe (Leiden: Brill, 2013), especially chapters 2, 7, 10, and 15; Jasper van der Steen, “Remembering the Revolt of the Low Countries: Historical Canon Formation in the Dutch Republic and Habsburg Netherlands, 1566–1621,” Sixteenth Century Journal 49, no. 3 (Autumn 2018): 713–41. 46 Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020), especially the introduction; Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen, The Dutch Republic and the Birth of Modern Advertising (Leiden: Brill, 2020), especially chapter 3. 47 Geert H. Janssen, “The Republic of the Refugees: Early Modern Migrations and the Dutch Experience,” Historical Journal 60, no. 1 (2017): 233–52; Geert H. Janssen, “The Counter-Reformation of the Refugee. Exile and the Shaping of Catholic Militancy in the Dutch Revolt,” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 63 (2012): 671–92; Jesse Spohnholz, “Exile Experiences and the Transformations of Religious Cultures in the Sixteenth Century: Kleve, England, East Friesland, and the Palatinate,” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 6, no. 1 (2019): 43–67; Jesse Spohnholz and Gary K. Waite, eds., Exile and Religious Identity, 1500–1800 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2016); Mirjam van Veen, “Exiles and Calvinist Identity,” in Cultures of Calvinism in Early Modern Europe, eds. Graeme Murdock and Crawford Gribben (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 157–70; Jesse Spohnholz and Mirjam van Veen, “The Disputed Origins of Dutch Calvinism: Religious Refugees in the Historiography of the Dutch Reformation,” Church History 86, no. 2 (2017): 398–426.

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simply conflicts between religious authorities and lay Reformed Christians. Instead, what emerges is a more complex picture where religious elites and lay religious participants were more alike and negotiated together their religious lives and identities. As described above, the turn in the past decades to social history has done much to shed light on the importance of the religious lives of ordinary people. Still, in both religious studies and religious history, the assumption has often been that social history, with its emphasis on the everyday person, is somehow fundamentally different from the more official forms of religious life and thought. What happens, though, when the lines are blurred and, for example, popular religion adopts much of the official theology that comes from the so-called “top”? Here, the language of “lived religion” in religious studies is helpful in recognizing that religious life not only includes unofficial religious practices that may not be endorsed or are even explicitly rejected by religious authorities “from above,” but also contains much of what official religion endorses and seeks to require. Conversely, official religion is impacted by and adapts to the religious views, practices, and beliefs of practitioners “from below.”48 In a similar vein, the process of confessionalization, especially in its “strong theory” form, has framed identity formation as a competitive process in which religious confessions did not cooperate but, instead, sought to eliminate one another. As described above, that competitive picture of confessional relationships has been challenged by many recent studies—for instance, by scholars who have demonstrated confessional cooperation or even tolerance. Related to the notion of religious identity is the concept of toleration in the early modern Low Countries. The work on toleration in the Low Countries fits within examinations of religious differences in early modern Europe more broadly. 49 Those accounts are, of course, too numerous and broad to describe in full here, but the approaches of a number of scholars are helpful 48 The scholarly literature on a “lived religion” perspective is vast and now goes back several decades. For the classic treatments, see footnote 8 above. More recent treatments include, but are not limited to, important works such as Meredith B. McGuire, Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008); Kristy Nabhan-Warren, The Cursillo Movement in America: Catholics, Protestants, and Fourth-Day Spirituality (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 11–12; Emma Anderson, The Death and Afterlife of North American Martyrs (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), 6–14. 49 Nicholas Terpstra, ed., Reframing Reformation: Understanding Religious Difference in Early Modern Europe (Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2020); Benjamin J. Kaplan, Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010); Ole Peter Greel and Robert W. Scribner, eds.,

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reminders that toleration was less a modern ideological principle than a negotiated approach to living together amidst religious differences. Of course, the notion of tolerance is multifaceted and complex, but significant attention has been given in recent years to tolerance in the early modern Low Countries by, among others, Victoria Christman, Alastair Duke, Willem Frijhoff, Benjamin Kaplan, and Judith Pollmann. These scholars have complicated notions that the Low Countries was either a society that existed as a forerunner of modern conceptions of tolerance or a strictly confessional society where religious interactions among people of different confessions were necessarily hostile and violent.50 In his introduction to Reformation and the Practice of Toleration, Kaplan provides a brief, helpful historiography of tolerance in the early modern Low Countries. He offers his own nuanced perspective, noting, “My own tentative conclusion is that confessional segregation in some spheres by no means precluded integration in others.”51 Drawing on Alexandra Walsham and Kaplan, Christman observes the development of “distinguishing between ‘tolerance’ as an ideological framework and ‘toleration’ in the form of pragmatic social practices that responded to specific, local situations.”52 In delineating these differences, Christman explains, scholars, among whom Christman should include herself, have forged a distinction between “toleration” as a theory or ideal and, to borrow her term, a “pragmatic toleration” that emerged from the lived experience of coexistence in a religiously plural society. Willem Frijhoff has also emphasized this idea of toleration, describing the situation as “the ecumenicity of everyday life.”53 These recent scholars have delineated a picture of the Low Countries as a region where religious diversity was frequently negotiated in everyday Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). 50 Benjamin J. Kaplan, Reformation and the Practice of Toleration: Dutch Religious History in the Early Modern Era (Leiden: Brill, 2019); Dixon C. Scott, Dagmar Freist, and Mark Greengrass, eds., Living with Religious Diversity in Early-Modern Europe (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009); Genji Yasuhira, “Delimitation of the ‘Public’ and Freedom of Conscience: Catholics’ Survival Tactics in Legal Discourses in Utrecht, 1630–1659,” Early Modern Low Countries 3 (2019): 81–114. 51 Kaplan, Reformation and the Practice of Toleration, 24. 52 Victoria Christman, Pragmatic Toleration: The Politics of Religious Heterodoxy in Early Reformation Antwerp, 1511–1555 (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2015), 9; Alexandra Walsham, Charitable Hatred: Tolerance and Intolerance in England, 1500–1700 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006). 53 Willem Frijhoff, “Religious Toleration in the United Provinces: From ‘Case’ to Model,’” in Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, eds. R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 35.

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interactions. These interactions were local, personal, and unique and, consequently, could occur in variety of ways. As will be demonstrated in this book, residents of the Low Countries could find themselves upset with community members who were Catholic and Anabaptist to the point where they might call, for example, for the offender to lose his or her job or be exiled from the community. On the other hand, as will also be demonstrated here, sometimes religious experiences were navigated with a willingness to live together with people who held to different confessions. At the same time, as noted by the scholars cited above, efforts at confessionalization certainly existed across the Low Countries; the Synod of Dort is the most prominent, collective example. These efforts could be intensely intolerant, as members of the Reformed Church sought to form churches into particular confessional identities. However, sometimes authorities in the Reformed Church were less stringent in their demands to discipline and regulate religious identity in the Low Countries. The research presented here will confirm these tensions and ambivalences and demonstrate that a complex mix of confessionalization and pragmatic tolerance existed in rural communities in the Low Countries. These tensions and ambivalences adds a third strand to the relationship between confessionalization and tolerance: religious plurality in the early modern Low Countries frequently raised the issue of tolerance and required a practical coexistence.54 In particular, I aim to illustrate more fully how religious ideas and practices were and were not tolerated in small or rural communities as members of those communities negotiated coexisting with other community members of different faith traditions. Given recent scholarship, it is perhaps not surprising that the religious picture in the Low Countries was complicated and varied widely. In the following chapters, examples abound of Reformed communities going to great lengths to establish a confessional identity and to exclude or even expel those who would not fall into line. However, other examples reveal how the community, or at least certain participants within the community, were so unwilling to impose confessional restrictions that they even resisted these restraints. Thus, one of the arguments here, most explicitly in chapter 3, is that Reformed communities simultaneously sought to establish a confessional identity, which required removing other confessional groups, and sought to live cooperatively with adherents of other, or even no, religious persuasions. 54 For a recent work that provides a global context to the idea of coexistence, see Nicholas Terpstra, ed., Global Reformations Sourcebook: Convergence, Conversion, and Conflict in Early Modern Religious Encounters (New York: Routledge, 2021), especially “Part C: Co-existence, Conversion, Convergence,” which includes chapters 7–10.

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In some instances, as evidenced most clearly in the conflict resolution strategies and the Sabbath controversies discussed in chapters 4 and 5, confessional competition was the primary focus of Reformed congregations. However, even in these instances, examples abound of those who were tolerated to a certain extent—for instance, of those who were dealt with leniently or who were involved in resisting discipline.

Rural vs. Urban and Rural Religion Even prior to the early modern period, the Low Countries had high urbanization rates. As Richard Paping has recently asserted, “Already around 1400 the territory of present day Netherlands was heavily urbanized with nearly a third of the population living in legal towns.”55 This early urbanization occurred primarily in the southern Low Countries, especially in the regions of Flanders and Brabant.56 Urbanization continued during the early modern period; Paping also notes, “It was after 1550 that the northern Netherlands decisively took the step to becoming the most urbanized region of the world for centuries, surpassing both the territory of present day Belgium and Italy.”57 The shift to the northern Low Countries is particularly notable. Following the Dutch Revolt, a large number of inhabitants migrated from southern to northern regions as well as locations abroad.58 In addition, the northern Low Countries saw an influx of immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula, German lands, and, later in the seventeenth century, France.59 Holland and Zeeland were the two provinces that most experienced this urbanization as a result of both migration and economic changes.60 Despite this urbanization the Low Countries, the overall picture is more nuanced. Perhaps most important is the fact that the main urban centers were in the province of Holland. In fact, Maarten Prak concludes, “The pattern of urbanization suggests that the Golden Age was concentrated in Holland” and that the rest of the provinces “resembled much more the 55 Richard Paping, “General Dutch Population Development 1400–1850: Cities and cCuntryside,” (Paper presented at 1st ESHD conference, Alghero, Italy, 2014), 10. 56 Maarten Prak, “Urbanization,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Dutch Golden Age, eds. Helmer J. Helmers and Geert H. Janssen, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 16. 57 Paping, “General Dutch Population Development,” 14. 58 Christine Kooi, Reformation in the Low Countries, 1500–1620 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), 118. 59 Prak, “Urbanization,” 16–17. 60 Blondë, Boone, and van Bruaene, “Urbanisation and Urban Historiography,” 9.

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patterns normal in the rest of Europe at the time.”61 Even in the province of Holland, the population ratio between the cities and countryside remained relatively unchanged during the first half of the sixteenth century. It was not until 1575 to 1675 that the urban population in Holland rose steadily, until it eventually reached around sixty percent.62 As Paping notes, a large majority of Dutch towns were still relatively small, with far fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. According to Paping’s estimates, the population in the Low Countries around 1500 included roughly 345,000 people in cities and 615,000 in the countryside. In 1550, the estimates are 420,000 and 730,000, and in 1600, these numbers are approximately 560,000 and 860,000. By 1650, the numbers shift to 820,000 and 1,005,000.63 Other scholars have given similar estimates. Wim Blockman, Bert de Munch, and Peter Stabel note that the number of people living in towns with populations larger than 25,000 was roughly 300,000 in 1525 and 815,000 in 1675. Respectively, those numbers represented 27 percent and 42 percent of the estimated total population of the Low Countries.64 By 1560, the Low Countries contained around 121 urban centers, often referred to as towns.65 Despite the high number of towns, the population in the Low Countries was still focused in only a few of the larger towns. In 1560, only Utrecht and Amsterdam had more than 25,000 inhabitants. Eight towns had between 10,000 and 25,000 inhabitants, fifteen towns had between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, and another ten towns had between 2,500 and 5,000 inhabitants. Most towns, however, were much smaller. Forty-two towns had between 1,000 and 2,500 people living in them, and forty-four towns had fewer than 1,000 residents.66 As Prak has explored in detail, even the largest cities in the Low Countries were not able to operate as freely as the urban elites might have wished because “they were under constant pressure from their own citizens” in what Prak describes as a uniquely Dutch model.67 61 Prak, “Urbanization,” 17. 62 A. M. Van der Woude, “Population Developments in the Northern Netherlands (1500–1800) and the Validity of the ‘Urban Graveyard’ Effect,” Annales de démographie historique (1982): 56–57. 63 Paping, “General Dutch Population Development,” Appendix C. 64 Wim Blockmans, Bert de Munck, and Peter Stabel, “Economic Vitality: Urbanisation, Regional Complementarity and European Interaction,” in City and Society in the Low Countries, 1100–1600, 45. 65 Peter C. M. Hoppenbrouwers, “Town and Country in Holland, 1300–1550,” in Town and Country in Europe, 1300–1800, ed. S. R. Epstein (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 56. 66 J. C. Visser, “Dichtheid van de bevolking in de laat-middeleeuwse stad,” Historisch-Geografisch Tijdschrift 3, (1985): 10–21. 67 Maarten Prak, Citizens without Nations: Urban Citizenship in Europe and the World c. 1000–1789 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 203. Prak sets out his detailed argument regarding

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These population estimates hint at the difficulties and fluidity in determining whether a community was properly a city, town, village (dorp), or something else entirely. In fact, the distinction between city and town is linguistically irrelevant in Dutch since both are indicated with the same word (singular “stad,” plural “steden”); thus, in the Low Countries, the terms “city” and “town” can be considered synonyms.68 The term “dorp” tends to indicate a community smaller than a city and without rights, but the distinction between a town and a village is often linguistically irrelevant in Dutch. Moreover, the terms for a specific community are sometimes disputed and used interchangeably. Within the history of the Low Countries the notion of “city rights” is, of course, a signif icant topic. A community in the Low Countries may have attained “city rights” even if its population was quite small. The types of rights that communities attained could vary markedly, and the historical contexts in which these rights were secured were quite disparate. This variance has led some scholars to state that “substantial differences among these earliest privileges argue against a method that takes the granting of such municipal rights as the point of departure for urbanisation.” They go on to argue, “For that reason it is necessary, when possible, to take population numbers into consideration. Much more than communal rights, they offer a reflection of the viability and vitality of a town.”69 These scholars are discussing economic viability and vitality in mind, but the same argument could be made regarding religion. While a community’s political or religious rights may have been important, population was a more influential factor on the religious life of a community. Consequently, this study will focus particularly on population. Since, as mentioned above, Arnemuiden, Huissen, IJzendijke, Wemeldinge, Serooskerke, and Sluis feature the most prominently in the following chapters, a brief description of their populations, and thus rural contexts, is helpful. With a population of roughly 5,000, Arnemuiden was markedly small during the early modern period.70 It received its city rights in 1574 from Prince William of Orange and, correspondingly by Dutch early modern definitions, the Dutch situation in the chapter entitled “The Dutch Republic: The Federalisation of Citizenship,” 183–204. 68 Paping, “General Dutch Population Development,” 3 69 Blockmans, Munck, and Stabel, “Economic Vitality,” 24. 70 The Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek lists the 1990 population as 4,629. See: https:// opendata.cbs.nl/.

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became a city.71 However, its population remained low. A. H. G. Verouden has noted that, in 1584, Arnemuiden had roughly 280 households and approximately 1,500 inhabitants, half of whom were most likely children.72 Other scholars have estimated the population to be significantly smaller, perhaps less than 500 by 1560 and less than 1,000 by 1670.73 Even taking Verouden’s larger estimate, Arnemuiden was still a small community relative to the major urban centers of the Low Countries. Huissen received its city rights around 1314 and was part of the Duchy of Cleves throughout the early modern period. During these decades, Wesel was the most significant city in Cleves, but the duchy as a whole was rife with confessional disputes.74 For most of the sixteenth century, the area was belonged to the united duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berge. When Duke Johna Willem died in 1609 with no heirs, the War of the Jülich Succession began. Cleves came under the control of the Electors of Brandenburg and was then briefly captured by the Spaniards, only to be recaptured by the Dutch Republic. The Dutch would maintain a presence in Cleves until 1672, although the area was incorporated into Brandenburg-Prussia in 1666. Today, Huisen has merged with other municipalities so that its population is nearly 20,000. However, during the nineteenth century, the population was approximately 3,000. It is impossible to calculate a precise population for early modern Huissen, but the population is unlikely to have been more than 2,000 people. IJzendijke’s status was a bit more complicated.75 It was granted city rights in 1238 but had those rights revoked in 1328 after the inhabitants participated, along with a number of Flemish cities, in a revolt. City rights were then granted again in 1330. However, the city was flooded a number of times during the next two centuries, and it ultimately collapsed. In 1587, the Duke of Parma built the current IJzendijke as a fortress, and it was subsequently expanded by Prince Maurits in 1604. A specifically Protestant church, one of the earliest Protestant churches to be built in the Dutch Republic, was 71 Joost C.M. Cox, Repertorium van de stadsrechten in Nederland: “quod vulgariter statreghte nuncupatatur” (Den Haag: VNG Uitg., 2005), 11. Accessed online: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/ binaries/content/assets/geesteswetenschappen/institute-for-history/repertorium-stadsrechten. pdf. 72 A. H. G. Verouden, ed., Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625 (Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie ‘Ons Voorgeslacht,’ 2013), 6. 73 Piet Lourens and Jan Lucassen, Inwonertallen van Nederlandse steden, ca. 1300–1800 (Amsterdam: Vereniging het Nederlands Economisch-Historisch Archief, 1997), 90. 74 Machielsen, “Female Pope,” 6–15. 75 Cox, Repertorium, 103.

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constructed in 1614.76 IJzendijke was granted city rights again in 1816; however, with a population of a little over 2,000 inhabitants, contemporary IJzendijke is often referred to as a village. Population estimates in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are difficult to calculate, but the population was certainly much smaller than it is now, likely significantly less than 1,000 residents. Wemeldinge is a small village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. As part of the Zuid-Beveland peninsula, the village and surrounding areas have long battled water. For most of its history, Zuid-Beveland, including Wemeldinge, was an island where floods frequently overwhelmed towns and villages. In 1850, construction on the Zuid-Beveland Canal began to connect two estuaries of the Scheldt River. Wemeldinge sits at the northern mouth of the Zuid-Beveland Canal. Later, in 1871, the Sloedam was constructed to dam the Sloe Channel so that Zuid-Beveland and neighboring Walcheren were connected. One of the results of this long process of reclaiming land from the sea is that Zuid-Beveland is no longer an island but now is a peninsula. Today, Wemeldinge has been incorporated into the municipality of Kapelle and has approximately 3,000 inhabitants. During the nineteenth century, the population was less than 1,000, suggesting that the population in the early modern period would have been much less than 1,000. Serooskerke, in Walcheren, not to be confused with Serooskerke in Schouwen, was a small community and did not have city rights.77 The village, originally named in the twelfth century after a prominent family, originated in the thirteenth century around Monastery Mariëndaal. Between 1572 and 1574, the monastery was destroyed in the Dutch Revolt; it was later rebuilt as a Dutch Reformed church. Again, population estimates are nearly impossible, although Serooskerke was undoubtedly much smaller than the approximately 900 inhabitants counted in an 1840 census. Thus, in terms of population and city rights, Serooskerke certainly was a rural community in the early modern Dutch Republic. Sluis was part of the larger Flemish Brugse Vrije, which had once included Bruges itself, but the city and the castellany were separated in the twelfth century. Sluis was important geographically during the Dutch Revolt, and it had long been a strategic site for military defense. The Battle of Sluis in 1340 was part of the Hundred Years War between France and England and 76 J. W. P. Prins, ed., Een Mauritskerk. IJzendijke 1614–2014 (IJzendijke: Stichting Hervormd Kerkgebouw IJzendijke/Elhapé, 2014). 77 For Serooskerke’s history, see Ronald Stenvert et al., eds., Monumenten in Nederland. Zeeland (Zwolle: Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, Zeits/Waanders Uitgevers, 2003), 220–21.

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is indicative of the strategic importance of Sluis for both countries. Sluis was also important for trade because it could receive large ships that came from the North Sea and that had a difficult time navigating the shallower Zwin River to get to Bruges.78 Already in the fourteenth century, Sluis had become a key shipping center, and the building of fortifications and city gates from the fourteenth century are indications of its importance.79 As a result of the 1579 Union of Utrecht, Sluis was officially in revolt against Spanish power and would remain free of Spanish control until the Duke of Parma’s reconquest campaign. In 1587, it was besieged by the Duke of Parma, Don Alexander Farnese. Despite efforts at relief from Dutch and English troops, the garrison surrendered after thirteen days, and the Spanish took control of the town.80 During 1604, Prince Maurits undertook a campaign to retake Sluis and other towns, such as Cadzand, IJzendijke, and Aardenburg. After a costly siege that lasted throughout the summer, the Spanish garrison surrendered, and Sluis was again under Dutch control.81 Sluis received its city rights in 1290 and, like Arnemuiden, was significantly smaller than more formidable Dutch cities in terms of population. Estimates for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries put Sluis’s population between 1,000 and 2,000.82 Population estimates for this time period are already tentative, but estimates throughout these years are further complicated by the fact that Sluis and the surrounding area saw significant military action in the Dutch Revolt.83 To seek safety and religious freedom, people fled both to and from Sluis, depending on who held the town at the moment. Nonetheless, the population estimates indicate that Sluis remained small and certainly not, despite its city rights, a major urban center. 78 A. Bauwens and D. van der Bauwhede, eds., Kerkeraad te Sluis. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Sluis, 1578–1587 (Torhout, Belgium: Uitgeverij Flandria Nostra, 1986), 17. 79 J. H. van Dale, Een blik op de vorming der stad Sluis en op den aanleg harer vestingwerken van 1382 tot 1587 (Middelburg: J. C. & W. Altorffer, 1871), 1–6. 80 Christopher Duffy, Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World, 1494–1660 (London: Routledge), 80; James Tracy, The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572–1588 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 223. 81 Bauwens and Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 17; Duffy, Siege Warfare, 89; Jonathan Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477–1806 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 260; Jan Willem Wijn, Het krijgswezen in den tijd van prins Maurits (Utrecht: Drukkerij Hoeijenbos & Co., 1934), 282–83. 82 Lourens and Lucassen, Inwonertallen, 96. Present-day population numbers for Sluis are around 23,000; see, https://opendata.cbs.nl/. 83 Dale, Een blik op de vorming der stad Sluis, 85–90; Anton van der Lem, Revolt in the Netherlands: The Eighty Years War, 1568–1648, trans. Andy Brown (London: Reaktion Books, 2018), 139–42, 155–57.

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Thus, while some communities studied in this book had city rights or economic significance, they faced unique religious experiences because their populations were not comparable to the populations of the cities and larger towns in the Low Countries. Each of the communities discussed in the following chapters had no more than 2,000 residents and, more often, closer to a few hundred residents. Because of their small populations, these communities functioned as towns or villages and not, even if given the technical designation, as cities. The question, then, becomes how religious life in these small communities in the Dutch Republic played out, particularly in contrast with the urban centers. The vast majority of scholarship, including on the Protestant Reformations, has often emphasized the urban nature of the Low Countries and, in fact, has even made urbanization the defining feature of the Low Countries. This emphasis on urbanization can lead, and indeed has led, to a triumphalist focus on the achievements of urban centers. Too often, J.H. Huizinga’s rhetorical question remains the usual perspective, even if less explicitly so: “can any province other than Holland, Zeeland, and Utrecht really be said to have furthered the culture, greatness and glory of the Netherlands as a whole?”84 Huizinga takes the argument even further, writing, “even Utrecht and Zeeland failed to make a contribution in any way comparable to that of rich and mighty Holland.”85 More recently, Prak has asserted that “the Golden Age should be appreciated as a direct result of the urban dimension of Dutch society in the seventeenth century.”86 Simultaneously, the emphasis on urbanization tends to de-emphasize, or even deny the importance of, rural areas and the people who lived in them throughout the Low Countries. Such lack of attention is understandable given pragmatic issues, such as source scarcity, scholarly interest, and the limits of scholarly projects. For instance, I have found that the paleography needed to read the consistory records of small churches is significantly more difficult than that needed for larger churches. Because consistorial secretaries in rural communities were less trained than their urban counterparts, they often had more irregular handwriting. In addition, consistory records for rural areas have often received less care than records from major urban centers and are, thus, in poor physical condition. The recent move to digital archival records creates another situation in which urban lives 84 J. H. Huizinga, Dutch Civilisation in the Seventeenth Century and Other Essays, trans. Arnold J. Pomerans (New York: Harper & Row, 1968), 14. 85 Huizinga, Dutch Civilisation, 15. 86 Prak, “Urbanization,” 16.

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might be prioritized at the expense of rural lives. Digitization efforts are wonderful on so many levels, but what material is digitized first? How is this affected by the fact that the archives with the most resources are often the ones located in major cities? Who gets to decide what gets digitized and prioritized? It seems likely, though not certain, that materials from urban centers—Amsterdam, Antwerp, Groningen, Batavia, and so on—will be digitized long before material from smaller towns and villages. Obviously, such issues are complex, and the decisions required are difficult. However, scholars should be attuned to the ways in which these decisions have an impact on whose stories are studied and, subsequently, told. The privilege of urban culture is more nefarious when accompanied by an attitude of urban superiority or the perspective that rural life was (or even is!) simply less important. Prak has noted the tendency to focus on elites even in studies of urban centers. As a corrective, he argues that “the role of ordinary people in urban politics has been systematically underestimated, and that civic institutions directly or indirectly helped shape local politics in most premodern towns.”87 When intentional, a lack of attention to rural areas is also poor history. Perhaps obviously, the population figures noted above make it clear that, although the Low Countries may have been the most urbanized country in Europe, the majority of its people still lived in the countryside.88 Indeed, for the sixteenth century and also for most of the seventeenth century, the people living in rural areas were a fairly substantial majority. In even the most urban province of Holland, the percentage of people living in towns was still only roughly half of the population. Focusing only on urban centers, then, entails ignoring over half the population of the Low Countries. Related to the population distribution of the Low Countries was the economic situation. Of course, the language of the “Dutch Golden Age” has pervaded common culture so thoroughly that the economic success of the Low Countries during the seventeenth century is often taken for granted. The scholarly literature on the Dutch economic situation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is too vast to explore in depth here.89 Pertinent to the discussion of rural areas in the Low Countries, however, 87 Prak, Citizens without Nations, 5. By “premodern,” Prak seems to include anything prior to the French Revolution, thus including the time period covered in this book. 88 For 1500, 1550, 1600, and 1650, using the estimated figures, the percentage of people living in the countryside was, respectively, 64 percent, 63 percent, 61 percent, and 55 percent. 89 For an introduction to the Dutch economy in the sixteenth century, see: Jan de Vries and Ad van der Woude, The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500–1815 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); Danielle van den Heuvel, “A

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is the importance of what one scholar has called “a process of agricultural specialization and commercialization.”90 That is to say, when discussing the economic prosperity of the Low Countries, the role of rural areas and their endeavors should not be underestimated. The tension between urban and rural early modern life extends also to religion. Navigating the changes of the Reformations has come to be seen as increasingly complex and varied. As scholars have recognized the agency of lay Christians in the Reformations, much attention has been given to urban centers.91 Perhaps most famous are Bernd Moeller’s Imperial Cities and the Reformation and Steven Ozment’s The Reformation in the Cities, although a number of other examples could be cited.92 As recently as 1996, Scott Dixon could argue, “In contrast to our understanding of the process of urban reform, the course of the Reformation in the countryside remains relatively unknown.”93 Mack Holt, too, has described the focus of social historians of the Reformation on urban centers.94 Since Dixon’s assertion, however, a number of studies have investigated the changes wrought by the Reformation in rural settings. The Reformations in rural Germany have received the most scholarly attention. Dixon himself has addressed the Reformations in the rural Germanic lands, arguing that most reform and development left “rural parishioners untouched and their habits unchanged.”95 He examines in detail what he calls “popular religion” by consideing such topics as parish customs, interactions between parish and pastor, and discipline. Prior to Dixon’s work, Peter Blickle discussed German rural areas with a focus on the so-called “Peasants’ War.”96 The Peasants’ War has been the focus of much of the research done on the rural Reformation in Germany, including Christopher Close’s recent Market Economy,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Dutch Golden Age, 149–65; Michiel van Groesen, “Global Trade,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Dutch Golden Age, 166–86. 90 Oscar Gelderblom, “Introduction,” in The Political Economy of the Dutch Republic, ed. Oscar Gelderblom (Farnham: Ashgate, 2009), 4. 91 C. Scott Dixon, The Reformation and Rural Society: The Parishes of Brandenburg-AnsbachKulmbach, 1528–1603 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 2. 92 Bernd Moeller, Imperial Cities and the Reformation: Three Essays, ed. And trans. H. C. Erik Midelfort, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972); Steven E. Ozment, The Reformation in the Cities: The Appeal of Protestantism to Sixteenth-Century Germany and Switzerland (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975, reprinted 1980). 93 Dixon, The Reformation and Rural Society, 3. 94 Mack P. Holt, “The Social History of the Reformation: Recent Trends and Future Agendas,” Journal of Social History 37, no. 1 (Autumn, 2003): 134–35. 95 Dixon, The Reformation and Rural Society, 207. 96 Peter Blickle, Die Revolution von 1525.

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work.97 Blickle has also expanded his research to these rural German areas.98 Finally, Gerald Strauss has analyzed education in the German Reformation, including for a variety of rural areas.99 Across the Swiss regions, Bruce Gordon has considered at length the ways in which Reformation ideas were implemented and received in the countryside. His conclusion, based on careful research into the Zürich Synod, highlights the varied expectations that created a gap between ministers and the laity. He argues that the Zürich Reformation did not, and even could not, meet the spiritual needs and desires of the laity. Indeed, he observes, “This popular spirituality was the declared enemy of the reformers, yet it proved unassailable.”100 Most importantly for this study, the recognition that the Reformation in the rural areas and small villages of the Low Countries might have proceeded differently than in urban centers is not new. Already in 1956, G. van der Zee provided brief descriptions of how the Reformations progressed in the villages across the province of Utrecht.101 Recently, however, scholars have begun to pay closer attention to rural areas of the Low Countries, especially with an eye towards the experiences of “ordinary” Dutch Christians. The legendary Arie van Deursen pioneered this approach with his Bavianen en slijkguezen, which has already been mentioned, and continued it later with his Een dorp in de polder: Graft in de zeventiende eeuw.102 The definitive tomes that Wouters and Abels completed on Delft also include, as indicated in their title, a significant amount of research on the surrounding rural areas. Most recently, various scholars have compiled accounts of experiences of the Reformation in Dutch towns and villages.103 In English, the most notable exception to the scholarly lacunae is Alastair Duke’s “The Reformation of the Backwoods: The 97 Christopher W. Close, “‘One Does Not Live by Bread Alone,’: Rural Reform and Village Political Strategies after the Peasants’ War,” Church History 79, no. 3 (September 2010): 556–84. 98 Peter Blickle, Gemeinde-reformation. Die Menschen des 16. Jahrhunderts auf dem Weg zum Heil (Munich: Oldenbourg, 1985); the English translation is: Communal Reformation: The Quest for Salvation in Sixteenth-Century Germany, trans. Thomas Dunlap (Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press, 1992). 99 Gerald Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978); Strauss, “The Social Function of Schools in the Lutheran Reformation in Germany,” History of Education Quarterly 28, no. 2 (July 1988): 191–206. 100 Bruce Gordon, Clerical Discipline and the Rural Reformation: The Synod in Zürich, 1532–1580 (Bern: Lang, 1992), 221. 101 G. van der Zee, “Schets van de crisis de kerkelijke Reformatie in de dorpen van de provincie Utrecht, plm. 1580–1620,” Jaarboekje van het Oudheidkundig Genootschap ‘Niftarlake’ (1956): 1–97. 102 Arie Th. Van Deursen, Een dorp in de polder. Graft in de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 1994). 103 Enny de Bruijn, ed., Volk in verwarring. Reformatie in Nederlandse steden en dorpen (Apeldoorn: de Banier uitgeverij, 2017).

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Struggle for a Calvinist and Presbyterian Church Order in the Countryside of South Holland and Utrecht before 1620.”104 Beyond these relatively few studies just mentioned, which are mostly in Dutch, the rural areas of the Low Countries have still not received adequate scholarly investigation. Here, the focus is on small villages. A basic argument of this book is that despite the relatively small populations of these communities, the community’s and the individual’s religious life were important and provide insights into how people understood themselves, their communities, and their Christianity. A critique of the research in this book could be that the selection of towns is too narrow or that the events highlighted from the church records are too anecdotal. A practical response might include reminders that limits of time and resources require restricting the number of towns and churches and that one could not possibly include in one book all the material and stories contained in the various consistory records. A more theoretical response, however, is that the research on these communities and the evidence remaining about them matters regardless of how widely it is corroborated. Of course, it may be helpful to determine whether patterns found in the communities studied here appear in other parts of the Low Countries. However, even if the situations here are unique, they existed for these people in these communities. Put another way, the uniqueness of the rural strategies of navigating religious identity within small parishes does not negate the value of studying those communities and the individuals therein. Their religious lives, beliefs, and identities were the religious life, belief, and identity of the early modern Dutch Reformed Church,whether their experiences are corroborated widely or turn out to be unique. To be sure, expansion of the research presented here is welcome and even necessary, but, I would argue, these communities and their stories of lived religious experience are valuable in and of themselves and not simply because they do or do not fit broader patterns within the Dutch Reformed churches, the religious culture of the Low Countries, or the Protestant Reformations more broadly.

Research Questions and Argument How, exactly, was Dutch Reformed religious experience lived in early modern rural communities, and how did the rural nature of those communities affect 104 Alastair Duke, “The Reformation of the Backwoods: The Struggle for a Calvinist and Presbyterian Church Order in the Countryside of South Holland and Utrecht before 1620,” in Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries (London: Hambledon Press, 1990), 227–68.

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those experiences? As these questions indicate, this book seeks to investigate the processes, practices, and beliefs of early modern Dutch Reformed religious life, particularly as it was experienced in rural areas. Through this investigation, it argues primarily that the seemingly insignificant or random aspects of rural Dutch Reformed religious practice are not to be dismissed but, instead, should be studied with careful attention. Thus engaging in an in-depth study of the “loose ends of history” will provide a more complete understanding of the religious beliefs, practices, and identities of these rural Dutch Christians.105 Across the following chapters, I will attempt to demonstrate that various aspects of rural Dutch Reformed religious life might seem random to the modern eye but are, in fact, not random at all and instead make up the very essence of religious experience. In other words, while it may be difficult for the contemporary scholar to systematize the relationship between accounts in church records of the elections of elders and deacons, inter-confessional conflicts, Sabbath debates, and so on, trying to form a cohesive narrative may miss the point entirely. Instead of trying to fit these various issues into a singular narrative, this book argues, precisely by examining these loose threads of religious experience will we be better positioned to understand the religious experiences of these Christians, in all their complexity, messiness, and randomness. In researching the Dutch Reformed church records, a number of helpful research questions can guide one’s inquiries. In particular, what aspects of religious life appear consistently in rural consistory records, and what do those aspects tell us about how Dutch Reformed Christians understood their religious lives? What was the interplay between theology and practice in rural Reformed churches? What agency did lay Dutch Christians in these communities have, and how was it expressed? Were there unique challenges that rural churches faced and strategies that they adopted which were specific to their small size and geographical isolation and which urban churches may not have encountered or, at least, may have encountered differently? With this line of questioning, I am drawing on David Lubke’s notion of “hometown religion”—a notion that leads him to reflect how, for small communities in Westphalia, “The hometown environment, in other words, shoved people together despite their religious differences.”106 105 See a series of panels organized by Jesse Spohnholz and Carina Johnson at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference held in 2021 and 2022 in San Diego, CA and Minneapolis, MN, respectively: https://sixteenthcentury.org/program-archive/. 106 David M. Luebke, Hometown Religion: Regimes of Coexistence in Early Modern Westphalia (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016), 15.

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The argument posited in this book expands Luebke’s focus on religious coexistence to the whole of religious experience. The premise is, then, that lived religious experience as a whole was complicated by the small size and geographical isolation of rural communities in the early modern Low Countries. This book will focus on five elements that were recurrent parts of religious life in the early modern Dutch Reformed Church: church orders, electing elders and deacons, confessional interactions, conflicts in and among Reformed churches, and Sabbath observance. The array of topics addressed in the book’s five chapters are hardly meant to be exhaustive but highlight frequently occurring topics gleaned from close readings of church records at the level of provincial synods, classes, and consistories. It is perhaps overly obvious to state that how Dutch Reformed church members and ordinary Dutch citizens experienced their religious lives was varied and local. On the other hand, common elements of piety, or at least shared expectations of piety, did exist in Dutch Reformed congregations. Without being audacious enough to feign being comprehensive, this book focuses on the frequently appearing features of religious life mentioned above and outlined in more detail below. In seeking to understand these recurring aspects of Dutch Reformed religious life in rural areas, this book will use the conceptual category of religious identity. I define this category as those aspects of religious life by which religious authorities sought to shape the religious identities of congregants within their churches. Conversely, it was precisely in these arenas of religious life that Reformed Christians could and did assert their own religious agency and thus shaped their theology, piety, and religious identity in ways that they chose. In more theological terms, these religious issues were part of a Reformed Christian’s discipleship, a process that was navigated among individuals, theological perspectives, and churches, all with occasionally conflicting visions of what a Reformed identity entailed. Researching how these aspects of religious life were understood and practiced can provide a more thorough understanding of the individual Christians themselves, their identities, and their lived religious experiences. The topics addressed here as means of identity formation should not be considered an exhaustive list. Certainly, other means of identity formation functioned at a variety of levels. At the institutional level, the concept of poor relief and the procedures and institutions accompanying poor relief were often cast in confessional terms, to cite just one example.107 In 107 Charles Parker, The Reformation of Community, Social Welfare and Calvinist Charity in Holland, 1572–1620 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Charles Parker, “Moral Supervision

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terms of lay practices, significant scholarly work has been done on sacred space, including confessional debates around burial disputes and burial sites.108 Even sensory rituals, including those surrounding death, took on confessional qualities.109 This book is also clearly focused on Reformed communities in the early modern Low Countries. It does not consider the ways in which other confessional groups approached religious identity. Limitations at the levels of both research and publishing require omitting the perspectives of other confessional groups, such as Anabaptists, Catholics, and Lutherans, as well as non-Christian minorities, for instance, Jewish populations, all of which were as varied and non-monolithic as the Reformed tradition. The absence of these groups is not in any way to suggest their unimportance. Other extraordinarily capable scholars, including Christine Kooi, Carolina Lenarduzzi, Charles Parker, Joke Spaans, and Judith Pollmann, have addressed the idea of religious identity as understood and practiced by these groups in the Low Countries, as have numerous journal articles by a wide range of historians.110 and Poor Relief in the Reformed Church of Delft, 1579–1609,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 87 (1996): 334–61. 108 For a well-rounded volume on sacred space, see Liesbeth Geevers and Violet Soen, eds., Sacrale ruimte in de vroegmoderne Nederlanden (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2017); more broadly, Will Coster and Andrew Spicer, eds., Sacred Space in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). For sacred space surrounding death, see Tiffany Brousard, “Aan de rand van het graf. De transformatie van het funeraire leven en landschap in antwerpen en Brugge tijdens de calvinistische republieken (1577/1578–1584/1585),” in Sacrale ruimte in de vroegmoderne Nederlanden, 59–86; Judith Pollmann, “Burying the Dead, Reliving the Past: Ritual, Resentment and Sacred Space in the Dutch Republic,” in Catholic Communities in Protestant States, 84–102; Andrew Spicer, “‘Rest of Their Bones’: Fear of Death and Reformed Burial Practices,” in Fear in Early Modern Society, eds. William G. Naphy and Penny Roberts (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), 167–83. 109 Louise Deschryver, “You Only Die Once: Calvinist Dying and the Senses in Lille and Tournai during the Dutch Revolt,” Early Modern Low Countries 4, no. 1 (2020): 35–57; Tarald Rasmussen and Jon Øygarden Flaeten, eds., Preparing for Death, Remembering the Dead (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), 108–22, 361–77. 110 The broadest but now quite dated treatment of Catholicism is L. J. Rogier’s classic book, Geschiedenis van het katholicisme in Noord-Nederland in de 16e en 17e eeuw, 2 vols. (Amsterdam: Urbi et Orbi, 1947). For other, more recent works on Catholicism, see: Carolina Lenarduzzi, Katholiek in de Republiek. De belevingswereld van een religieuze minderheid 1570–1750 (Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2019); Parker, Faith on the Margins; Joke Spaans, “Catholicism and Resistance to the Reformation in the Northern Netherlands,” in Reformation, Revolt and Civil War in France and the Netherlands 1555–1585, eds. Philip Benedict, Guido Marnef, Henk van Nierop, and Marc Venard (Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen, 1999), 149–63. Among other works, for the Lutheran tradition, see: C. Ch. G. Visser, De lutheran in Nederland tussen katholicisme en calvinisme, 1566 tot heden (Dieren: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1983); Sabine Hiebsch,

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The first two chapters of this book focus on identity formation in the context of the Reformed churches as an institution. That is, the emphasis is on the roles of church orders, elders, deacons, and pastors in the lives of rural churches. Particular attention is given to how the formal ecclesiastical structures served as a means to shape the church as an institution and, thereby, instruct individual church members. Chapter 1 discusses the use of church orders at the national and provincial levels to organize the life of Dutch Reformed congregations. It explores the theological importance of order in the Reformed tradition and then moves beyond these well known, “from above” church orders to incorporate new research that uncovers a local church order developed by a Reformed consistory. This production of a local church order highlights the local agency of the consistory and the consistory’s recognition that ecclesiastical life in a small community required more localized ecclesiastical structures. Chapter 2 considers elders and deacons, two of the church offices institutionalized in the church orders. It begins with a brief exploration of theological understandings of elders and deacons. From there, I examine the processes by which elders and deacons were nominated and elected. How many men were nominated? How were elections conducted, and did procedural difficulties emerge? The chapter also explores the men who were nominated and elected. Did men serve as deacons prior to serving as elders? How frequently were men reelected? Were there reasons men were or were not elected? These questions allow for conclusions about a variety of questions, including what church members prioritized, the challenges of religious life in rural communities, and the artificiality of lay and elite distinctions in Reformed Christianity. In the remaining chapters the focus shifts from the church as an institution to the church as an organism. Rather than discussing “from the top down,” so to speak, the subsequent chapters will analyze the lay experiences of Reformed Christians in the Low Countries. These chapters continue the emphasis on theological articulations within the Dutch Reformed tradition and the importance of consistory and classis records for understanding lived religious experiences. “The Coming of Age of the Lutheran Congregation in Early Modern Amsterdam,” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 3, no. 1 (2016): 1–29. Among other works, for the Anabaptist community, see: S. Zijlstra, Om de ware gemeente in de oude gronden. Geschiedenis van de dopersen in de Nederlanden 1531–1675 (Hilversum: Verloren, 2000). For works on Jewish communities, see: R. G. Fuchs-Mansfeld, De Sefardim in Amsterdam tot 1795. Aspecten van een joodse minderheid in een Hollandse stad (Hilversum: Verloren, 1989); M. Bodian, Hebrews of the Portuguese Nation: Conversos and Community in Early Modern Amsterdam (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997).

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Chapter 3 considers the broadest of the remaining topics—confessional relationships between Reformed, Anabaptist, or Catholic Christians. The focus when examining these confessional relationships is on the ways in which Reformed churches and church members described and interacted with other confessional groups. As this chapter demonstrates, complaints about Catholics and Anabaptists were frequent, but consistorial efforts at disciplining confessional variance did not always go as the consistory would have liked. In fact, lay Christians had remarkable agency in these small communities; they resisted disciplinary oversight of their religious lives, explored religious belief, and educated themselves in their own theological confessions. Chapter 4 addresses the specific ways in which conflict was seen as a crucial, ubiquitous aspect of religious life in Dutch Reformed churches, particularly as Reformed Christians could and did f ind themselves in intra-confessional disputes with their local church members, local church authorities, and other ecclesiastical bodies. The case studies explored here reveal varying types of conflicts, including conflicts between consistorial members, conflicts surrounding schoolmasters, and conflicts related to vacant churches and the process of securing pastors. As a whole, the chapter complicates the idea of unified religious elites functioning in unanimous agreement about how to regulate religious life in their communities. Furthermore, the conflicts portray the complexity of religious life in small communities, where identities were multifaceted and relationships were interconnected. Also challenged is the caricature of religious elites dictating religious life since the case studies present local communities claiming and enacting their own agency as local Reformed communities. The final chapter, chapter 5, focuses on the role of the Sabbath as a means of identity formation and piety within the religiously plural setting of the Low Countries. Like the first and second chapters, this chapter begins with a theological exploration of how various Dutch Reformed voices understood the Sabbath. From there, the chapter examines complaints about Sabbath observance at the levels of the classis and consistory and explores how expectations and practices surrounding Sabbath observance functioned at local and regional levels. Thus, the chapter addresses questions about the relationship between theology and practice, in addition to the similarities and variances of religious expectations in small, local communities versus larger ecclesiastical bodies; here, size is defined in terms of both geography and representation. Together, these chapters argue for the importance of examining the religious lives of Reformed Christians in rural communities. Some challenges

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faced in these rural churches were likely unique to life in small religious communities; in other instances, however, the religious life in rural churches seems to have been comparable to that in urban Reformed churches. Because of these two scenarios, this book argues, research into rural communities provides a broader, more complete understanding of the complex and varied religious life of Reformed communities across the early modern Low Countries. A second overall argument presented here focuses on the relationship between theology and practice. This relationship has been a driving interest in my previous research, and the argument here attempts to synthesize theology and practice into a more cohesive portrait that stresses how religious belief and practice were not dichotomous but always interrelated. In structuring the book, the binary nature of theology and practice was stubborn and difficult to overcome. Some chapters, especially the first, second, and f ifth, and the sections within those chapters might appear to treat theology and practice separately. That appearance is only due to an inability to overcome the practical issues of structuring a chapter; hopefully, the presence of theology and practice within not just one book but also within individual chapters indicates their interrelatedness. To that end, various points throughout the book highlight instances where theological doctrines were adapted or even rejected in practice because of the needs and preferences of the immediate community. At other points, religious practices aligned with or even were driven by theological understandings. The third argument pursued here is that lay religious agency persistently challenged religious authority. Religious authorities certainly did try to regulate ecclesiastical practices, moral life, and theological belief, as I will demonstrate. These authorities were in positions of power that provided them with various means by which they could seek to enact, severely at times, this power. However, religious authorities did not simply get their way. In numerous examples, church orders were not simply accepted in local churches, and Sabbath observance was never what religious authorities envisioned. Moreover, confessional conflicts did not result in the accused relinquishing their Anabaptist or Catholic beliefs and practices. Across all of these instances, Reformed and non-Reformed Christians claimed and enacted agency in def ining their religious identities and contested the ability of religious authorities to force religious identity on them. Related to this third argument of the book, the very distinction between lay and elite religion is challenged in the following chapters. The difficulty

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questioning this distinction is obvious since some language is needed to describe differences between, for example, theologically educated pastors or professors and church members who were illiterate. Nonetheless, the distinction proves artificial and fluid. In reality, lay members could wield significant power in how they practiced their religion, could be well versed in their theological views, and could participate in the official life of the Reformed churches in much the same ways as religious “elites.” With a variety of examples, I illustrate how the division between laity and elites was often ignored, challenged, and transgressed. In sum, this book aims to build on exciting trends in Reformation scholarship to provide a more thorough account of the religious lives of Reformed Christians in rural communities across the Low Countries. It is hoped that the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural churches as well as the means utilized by small Reformed communities to navigate individual and communal religious life will be better understood. Particular attention is given here to the ways in which Reformed Christians sought to define Reformed religion in the face of a range of cultural and religious challenges. However, this book will also demonstrate that such processes were challenged and negotiated within the particular context of life in small, rural communities. In a sense, then, what follows is about recognizing the complexity of the human experience especially as it pertains to religion. To that end, appreciating the religious complexity of rural Reformed communities in the early modern Low Countries might promote a more serious reckoning with the lives of people who have been ignored and, sometimes literally, written out of history. A reckoning of that sort, for both then and now, is surely a worthwhile endeavor.

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Karant-Nunn, Susan C. Luther’s Pastors: The Reformation in the Ernestine Countryside. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1979. Karant-Nunn, Susan C. The Reformation of Ritual: An Interpretation of Early Modern Germany. London: Routledge, 1997. Kingdon, Robert M. Adultery and Divorce in Calvin’s Geneva. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Kingdon, Robert M. Geneva and the Coming Wars of Religion in France, 1555–1563. Geneva: Droz, 1956. Kingdon, Robert M., Thomas A. Lambert, and Isabella M. Watt, eds. Registers of the Consistory of Geneva in the Time of Calvin. Vol. 1: 1542–1544. Translated by M. Wallace McDonald. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. Kooi, Christine. Calvinists and Catholics during Holland’s Golden Age: Heretics and Idolaters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Kooi, Christine. “The Early Modern Low Countries.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 40, no. 1 (Spring, 2009): 253–55. Kooi, Christine. Liberty and Religion: Church and State in Leiden’s Reformation, 1572–1620. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Kooi, Christine. “The Netherlands.” In Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to Research, edited by David M. Whitford, 273–89. Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2008. Kooi, Christine. Reformation in the Low Countries, 1500–1620. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. Kuijpers, Erika, Judith Pollmann, Johaness Müller, and Jasper van der Steen, eds. Memory before Modernity: Practices of Memory in Early Modern Europe. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Lem, Anton van der. Revolt in the Netherlands: The Eighty Years War, 1568–1648. Translated by Andy Brown. London: Reaktion Books, 2018. Lenarduzzi, Carolina. Katholiek in de Republiek. De belevingswereld van een religieuze minderheid 1570–1750. Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2019. Lieburg, Fred van. Een eiland na de Reformatie. Schouwen-Duiveland, 1572–1700. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2011. Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations, 3 rd ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2021. Lotz-Heumann, Ute. “The Concept of ‘Confessionalization’: A Historiographical Paradigm in Dispute.” Memoria y Civilización 4 (2001): 93–114. Lotz-Heumann, Ute. “Confessionalization,” In Reformation and Early Modern Europe: A Guide to History, edited by David M. Whitford, 136–57. Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2008. Lotz-Heumann, Ute. “Confessionalization Is Dead, Long Live the Reformations?: Reflections in Historiographical Paradigm Shifts on the Occasion of the 500th

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Stein, Robert, and Judith Pollmann, eds. Networks, Regions, and Nations: Shaping Identities in the Low Countries, 1300–1650. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Stenvert, Ronald, et al., eds., Monumenten in Nederland. Zeeland. Zwolle: Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, Zeits/Waanders Uitgevers, 2003. Strauss, Gerald. Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978. Strauss, Gerald. “The Social Function of Schools in the Lutheran Reformation in Germany.” History of Education Quarterly 28, no. 2 (July 1988): 191–206. Tash, Robert C. Dutch Pluralism: A Model in Tolerance for Developing Democracies. New York: Peter Lang, 1991. Terpstra, Nicholas, ed. Global Reformations Sourcebook: Convergence, Conversion, and Conflict in Early Modern Religious Encounters. New York: Routledge, 2021. Terpstra, Nicholas, ed. Reframing Reformation: Understanding Religious Difference in Early Modern Europe. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2020. Thianto, Yudha. The Way to Heaven: Catechisms and Sermons in the Establishment of the Dutch Reformed Church in the East Indies. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2014. Tilly, Charles. “Retrieving European Lives.” In Reliving the Past: The Worlds of Social History, edited by Olivier Zunz, 11–52. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1985. Tracy, James. The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572–1588. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Veen, Mirjam van. “Exiles and Calvinist Identity.” In Cultures of Calvinism in Early Modern Europe, edited by Graeme Murdock and Crawford Gribben, 157–70. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. Visser, C. Ch. G. De lutheran in Nederland tussen katholicisme en calvinisme, 1566 tot heden. Dieren: De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1983. Visser, J. C. “Dichtheid van de bevolking in de laat-middeleeuwse stad.” HistorischGeografisch Tijdschrift 3 (1985): 10–21. Vries, Jan de, and Ad van der Woude. The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500–1815. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Walsham, Alexandra. Charitable Hatred: Tolerance and Intolerance in England, 1500–1700. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006. Wandel, Lee Palmer, ed. History Has Many Voices. Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2003. Wandel, Lee Palmer. Voracious Idols and Violent Hands: Iconoclasm in Reformation Zurich, Strasbourg, and Basel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Watson, Elise. “The Jesuitesses in the Bookshop: Catholic Lay Sisters” Participation in the Dutch Book Trade, 1650–1750.” Church History 57 (2021): 163–84.

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Wijn, Jan Willem. Het krijgswezen in den tijd van prins Maurits. Utrecht: Drukkerij Hoeijenbos & Co., 1934. Woude, A. M. van der. “Population Developments in the Northern Netherlands (1500–1800) and the Validity of the ‘Urban Graveyard’ Effect.” Annales de démographie historique (1982): 55–75. Yasuhira, Genji. “Delimitation of the ‘Public’ and Freedom of Conscience: Catholics’ Survival Tactics in Legal Discourses in Utrecht, 1630–1659.” Early Modern Low Countries 3 (2019): 81–114. Zee, G. van der. “Schets van de crisis de kerkelijke Reformatie in de dorpen van de provincie Utrecht, plm. 1580–1620.” In Jaarboekje van het Oudheidkundig Genootschap “Niftarlake,” edited by Martini Buys, 1-99. Utrecht: Drukkerij, 1956. Zijlstra, Samme. Om de ware gemeente in de oude gronden. Geschiedenis van de dopersen in de Nederlanden 1531–1675. Hilversum: Verloren, 2000. Zijlstra, Samme. “Anabaptists, Spiritualists and the Reformed Church in East Frisia.” Mennonite Quarterly 75, no. 1 (2001): 57–73.

1

Establishing Order via National, Provincial, and Local Church Orders: “Let All Things Be Done with Decency and Order” Abstract The chapter argues for the theological importance of order within the Reformed tradition. The argument includes discussions of order in the writings of John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Andreas Hyperius, and the Leiden professors’ Synopsis Purioris Theologiae. The chapter also explores the role of national and provincial church orders in the life of Dutch Reformed churches. While these church orders were operative in Dutch Reformed churches, churches, especially rural churches, were selective about which church orders they adopted and followed and thus demonstrated agency in how they conducted religious life in their communities. As one example, the chapter includes a discussion of a local church order that a Reformed consistory in rural Wemeldinge produced for their congregation; this church order further demonstrates the above points. Keywords: Order; Theology; Synods; Church Orders; Consistories

On the cover page of the 1619 church book of Wijdenesse lies a reference to verse forty of the fourteenth chapter of book of 1 Corinthians in the Bible. Should that reference fail to call the biblical words to the reader’s mind, the verse is given directly underneath the passage reference: “Let all things be done with decency and order.”1 In the second volume of the Wijdenesse church book (1639), the same reference is included, and the verse is, again, 1 Westfries Archief, “Kerkeraad. Handelingen van de kerkeraad, 1617–1953,” in Hervormde Gemeente Wijdenes, 1617–1960, Collection 1270, Inventaris 1.1–2. The exact reference, including spelling and capitalization, is as follows: “1. Corinth. 14 cap. 40 versu Laet alle dinghen verlock[?] ende met orden geschieden.”

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_ch01

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written out in its entirety. Other Dutch church books contain similar slogans. The first church book of Spanbroek (Spanbroeck in the records) and Opmeer, for example, includes, “Psalm CXXIV:8” and the text of the verse, which reads, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”2 Enkhuizen’s first church book contains no such inscription, but the second church book has a variety of Latin phrases.3 These phrases essentially serve as epigraphs for the various church books and thus provide insights into how the churches compiling them conceived of their work. The church in Spanbroek and Opmeer, for example, clearly saw the church book as a testament to the help that the Lord had provided to them. Similarly, Enkhuizen’s chosen phrases demonstrate the importance of patience and endurance across the suffering that they had endured. The epigraphs most applicable for this chapter are the ones found in the two church books of the congregation in Wijdenesse. From the two title pages of the Wijdenesse church books, the emphasis on order is particularly clear, and the connection that the Wijdenesse consistory makes between order and the consistory is both obvious and important. In their view, the inscription was appropriate because the consistory’s task was to ensure that the church operated in an orderly and appropriate fashion. In the Reformed tradition, the consistory’s structure and tasks were regulated by church orders. Wijdenesse’s concern with order and the broader role that church orders played in Dutch Reformed churches are especially relevant for this chapter’s examination of Dutch Reformed church orders of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Scholars have often recognized the concern with order in early modern Europe among Reformed Christians and Protestants more generally. Maintaining order required a certain amount of social control, as Herman Roodenburg and Pieter Spierenburg have argued. 4 While definitions of 2 Westfries Archief, “Kerkeraad Notulen,” in Hervormde Gemeente Spanbroek-Opmeer, 1617–1994, Collection 1047, Inventaris 2.1.1. The exact reference, including spelling and capitalization, is as follows: “Onse hulpe is in den naeme des HEEREN, die hemel en Aerde gemaeckt heft.” Psalm CXXIV.8. 3 Westfries Archief, “Kerkeraad. Notulen (acta) van de kerkeraad, vanaf 1855 van de algemene kerkeraad, 1578–1957,” in Hervormde Gemeente Enkhuizen, 1572–1996, Collection 0304, Inventaris 1.1. These read as follows: “Nobile vincendi genus est patientia; Vincit qui patitui: si vis vincere, disce pati. [Patience is a noble form of conquering. He who suffers, conquers: if you want to conquer, learn to suffer.]”; “Vincit qui patitur. [He who endures conquers.]” A third transcription is less intelligible to me, but appears to read: “Dominus Deus auxisiatoi neus & ides aen sum confuses.” My thanks to Michael J. Lynch for his assistance with these phrases. 4 Herman Roodenburg and Pieter Spierenburg, eds., Social Control in Europe, 1500–1800 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004).

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social control can be debated, Robert Scribner’s definition in his classic work on popular culture in Germany is helpful. There, he writes, “Thus, it [social control] can be defined to mean: those forces maintaining the existing order which enable the continuance of established political authority and ensure the influence of political over social formations.”5 Social control, then, leads to “a deep-rooted consensus within civil society, which leads to the acceptance of the social and political order as legitimate and purposive.”6 While Scribner focuses on the political aspects of social control, religious authorities in early modern society sought social control too. In particular, consistories strove to enact social control and thereby incorporate order in Reformed churches. Such was the case in Calvin’s Geneva. Raymond Mentzer sums up the issue nicely: “An additional, most singular feature of the Genevan Reformed Church was its effort to control proper behavior through the vehicle of an ecclesiastical tribunal known as the consistory.”7 Mentzer goes on to describe how the French consistory in Nîmes “applied itself tirelessly in the adaptation of Calvin’s reformed polity” with the end goal of attempting to, at least in part, “enforce a community morality.”8 Wietse de Boer has demonstrated in his work on Counter-Reformation Milan that the concern for order was present not only in Protestant communities but also in Catholic communities.9 This chapter begins with theological approaches to the concept of order by a variety of Reformed thinkers and communities. The theologians and documents addressed in only one chapter, naturally, must be limited, and here the focus is on the Dutch Reformed tradition. However, as recent scholarship has increasingly demonstrated, the Dutch Reformed tradition was not unique. The Reformation in the Low Countries included numerous varieties of Protestantism, ranging from Lutheran traditions to Anabaptist traditions, and the Reformed strand of Protestantism itself was under significant influence from a range of international locales. Thus, some attention is given here to theologians and Reformed traditions that might be, strictly speaking, outside of the Dutch Reformed tradition but that were 5 Robert W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: Hambledon Press, 1988), 176. 6 Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements, 177. 7 Raymond A. Mentzer, “Disciplina nervus ecclesiae: The Calvinist Reform of Morals at Nîmes,” Sixteenth Century Journal 18 (1987): 90. 8 Mentzer, “Disciplina nervus ecclesiae,” 90, 115. 9 Wietse de Boer, The Conquest of the Soul: Confession, Discipline, and Public Order in CounterReformation Milan (Leiden: Brill, 2001).

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influential for Dutch Reformed theology as well as other theologians who might be assigned to the Dutch Reformed tradition.10 The interplay between theology and practice is a consistent thread of this book because of the argument that exploring the interplay between belief and practice is a fruitful avenue for investigating lived religious experience. The initial section of this chapter considers theological understandings of order to help shed light on why church orders held such a primary role in the Reformed churches, including Dutch Reformed churches. What emerges is a theological understanding that ties order to the very character of God, thus making the pursuit of order in Reformed churches a divine imperative rather than simply a practical convenience. It is, then, only by understanding order as a divine attribute to which God also calls the church that one can grasp the theological significance of order and, by extension, understand the persistent efforts to secure that order via carefully crafted and communally agreed-upon church orders. Following this theological discussion, this chapter turns to the ways in which church orders functioned in Dutch Reformed churches. Church orders were constructed at a variety of ecclesiastical levels, and brief attention is paid to the church orders at the national and provincial levels. These examinations are more introductory than comprehensive because Dutch Reformed church orders are easily available, in Dutch at least, and have been the basis for a substantial amount of scholarship. I also address how local congregations at the consistorial level engaged with church orders. The two Dutch Reformed communities analyzed in detail are those of Arnemuiden and Wemeldinge. The second section of this chapter focuses on a unique discovery from my own archival research. In 1648, the Wemeldinge consistory included in 10 Those included here who are not directly a part of the Dutch Reformed tradition include Calvin and Vermigli. Those more directly tied to the Dutch Reformed tradition include Hyperius, Junius, and the Leiden professors who composed the Synopsis of Purer Theology. Calvin’s influence on the Low Countries, while not to be overestimated, can be found via the Genevan Academy and French-speaking evangelicals in the southern provinces, such as Flanders. On the former, see Karin Maag, Seminary or University?: The Genevan Academy and Reformed Higher Education, 1560–1620 (Brookfield: Scolar Press, Ashgate, 1995), 184; Robert M. Kingdon, “The Political Resistance of the Calvinists in France and the Low Countries,” Church History 27, no. 3 (September 1958): 221–22. On the latter, see Alastair C. Duke, The Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries (London: Hambledon & London, 2003), 280–81. For Vermigli, his influence came largely via his work in England and connections with Dutch “stranger” churches there; see, Silke Muylaert, Shaping the Stranger Churches: Migrants in England and the Troubles in the Netherlands, 1547–1585 (Leiden: Brill, 2021), especially chapter 1. More broadly, see Richard A. Muller, Christ and the Decree: Christology and Predestination in Reformed Theology from Calvin to Perkins (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), 67.

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their records a church order for their congregation. This chapter explores the content of the church order with a specific emphasis on how it referenced, incorporated, and altered preexisting church orders. The consistory records of Wemeldinge, and this church order in particular, thus provide an opportunity to better understand the religious life of Protestants in the Dutch Republic. At f irst glance, church orders may seem to function at national and regional levels and have little to do with the everyday religious life of ordinary Christians. One of the arguments pursued in this chapter is that church orders were not simply documents put to use by clergy members but did, in fact, function in the lives of ordinary congregations, including small rural churches. In other words, church orders were not just regulative documents used by ecclesiastical officials to navigate issues related to ecclesiastical polity. Rather, church orders had an impact on the spiritual lives and experiences of lay Christians. Furthermore, consistories, comprised of clergy and lay Christians, utilized church orders to guide their lived religious experiences. The evidence comes, first, from the ways in which the Arnemuiden consistory referenced church orders as they sought to regulate the religious life of their community and, second, from the initiative that the Wemeldinge consistory took in formulating its own church order to more directly regulate the peculiarities of their small religious community.

Reformed, Theological Understandings of Order The Reformed authorities’ concern for order had, in their view, strong theological backing. Early Reformed confessions make explicit reference to the importance of order, both in the church and in society at large. In the Belgic Confession, written by Guido de Brès in 1563, Article 30, entitled “The Government of the Church,” notes that the true church is one that should be “governed according to the spiritual order that our Lord has taught us in his Word.” Later in that same article, the text speaks of elders and deacons and the tasks given them; it then concludes: “By this means everything will be done well and in good order in the church.”11 The next article, Article 31, 11 Guy de Brès, “Belgic Confession,” Article 30. One of the Confession’s English translations can be found in Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources (Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013) 56–57. Original versions can be accessed via the PostReformation Digital Library (PRDL): http://prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=165&sort=date_asc. All subsequent references to this source will be structured as: De Brès, “Belgic Confession,” Article #.

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describes the officers of the church (ministers, elders, and deacons) and mentions that these officers should be chosen “with prayer in the name of the Lord, and in good order, as the Word of God teaches.” The article also argues that ministers and elders should be held in special esteem in order “to keep God’s holy order from being violated or despised.”12 Since Article 32 of the Belgic Confession addresses order explicitly in terms of church orders, it is worth quoting at length: “We also believe that although it is useful and good for those who govern the churches to establish and set up a certain order among themselves for maintaining the body of the church, they ought always to guard against deviating from what Christ, our only Master, has ordained for us.”13 According to the Belgic Confession, order is an ecclesiastical matter, but it is also important for society as a whole. Article 36 addresses the role of the civil government. Again, the language of order is used: “God wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings.”14 Article 21 of the French, or Gallican, Confession of Faith notes that each church has the authority to make laws and statutes since “it is necessary that everything be done decently and in order.”15 How the French Confession was formulated and approved and, in particular, Calvin’s relationship to the Confession has been the subject of significant debate. Gianmarco Braghi has recently downplayed the role of Calvin in the writing of the French Confession, arguing that the letter-confession Au Roy was the basis for the text of the French Confession.16 Regardless, the French Confession of Faith reiterates the common Reformed theme that order is a crucial characteristic of the Christian church. Calvin’s theology and church order were certainly influential throughout Europe, including the Low Countries, but recent scholarship has rightly 12 De Brès, “Belgic Confession,” Article 31. 13 De Brès, “Belgic Confession,” Article 32. 14 De Brès, “Belgic Confession,”Article 36. 15 Calvin, John, “French Confession of Faith,” in Tracts Relating to the Reformation, trans. Henry Beveridge, (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849), vol. 2, 150. 16 Gianmarco Braghi, “Between Paris and Geneva: Some Remarks on the Approval of the Gallican Confession (May 1559),” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 5, no. 2 (2018): 197–219. Braghi summarizes the scholarly debates; some of the most important works include the following: Robert M. Kingdon, Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France (1555-1563) (Geneva: Droz, 2007); Glenn S. Sunshine, Reforming French Protestantism: The Development of Huguenot Ecclesiastical Institutions, 1557-1572 (Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2003); Philip Benedict and Nicolas Fornerod, eds., L’organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France, (Geneva: Droz, 2012).

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demonstrated that his influence, including on the Dutch Reformed tradition, should not be overstated. In terms of church orders, as Andrew Pettegree has shown, Johannes a Lasco’s Forma ac ratio, known also as the London Church Order (1555), was influenced by Marten Micron and was of marked significance for the Dutch Reformed tradition. The London Church Order was influenced not only by Calvin’s church orders but also by orders in Strasburg and Zurich.17 The London Church Order would be largely adopted in Emden, as Lasco, Micron, and hundreds of other exiles migrated from London to Emden.18 Given the importance of men like Lasco and Micron to the Dutch Reformed tradition, it is worth briefly discussing how Lasco, too, placed an emphasis on order for the good of Christ’s Church. Lasco’s construction of the London Church Order and importation of that Order to Emden speaks, of course, to the importance he placed on establishing and maintaining order in churches. As Pettegree and Michael Springer have noted, Lasco’s Form ac ratio functioned polemically as a defense of the Dutch and French refugee churches against their English critics.19 Despite this apologetic function, the Forma ac ratio also stressed the importance of creating and maintaining a sense of order in the Strangers’ Church. Noting the importance of “law and order” for Lasco, Springer quotes from the preface of Lasco’s Form ac ratio: “So, it is indeed certain that the Church of God and of Christ cannot be preserved without law, especially among so many groups of strangers and families of exiles.”20 Lasco recognized that order was essential for the flourishing of the refugee community in London, and his desire to implement his church order in London and, later, in Emden reveals the priority he placed on order within the church. 1 Corinthians 14:40, the verse with which this chapter began, was a verse to which Protestant Reformers were frequently drawn.21 Calvin made explicit reference to this verse in his Institutes in his discussion of the days and times for worship services. He wrote, “But unless these meetings are stated, and 17 Andrew Pettegree, Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 22–24; Andrew Pettegree, Foreign Protestant Communities in Sixteenth-Century London (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 68–73. 18 Pettegree, Emden and the Dutch Revolt, 36–38. 19 Pettegree, Foreign Protestant Communities, 57; Michael S. Springer, Restoring Christ’s Church: John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio (Burlington: Ashgate, 2007), 52. 20 Springer, Restoring Christ’s Church, 56. 21 Leo J. Koffeman, “The Dark Side of the Good News?: A Theological Approach to Church Polity,” in Protestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts I: Ecclesiological and Historical Contributions, Proceedings of the International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 7–10 November, 2011, eds. Allan J. Janseen and Leo J. Koffeman (Zürich: LIT Verlag, 2014), 5.

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have fixed days allotted to them, how can they be held? We must, as the apostle expresses it, do all things decently and in order.”22 Calvin’s exegetical discussion of 1 Corinthians 14:40 in his biblical commentary is brief. He sees Paul’s closing sentences of the chapter as a “general conclusion” that is “a rule by which we must regulate everything that has to do with external polity.” The more specific instructions that Paul had given in the chapter, for instance regarding speaking in tongues and women’s silence, were not binding for all. Rather, the goals of avoiding confusion and maintaining propriety and peace were primary. Drawing a conclusion for his own audience, Calvin differentiates between the “tyrannical edicts of the Pope,” which only serve to bind people’s conscience in bondage, and “the godly regulations of the Church,” which maintain discipline and order. The latter, Calvin avers, are not mere human traditions but come “from the mouth of Christ himself.”23 Calvin also refers to this Corinthians passage in a number of his biblical commentaries, including those on Jeremiah and 2 Timothy, as well as elsewhere in his 1 Corinthians commentary. In his comments on Jeremiah 23:21, Calvin discusses the legitimacy of the true minister of God in opposition to the false prophets being described in Jeremiah 23. Here, he includes the two-fold nature of God’s call, the “internal” and “external” calls. The internal call comes from the Holy Spirit and precedes the external call. The external call, which arises from the church, “belongs to order,” Calvin says, “for God will have in all things carried on by us orderly and without 22 John Calvin, Institutes, II.viii.32. Calvin’s Institutio Christianae religionis went through several editions. The Latin editions were published in 1536, 1539, 1543, 1550, and 1559. The final 1559 edition will be the one referenced here and in what follows since that version was used in the Dutch Reformed tradition; it was translated into Dutch in 1560. The Latin 1559 edition can be found in John Calvin, Opera quae supersunt omnia, eds. Guilielmus Baum, Edouard Cunnitz, and Eduardus Reuss (Brunsvigae: C.A. Schwetschke, 1863), vols. 1-4. Any number of English translations and editions of Calvin’s Institutes exist. The two most well-known translations are Henry Beveridge’s translation done in 1845 and the edition edited by John T. McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles in 1960. See John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989); John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, ed. John T. McNeill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960, reprint: Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006). All subsequent references to Calvin’s Institutes will refer to the 1559 edition and will adhere to the following format: Calvin, Institutes, Book Number [Uppercase Roman Numeral].Chapter Number [Lowercase Roman Numeral]. Section Number [Arabic Numeral]. I have consulted the Latin as well as Beveridge’s and McNeill’s translations. 23 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, trans. John Pringle, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979), vol. 1, 398, https://ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/ calcom39/cache/calcom39.pdf.

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confusion,” a clear reference to 1 Corinthians 14:40.24 In 2 Timothy 1, Calvin briefly discusses Paul’s charge to Timothy in terms of ordination and the conferring of the office of the ministry. Commenting on 2 Timothy 1:6, which mentions the laying on of hands, Calvin explicitly highlights the importance of order. He notes that the apostles borrowed this ceremony from their ancient traditions because it was “a part of that decent and orderly procedure which Paul elsewhere recommends,” again a reference to the 1 Corinthian 14 passage.25 Finally, in his remarks on 1 Corinthians 11:2, Calvin addresses why Paul includes in his letter to the Corinthians a mention of the “tradition” that he has passed on to the Corinthian church. According to Calvin, Paul does not deny that the apostles gave instructions that were not written down but claims that these instructions were not “parts of doctrine or related to things necessary for salvation Paul, the first founder of the Corinthian Church, had also framed for its [the church’s] regulation pious and seemly enactments—that all things might be done decently and in order, as he afterwards enjoins.” Instead, Calvin observes, Paul’s traditions were connected with “order and government.” Naturally, Calvin connects his discussion with 1 Corinthians 14:40: “Thus,.”26 Again, one should not overestimate Calvin’s influence on the Reformed tradition in the Low Countries. Numerous other theologians, Reformed as well as from other religious traditions, produced commentaries on 1 Corinthians and, therefore, commented on 1 Corinthians 14:40.27 With the limitations of a chapter-length investigation in mind, two further authors and their biblical commentaries will suffice to demonstrate how Reformed theologians interpreted 1 Corinthians 14:40. As Scott Manetsch notes, Peter Martyr Vermigli’s commentary on 1 Corinthians “became the gold standard on that epistle.”28 It is important, then, to briefly consider Vermigli’s work. 24 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations, trans. John Owen (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1850, reprint: Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), 176–80. 25 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, trans. William Pringle, vol. 21 of Calvin’s Commentaries (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1856, reprint: Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007), 150–52, https://ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/calcom43/cache/ calcom43.pdf. 26 Calvin, Commentaries on Epistles to the Corinthians, vol. 1, 293–94, https://ccel.org/ccel/c/ calvin/calcom39/cache/calcom39.pdf. 27 Scott Manetsch, ed., Reformation Commentary on Scripture: New Testament IX, 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017), xlix–l. 28 Manetsch, 1 Corinthians, xlix; Jon Balserak, “1 Corinthians Commentary: Exegetical Tradition,” in A Companion to Peter Martyr Vermigli, eds. Torrance Kirby, Emidio Campi, and Frank A. James III (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 283–304.

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In addition, Andreas Hyperius was an important Protestant professor in Marburg who is often credited with having published the first Protestant treatise on systematic homiletics.29 Hyperius’s confessional allegiance was notably ambiguous. Already in 1909, E. G. Achelis described Hyperius as “not a strict Lutheran” and Hyperius’s writings as having a “strong Calvinistic tendency.”30 Others have noted Hyperius’s connection with the Reformed tradition as well as his influence on the Protestant traditions in the Low Countries.31 Donald Sinnema, for example, includes Hyperius in “the Reformed tradition,” and Karin Maag describes Hyperius as a “Dutch Reformed theologian.”32 Even brief treatments of these two commentators, both of substantial stature in the Protestant Reformations, will prove helpful in elucidating Reformed approaches to order. Vermigli’s discussion of 1 Corinthians 14:40 is relatively short. He notes that the verse serves as an epilogue to the fourteenth chapter and then describes what the verse does not require when speaking of the decency required in worship. In particular, Vermigli counters the idea that the verse is concerned with only external, carnal things, such as clothes and jewelry. He observes that the concern with external things was characteristic of the Old Testament since the people of God were then focused on this earthly world and could not see clearly. However, Christ dispelled the shadows and allowed the Church to move beyond a concern with only external things. Drawing explicitly from Augustine’s City of God, Vermigli defines order as everything in its proper place, which, in the church, includes “doctors, disciples, people, pastor[s], and elders.” There are, according to Virmigli, also rites and rules that are preferable for reasons of tradition and that should be followed in order to avoid confusion. These Church traditions are to be examined and followed when they are shown to help build the Church in decent and orderly ways.33 29 Beth Kreitzer, “The Lutheran Sermon,” in Preachers and People in the Reformations and Early Modern Period, ed. Larissa Taylor (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 51–52. 30 E. G. Achelis, “Hyperius (Gerhard), Andreas,” in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. 5, ed. Samuel MacAuley Jackson (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953), 432–33. 31 Willem van’t Spijker, Principe, Methode en Functie van de Theologie bij Andreas Hyperius (Kampen: Kok, 1990), 36. 32 Donald Sinnema, “The Distinction Between Scholastic and Popular: Andreas Hyperius and Reformed Scholasticism,” in Protestant Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment, eds., Carl Trueman and R. Scott Clark (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1999), 128; Karin Maag, “Preaching Practice: Reformed Students’ Sermons,” Netherlands archief voor kerkgeschiedenis 85 (2005): 145. 33 Peter Martyr Vermigli, In selectissimam D. Pauli priorem ad Corinthios Epistolam D. Petri Martyris Vermilii… (Tiguri: Christophorus Froschouerus, 1551), 395–96.

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In his likewise concise commentary on 1 Corinthians, Andreas Hyperius explained that 1 Corinthians 14:40 called for order both in the life of the church and in society at large—a point already noted in the Belgic Confession. Hyperius discusses Paul’s double meaning when the apostle writes about decency and orderliness. According to Hyperius, Paul is, first, referring to speaking in tongues and prophecy, and, second, is making the point that all the gifts of the church should be used in an orderly way. Everywhere, but especially in “sacred meetings,” individuals should act with order and dignity.34 Franciscus Junius demonstrates a similar concern for order in his Verclaringhe van twee vraghen.35 The two questions alluded to in the title of Junius’s work deal, respectively, with the similarities and differences between politics and the ministry of the church and with the magistrate’s rights pertaining to the visible church. While analysis of his full theological argument is not needed here, it is worth noting that Junius repeatedly notes the importance of order in both political and ecclesiastical affairs.36 He articulates a number of different arguments, including the importance of species as a means of demonstrating the ordered structure of nature.37 Junius also argues that the order seen in nature is based on the very character of God. Thus, natural order should also be reflected in politics and the church.38 Not surprisingly, Junius makes frequent references to biblical texts. Most relevant for the notion of order, though, is his quotation of 1 Corinthians 14:33, which says, “[God] is a God of order and not of confusion.”39 For Junius, order flows from God’s nature and, consequently, is essential for creating a true, visible church as well as for creating a stable, flourishing society. The Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, a text produced by four Leiden professors in 1625, provides another example of the emphasis on order in Reformed, 34 Andreas Hyperius, Commentarii D. Andreae Hyperii, doctissimi ac clarissimi theologi, in epistolam D. Pauli ad Romanos, et utramque ad Corinthios. Cum indice rerum & verorum locupletissimo (Tiguri: Froschoverus, 1583), 312. 35 Franciscus Junius, Verclaringhe van twee vraghen, door D. Franciscus Iunius … De eerste, van de over-een-cominghe ende het onderscheyt der Politijcke ende Kerckelijcke bedieninghe. De tweede van het Recht des Magistraets in de sichtbare Kercke (Amsterdam: Jan Eversz. Cloppenburch, 1610). For a brief overview of Junius’s life and work, see Todd M. Rester, “Translator’s Introduction,” Journal of Markets & Morality 14, No. 1 (2011): 235–44. An extract of that introduction can be found on the webpage for the Junius Institute: http://www.juniusinstitute.org/about/junius. 36 On the political magistrates see, for example, Junius, Verclaringhe van twee vraghen, 21. 37 Junius, Verclaringhe van twee vraghen, 4. 38 For Junius’s articulation of the order instituted in the church, see: Junius, Verclaringhe van twee vragen, 5–13. 39 Junius, Verclaringhe van twee vraghen, 5.

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and specifically Dutch Reformed, theology. It addresses order, for example, in Disputation 41 when Peter’s role as head of the church is discussed. The authors write, “And yet we do admit that the apostles occupied a primary position on the level of their administration, in keeping with their special calling and the extraordinary assistance of the Holy Spirit, so that also for the sake of good order did Peter occasionally take the lead among them.”40 While the concern for order was ubiquitous in early modern Reformed theology, it was not simply a set of philosophical or theological principles. Instead, the desire for order in churches and in society at large helps us to understand the proliferation of church orders throughout early modern Reformed movements, including in the Low Countries. The task of church orders was, of course, to ensure that Reformed churches operated in an appropriate and organized manner and not with confusion and chaos. The impetus towards an ordered church was less a matter of practicality or common sense than a deeply held theological principle. 41 The Reformed church orders were to apply this theological principle to particular historical contexts. In some instances, the standard Reformed position, as much as one existed, was that Scripture gave clear mandates on how order should be kept in the church. The clearest example of this is the Reformed insistence on two sacraments. Similarly, most Reformed theologians emphasized the church offices that Christ himself had instituted, most notably pastors, elders, and deacons. Because issues of church polity were divinely instituted matters of order in the church, they could not be adjusted or ignored. At the same time, however, many parts of church life were not divinely instituted and thus could be open to adaptation. Famously, a number of Reformed communities, such as Calvin’s in Geneva, included the office of professor or teacher as one of the ecclesiastical offices; other communities did not have this post. Additional topics on which variations occurred, to name only a few, included: the use of godparents at baptism, the role of singing and music in worship, and the celebration of ecclesiastical holidays, such as Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. Church orders often reflect this tension between items in church life that were dictated by Christ, and were therefore inviolable, and other items that were more open to revision. For some items, the church orders reflect 40 Willem van Asselt, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds., Synopsis Purioris Theologiae / Synopsis of a Purer Theology, (Leiden: Brill, 2016), vol. 2, 600–01. 41 W. Nijenhuis, “De publieke kerk veelkleurig en verdeeld, bevoorrecht en onvrij,” in Algemene geschiedenis der Nederlanden, eds. D.P. Blok et al. (Haarlem: Fibula-Van Dishoeck, 1979), vol. 6, 327.

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very little flexibility, while, for others, they frequently include language that leaves specific decisions to the discretion of individual churches. As will be seen in what follows, the Dutch Reformed church orders were clear that individual congregations were not to independently interpret topics such as discipline, education, and the sacraments. Adaptations, however, were allowed in other issues, for instance the length of terms for elders and deacons, the precise role of schoolmasters, and the relationship between the church and state. The disparity between strict prescriptions about how church life was to be ordered and the opportunties for altering various practices was not only a matter of practicality. These different approaches arose from a theological recognition of a fundamental difference between matters that were ordained by Christ and matters that depended only on human wisdom and tradition. For every topic in the church order, however, church practice must adhere to the eternally applicable principle of order since God himself was immutably a God of order.

National Church Orders The Dutch Reformed churches gathered at several important national synods prior to the famous Synod of Dort. Scholars had previously asserted that the first of these gatherings was in 1568 at the Convent of Wesel, where a group of Protestants were supposed to have met secretly in order to establish the Reformed church in the Dutch Republic and northwest Germany. However, the controversy over whether such a gathering ever existed has been put to rest by Jesse Spohnholz’s recent, convincing argument that such a gathering simply did not happen.42 Consequently, the Synod of Emden is the first of the Dutch Reformed national synods; its approved acts were signed on October 5, 1571. Technically, the acts passed at Emden as well as acts subsequently passed at the provincial synod in Dordrecht during 1574 and the national synod in Dordrecht during 1578 were simply “acts” related to church polity and were not designated as “church orders.” Thus, Leon van den Broeke has argued that the decisions of these early synods cannot be deemed church orders.43 Van den Broeke’s distinction seems somewhat arbitrary since the acts of the Synod of Emden were considered to be authoritative by later Dutch Reformed 42 Jesse Spohnholz, The Convent of Wesel: The Event That Never Was and the Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017). 43 Leon van den Broeke, “The Composition of Reformed Church Orders: A Theological, Reformed and Juridical Perspective,” In die Skriflig 52, no. 2: 2, https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v52i2.2351.

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synods, as evidenced clearly in the Dordrecht synod. 44 These “articles” or “acts” are even described in passing as matters of “order,” indicating a nearly synonymous understanding of the terms. 45 Furthermore, the influence of these early acts on later formal church orders is clear. The participants of these early synods frequently served in later synods and thus created additional continuities between early acts on church polity and later formal church orders. For example, Johannes Taffinus was a delegate at Emden in 1571, at Dordrecht in 1578, and again at Middleburg in 1581. 46 Similarly, Berneus Vezekius was a representative at Middelburg in 1581 as well as in 1586 at Den Haag. 47 Nonetheless, van den Broeke’s point is well taken, and the transition in terminology from “acts” to “church order” is worth noting; this shift indicates the increasing structure that Dutch Reformed churches assumed as they became more established in the Dutch Republic. The Synod of Emden established, in theory at least, an authoritative set of rules for how the Dutch Reformed churches should be organized and governed. Its acts on church polity cover a variety of topics and, not surprisingly for the f irst synod, are more disorganized than later church orders. The acts begin with the famous declaration that no church will be over another church and then discuss the confessions of faith and catechisms to be used in churches. They next articulate the relationships between levels of church administration, including the consistory, classis, provincial synod, and national synod. In particular, the specif ic distribution of classes as well as classes “under the cross” are addressed. Subsequently, the acts focus on the off ices of the church, such as ministers of the Word, elders, and deacons, and the details of their responsibilities. From there, the acts delineate the specif ics of church services and ceremonies, for instance baptism, Lord’s Supper, and marriage. Discipline then takes up ten articles plus two additional articles that consider disciplining ministers. Students are the topic of articles thirty-seven through forty-two. Finally, the acts of the Synod of Emden conclude with discussions of the writings of the churches, moving from church to church, and a number of attestations. 44 C. Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), en het concept-reglement op de organisatie van het Hervormd kerkgenootschap in het koninkrijk Holland (1809) (Zaltbommel: Joh. Noman en Zoon, 1865), 97–99. See, in particular, Articles 1, 4, 9, and 12. 45 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 159. See, in particular, the first and third questions addressed at the 1578 Synod of Dordrecht. 46 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 64, 194, 254. 47 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 194, 254.

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Several other national synods occurred after Emden before the famous Synod of Dort during 1618–19. The next national synod was held at Dordrecht in 1578, and, few years later, in 1581, a third national synod was held at Middelburg.48 A fourth national synod took place in 1586 in Den Haag. This synod would be the last national synod until the Synod of Dort in 1618–19. All of the national synods after Emdem agreed on revised “acts” or, from 1581, “church orders” (kerkordeningen).49 Dordrecht’s 1578 acts are the longest set of declarations; there are 101 articles under six headings. The first section contains fifteen articles addressing the offices of pastors, elders, and deacons. The second section shifts to the consistory and ecclesiastical assemblies; it is the longest section with thirty-one articles. Section three considerss schools and is the shortest section. Section four, composed of twenty-five articles, deals with doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies, and section five discusses weddings in fourteen articles. The final section covers church discipline in ten articles. The 1581 national synod, the first to officially declare a “church order,” alters the structure and length of the acts from the previous 1578 Synod of Dordrecht. The 1581 Synod of Middelburg’s church order has only sixty-nine articles, which are placed under four broader headings. The 1581 church order is thirty-two articles shorter than the 1578 acts and omits the 1578 sections on schools and weddings. The four sections of the 1581 church order are similar in length. Eighteen articles are dedicated to the offices of the church; ecclesiastical meetings are covered in seventeen articles; the section on doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies is the longest with twenty-one articles; and church discipline is the shortest section with twelve articles. The 1586 Synod of Den Haag’s church order closely follows the structure and length of the 1581 church order. The same four headings of 1581 are used and are placed in precisely the same order. The church order is slightly longer with seventy-nine total articles, ten more than the previous church order, but it is still significantly shorter than Dordrecht’s 1578 acts. Like the 1581 church order, the 1586 church order devotes roughly the same amount of space to each topic. The offices of the church section is the longest with twenty-four articles; ecclesiastical meetings are considered in twenty-one articles; doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies are addressed in seventeen articles; and church discipline is again the shortest section with sixteen articles. 48 J.P. van Dooren, De nationale synode te Middelburg in 1581. Calvinisme in Opbouw in de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden (Middelburg: Koninklijk Zeeuws Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1981). 49 Many of these church orders can be found in Hooijer’s Oude Kerkordeningen.

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While the Canons of Dort might be the most well-known result of the Synod of Dort, the Synod of Dort also produced a church order. Because this church order is important for the trajectory of the Dutch Reformed Church through the nineteenth century, it has been well studied; only a brief overview is needed here.50 Like the 1581 and 1586 church orders, this order has four headings: The Offices; Ecclesiastical Assemblies; Doctrine, Sacraments, and Ceremonies; and Censure and Ecclesiastical Admonitions. However, the four sections are no longer of similar length, for they are increasingly short. The section on offices contains twenty-seven articles; that on ecclesiastical assemblies is composed of twenty-five articles; doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies account for eighteen articles; and the final section on discipline has sixteen articles. As Don Sinnema has observed, the Dort church order was largely a revision of the 1586 church order agreed on at Den Haag.51 Sinnema’s conclusion has been largely supported by A. van Harten-Tip’s recent book De Dordtse Kerkorde 1619. Ontwikkeling, context en theologie.52 Clearly, even prior to the famous Synod of Dort in 1618–19, the Dutch Reformed churches had no shortage of church orders. Given the importance of the Synod of Dort in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, one might suspect that its church order would lessen the need for additional church orders produced at provincial synods. However, provincial synods continued to produce church orders after the Synod of Dort. Regional churches throughout the Dutch Republic were not as neatly unified as the national church orders might suggest or prefer. Complicating the issue of national unity and order, national synods were held infrequently with gap of more than thirty years between the 1586 Synod of Den Haag and the 1618–19 Synod of Dort; national synods were prohibited in the Dutch Republic after 1588.53 Provincial synods, a number of which established their own provincial church orders, arose in the absence of these national synods. 50 Fred van Lieburg, “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order in Its Dutch Political, Ecclesiastical and Cultural Context (1559–1816),” in Protestant Church Polity and Changing Contexts I, 117–36. 51 Donald Sinnema, “The Canons of Dordt: From Judgment on Arminianism to Confessional Standard,” in Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), eds. Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 327. 52 A. van Harten-Tip, De Dordtse Kerkorde 1619. Ontwikkeling, context en theologie (Utrecht: Kok Boekencentrum Academic, 2018). Harten-Tip’s book is the revision of her doctoral dissertation, “De Dordtse Kerkorde 1619,” completed in 2018 at Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn. 53 Fred van Lieburg, “Dordrecht’s Own Decretum Horribile: The Acta Synodi behind the Scenes or the Role of Emotions in the History of Theology,” in The Doctrine of Election in Reformed Perspective: Historical and Theological Investigations of the Synod of Dordt 1618–1619, ed. Frank van der Pol (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 97.

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Provincial Church Orders Delineating the entirety of provincial synods and church orders would be a monumental task and is impossible in what follows here. Thus, the following discussion is meant to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. It will demonstrate that national church orders were never able to create a sense of national unity because provincial church orders continued to be seen as authoritative and were continually being produced. Furthermore, Dutch Reformed churches viewed provincial church orders as responding more directly and accurately to daily realities in ways that could secure order for regional churches more effectively than could the orders from national synods. One of the most important provincial synods occurred at Middelburg in 1591. The church order established at Middelburg, often simply called the Church Order of Zeeland, addressed a number of the topics considered by previous national synods. The structure of the provincial Church Order of Zeeland follows exactly that of the national church orders. Again, four chapters dealt with: offices of the church; ecclesiastical meetings; doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies; and church discipline. The Church Order of Zeeland’s first section is the longest and consists of twenty-three articles, while the section on ecclesiastical meetings is the next longest at twenty articles. The final two sections consist of seventeen and nineteen articles, respectively, although the final section is the second-longest section in terms of actual text because it contains several particularly long articles. The Church Order of Zeeland is especially well known for granting political authorities significant power over the Reformed church; for instance, magistrates were given a role in appointing and dismissing ministers.54 Perhaps most famously, the province of Drenthe agreed on its own church order in 1638.55 The format of the Drenthe Church Order is standard. The chapters, in order, deal with the ministries of the church; ecclesiastical meetings; doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies; and discipline. Also according to the usual structure, the opening section (ministries of the church) is the longest, followed by the f inal section (discipline) and then the second section (ecclesiastical meetings). The 54 Fred van Lieburg, “Gisbertus Samuels, a Reformed Minister Sentenced by the Synod of Zeeland in 1591 for His Opinions on Predestination,” in Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618-1619), eds. Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 10. 55 Hooijer provides a helpful introduction to the Reformation in Drenthe as well as to the Drenthe Church Order: Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 460–65.

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third section, on doctrine, sacraments, and ceremonies, is the shortest section. Much like the Church Order of Zeeland, the Drenthe Church Order accords the civil magistrates a signif icant role in the life of the Dutch Reformed Church; for example, they wereactively involved in appointing ministers.56 More unusually, civil authorities could commission ecclesiastical visitations, which served as accountability checks for churches and their off icials.57 Zeeland ratified another church order at a provincial synod held in 1638 at Tholen.58 The church order is unique in its structure and covers a variety of topics. The church order begins in a relatively standard manner, covering ecclesiastical meetings in six articles, doctrine in two articles, and sacraments in another four articles. Later, in chapter eight, church discipline is discussed in four articles. Marriage is covered in chapter seven by only one article. Other items are more extraordinary. The second chapter addresses church services in three articles, while the fifth chapter uses another three articles to consider students, schools, and schoolmasters. The final four chapters, chapters nine through twelve, are even more varied. Chapter nine is simply entitled “Various Requests,” chapter ten addresses questions to the synod, and the eleventh chapter describes previously occurring issues. The final chapter deals with “outstanding things.” However, the ideals articulated in church orders were often far from reality. The lived religious experience of many Reformed communities was much less ordered than church authorities might have liked. Part of this disorder included disagreements over issues covered within church orders. These disagreements led to dissatisfaction with existing church orders and thus led to the continued proliferation of church orders, especially at the provincial level. In this way, the existence of a multitude of national and provincial church orders indicates the dissatisfaction with the existing church orders. Furthermore, the variety of church orders suggests that churches continued to see a need for church orders to address the specific contexts within which they were operating—a point which becomes even clearer in the following local study of Wemeldinge.

56 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, Articles 1–6, 467–69. 57 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, Articles 62–65, 477. 58 The church order can be found in the following two works: Leenderd Bakker and Johan Bakker, Acta synodalia of gearresteerde kerken-ordeningen van Zeelandt, van de jaren 1591, 1620, en 1638 (Middelburg: Leenderd en Johan Bakker, 1755); Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, Archief. Vroegere en Latere Mededeelingen Voornamelijk in Betrekking tot Zeeland (Middelburg: J. C. & W. Altorffer, 1906).

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Church Order in Wemeldinge Protestant preaching had early roots in Zeeland and, more specifically, in Zuid-Beveland. During October 1578, the town of Goes welcomed the first Protestant preacher to their Church of Mary Magdalene. By December 1, 1578, seven towns—Wemeldinge, Kapelle, Baarland, Heinkenszand, Nisse, Hoedekenskerke, and Kruiningen—jointly called their f irst Reformed pastor. That pastor, Gheleyn Adriaans, would have a brief stay due to his untimely death in March 1580. However, the Reformed movement would remain strong in Wemeldinge, including the presence of a pastor named Johannes Tellinck, the son of the well-known preacher Willem Tellinck. In 1648, the Wemeldinge consistory took the remarkable step of formulating its own church order. Terminology is important here because the consistory records do not specify “church order” (kerkordening). However, the absence of this term does not mean that the regulations were not intended as a church order. In fact, the regulations are untitled and are simply incorporated seamlessly into the consistory records manuscripts. The consistory used the language of “regulations,” which appeared in the records as various forms of the Dutch regeling, but these regulations clearly functioned as a church order.59 There are explicit references to “order” throughout the regulations. Furthermore, as will be discussed in more detail below, the regulations themselves clearly take other national and provincial church orders as their basis. Since it is reasonable to conclude, then, that the consistory was well aware of formulating a church order, this chapter will use the language of “church order” when describing the Wemeldinge consistory’s regulations. At the outset, it is worth pausing to recognize how extraordinary it was for an individual church to formulate its own church order. I am not aware of any other local consistory in the early modern Low Countries that undertook this task, nor are a number of scholars with whom I have shared my findings in conversations as well as through an initial presentation of these regulations at an international conference.60 The need for a local church order in 59 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960,” in Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063, Inventaris 1.1.1–8. The page numbers that include reference to “regeling” include 37 and 45. The pages in the Wemeldinge archival material are not numbered, but references here will include assigned page numbers. Thus, subsequent notes will follow the following format: Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” page number. 60 Initial research was shared via a paper titled “The Synod Dort’s Church Order, Education, and Sabbath Observance in Dutch Reformed Churches,” presented at “The International Synod of

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Wemeldinge, or at any individual Reformed church in the Low Countries, is not immediately clear, especially given the vast number of provincial and national church orders. The existence of Wemeldinge’s church order indicates at least some dissatisfaction with the preexisting church orders. That is, the Wemeldinge consistory evidently found themselves experiencing situations that were inadequately addressed in other church orders. The church order constructed by the Wemeldinge consistory was not simply the adoption of a church order passed at the provincial level. In fact, as will be discussed more thoroughly below, the Wemeldinge consistory incorporated articles from a variety of previously existing church orders. The decision to draw from multiple church orders must have been intentional and required a significant amount of work. It is likely, then, that this consistorial church order stemmed at least in part from the recognition that local contexts and the issues faced in those contexts required a more local solution, in this case in the form of a church order. Even if this rural church order was exceptional, its existence demonstrates the broader argument of this book that rural religious life cannot be easily categorized and consisted of a multiplicity of strands that rural Reformed churches would shape to fit their own unique circumstances and religious experiences. Church orders might seem dictated “from “he top down” and thus tangential to the everyday life of local congregations, especially those of small rural churches. However, in Wemeldinge, the church order was seen much differently. Order was a vital part of daily church life, and the establishment of this order was not something that the Reformed church in Wemeldinge was willing to cede to higher ecclesiastical bodies. In other words, the Wemeldinge consistory claimed, in deed if not in word, the power to construct a church order that responded to their particular needs as they sought to shape religious identity and navigate religious life in their small community. Order was indeed fundamental to the Wemeldinge consistory’s crafting of the church order. The consistory’s explicitly stated purpose in formulating the order was to “better maintain a firm order in the government of the church.”61 They also emphasized their authority to establish the church order, noting that the order was “found good” by all the “brothers” and would “rule in all cases from now on, following the regulations that have been planned by the consistory.” These remarks clearly indicate that the Dordt (1618–1619): Contents, Contexts, and Effects, 17th–21st Centuries,” Dordrecht, Netherlands, November 14–16, 2018. 61 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 37.

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Wemeldinge consistory considered their church order to supersede all others and thus to be normative in “all cases.” The consistory also stipulated that the church order was a product of their own efforts, despite the fact that they drew so heavily from other church orders, a point to be discussed below; the consistory frames itself as the originator of the regulations. This point is repeated near the end of the church order, when the the consistory declares, “we have prepared and established these regulations.”62 In addition, at the end of the order, all church officials in Wemeldinge added their signatures: the pastor, Johannes Teellinck; all three elders (Domis Cornelissen, Adrijaen Cornelissen, and Adriaen Pieterssen); and all three deacons (Jan Matheussen, Christiaen Jartseen, and Jan Cornellissen). The church order consists of six chapters: (1) Elections of Elders and Deacons, (2) Ecclesiastical (Consistory) Meetings, (3) The Sacraments, (4) Christian Discipline, (5) Schoolmasters, and (6) Engagements and Marriages. Of the six categories, the first four chapters have between seven and nine articles. Chapter 5 has only two articles, and chapter 6 has five articles. The differences, then, with Dort’s Church Order lie in Wemeldinge’s final two chapters on schoolmasters and engagements and marriages. The opening chapter on elders and deacons is fairly standard.63 The church order called for three elders and four deacons, all of whom would serve two-year terms. Each year, two elders and two deacons were to be replaced. The second chapter, which discusses the consistory, focuses on practical matters.64 For example, Article 1 states that the consistory will meet on Sunday after the first service and again on Thursday if other issues arose. The consistory would also meet fourteen days before the Lord’s Supper to discuss those coming to the communion table as well as the Friday before the Lord’s Supper to consider “reports” on the communicants. Articles 7 and 8 turn to “alms” and how the consistory was to make distributions, including “ordinary” and “extraordinary” distributions. The chapter on the sacraments spends six articles on baptism and only two articles on the Lord’s Supper.65 Again, much of the text centers on practical details. Baptisms were to occur during preaching services on Sunday afternoons. The chapter pays particular attention to confessional disputes. It explicitly mentions that children should be baptized, obviously contrasting Reformed practice with that of the Anabaptists. In addition, the naming of 62 63 64 65

Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 45. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 38–39. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 39–40. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 41–42.

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children is discussed, and a warning against the papist practice of naming children after saints is given. A persistent challenge faced by the church faced of those seeking a “papist baptism” is recorded. The Lord’s Supper was to be celebrated every three months with visitation by the minister and an elder before each service to ensure the proper confession of faith by those participating. Discipline is the subject of the fourth chapter and centers on the Lord’s Supper.66 The chapter describes the role of the consistory in discipline; it explains what misdeeds might be disciplined and discusses the punishment of suspension from the Lord’s Supper. Suspension from the Lord’s Supper could only be lifted after the offender had gone before the consistory to show repentance. In preparation for the Lord’s Supper, the consistory would conduct its own internal Christian censure, known as “mutual censure.” The thorny issue of the magistrate is acknowledged, as an article addresses when offenders should be sent before the magistrate for punishment. The church order demonstrates a clear emphasis on education in the fifth chapter. Even though it is short, it is completely focused on schoolmasters. As mentioned above, this is a departure from the structure of the Dort Church Order, which discusses schoolmasters at several points. First, it notes that “no schoolmasters” who have not followed the course of study for the ministry should be admitted to the ministry, unless their gifts have been confirmed by the classis.67 Second, the consistories are to ensure that good schoolmasters exist who “not only teach the children reading, writing, languages, and liberal arts but also train them in godliness and in the catechism.”68 Third, each classis is to appoint two senior ministers to visit each church and determine whether “the ministers, consistories, and schoolmasters” are fulfilling their duties.69 Dort explicitly lists as a topic of discussion at classis meetings that schools are provided. Finally, schoolmasters are required to subscribe to the articles of the confession of faith or the catechism.70 In Wemeldinge, the church order on schoolmasters has only two points.71 The first deals with the idea of a voorlezer (lay reader) and voorzanger (lay singer); the schoolmaster can serve as the voorlezer. Article 2 indicates that the schoolmaster will teach students catechetical instruction two days 66 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 43–44. 67 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 450. 68 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 451. 69 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 454. 70 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 455–56. 71 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 44–45.

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a week. The church council with the magistrate should check in on the schoolmaster. Article 1 is hardly surprising for small Wemeldinge since wide-ranging tasks for the schoolmaster were a frequent reality in Dutch Reformed churches, especially in smaller communities. Article 2 illustrates the local specificity that Wemeldinge’s church order provided and that national and provincial synods were simply not equipped to prescribe. This article also demonstrates the consistory’s commitment to not just a public, liberal education but also a deeply religious education that would form the Reformed identity of the community. The final chapter of the church order is similarly unique in its consideration of engagements and marriages.72 Again, much of the text centers on when events should take place. Engagements should be made known to the consistory and should be proclaimed on Thursdays, not Saturdays. The church order also discusses the length of time from engagement to marriage and notes that marriages should be confirmed on Wednesdays in church with the consistory present alongside preaching. The Wemeldinge church order, while quite brief, evidences a marked interest in Sabbath observance. Instructions for the Sabbath occur in several chapters. Most instructions are related to ecclesiastical practices. For example, article 2 in chapter 3 includes instructions for baptisms to occur on Sunday afternoons.73 On the other hand, as described in article 2 of chapter 6, engagements were to take place on Wednesdays, not on Saturdays so that the announcements do not interfere with the Sabbath.74 Presumably, engagement parties would go late into the night and therefore cause those involved to desecrate the Sabbath. Weddings were to be performed on Wednesdays in the church before the consistory, and preaching was also to occur “if found good for the couple.”75 Fascinatingly, this phrase suggests that preaching was at the discretion of the couple and was not required by the church as part of an ecclesiastical wedding. The church order also mentions Sabbath observance in its instructions on church discipline. Article 4 of chapter 4 describes who should be kept from the communion table, from those who play cards to those who “scandalously desecrate the Sabbath with working in public on the day and also those who go to the taverns on the day.”76 72 73 74 75 76

Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 45. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 41. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 45. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 45. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 43–44.

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Sabbath observance and education are thus particularly important points for the Wemeldinge congregation. These two emphases reflect both thought and practice. That is, within a religiously plural setting, the Wemeldinge consistory sought to encourage Reformed thinking via education, and it sought to encourage Reformed piety via Sunday observance. While the confessionalization thesis may not hold sway in contemporary scholarship, the Wemeldinge consistory records illustrate a situation in which local church authorities were markedly interested in establishing confessional identities through these two measures. To what extent church members were willing to accept or incorporate such measures is, of course, a key question and the potential weakness of the confessionalization thesis. The Wemeldinge consistory also took pains to demonstrate that their church order was based on previous ecclesiastical decisions. Most frequently, the church order refers to the order composed at the Provincial Synod of Zeeland held at Middelburg in 1591. References to that order occur thirteen times.77 The first two chapters of the Wemeldinge church order, on the elections of elders and deacons and meetings of the consistory, refer only to the 1591 Zeeland Church Order; the 1591 Zeeland Church Order is referenced in seven of the fifteen articles.78 Five other provincial synods and their church orders are also mentioned in the Wemeldinge church order. The 1638 Provincial Synod of Zeeland in Tholen is cited four times, and the 1620 Provincial Synod of Zeeland, held in Goes, is mentioned three times.79 Zeeland’s Provincial Synod held in 1602 at Tholen is referred to twice, while the provincial synods of Zeeland convenened in 1610 at Vere and in 1618 at Zierikzee are each cited once.80 If one compares the Wemeldinge church order to the previous church orders arising from national synods, it aligns most closely with that of the 1578 Synod of Dordrecht. Like the 1578 church order, Wemeldinge’s church order includes six headings. Among those headings, there are only a fewsubstantive changes. First, the 1578 church order addresses “Pastors, Elders, and Deacons” and “Schools,” but the Wemeldinge church order discusses instead the “Electing of Elders and Deacons” and “Schoolmasters.” Second, the Wemeldinge church order also alters the sequence of the 1578 order. 77 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 38–41, 43–44. 78 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 38–40. 79 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 38, 41-43, 45. 80 For Tholen, see Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 43, 45; for Vere, see 41; for Zierikzee, see 41.

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Schools and weddings are not in the third and fifth chapters, respectively, as they are in the 1578 church order. Instead, Wemeldinge’s church order deals with schoolmasters and weddings as the fifth and sixth subjects at the end of the church order. The consistory records make it clear that the 1618–19 church order from the Synod of Dort was not seen as a guidepost in Wemeldinge. This raises the question of the influence of Dort’s church order across seventeenth-century Dutch Reformed churches and underscores the emphatically local nature of religious formation and experience in Wemeldinge. Wemeldinge’s church order does not cite Dort’s church order. The omission of this church order is somewhat sensibile given Wemeldinge’s location in the province of Zeeland. Zeeland, like Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe, never adopted Dort’s church order. 81 Instead, Zeeland gave priority to their own church order of 1591, as agreed upon at the provincial synod in Middelburg. Fred van Lieburg and, more recently, Huib Uil have explored how church authorities in Zeeland, especially those of the Nadere Reformatie, were wary of alllowing the government a large role (or, indeed, any role) in church affairs. The Nadere Reformatie had influence in Wemeldinge since the pastor who signed the church order was, as mentioned above, Johannes Teellinck, the son of the preacher and Nadere Reformatie advocate Willem Teellinck. Almost certainly these concerns with Dort’s church order help to explain why the small church of Wemeldinge would have its own church order and why that church order would make no reference to Dort. The inclusion of a church order in the Wemeldinge consistory records demonstrates how a small congregation did not consider adherence to Dort’s 1618–19 order essential to its ecclesiastical identity. Instead, the Wemeldinge church believed that they could articulate their own church order, albeit reliant on the church orders of previous synods, to function within their particular context. The consistory records of Wemeldinge, and particularly the church order, demonstrate concerns with Sabbath observance and with education. These emphases are certainly found in many seventeenth-century Dutch Reformed churches. However, Wemeldinge’s church order and consistory records reveal that their church would deal with these concerns at a local level. That is, religious identity formation via Sabbath observance and education was, in Wemeldinge, a distinctly local affair. 81 Willem Nijenhuis, Ecclesia Reformata: Studies on the Reformation (Leiden: Brill, 1994), vol. 2, 295.

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Accepting Church Orders in Arnemuiden While the Wemeldinge consistory composed their own church order to regulate their small community, other small churches in Zeeland deployed provincial church orders. In fact, the consistory in Arnemuiden adjusted their practices to align with provincial church orders. The key issue at Arnemuiden was the process of choosing elders and deacons, the topic of the second chapter of this book. As described in that chapter, Arnemuiden’s process included nominating double the number of men needed to fill the vacant positions. The congregation would then vote on the nominees, and the two men receiving the most votes would be elected to office. However, for over forty-five years, only elders were elected to their offices in Arnemuiden. The consistory records indicate that city magistrates chose the deacons.82 All of that changed in 1623. On November 5, the consistory first complained that the system of caring for the poor needed to be altered.83 In addition, they argued that “the deacons were not legally elected following the church order of Zeeland, article twenty-two.” This meant, the consistory records go on to note, that these deacons were not properly elected in accordance “with the [church] order and by the authority of such ecclesiastical persons who are authorized to do so under the church order.”84 The consistory observed at its November 26 meeting that the “church order stipulates that deacons must be elected.”85 In this meeting, the consistory recorded agreement from both the classis deputies and the magistrate of Arnemuiden to shift the process so that deacons would be elected to their office. They decided to use the new process for the next round of elections, which would occur when two deacons’ terms would expire the following March. In fact, the church implemented the new procedure immediately in 1624. Now, rather than simply nominating and electing elders, the consistory nominated eight men for deacon, and the four top vote-getters were elected. Deacons were then included in the nominating and electing process in all subsequent years.86 However, the impetus for the consistory to align Arnemuiden’s practices with the Zeeland Church Order was not self-generated. According to the consistory records, it was decided at the previous classis meeting that city 82 A. H. G. Verouden, ed., Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625 (Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie ‘Ons Voorgeslacht,’ 2013), 155. 83 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 154. 84 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 155. 85 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 155. 86 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 155.

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magistrates should no longer appoint deacons and that the congregation would elect deacons instead. Notably, this decision was made at the classis level. As discussed elsewhere, including in chapter 5 of this book, the classis has often been considered the most significant level of church polity in the Dutch system. Beyond the processes involved in the elections, it is important to note the authority given to the provincial church order and the willingness to alter practices to conform to that order. The church order in question in Arnemuiden’s situation is also of note. The consistory records do not explicitly identify which church order they are referencing, but they do mention an “order which was placed by Middelburg.” The Zeeland provincial synod did meet in 1620, although the meeting was held in Goes. At that meeting, the synod undertook a gravamina about the “wide variety of ways used in choosing deacons.”87 During the subsequent discussion, the provincial synod referenced “the 21st and 22nd articles of the church-order.” While one might suspect that the recent Dort Church Order would be authoritative in 1623, Articles 21 and 22 of the Dort Church Order are not about deacons. Article 21 discusses schoolmasters, and article 22 considers the election of elders. On the other hand, the 1591 provincial church order of Middelburg does address deacons and their elections. In Article 22, the church order acknowledges that, in some places, it is necessary for the magistrate and the consistory to be involved in selecting deacons. However, the article advises that the process of electing deacons should mimic that of electing the elders, who were to be selected by the consistory rather than by the magistrate.88 The evidence, then, strongly suggests that the Arnemuiden consistory and the decision by the classis relied on the 1591 Middelburg church order and not the Dort Church Order. Notably, the church order from the 1591 Middelburg provincial synod was viewed as authoritative. The reference to the Middelburg 1591 church order is remarkable both because it was over thirty years old in 1623 and because it was the product of a provincial synod rather than a national synod. As at Wemeldinge, the Dort Church Order was not cited, even though it was more recent and was produced by a significant national synod. Thus, while the Arnemuiden consistory was willing to subject itself to an outside church order, the order that they viewed as authoritative was a provincial one that was also quite old. As mentioned above, the lack of attention to the Dort Church Order is understable since Zeeland never officially approved the order. However, at Arnemuiden, the rejection of the 87 Bakker and Bakker, Acta van Zeelandt, 60–61. 88 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeningen, 310–11.

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Dort Church Order did not extend categorically to all church orders. That is, the Arnemuiden consistory was not interested in operating without an overriding church order and was willing to alter its processes of electing deacons to align more closely to the accepted provincial church order. Indeed, the discrepancy of practice with what the church order prescribed was resolved quickly once the issue was raised.

Conclusions Delving into these various church orders offers a number of broader conclusions about life in early modern Dutch Reformed churches. First, and perhaps most obviously, church orders were not static or unchangeable; they were repeatedly produced by national and provincial synods. While declaring these new church orders to be frequent may be overstating the case, it was not true that any particular church order remained a consistent norm across the Dutch Reformed Church. The church order closest to such a claim would be the Dort Church Order from 1618–19, but even this order was not adopted by all provinces, and various provincial and even local church orders were developed subsequently.89 Clearly, church orders were adaptable to different developments, contexts, and needs arising within the Dutch Reformed churches. Second, church orders agreed upon at national synods were often seen as insufficient or even blatantly misguided. The mere presence of church orders from provincial synods indicates this to be true. Ironically, while national church orders were meant, at least in part, to unite Dutch Reformed churches under a common set of procedures and regulations, these often divided churches. The issue of to what extent political authorities should have a role in appointing ministers and even elders is one of the most striking examples of discord created by the church orders.90 It was, in fact, disagreement over this issue that led Friesland and Zeeland to reject the 1618–19 Dort Church Order. As provinces sought national authorization of this order, further divisions appeared, until, ultimately, each province was left on its own to approve or not approve the church order.91 Third, in at least one case, an individual congregation thought it necessary and appropriate to have a church order for their own specific context—clear 89 Van Lieburg, “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order,” 125–26. 90 Van Lieburg, “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order,” 123. 91 Van Lieburg, “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order,” 125.

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evidence that church orders were seen as adaptable, local arrangements. Even if the Wemeldinge church order contains many of the same points as other provincial or even national synods, the consistory felt the need to compose their own order to govern how their church would operate. Such an action underscores the agency of local eccelsiastical bodies and the importance placed on shaping the identity of their own small communities in the specific ways that they considered best for ensuring an ordered, Reformed community. Finally, the church orders demonstrate how resistant the Dutch Reformed churches were to a “top-down” oversight of their affairs. For practical reasons of length and scope, the attention in this chapter has not been on the political contexts and motivations for calling, holding, and approving synods, be they national or provincial. Nonetheless, certainly the political nature of these events and the documents, including the church orders, produced should not be underestimated. In part, the decentralized nature of politics across the Dutch Republic elucidates the resistance to national church orders. On this point, van Lieburg concludes, “The Dutch church remained a conglomerate of provincial churches that shared a number of fundamental documents.”92 However, political wranglings and conflicts were not the only reasons for the resistance to abiding solely by national church orders. Reformed churches in the Dutch Republic operated in vastly different settings and, consequently, had vastly different needs. Church orders were not always flexible enough to adapt to the realities of local situations. Thus, provincial church orders and, at least in one case, a local church order were one means by which churches could adapt to the immediate needs of their congregations. As this chapter has made clear, the desire for order in Dutch Reformed churches was not merely a recognition of the practical benefits of a smoothly operating church and system of churches. Order was also a theological principle by which God cared for and preserved his community. Thus, church orders served an important function in the life of Dutch Reformed churches. The process of crafting church orders was one that continued throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In addition to being continuously rethought, these church orders often provided regional churches and even individual churches with opportunities to mold the identities of their communities and required decisions, especially in small communities, about whose vision of order best served the needs of their community. As the next chapter describes, a crucial part of this ordered vision for Dutch Reformed churches centered on the elders and deacons who were responsible for shaping and ordering religious experiences in rural churches. 92 Van Lieburg, “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order,” 127.

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Chapter Bibliography Primary Sources: Manuscripts Westfries Archief. “Kerkeraad. Handelingen van de kerkeraad, 1617–1953.” In Hervormde Gemeente Wijdenes, 1617–1960, Collection 1270. Westfries Archief. “Kerkeraad. Notulen (acta) van de kerkeraad, vanaf 1855 van de algemene kerkeraad, 1578–1957.” In Hervormde Gemeente Enkhuizen, 1572–1996, Collection 0304. Westfries Archief. “Kerkeraad Notulen.” In Hervormde Gemeente SpanbroekOpmeer, 1617–1994, Collection 1047. Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960.” In Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063.

Primary Sources: Published Asselt, Willem van, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae/Synopsis of a Purer Theology. 3 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2015, 2016, 2020. Bakker, Leenderd and Johan Bakker. Acta synodalia of gearresteerde kerkenordeningen van Zeelandt, van de jaren 1591, 1620, en 1638. Middelburg: Leenderd en Johan Bakker, 1755. Brès, Guy de. “Belgic Confession.” In Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources, 25–68. Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013. Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Lamentations. Translated by John Owen. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1850. Reprint: Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005. Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. Translated by John Pringle, Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1979. https://ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/calcom39/cache/calcom39.pdf. Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Translated by William Pringle. Vol. 21 of Calvin’s Commentaries. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1856. Reprint: Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007. https://ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/calcom43/cache/calcom43.pdf. Calvin, John. “French Confession of Faith.” In Tracts Relating to the Reformation, translated by Henry Beveridge, vol. 2 of 2 vols., 137–64. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles and edited by John T. McNeill. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960.

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Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989. Calvin, John. Opera quae supersunt omnia. Edited by Johann-Wilhelm Baum, Edouard Cunnitz, and Eduard Wilhelm Eugen Reuss. 59 vols. Brunswick: C. A. Schwetschke, 1863–1900. Genootschap der Wetenchappen. Archief. Vroegere en Latere Mededeelingen Voornamelijk in Betrekking tot Zeeland. Middelburg: J. C. & W. Altorffer, 1906. Hooijer, Cornelis. Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), en het concept-reglement op de organisatie van het Hervormd kerkgenootschap in het koninkrijk Holland (1809). Zaltbommel: John. Noman en Zoon, 1865. Hyperius, Andreas. Commentarii D. Andreae Hyperii, doctissimi ac clarissimi theologi, in epistolam D. Pauli ad Romanos, et utramque ad Corinthios. Cum indice rerum & verorum locupletissimo. Tiguri: Froschoverus, 1583. Junius, Franciscus. Verclaringhe van twee vraghen, door D. Franciscus Iunius … De eerste, van de over-een-cominghe ende het onderscheyt der Politijcke ende Kerkelijke bedieninghe. De tweede van het Recht des Magistraets in de sichtbare Kercke. Amsterdam: Jan Eversz. Cloppenburch, 1610. Lasco, Johannes a. Opera. Edited by Abraham Kuyper. 2 vols. Muller: Amsterdam/ Nijhofff: Den Hague, 1866. Vermigli, Peter Martyr. In selectissimam D. Pauli priorem ad Corinthios epistolam D. Petri Martyris Vermilii …. Tiguri: Christophorus Froschouerus, 1551. Verouden, A. H. G. Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625. Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013. Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen, Archief. Vroegere en Latere Mededeelingen Voornamelijk in Betrekking tot Zeeland. Middelburg: J. C. & W. Altorffer, 1906.

Secondary Sources Achelis, E. G. “Hyperius (Gerhard), Andreas.” In The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, edited by Samuel MacAuley Jackson, vol. 5 of 13 vols., 432–33. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953. Balserak, John. “1 Corinthians Commentary: Exegetical Tradition.” In A Companion to Peter Martyr Vermigli, edited by Torrance Kirby, Emidio Campi, and Frank A James III, 283–304. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Benedict, Philip, and Nicolas Fornerod, eds. L’organisation et l’action des églises réformées de France. Geneva: Droz, 2012.

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Boer, Wietse de. The Conquest of the Soul: Confession, Discipline, and Public Order in Counter-Reformation Milan. Leiden: Brill, 2001. Braghi, Gianmarco. “Between Paris and Geneva: Some Remarks on the Approval of the Gallican Confession (May 1559).” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 5, no. 2 (2018): 197–219. Broeke, Leon van den. “The Composition of Reformed Church Orders: A Theological, Reformed and Juridical Perspective.” In die Skriflig 52, no. 2: 1-9. Dooren, J. P. van. De nationale synode te Middelburg in 1581. Calvinisme in Opbouw in de Noordelijke en Zuidelijke Nederlanden. Middelburg: Koninklijk Zeeuws Genootschap der Wetenschappen, 1981. Duke, Alastair C. The Reformation and Revolt in the Low Countries. London: Hambledon & London, 2003. Harten-Tip. A van. De Dordtse Kerkorder 1619. Ontwikkeling, context en theologie. Utrecht: Kok Boekencentrum Academic, 2018. Kingdon, Robert. Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France (1555–1563). Geneva: Droz, 2007. Kingdon, Robert M. “The Political Resistance of the Calvinists in France and the Low Countries.” Church History 27, no. 3 (September 1958): 220–33. Koffeman, Leo J. “The Dark Side of the Good News?: A Theological Approach to Church Polity.” In Protestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts I: Ecclesiological and Historical Contributions, Proceedings of the International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 7–10 November, 2011, edited by Allan J. Jansen and Leo J. Koffeman, 1–16. Zürich: LIT Verlag, 2011. Kreitzer, Beth. “The Lutheran Sermon.” In Preachers and People in the Reformation and Early Modern Period, edited by Larissa Taylor, 35–63. Leiden: Brill, 2003. Lieburg, Fred van. “Dordrecht’s Own Decretum Horribile: The Acta Synodi Behind the Scenes or the Role of Emotions in the History of Theology.” In The Doctrine of Election in Reformed Perspective: Historical and Theological Investigations of the Synod of Dordt 1618–1619, edited by Frank van der Pol, 95–114. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Lieburg, Fred van. “Gisbertus Samuels, a Reformed Minister Sentenced by the Synod of Zeeland in 1591 for His Opinions on Predestination.” In Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), edited by Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg, 1–22. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Lieburg, Fred van. “Re-Understanding the Dordt Church Order in Its Dutch Political, Ecclesiastical and Cultural Context (1559–1816).” In Protestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts I: Ecclesiological and Historical Contributions, Proceedings of the International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 7–10 November, 2011, edited by Allan J. Jansen and Leo J. Koffeman, 117–36. Zürich: LIT Verlag, 2011.

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Maag, Karin. “Preaching Practice: Reformed Students’ Sermons.” Netherlands archief voor kerkgeschiedenis 85 (2005): 133–46. Maag, Karin. Seminary or University?: The Genevan Academy and Reformed Higher Education, 1560–1620. Brookfield: Scolar Press, Ashgate, 1995. Manetsch, Scott, ed. Reformation Commentary on Scripture: New Testament IX, 1 Corinithians. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017. Mentzer, Raymond A. “Disciplina Nervus Ecclesiae: The Calvinist Reform of Morals in Nîmes.” Sixteenth Century Journal 18, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 89–115. Muller, Richard A. Christ and the Decree: Christology and Predestination in Reformed Theology from Calvin to Perkins. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988. Muylaert, Silke. Shaping the Stranger Churches: Migrants in England and the Troubles in the Netherlands, 1547–1585. Leiden: Brill, 2021. Nijenhuis, Willem. “A Disputed Letter: Relations between the Church of Scotland and the Reformed Church in the Province of Zealand in the Year of the Solemn League and Covenant.” In Ecclesia Reformata: Studies on the Reformation, edited by Willem Nijenhuis, vol. 2 of 2 vols., 291–305. Leiden: Brill, 1994. Nijenhuis, Willem. Ecclesia Reformata: Studies on the Reformation. Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1994. Nijenhuis, Willem. “De publieke kerk, veelkleurig en verdeeld, bevoorrecht en onvrij.” In Algemene geschiedenis der Nederlanden, edited by D.P. Blok et al., vol. 6 of 15 vols., 325–43. Haarlem: Fibula-Van Dishoeck, 1979. Pettegree, Andrew. Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. Pettegree, Andrew. Foreign Protestant Communities in Sixteenth-Century London. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. Rester, Todd M. “Translator’s Introduction.” Journal of Markets & Morality 14, no. 1 (2011): 235–44. Roodenburg, Herman, and Pieter Spierenburg, eds. Social Control in Europe, 1500–1800. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004. Scribner, Robert W. Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany. London: Hambledon Press, 1988. Sinnema, Donald. “The Canons of Dordt: From Judgment on Arminianism to Confessional Standard.” In Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), edited by Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg, 313–33. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Sinnema, Donald. “The Distinction Between Scholastic and Popular: Andreas Hyperius and Reformed Scholasticism.” In Protestant Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment, edited by Carl Trueman and R. Scott Clark, 127–43. Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999. Spijker, Willem van’t. Principe, Methode en Functie van de Theologie bij Andreas Hyperius. Kampen: Kok, 1990.

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Spohnholz, Jesse. The Convent of Wesel: The Event That Never Was and the Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Springer, Michael S. Restoring Christ’s Church: John a Lasco and the Forma ac ratio. Burlington: Ashgate, 2007. Sunshine, Glenn S. Reforming French Protestantism: The Development of Huguenot Ecclesiastical Institutions, 1557–1572. Kirksville: Truman State University Press, 2003.

2

Establishing Authority: Electing Elders and Deacons Abstract Chapter 2 begins with establishing the importance of elders and deacons in Dutch Reformed congregations. The importance of their offices was practical but, the chapter demonstrates, was also a deeply held theological position. While theological tenets and Dutch Reformed church orders were meant to regulate the elections of elders and deacons, small, rural churches altered the processes and policies governing the nomination and election of elders and deacons, the men who were nominated and elected, and the expectations around each office. In particular, the chapter elucidates the challenges that rural churches faced regarding elders and deacons and the means by which they addressed those challenges. Keywords: Elders; Deacons; Elections; Church Orders; Ecclesiastical Offices

Introduction If anyone says that bishops are not superior to priests, or that they have not the power to confirm and ordain, or that the power which they have is common to them and to priests, or that orders conferred by them without the consent or call of the people or of the secular power are invalid, or that those who have been neither rightly ordained nor sent by ecclesiastical and canonical authority, but come from elsewhere, are lawful ministers of the word and of the sacraments, let him be anathema.1

So reads Canon 7 of the Twenty-Third Session of the Council of Trent. The canon unambiguously condemns those who might object to the legitimacy of 1 H. J. Schroeder, trans., Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1960), 163.

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_ch02

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the Catholic ecclesiastical order. In diametrical opposition to the Council of Trent’s declaration, Menno Simons declared to his readers in his explanation of the “true” Christian faith that, “Again, you are also priests anointed of God.” However, Simons goes on to contrast the priesthood of these true believers with Catholic conceptions of the priesthood: “Besides, you are not such priests, who of their own righteousness offer bread and wine for the sins and transgressions of the common people, and for the souls of the deceased, neither are you to sing nor read mass, nor worship the golden, silver, wooden and stone images, nor serve nor burn incense to them as the poor, ignorant priests of the world do.”2 Obviously, the Protestant Reformations as a whole conceived of ecclesiology quite differently from their Catholic counterparts. Philip Benedict, for example, observes that, “The Protestant Reformation wrought few transformations more thorough than that which restructured what had previously been called the first estate.”3 Furthermore, Protestants themselves were hardly unified in their approach. From its beginning, the Reformed tradition understood elders and deacons to be divinely instituted ecclesiastical offices. In the Reformed tradition, to whatever limited extent such a unified tradition existed, a fourfold ministry became characteristic; its origins can be traced back to Calvin’s Geneva. This ministry pastors, doctors or teachers, elders, and deacons. The office of doctor, however, was rarely put into practice outside Calvin’s Geneva. Calvin’s conception of these ecclesiastical offices spread widely as the Reformed tradition found broader international appeal. Carlos Eire has summarized the spread of Calvin’s ecclesiastical structure, writing, “The agreement Calvin sealed gave Geneva a unique political and ecclesiastical structure that would become the pattern eventually followed by hundreds of other communities.”4 Given the influence of Calvin and, more directly, French Reformed communities on the Low Countries, it is of 2 Menno Simons, The True Christian Faith Which Converts, Changes, Makes Pious, Sincere, New, Peaceful, Joyful and Blessed the Human Heart; With Its Natural Properties, Nature, Operations, and Powers. Carefully Revised, and More Formally Presented, In the Year 1566, in The Complete Works of Menno Simon, Translated from the Original Dutch or Holland (Elkhart: John F. Funk and Brother, 1871), vol. 1, 107. Simons elucidated more thoroughly the ecclesiastical off ice of preacher in three sections, “Sending Preachers,” “The Doctrine of Preachers,” and “The Conduct of Preachers,” in A Foundation and Plain Instruction of the Saving Doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Briefly Compiled from the Word of God, Together with Other Instructive Treatises, which can also be found in The Complete Works, vol. 1. 3 Philip Benedict, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 435. 4 Carlos Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018), 299.

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little surprise that the Dutch Reformed churches adopted the new beliefs regarding ecclesiastical offices. Significant alterations to the theological understanding of ecclesiastical offices necessitated significant alterations to the practices surrounding those offices. Such practices included everything from how church officials were to be chosen to who was paid and via what mechanisms to expectations surrounding duties and conduct. These practices were certainly supported by theological principles in the Reformed, and more specifically Dutch Reformed, tradition, as this chapter will discuss. Similarly, the processes set in place in the Dutch Reformed churches via church orders helped cement theological beliefs into the lives of the churches—a topic explored in the second section of this chapter. However, the extent to which local congregations adopted and adapted both theological beliefs and practical processes in their own religious communities remains an open question. This question was particularly pressing for rural congregations, which were geographically distant from direct oversight by a classis and faced a number of practical realities pertaining to how small congregations might approach ecclesiastical offices. It is this question, especially in connection to the offices of elders and deacons, with which this chapter is particularly concerned. The main thesis of this chapter is that while rural congregations were not always strikingly different from urban congregations, the deeply interpersonal nature of small worshipping communities was accentuated as these churches sought to elect officers who were, by definition, anointed with spiritual authority but who were often ordinary men participating in the everyday, intimate life of the community.

Theology of Elders and Deacons While the theological underpinnings of Reformed ecclesiastical offices has received substantial scholarly attention, a brief overview here is helpful. Excellent work has already been done on Martin Bucer, the Strasbourg reformer who was an early mentor to Calvin.5 Regarding Calvin, Elsie McKee has aptly shown that his teaching on the office of elder is based on 1 Corinthians 12:28, Romans 12:8, and, to a lesser extent, 1 Timothy 5:17.6 In 5 Willem Van ‘t Spijker, The Ecclesiastical Offices in the Thought of Martin Bucer, trans. John Vriend and Lyle D. Bierma (Leiden: Brill, 1996); Amy Nelson Burnett, The Yoke of Christ: Martin Bucer and Christian Discipline, (Kirksville: Northeast Missouri State University, 1994). 6 For a succinct treatment, see Elsie Anne McKee, “Calvin’s Teaching on the Elder Illuminated by Exegetical History,” in John Calvin and the Church: A Prism of Reform, ed. Timothy George (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990), 150–52. For a more thorough examination, see

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those passages, elders are described as those who preside over the church, correct morals, and carry out discipline.7 Elders are, Calvin summarizes in his Institutes, to “pronounce censures and exercise discipline.”8 The same theological understanding is found in the Genevan Ecclesiastical Ordinances, which Calvin submitted to the city of Geneva in 1541. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances list the duties of and elder: “to have oversight of the life of everyone, to admonish amicably those whom they see to be erring or to be living a disordered life, and, where it is required, to enjoin fraternal corrections themselves and along with others.”9 In short, elders were responsible for overseeing the spiritual and moral condition of Genevans. Similarly, McKee argues that the relevant passages for Calvin’s understanding of the diaconate are Acts 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Romans 12:8, Romans 16:1-2, and 1 Timothy 5:3-10.10 From these passages, Calvin believes the primary role of deacons to be related to charity. In his commentaries on Acts 6:3 and 1 Timothy 3:8, he notes that the church’s first deacons were those who were to care for the poor.11 In both cases, Calvin points his readers to the Institutes for a fuller explanation of the duties of deacons. There are, Calvin argues, two kinds of deacons in the early church. He describes each type in the Ecclesiastical Ordinances. The first was to “receive, dispense, and hold goods for the poor.” The second group of deacons was to “tend and care for the sick and administer allowances to the poor.”12 That is, as Calvin Elsie Anne McKee, Elders and the Plural Ministry: The Role of Exegetical History in Illuminating John Calvin’s Theology (Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1988), especially chapters 2–4. 7 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, trans. John Owen, vol. 19 of Calvin’s Commentaries (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849), Romans 12:8. The Latin edition of the Romans commentary is found in Calvin, Opera quae supersunt omnia, eds. Johann-Wilhelm Baum, Edouard Cunnitz, and Eduard Wilhelm Eugen Reuss (Brunswick: C. A. Schwetschke, 1863–1900), vol. 49, 1–292. 8 Calvin, Institutes, IV.iii.8. 9 John Calvin, “Ecclesiastical Ordinances,” in Calvin: Theological Treatises, ed. J. K. S. Reid (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 2000), 63. 10 Elsie Anne McKee, Diakonia in the Classical Reformed Tradition and Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 66–77. 11 Calvin, Commentaries, Acts 6:3; Calvin, Commentaries, 1 Timothy 3:8. The Latin edition of the Acts commentary is found in: Calvin, Opera, vol. 48, 1–574. For the English translation, see John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, trans. Henry Beveridge, vol. 19 of Calvin’s Commentaries (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849). The Latin edition of the 1 Timothy commentary is found in: Calvin, Opera, vol. 52, 241–336. For the English translation, see John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, trans. William Pringle, vol. 21 of Calvin’s Commentaries (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1856). 12 Calvin, “Ecclesiastical Ordinances,” 64.

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says in his Institutes, “the care of the poor was committed to the deacons.”13 Dispensing the public charities of the church was the main way in which deacons were to care for the poor.14 Calvin was clear that the qualifications for being an elder involved being pious and devout. Elders were to be men of “worth and good character.”15 In the Institutes, he notes that, from the beginnings of the Christian church, men who were “pious, grave, and venerable” were charged with overseeing the church, a task that was “not confined to one age” but is “necessary for all ages.”16 To be qualified for the office of deacon, a man must be well instructed in Christian faith and morally obedient to God. In addition, deacons who were married and had families were to have honorable and well-disciplined wives and children. However, the qualifications for serving as an elder or deacon went beyond spiritual fitness. The church must take care that “they are not unfit for or unequal to the burden imposed upon them; in other words, that they are provided with the means which will be necessary to fulfill their office.”17 Calvin’s concerns are deeply practical; the men must be able to serve capably. He stipulates that the men serving as elders or deacons must have the temperament, abilities, mental capacity, and personality traits needed to do the job well. Early on in the Dutch Reformed tradition, the offices of elder and deacon were affirmed as part of God’s divinely instituted government of his church. The Belgic Confession (1561), adopted as a confessional standard in the Dutch Reformed churches already in 1571, includes elders and deacons in its article on the government of the church.18 Article 30 states, “There should also be elders and deacons, along with pastors, to make up the council of the church.” The Belgic Confession does not delineate the specific tasks of the elders and deacons, noting instead that through them “evil people are corrected spiritually and held in check” and “the poor and all the afflicted may be helped and comforted according to their need.” Presumably, though, elders responsible for spiritual correction, and deacons for assistance provided to the poor and afflicted. Article 31, on the officers of the church, describes how the church should elect elders and deacons; it instructs men to be careful to wait for God’s call and not improperly push themselves forward. 13 Calvin, Institutes, IV.iii.9. 14 Calvin, Commentaries, Romans 12:8. 15 Calvin, Commentaries, 1 Timothy 5:17. 16 Calvin, Institutes, IV.iii.8. 17 Calvin, Institutes, IV.iii.12. 18 Nicolaas Gootjes, The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 100–02.

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No mention of elders or deacons is found in the Heidelberg Catechism, the other early confessional standard in Dutch Reformed churches. However, in his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Zacharias Ursinus makes brief mention of elders and deacons.19 His discussion comes under Lord’s Day 38, Question-and-Answer 103. The topic is the fourth commandment, as numbered in the Reformed tradition, which deals with the Sabbath. Ursinus argues that the Fourth Commandment requires participation in the public ministries of the church. Elaborating on those ministries of the church, he delineates the types of ministers who should serve the church. He argues that there should be five types: evangelists, bishops (that is, pastors), doctors (that is, teachers), governors (that is, elders), and deacons. Elders, or governors, are chosen “for the purpose of exercising discipline” and for managing the church. Deacons are to “take care of the poor” and “attend to the distribution of the alms of the church.”20 In this same commentary, Ursinus also addresses the type of person who should be elected to the office of minister, which included elders and deacons. The first qualification was simple: those serving in office needed to be men, not women. Such men were also to have a good relationship with the church, have a proper understanding of doctrine, and be able to teach doctrine. Elders and deacons were also to excel in wisdom and authority and assist others through “their examples, counsels, and admonitions.”21 The men did not fulfil the duties of their office if they gave improper or careless counsel, presented a bad example through folly, or neglected to correct or reprove the sins of those under their care.22 The Dutch Reformed understanding of elders and deacons was solidified further across the early decades of the seventeenth century. At the center of Dutch Reformed theology was, in many ways, the University of Leiden. The Leiden theology faculty began a cycle of public disputations on Reformed dogmatics in 1596. The faculty then underwent significant turnover in the first two decades of the seventeenth century. Jacobus Arminius died in 1609, and Franciscus Gomarus resigned to become a pastor in Middelburg during 1611. Simon Episcopius was also removed from his post after the Synod of Dort condemned Remonstrant teachings. Johannes Polyander remained at Leiden, and he was joined by Antonius Walaeus and Antonius Thysius 19 Zacharias Ursinus, The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism, trans. G. W. Williard and ed. Eric D. Bristley (N.p.: The Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States, 2004). 20 Ursinus, Commentary, 1010–11. 21 Ursinus, Commentary, 1022. 22 Ursinus, Commentary, 1022.

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in 1619. Roughly a year later, Andreas Rivetus also entered the theological faculty. These four professors began a new cycle of disputations in 1620 that ran through 1624 and that included fifty-two disputations in total. These disputations were originally published in 1625 by Elzevier in Leiden as Synopsis Purioris Theologiae, Disputationibus quinquaginta duabus comprehensa and would appear in five more Latin editions. A project is currently under way to provide a three-volume English edition of the Synopsis.23 Disputation forty-two of the Synopsis is entitled “On the Calling of Those Who Minister to the Church” and discusses elders and deacons. Men who are elected as “overseers” and deacons should be tested as to doctrine and life, and their names should be made public in order to guard against “some destructive error.” The Synopsis attributes both the testing and the public announcement of names to the ancient church, but it avers that these practices should be incorporated into contemporaneous church life.24 The Synopsis also discusses the responsibilities of each office. The description of the duties of elders is worth quoting at length: The duty of these men is to work in conjunction with the pastors in administering discipline, and together with them to pass judgment in cases pertaining to the judicial examination of the presbytery, based on the laws of truth, wisdom and love. They are to keep an eye on the worship and moral behavior of the pastors and their own colleagues no less than that of all the people, to call back to Christ’s flock whoever may be wandering, to reprimand those who are remiss in their duties, and to hand over the obstinate to the consistory, and in a timely manner resist any evil or scandal that arises by means of their ecclesiastical censure.25

Deacons were given the tasks of managing the “ecclesiastical coffers” and coming to the aid of those in need.26 The Synopsis included brief instructions for electing men as elders and deacons. Most notably, it addressed the controversial issue of the role of the magistrate in the process. The argument, although it is largely passed by as an assumption, in the Synopsis is that the consensus of the civil magistrates 23 Willem van Asselt, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds., Synopsis Purioris Theologiae/ Synopsis of a Purer Theology: Latin Text and English Translation, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 2015, 2016, 2020). For a general introduction to the Synopsis, see Dolf te Velde, “Introduction,” in Synopsis, vol. 1, 1–20. 24 Asselt, Boer, and Faber, Synopsis, vol. 2, 636–39. 25 Asselt, Boer, and Faber, Synopsis, vol. 2, 650–51. 26 Asselt, Boer, and Faber, Synopsis, vol. 2, 652–53.

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is required for the election of elders and deacons.27 More traditionally, the Synopsis allowed, but explicitly did not require, churches to change elders and deacons biennially. A final unique contribution by the Synopsis was the recommendation that elders and deacons should have breaks between their terms: “the practice in our churches is commendable, namely that they restore to their former functions the elders and deacons of proven faith and integrity after a space of a few years.”28

Church Orders for Electing Elders and Deacons As noted in the previous chapter, Dutch Reformed church orders set out clear guidelines for how the elections of elders and deacons were to occur. The theological understanding of the offices of elder and deacon led to the swift establishment of these offices by Dutch Reformed church orders.29 The 1571 Synod of Emden, generally considered the first “national” synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, set up the Dutch Reformed church polity.30 At the local level, this polity established the consistory, which was to be composed of ministers, elders, and deacons. According to the Synod of Emden, elders and deacons were to serve two-year terms with half of the elders and deacons stepping down each year. In this rotational system, institutional memory and experience was preserved since half of the consistory remained each year. However, the synod also allowed elders and deacons to be appointed for longer or shorter periods of time at the discretion of a particular consistory. The national Synod of Dordrecht in 1578 permitted the consistory to nominate “as many elders as needed” or “double the number” needed, from which half would then be chosen.31 The same option was given for 27 Asselt, Boer, and Faber, Synopsis, vol. 2, 654–55. 28 Asselt, Boer, and Faber, Synopsis, vol. 2, 656–57. The recent edition rightly includes a footnote to Gisbertus Voetius and his discussion of providing for a certain period of time of non-service before office-bearers could be reelected. See Gisbertus Voetius, Politica ecclesiastica (Amsterdam: Van Waesberge, 1669), vol. 2, 466–68. 29 Wouters and Abels describe how Dutch church orders addressed the off ices of elders and deacons. For elders, see A. Ph. F. Wouters and P. H. A. M. Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delfland 1572–1621 (Delft: Eburon, 1994), vol. 1, 318–22; for deacons, see Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 322–26. 30 Frederik L. Rutgers, Acta van de Nederlandsche Synoden der zestiende eeuw (Dordrecht: Van den Tol, 1980), 57–58. 31 C. Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), en het concept-reglement op

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deacons. Echoing the Emden church order, Dort’s 1578 church order also recommended that elders and deacons serve for two years and that half of the officers be replaced each year. Flexibility was extended to the churches forced into secrecy; they were allowed to shorten or lengthen the terms when necessary. Any difficulties arising in those situations was to be judged by the classis.32 A national synod held at Middelburg in 1581 produced another church order which, naturally, also included instructions for electing elders and deacons. However, no real changes were made to the recommended processes. Again, the option was given to churches to either nominate the necessary number of elders and deacons or propose double the number, in which scenario half of the nominees would be chosen.33 In addition, the elders and deacons were still to serve two-year terms, and half of the officers would still be replaced each year; the length of an officer’s term could be adjusted if the “situation and profit of the church require it.”34 The national synod at Den Haag in 1586 repeated nearly verbatim the 1581 church order.35 The most famous Dutch Reformed national synod, that of Dordrecht in 1618–19, again reiterated almost exactly the recommendations of early synods. For instance, the consistory could propose to the congregation as many elders as needed or double the number of proposed elders and half would be chosen by the congregation. Similarly, elders and deacons were to serve two-year terms, and half of them were to retire each year, unless “the circumstances and profit of some Churches require otherwise.”36 The church orders of various provincial synods also addressed the issue of elders and deacons. The provincial synod at Dordrecht in 1574, for example, discussed the election of elders and deacons in Articles 27–31. These articles referred twice to the Synod of Emden and followed its decisions closely. Article 31 mentions that, per Article 15 of the Synod of Emden, half of the elders and deacons should be replaced each year. Article 29, however, provides a glimpse of the complexity of local arrangements. Regarding deacons, it notes that some churches may not have connections with government-run hospitals and poor houses but that other churches may have close connections to the government. In the latter case, the church should propose de organisatie van het Hervormd kerkgenootschap in het koninkrijk Holland (1809) (Zaltbommel: Joh. Noman en Zoon, 1865), 147, Point 12. 32 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 148, Point 13. 33 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 202–03, Point 15. 34 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 203, Point 19. 35 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 272–73, Points 20 and 25. 36 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 451–52, Points 22 and 27.

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double the number of needed deacons, and the government should choose half of those nominated to serve.37 The 1580 provincial synod in Harderwijk gave much briefer attention to elders and deacons, noting only that churches should follow Articles 11 and 12 of the 1578 national synod held at Dordrecht.38 The provincial synod held at Middelburg in 1591 also addressed the election of elders and deacons and provided the traditional recommendation that the consistory choose the necessary number of officers or double the number and then hold a congregational election. The Middelburg synod, like the Dordrecht synod, notes that the magistrate and the consistory may elect deacons together in some places. It also stipulated that deacons and the masters of poorhouses should meet weekly and that ministers should have access to those meetings.39 Finally, the 1612 provincial synod held at Utrecht considered elections of elders and deacons. Utrecht’s order describes a different process for electing elders in cities than it does for rural areas. In cities, the consistory should recommend “as many people as possible,” and the synod included a list of eligibility requirements that centers around piety and reputation. The magistrates should then choose the required number of elders to serve. 40 In rural areas, the consistory might need to elect only the necessary number of elders, presumably due to a lack of qualified candidates. The synod implied that the magistrates will have no role in this election, and the choice of elders would be up to the consistory or the synodical deputies.41 The nomination, election, and calling of deacons was to proceed in the same way as that of elders. 42 From Utrecht’s 1612 church order, the uniqueness of rural contexts is thus clear. Because Tthe pool from which to draw candidates was smaller in rural churches than in urban churches, election processes might need to shift in order to take into account the lower number of eligible candidates. The consistency in regulations about the process of electing elders and deacons is remarkable. For roughly fifty years, from the Synod of Emden in 1571 through the Synod of Dort in 1618–19, and even beyond, very little changed. The simplest explanation for the lack of change is that the process worked; evidently, churches found little to object to and continually decided to follow previous church orders. 37 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 101–02, Points 27–31. 38 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 182, Point 7. 39 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 310–11, Points 19 and 22. 40 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 405–06, Point 2 under “Vande Ouderlingen.” 41 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 405–06, Point 5 under “Vande Ouderlingen.” 42 Hooijer, Oude Kerkordeninge, 407, Point 2, under “Vande Diaconen of Armen-Bedienaars.”

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Another important conclusion from these church orders is that there was recognition to the differing contexts within which churches operated. The national synods acknowledged this by providing various options regarding how many nominees were to be put before the congregation by the consistory. The provincial synods, especially the synods held at Middelburg in 1591 and at Utrecht in 1612, paid even greater attention to these differing contexts in their comments on the role of the magistrates in the elections. As scholars have noted elsewhere, the role of magistrates in appointing church off icials was contentious. 43 Here, however, it is important to note that the synods provided allowances for local variations in their church orders. That is, the lived religious experiences of Reformed congregations, including differences between urban and rural areas, affected decisions about elections of elders and deacons. Elections of elders and deacons were not only influenced from “the top down” via theological convictions but were also influenced by experiences at the local level.

Consistorial Elections: Elders and Deacons Across Dutch Reformed consistory records, elections of elders and deacons are ubiquitous and, in terms of length, are often a significant portion of the records. Consistories of rural congregations were often quite small. For example, in its early years, the consistory at Arnemuiden included only four elders and one pastor. In rural Gelderland, the church at Herwijnen had merely two elders, a pastor, and two deacons who, in this instance, served on the consistory to create a total of five members.44 Even rural churches with slightly larger consistories had, at most, six elders. Thus, rural consistories were small groups of roughly five to seven men making decisions for the Reformed congregations. 43 Jesse Spohnholz and Mirjam G. K. van Veen, “The Disputed Origins of Dutch Calvinism: Religious Refugees in the Historiography of the Dutch Reformation,” Church History 86, no. 2 (June 2017): 407. For broader discussions on the relationship between church and state, see Christine Kooi, Liberty and Religion: Church and State in Leiden’s Reformation, 1572-1620 (Leiden: Brill, 2000); Willem Frijhoff, “Was the Dutch Republic a Calvinist Community?: The State, the Confessions, and Culture in the Early Modern Netherlands,” in The Republican Alternative: The Netherlands and Switzerland Compared, eds. André Holenstein, Thomas Maissen, and Maarten Roy Prak (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008): 103–07. 44 Enny de Bruijn, De hoeve en het hart. Een boerenfamilie in de Gouden Eeuw (Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2019), 298.

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In most churches, consistories recorded nominations and elections for both elders and deacons. The Arnemuiden consistory, however, is an exception; until 1624, only elders were nominated and elected through the consistorial process. In 1575 and 1576, the first two years of extant records, the two men serving as deacons were included, although they were not part of the election process and simply had their names listed. 45 After 1576, the deacons’ names were not even mentioned in the records. Deacons were not always part of Reformed consistories, to be sure, but the absence of deacons’ names from consistory records is atypical, at least in my studies of the Dutch consistory records. Their absence is even more striking in a small community like Arnemuiden where a critical mass of officeholders was more difficult to achieve without including deacons. Despite the fact that Dutch church orders allowed churches to nominate only the number of men needed as elders and deacons, churches frequently opted to nominate double the required number. The churches in Arnemuiden and Serooskerke followed this process as well as other consistories, such as Kampen and Wemeldinge, that I have researched but not addressed in this chapter. 46 Typically, the initial list of nominees would be presented to the congregation and voted on during worship services. Two or three weeks afterwards, the winners of the elections would be recorded. Even within one consistory, the time between the nominations and the elections was not uniform. To cite only one example, at Arnemuiden in 1579, the turnaround was quick; initial nominations were made on February 22, and election results were noted one week later on March 1.47 On the other hand, in 1624, initial nominations were on March 29, and election results occurred three weeks later on April 21.48 The consistory records contain frustratingly little information about how church members’ votes were recorded or even how announcements of nominees and electees were disseminated. Some congregations did, however, simply nominate replacements for congregational approval. For instance, at Vollenhove, the consistory nominated men “in place of” the outgoing officeholders. In 1602, the consistory nominated replacements and then noted, “there are to be three proclamations of their names for the whole people according to the order of the 45 A. H. G. Verouden, ed., Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625 (Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013), 8–9. 46 Kyle J. Dieleman, “Elders and Deacons in Kampen and Wemeldinge: Dutch Reformed Approaches to Consistory Elections,” Church History 89, no. 1 (2020): 24–42. 47 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 16. 48 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 155–56.

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reformed churches.”49 As the consistory noted, this procedure followed what the Dutch church orders allowed. To my knowledge, there were no situations in which the congregation objected so stringently to nominees that names were retracted, and the consistory records do not indicate what those processes might have actually entailed. In this method of electing elders and deacons, the consistory wielded a significant amount of power, and the ability of church members to choose elders and deacons was diminished. The “nominate-for-approval approach” provided a consistory with markedly more power than in churches where the congregation had the final vote on which nominees should be elected. Within these varied approaches to electing ecclesiastical off icers, a congregation’s process of nominating men was also not static. At IJzendijke, the consistory nominated four men for each office, double the number of officers required. The congregation then voted two of the four men into office. This was the process from 1612 through 1617 (minus 1616, for which information is missing). One example can demonstrate the process. In 1614, the following four men were nominated as elders: Goossen Janssen, Albert Allenssen, Jan de la Port, and Herman Meynartsen. The following four men were nominated as deacons: Heyndrick Hermanssen, Franchois Hauwe, Jan Haart, and Marten Jacobsen. Goossen Janssen and Herman Meynartsen were subsequently elected as elders, and Franchoise Hauwe and Jan Haart were elected as deacons. The consistory records also list the names of the outgoing officeholders. These new officials were elected “in place of” two outgoing elders, Pieter Eeckeloo and Lenart Theunissen, and two outgoing deacons, Paul van Brussel and Pieter Reynheere.50 Confusingly, in some years one elder and deacon are listed as being replaced, although two men were still elected to each office. Perhaps a growing congregation made more officeholders necessary to oversee a larger church. However, the process at IJzendijke shifted in 1618. From 1618 to 1623, the consistory nominated only the number of men needed to fill the vacant spots for elder and deacon. The language mirrored that of Vollenhove; two men were nominated “in the place of” the outgoing members. The shift in process corresponded with a change in the length of terms. Prior to 1618, elders and deacons served two-year terms, but, from 1618, the terms were 49 Historisch Centrum Overijssel (HCO), “Nederlandse Hervormde gemeente te Vollenhove, kerkenraad,” in Collection 1285, Inventaris 1.1–215, September 6, 1602, Scan #9. 50 Zeeuws Archief, “Archieven van kerkeraad en colleigum qualif icatum, 1604–1973,” in Hervormde Gemeente te IJzendijke, 1604–1994, Collection 234, Inventaris 1.1.1–11, December 13, 1614, 31.

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lengthened to three years. Again, one example may prove helpful. During 1618, Pieter Goethaes and Goorts Janssen were nominated as elders, but they were the only ones nominated to replace Robbert Beck and Paulus van Brussels. Similarly, Henderick Hermanssen and Jaques Vander Capellen were nominated as the only two deacons to replace Pieter Gillisen and Daniel Janssen.51 The terms of Goethaes, Janssen, Hermanssen, and Vander Capellen all ended in 1621 after three, rather than two, years of service. The reason for the shift to longer terms is not explained. Records of 1620 elections are not included in the consistory’s records because the 1620 elections did not need to happen; the shift from two-year terms to three-year terms had occurred, and the men elected in 1618 did not need to be replaced until 1621. Similarly, the Arnemuiden consistory grew over time adjusted its election procedures, including greater numbers of men nominated and elected each year. Throughout the first sixteen years for which records exist, from 1575-1592, two new elders were typically elected from four nominees to replace two outgoing elders. Since half of the elders were replaced each year, the total number of elders during this time period was four. However, in 1591, the consistory considered adding a fifth elder and debated whether the new elder should be elected from the traditional four nominees or whether the consistory should now nominate six men from which to elect three elders.52 1592 was an exceptional year, as will be noted below, but in 1593, the consistory nominated six elders and elected three new elders from those six.53 Through 1625, the consistory rotated between electing two elders and electing three elders since each year either two or three of the five total elders had completed their terms of service. The election process for elders and deacons in Serooskerke was quite typical. The Serooskerke consistory records, however, are unique in occasionally recording the number of votes received by each candidate.54 From 1613-1625, the number of votes is noted four times, in roughly one third of the years. In each of those years, votes were recorded for both elders and deacons. In only one year, 1613, are votes recorded for the initial round of 51 Zeeuws Archief, “Archieven van kerkeraad,” in Hervormde Gemeente te IJzendijke, January 6, 1619, 37. Although the election results are technically recorded in 1619, the nominations and elections were for the calendar year 1618. 52 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 63. 53 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 70. 54 Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1613–1628, 1633–1640, 1708–1990.” In Hervormede Gemeente te Serooskerke (Walcheren), 1613–1990, Collection 2702, Inventaris 1.1–2. The consistory records typically include folio numbers, which the following references will include or assign if absent on the records.

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nominees. While the sample size is limited, the data provides interesting insights into the elections of elder and deacons in a rural church. Two trends are noticeable in the recording of the votes. First, the elections were often extremely close. Among the eight instances of final votes, the largest margin of victory was eleven votes; in 1619, Pieter Craije received twenty-nine votes for deacon, and Jan Moensen received eighteen votes.55 More often, candidates were only a couple votes apart. For example, in 1615, only two votes separated the two elders, who received seventeen and fifteen votes, respectively, and only one vote separated the two deacons who received nineteen and eighteen votes.56 Second, the number of votes is quite low. The total number of votes cast is not recorded since only the votes of the men nominated and then elected are noted. For example, in 1613, the four elders who were nominated received twenty-seven total votes (8, 8, 6, and 6).57 However, the records do not indicate how many men might have received five or fewer votes. The two elected elders received seventeen and twelve votes.58 Again, there is no indication of how many votes were received by the other two nominated elders. Similarly, in 1613, the four nominated deacons received a total of twenty-four votes (9, 6, 4, and 4), but any number of men might have received three or fewer votes.59 The two elected deacons received sixteen and eleven votes with, to reiterate, no indication of how many votes the other two deacons received.60 Still, calculations can be made for the maximum number of votes cast in the final round of electing elders and deacons. To again use 1613 as an example, the total number of votes cast for elders could not have been more than fifty-one. The third and fourth elder nominees, who were not elected, could not have received more than eleven votes since the nominee earning the second-most number of votes received twelve. Thus, the seventeen votes for the first-place nominee combined with the twelve votes for the secondplace nominee and, theoretically, eleven votes for the third- and fourth-place nominees total fifty-one votes. Of course, it is likely that the total number of votes was actually less than fifty-one. Using the same approach, the total for deacons could not have exceeded forty-seven. Presumably, everyone who voted for deacons would also have voted for elders; that is, forty-seven 55 56 57 58 59 60

Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fols. 52 and 54. Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fols. 15–16. Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 2. Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 3. Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 2. Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 3.

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would have been the maximum total number of church members casting votes in the 1613 consistorial elections. The number of votes cast in Serooskerke elections appears to have increased over time. As mentioned above, in 1613, twenty-nine votes were cast for the two elected elders and twenty-seven for the two elected deacons. Those numbers in 1615 were up to thirty-two and thirty-one, respectively.61 In 1616, the voting totals rose to forty-three votes for the two elders and thirty-seven for the deacons.62 Finally, in 1619, the totals were fifty-three votes for the two elders and forty-seven votes for the two deacons.63 These numbers must, of course, be used carefully since it is possible that votes simply became more lopsided over the years—that equal numbers of votes were cast in 1613 and 1616 and that the 1613 votes were more equally distributed among the nominees. However, the consistent growth in numbers makes it plausible that the number of votes cast was actually increasing. The relatively steady margin of victory also suggests this conclusion. If the distribution of votes was consistently equal, the increase in votes for elders from twenty-nine in 1613 to fifty-three in 1619 is nearly 83 percent. Similarly, the increase in votes for deacons over those years, from twenty-seven to forty-seven, is 74 percent. Those percentage increases are substantial, even if the distribution of votes among the four candidates varied from year to year. As noted in the discussion of church orders above, another variable in elections of elders and deacons is the role of the magistrate, especially for the election of burgomasters to church offices. In some situations, the inclusion of burgomasters was not required or practiced frequently. Such was the case at IJzendijke, where no man nominated was listed as a burgomaster. Sincethe absence of burgomasters serving as elders or deacons is uncommon in Dutch Reformed churches, however, IJzendijke is unusual. Frank van der Pol has noted that the inclusion of civic authorities on Dutch Reformed consistories was common.64 At Vollenhove, for example, burgomasters were consistently elected as elders and, to a lesser extent, deacons. In 1602 Burgomaster Willem Albens was nominated to replace Gerrijt Mens.65 More surprisingly, burgomasters also served as deacons in Vollenhove. During 1612, Wilem 61 Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 16. 62 Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 23. 63 Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 54. 64 Frank van der Pol, “Religious Diversity and Everyday Ethics in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch City Kampen,” Church History 71, no. 1 (March 2002): 28–29. 65 Historisch Centrum Overijssel, “Vollenhove, kerkenraad,” September 6, 1602, Scan #9.

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Simonsen was replaced by Burgomaster Berent Jacobsen, and Burgomaster Ulm Simonssen was replaced by Burgomaster Otte Ingelbertsen in 1619.66 The Arnemuiden consistory and congregation also occasionally nominated and elected town burgomasters, although by no means did such a practice occur every year. The consistory records do not indicate any burgomaster being elected as deacon before 1600, but the presence of burgomasters became more regular across the next two decades. In 1605 and 1609, Burgomaster Ingel (Engel) Jacobsen, a surgeon, was elected as elder, but he was not elected when nominated in 1608. Other burgomasters elected as elders included: Niclaes Sael (1606, 1610, 1615), Cornelis Wylant (1607), Maerten Adriaenssen (1614, 1618), Wilm Machielssen (1615), and Engel de Bruyne (1617, 1621).67 In Arnemuiden, the presence of a burgomaster on the consistory charts a middle course in Dutch Reformed practice: clearly valued but not required. Two main points concerning the men nominated and elected as elders and deacons come to the fore. First, many of the same men were nominated repeatedly. In every set of rural consistory records which I have researched for this book, the repetition of the same men nominated as elders and deacons is striking. Numerous examples will effectively prove the point. While the sample size from Serooskerke is somewhat limited, names are repeated again and again even within thirteen years. The most remarkable instance is that of Michiel Lenaerts, who served as an elder every year from 1613–25. Since Lenaerts was elected for three-year terms as elder in 1613, 1616, 1619, 1622, and 1625, he served continuously. While Lenaerts’s continuous service was unusual, many other men were nominated and elected on multiple occasions. Andreis Poppe was elected as a deacon in 1613; he was then elected as an elder in 1618, 1621, and 1624. In other words, Poppe had only a two-year hiatus, 1616–17, from his service in the consistory throughout the thirteen years of the Serooskerke records. Lauwereijs Waelpael was elected as an elder in 1613, 1618, and 1621. In addition, in two consecutive years, 1616 and 1617, he was nominated as an elder but not elected. When cataloguing the names of nominees and men elected as elders in Arnemuiden one again finds names listed repeatedly. For example, Pieter Bartholomeus was nominated at least ten times between 1575 and 1625 and elected seven of those times.68 Other names, such as Laureyns Strymes, Jan Heindrijcx 66 Historisch Centrum Overijssel, “Vollenhove, kerkenraad,” Vollenhove, [no date given] November 1612, Scan #11; September 5, 1619, Scan #12. 67 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 105–06, 111–12, 124, 126, 133–34, 139–140, 149. 68 In some years, only the men elected were included in the consistory records, so it is possible that Bartholomeus was nominated but not elected during those years and that his name simply went unrecorded.

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Backer, and Vincent van Onderdonck, come up with a similar frequency. The same is true at IJzendijke. Robbert Beck was elected as deacon in 1610, and he was then elected as elder in 1613, 1615, and 1618. Similarly, Lenaert Theunissen was elected as a deacon in 1610 and was nominated, but not elected, as an elder in 1612. He was then elected as an elder in 1613, 1617, and 1622. Clearly, these consistories had no qualms about nominating men frequently, and the congregations had no reservations about repeatedly electing the same men. Other men, though, were nominated consistently but rarely or never elected. Pieter Jebsen’s case is perhaps most pitiable. Jebsen was nominated as a deacon three times—1613, 1617, and 1618—and never once elected. Moreover, he was then nominated as an elder every year from 1619 through 1623 and was elected to off ice only f inally in 1623. That is, Jebsen was nominated for office a total of eight times over a thirteen-year period and elected merely one time. The churches under consideration here often provided little, or even no, reprieve from service to the men who were nominated and elected. In addition to the examples above, at IJzendijke, Heyndrick Hermanssen was elected as a deacon during 1612 and, once his two-year term was over, was immediately nominated again in 1614. Although he was not elected in 1614, he was nominated again in 1615 and promptly elected. In 1617, his term was completed, and the consistory records noted him as outgoing. Again in 1618, however, Hermanssen was nominated and elected, this time in the one-stage nomination process. Goosen Janssen had a similar experience as an elder at IJzendijke. The records for 1610 list him as one of the outgoing elders. Then, during 1612, he was nominated and elected in 1612 and, having completed two years of service, nominated and elected again in 1614. Serving until 1616 in that term, Janssen was given a brief respite; he was again elected, via the single-nomination method, in 1618. The second main point to note about these candidates for elder and deacon is lack of concern with their status or occupation. This is the case in most of the consistory records that I have studied. In their work on Delft and Delfland, Wouters and Abels noted that there was “no clear distinction in social status between the holders of the two lay offices.”69 However, observed that both elders and deacons were not just recruited from the wealthy and social elites; they were also drawn from the urban middle class.70 When occupations are listed, it is often merely to identify a man 69 Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 541. 70 Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 541–42.

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with a common name. Not including the occupation of the nominated and elected men suggests that the consistories did not consider occupation to be an important factor in the elections, including what a candidate’s occupation might say about his social or economic status.

Complications: Necessities, Adaptations, and Conflicts Having established that elections of elders and deacons in Dutch Reformed churches tended towards some general patterns but also demonstrated much variety, we now turn to the the question of how the processes and approaches of these elections relate to the size of the communities which enacted them. In other words, did small churches and the relatively small communities of which they were a part face unique challenges or opportunities when nominating and electing men to serve as elders and deacons? Did these churches encounter issues in nominating, electing, or maintaining elders and deacons that larger churches did not encounter? Did the tendencies noted above regarding who was elected, how often elections occurred, and the processes of elections in some way differ from the patterns in urban centers? Before we delve into such investigations, it is worth noting that, of course, correlations between the size of a community and unique aspects of its approach to elders and deacons cannot necessarily be causally tied together. It is possible that a small congregation approached the election of elders and deacons differently not because of size but because of geographical location, theological principles, or any number of other factors. Nonetheless, in order to more fully understand the lived religious experiences of Reformed Christians in small Dutch communities, it is important to at least consider how the experiences of these churches might have been unique because of their demographics, namely their population. To begin, it will be helpful to briefly make observations about how the elections and responsibilities of elders and deacons functioned in two larger urban churches of Dordrecht and Delft. The consistory in Dordrecht offers a helpful comparison to the rural consistories studied in this chapter because Dordrecht was an important city for the Dutch Reformed tradition. Theunis Jensma has published Dordrecht’s consistory records for 1573–79, and his work will serve as the basis for the observations here.71 As with all consistory records, Dordrecht’s records are not without their limitations. 71 Theunis W. Jensma, Uw Rijk Kome. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Dordrecht 1573–1579 (Dordrecht: Uitgeverij J. P. van den Tol, 1981).

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Examining eight years of elections is limiting in a number of ways. Most notably, any number of the men elected during these years may have been also elected after 1579. In addition, Dordrecht’s consistory records do not include information on deacons for the 1575 and 1576 elections, and in 1577, the names of ten men proposed for deacon are recorded but the five men elected to serve are not listed. Nonetheless, even with these limitations, a brief examination will allow at least tentative conclusions about consistory records in Dordrecht and provide a helpful context for more rural churches. From 1573–79, forty-nine different men served as either elder or deacon in Dordrecht. Of those forty-nine, twenty-eight, or 57 percent, of those men served only in the office of elder. Fourteen men, or 29 percent, served only as deacon, and seven men, or 14 percent, served both as elder and as deacon. Regarding the seven men elected to both offices, four men served first as deacon and then as elder, and three men served first as elder and then as deacon. Most men in Dordrecht, 63 percent, only served one time; only 37 percent of men served more than once. However, these numbers should be viewed tentatively since it is plausible that some men served additional terms after 1579. The Dordrecht consistory records frequently include the occupation of the man elected as elder or deacon. Twenty-eight of the forty-nine (57 percent) men have occupations listed next to their name at least once. The occupations vary widely. A number of men were food producers, including bakers, a grocer, a brewer, and a wine buyer, and others worked in the shipping industry as sailmakers, skippers, and even a warship supplier (oorlogsscheepsbenodigdheden). Other occupations were shoemaker, hatter, wood buyer, book maker, book printer, bookseller, doctor, cloth buyer, tailor, glassmaker, timber salesman, and innkeeper. The list of occupations reflects the types of work that one would expect to be prevalent in early modern Dutch society. The occupations of these men appear somewhat random and say very little about the sorts of men who would or would not be elected as either elder or deacon. Similarly, no clear reason emerges as to why some occupations were listed and others were not, other than the possibility that men with common names needed to be distinguished further. The Reformed congregation in Delft provides a second instructive example of how men were elected as elders and deacons in an important urban center of the Low Countries. Here, the definitive examination of Delft’s consistory records by A. Ph. F. Wouters and P. H. A. H. Abels is useful.72 From 1573–1621, 72 Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 329–55, 586–601. Bijlage C lists the men who served as deacons and elders from 1573–1621.

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170 men held the offices of deacon and elder. Ninety-seven, 57 percent of the total number of men who held office, served only as elder. Forty-one men, 24 percent, served only as deacon, and thirty-two men, 19 percent, were both elder and deacon. Remarkably, all of these thirty-two men were first deacon and then elder. Seventy-four men, 44 percent, served only one term, and ninety-six men, 56 percent, served more than one term. A brief comparison and contrast between the Dordrecht and Delft consistories demonstrates how varied consistorial processes could be even in urban settings within the same province. Similarities do exist, most notably in the numbers of men who served as both elder and deacon. The vast majority of men in Dordrecht, 86 percent, only held one office; that is, they were only either elder or deacon. Consequently, very few men served as both elder and deacon. The lack of overlap between offices is striking. Similarly, the percentage of men who served both as elder and deacon in Delft is low—19 percent in Delft, compared to 14 percent in Dordrecht. This means that 81 percent of men served in only one office, a percentage close to the 86 percent of men holding only one office in Dordrecht. However, the situation in Delft does not perpetually echo that of Dordrecht. First, while well over half of the Dordrecht men, 63 percent, served only one term in office, the number of Delft men serving only one term is only 45 percent. Thus, in Delft, a majority of men served more than one term, and the majority of men in Dordrecht served only one term. The reason for the difference between the two consistories is difficult to determine. While most men in Dordrecht served as elder only, the majority of men in Delft served as deacon only. Most notably, though, the number of men who served first as elder and then as deacon was similar to the number of men who served first as deacon and then as elder. The situation in Delft was vastly different; as described above, every single man who served both offices served first as deacon and then as elder. In Delft, then, the office of deacon was seen as a gateway to that of elder. Such an attitude implies a practical hierarchy in which the office of elder was seen as preeminent and the office of deacon as a lesser prerequisite for progressing to the office of elder. A number of these trends are consistent with what is seen in rural consistories. The consistories in Dordrecht and Delft clearly had more men from whom to choose in their nominations and elections, resulting in Dordrecht’s high number of men serving only one term and Delft’s slightly lower, but still quite high, number of the same men. Even though there were fewer men eligible for nomination and election in rural consistories, the numbers of men serving one time is still relatively high and reflects closely

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the numbers seen in Dordrecht and Delft. For example, at Serooskerke, 61 percent were elected only one time, and 39 percent of men were elected on multiple occasions—percentages which are similar to those of Dordrecht. More in line with Delft’s figures 56 percent of Arnemuiden’s officeholders were elected to more than one term, while 44 percent of men served only one term. The fact that rural consistories “cycled through” men who served as elder or deacon at roughly the same rate as urban consistories—a tentative conclusion that needs further research, to be sure—despite smaller candidate pools indicates that the percentage of men in rural congregations who served as elder or deacon was higher than that of larger churches which had more members. For example, if Dordrecht needed six new elder nominees each year, they had a substantial population of eligible candidates from which to choose. If Serooskerke needed to nominate four new candidates, even with the fewer number of nominees needed, they had fewer eligible candidates from whom to choose. Perhaps, then, given the similar rates of new candidates, one was more likely to be nominated as a Reformed Christian in a rural church than in an urban church. That is, at least for the churches researched here, men were called to participate as ecclesiastical officers at higher rates in rural churches than in urban churches. Unlike the Dordrecht consistory and similarly to the Delft consistory, rural consistories often regarded the office of deacon as a “gateway” to that of elder. At Dordrecht, only a slight majority, four of seven, were deacon prior to becoming elder; thus, three of seven served as elder before serving as deacon. Even more significantly, a majority of Dordrecht men served as elder without, evidently, having first served as deacon. That is, having served as deacon was clearly not an expected qualification for serving as elder. In Delft and in rural churches the expectation was that elders would have previous experience as deacons. It is not obvious why Dordrecht would break from the pattern seen in smaller Reformed congregations. Seeking an explanation is further complicated by the fact that practices in Delft treated the office of deacon as a prerequisite for service as an elder, making Dordrecht’s situation even more exceptional. Perhaps, with a larger pool of men from which to draw, the Dordrecht consistory was more confident in the men whom it nominated as elders. These men may have distinguished themselves in the community in other ways so that previous service as a deacon was viewed as a less important safeguard. The number of men who were similarly distinguished in rural congregations may have been fewer; consequently, men may often have been “vetted” through the office of deacon before they served as elder.

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Smaller churches also faced unique situations in which they were forced to adapt. Jan van den Broeke’s nomination in Arnemuiden demonstrates how smaller churches could find themselves adapting typical procedures in situations of necessity. In 1620, the consistory needed to replace three outgoing elders. On March 25, they nominated six men, including Jan van den Broeke in de Lelie. However, on March 28, after his name was announced to the congregation from the pulpit, the consistory received notice that Jan “had only lived here for a year.” As a new member of the community, Jan was then deemed unfit to serve as an elder. Furthermore, although the records portray this as a secondary cause, Jan also thought that he might be absent for six months in the future; more specifics about this absence are not given. For both of these reasons, he was not a suitable candidate and was replaced with Joris Brechtsen who was, in fact, one of the three men elected on April 12.73 Jan would be nominated as an elder again and relatively soon—only two years later, in 1622; however, he was not elected.74 When he was nominated again in 1623, he was finally one of the two men elected.75 Jan’s situation demonstrates how complex each nominee’s situation could be, and a small community needed to adapt nimbly in altering procedures due to those situations. Even more poignantly, the Arnemuiden elections reflect the unexpected and tragic realities of communal life, regardless of the size or time period of the community. In 1592, the consistory nominated six men, and the congregation elected three of the six nominees.76 The consistory noted that a third elder was needed because Sijmon Janssen, who had served one year, had died while in office. The records give only a glimpse of the difficulty of the situation, noting that Jan Saligandt received the third most votes and would serve one year “in the place of our brother Symon Janssen.”77 Tragedy struck again during 1605. That year, the consistory again needed to replace three elders. Two elders’ terms were completed, but Christoffel Pietersen had died after a year and a half of service.78 In his place, Mr. Ingel Jacobsen “offered his service.”79 In 1622, Burgomaster (in the records: “Mr.”) Engel de Brune died after one year of service, but the consistory already needed to replace three outgoing elders. Rather than nominating eight men to replace 73 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 147. 74 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 150–51. 75 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 152. 76 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 67. 77 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 67. 78 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 104. 79 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 104.

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the now four vacant positions, the consistory engaged in a process designed to protect institutional continuity and “continue in our order.” They opted to have one of the three outgoing elders, Joris Brechts, Jan Hancke, and Christiaen (in the records: “Corstiaen”) Cornelissen, serve the final year of Engel’s term. To choose which of the three men would continue to serve, the consistory introduced a new method into the proceedings; they cast lots, and Cornelissen was selected.80

Ecclesiastical Offices beyond Elders and Deacons Discussing adaptions of the regulations for the offices of elder and deacon, Jesse Spohnholz has noted the inclusion of women as deacons in Wesel’s Dutch consistory. Electing women as deacons indicates a wide variance in practices regarding elections of elders and deacons among Dutch Reformed communities. Moreover, women holding the office of deacon also contradicted the vast majority of Reformed theological expectations of what qualified an elder or deacon for their office. Jane Dempsey Douglass and Elsie McKee have both demonstrated Calvin’s approval of women deacons, although he was unique in this regard among Protestant Reformers. 81 The incorporation of female deacons, however, was not common practice among Reformed communities, as McKee notes.82 As Spohnholz describes, the Wesel consistory debated the legitimacy of female deacons and sent the matter to their classis. The classis then forwarded the question on to the synod held at Middelburg in 1581. That synod made the decision that women should not be elected as deacons. In response, the Wesel community initially changed the women’s title to “overseers,” but they later returned to the language of “deaconesses.”83 Spohnholz has underscored the variance 80 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 150. 81 Jane Dempsey Douglass, Women, Freedom, and Calvin (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985), chapter 3; McKee, Diakonia, 79–82. As other scholars have noted, Douglass overstates Calvin’s openness to the equality of women in the church in principle. See Mary Potter, Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass, The Journal of Religion 67, no. 3 (July 1987): 374–76; Jill Raitt, Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass, Signs 12, no. 4 (Summer 1987): 804–05; William J. Bouwsma, Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass, Journal of the American Academy of Religion 55, no. 1 (Spring, 1987): 145–46. 82 McKee, Diakonia, 84–85. 83 Jesse Spohnholz, “Instability and Insecurity: Dutch Women Refugees in Germany and England, 1550–1600,” in Exile and Religious Identity, 1500-1800, eds. Jesse Spohnholz and Gary K. Waite (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2014), 114.

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in practices regarding elders and deacons in exile communities, and a similar variance has been addressed in this chapter in terms of more rural communities. As noted, these variant practices included expanded gender eligibility and the frequency with which an elder or deacon could serve. The challenges of navigating practices around ecclesiastical office in exile and rural communities extended to types of offices. One way in which Dutch Reformed churches adapted to their local settings was by including offices beyond those of elders and deacons. While the standard was to have elders and deacons, churches did include other offices, even if unofficially and in ways not approved by classes or synods. The most well-known of these offices was that of the ziekentrooster, or visitor/comforter of the sick.84 These ziekentroosters were widely used in Dutch Reformed churches and served a variety of functions, as noted most recently and thoroughly by Johan de Niet.85 They were incorporated into the official church structure of the Dutch Reformed churches in Asia, when the Church of Batavia added an appendix that addressed the role of the ziekentroosters.86 These ziekentroosters were numerous. Fred Van Lieburg has noted, at minimum, dozens of ziekentroosters each decade throughout the seventeenth century, and their numbers reached between 200 and 300 in the first half of the eighteenth century.87 Ziekentroosters did far more than their name describes; for instance, they also led worship services and even baptized babies.88 They also played a significant role in the Dutch-Atlantic world, including in modern-day Brazil and the United States of America.89 The 84 Ronald K. Rittgers argues for the importance of verbal consolation in the Protestant Reformations in his article “The Age of Reform as an Age of Consolation,” Church History 86, no. 3 (September 2017): 607–42. 85 Johan de Niet, Ziekentroosters op de pastorale markt, 1500–1880 (Rotterdam: Erasmus Publishing, 2006); Johan de Niet, “Comforting the Sick: Confessional Cure of Souls and Pietist Comfort in the Dutch Republic,” in Confessionalism and Pietism: Religious Reform in Early Modern Europe and North America, ed. Fred van Lieburg, (Mainz: Von Zabern, 2006), 197–212. 86 Yudha Thianto, “Elements of Calvin’s Theology in Java,” in John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium, ed. Amy Nelson Burnett (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011), 100-102. 87 F. A. van Lieburg, “Het personeel van de Indische kerk: een kwantitatieve benadering,” in Het Indisch Sion: de Gereformeerde kerk onder de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, ed. G. J. Schutte (Hilversum: Verloren, 2002), 73. 88 Thianto, “Elements of Calvin’s Theology in Java,” 102; Thianto also describes the role of the ziekentroosters at various points in “Calvin in Asia,” in John Calvin in Context, ed. R. Ward Holder (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 409–17. 89 For the presence of ziekentroosters in New Netherland (i.e. modern-day New York), see Gerald F. De Jong, “The Ziekentroosters or Comforters of the Sick in New Netherland,” The New York Historical Society Quarterly 56 (October 1970): 339–59; Gerald F. De Jong, The Dutch Reformed

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number of ziekentroosters was never more than a handful at any one time in New Netherland, while numbers in Brazil were much larger.90 As Danny Noorlander has observed, the West India Company (WIC) as a whole had approximately 240 non-ordained ecclesiastical personnel from 1621–74, although that number includes readers (voorlezers) and schoolmasters.91 The ziekentrooster had a relatively official status in the Dutch Reformed churches, especially in the far-flung Dutch colonies. Nor were ziekentroosters the only eccleasiastical office beyond elder and deacon available to laity in Dutch Reformed churches. Dutch Reformed churches made wide use, for example, of readers (voorlezers) and singers (voorzangers) in church services.92 Other offices were less official and operated at the local level with less ecclesiastical oversight. This was particularly true in Dutch Reformed communities that existed as exile communities. In their current project, “Rhineland Exiles and the Religious Landscape of the Dutch Republic, c. 1550–1618,” Spohnholz and Mirjam van Veen have observed the diversity of ecclesiastical offices in Reformed exile communities across the Rhineland.93 Reformed communities in exile often found themselves operating in less than ideal situations and adjusted their practices accordingly.94 Churches in colonial contexts or exile communities were more dependent on lay clergy, and this was true in rural contexts as well. Church in the American Colonies (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978), 11–17. For ziekentroosters in Brazil, see D. L. Noorlander, Heaven’s Wrath: The Protestant Reformation and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019), chapter 4. 90 De Jong, The Dutch Reformed Church, 16. 91 Noorlander, Heaven’s Wrath, 30. 92 Bert F. Polman, “Church Music & Liturgy in the Christian Reformed Church of North America,” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 1981), 32–36; Judith Pollmann, “Off the Record: Problems in the Quantification of Calvinist Church Discipline,” Sixteenth Century Journal 33, no. 2 (Summer, 2002), 429; Harry Boonstra, “Introduction,” in Abraham Kuyper, Our Worship, ed. Harry Boonstra, trans. Harry Boonstra, Henry Baron, Gerrit Sheeres, & Leonard Sweetman (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), xxxii–xxxiii. For broader discussions of singing in worship in Dutch Reformed churches, see S. J. Lenselink, De Nederlandse psalmberijmingen in de 16de eeuw. Van de Souterliedekens tot Datheen met hun voorgangers in Duitsland en Frankrijk (Van Gorcum: Assen, 1959); J. de Bruin, ed., Psalmzingen in de Nederlanden. Vanaf de zestiende eeuw tot heden (Kampen: Kok, 1991). 93 I am grateful to both Jesse Spohnholz and Mirjam van Veen for discussing their research and findings with me. Their project includes a forthcoming book in which, tentatively and to the best of my knowledge, one of the chapters will describe the diversity of ecclesiastical communities. 94 Andrew Pettegree, Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992); Jesse A. Spohnholz, The Tactics of Toleration: A Refugee Community in the Age of Religious Wars (Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2011); Jesse A. Spohnholz, “Multiconfessional Celebration of the Eucharist in Sixteenth-Century Wesel, Sixteenth Century Journal 39, no. 3 (Fall, 2008): 705–29.

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Dutch Reformed communities in rural areas incorporated additional ecclesiastical offices in much the same way as exile communities. The Reformed church in Huissen is one such example. Huissen was on the fringes of Dutch politics since it was not technically part of the Dutch Republic, imprecise as the Republic’s borders may have been. It also was in a liminal place within the Dutch Reformed Church. This is clearest in the records of Classis Nijmegen. In 1614, the classis representatives from the church in Nijmegen noted that they wanted to “promote Joannes de Noo [sic, Johannes de Noy/Noë] to Huissen” but that no other church was willing to “help and promote” sending this pastoral candidate to Huissen. As a result, Classis Nijmegen gave de Noy a sum of money and sent him to Holland.95 The congregation in Huissen kept only brief records which, unfortunately, do not provide a great deal of information or explanation. Despite their brevity, in two years, 1613 and 1614, the Huissen church records address the elections of elders and deacons. In addition to elder and deacon, the church in Huissen included another office. In 1613, the office is listed in two separate entries--once as a “Senatoris Eclastica” and once as “Kerkenraeth.”96 In 1614, the office was again listed as “kerckenraeth.”97 Unfortunately, no explanation is given in the records as to what the responsibilities of this office were.98 My best conjecture is that the men elected as “kerkenraeths” acted as some sort of executive committee for the Reformed congregation in Huissen; it seems that these men acted as “senators” who oversaw the church in its entirety. Typically, pastors and elders would have fulfilled such a role. However, the situation in Huissen was unique because they were not officially a Dutch Reformed congregation and, consequently, did not have a pastor. Again, the classis records prove most helpful here. In 1610, Classis Zutphen censured Christopher Rucenero [sic Christophorus Reusnerus], who was serving as pastor in the town of Aerdt, because he was “preaching in Huissen beyond the limits of our classis and province without the knowledge of the brethren.” Reusnerus was told to cease preaching in Huissen and instead to hold services in Westervoort, a town across the Rhine River and 95 C. Ravensbergen, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 9: Provinciale synode Gelderland (The Hague: Huygens ING, 2011), 142. 96 Gelders Archief, “Kerkeraad. Stukken van algemen aard (akta, correspondentie, reglementen e. d.),” in Hervormde Gemeente Huissen, Collection 0528, Inventaris 1.1.1, 3. 97 Gelders Archief, “Kerkeraad,” in Hervormde Gemeente Huissen, 6. 98 Similarly, I have not seen either term used to describe an ecclesiastical office elsewhere, nor had other scholars with whom I spoke. I am grateful, in particular, to Christine Kooi and Jesse Spohnholz who discussed the terms with me.

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part of the province of Gelderland.99 Given this lack of a pastor and even lack of pulpit supply, perhaps the church in Huissen recognized its need for additional oversight and administration beyond what the elders and deacons could provide. While speculative, it is not inconceivable that these men serving as “kerkenraeths” would even provide the preaching for the congregation in Huissen. Regardless of the specifics of the office, its existence indicates a diversity of practice that is not part of standard Reformed theology or included within the various Dutch church orders. In this instance, the Reformed church in Huissen was forced to improvise and adapt how it governed itself, even adding an off ice to the traditional ones of elder and deacon. Huissen’s situation is particularly pertinent because they were both a relatively small community and outside the provinces of the Dutch Republic.

Conclusions A close examination of elders and deacons as portrayed in rural consistories records provides a number of insights into how these men and their church communities negotiated the processes of nominating, electing, and living with church officials. A first and particularly obvious conclusion, though also perhaps the most important one, is that Dutch Reformed churches were far from uniform in whom they elected as elders and deacons and how they did so. Second, the realities of ecclesiastical life in a small town or rural setting demanded flexibility. For instance, while the theological arguments originating in Leiden might call for officeholders to have a break between terms of service, local churches could hardly afford to sit their men on the proverbial sidelines. The consistory records examined in this chapter repeatedly show that men repeatedly served as elders or deacons more than once. In fact, on numerous occasions, men served with no break at all. The consistory records do not provide any explanation for this practice. One can surmise, however, that these men served so frequently simply because there were few other available and qualified candidates. That is, the rural settings of churches pushed, perhaps even required, them to elect men to office repeatedly because there fewer men from whom to choose. Third, the election of political authorities as elders and deacons was typically a priority, though not in every situation. Here, the varied nature 99 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 521.

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of religious and political life in the Low Countries becomes clear. In some local situations, the presence of a burgomaster was essential, while his presence was not necessary in other communities. At the very least, it was not uncommon for political authorities to serve as elders or even as deacons. The membership of these burgomasters in the consistory is another reminder of the complex, intermingled nature of religious and political life in the early modern Low Countries. Finally, the temptation for scholars has been to dichotomize lay and elite religion. Even in recent decades, with the shift to social history in Reformation studies, the assumption has still occasionally been that religious elites have operated apart from lay Christians, whether that work was received well and led to cooperation or received begrudgingly and led to conflict. In the early modern Low Countries, Reformed officeholders were not always so elevated above their lay counterparts. The education level of pastors, especially during the early years of the Dutch Reformations, was often minimal. Moreover, there was no guarantee that elders and deacons would have had any formal education, not to mention any formal theological training. While religious authorities often did not have “elite” characteristics, those described as “lay” were also certainly not passive or on the fringes of religious life. As will be demonstrated in the following pages, church members could be well versed in theology and in biblical knowledge and participate in complicated discussions concerning theology and biblical interpretation. The elections of elders and deacons provide another, more practical example of the futility of attempting to dichotomize elite and popular religion. Elections could be so close that someone who was not elected and thus might be considered a “lay Christian” could receive a couple votes less than someone who was elected to the off ice and thus might be considered a “religious authority.” But, is there really any substantial difference in the two men’s theological knowledge, piety, or confessional allegiance? Similarly, elders and deacons might serve only one term. When a man was out of off ice, he was no longer part of the religious institution, but was his faith suddenly somehow different or less representative of what it meant to be a Reformed Christian in the Low Countries? Rhetorical questions aside, one of the arguments pursued in this book is that experiences of being a Dutch Reformed Christian in the early modern period belie the hard distinctions between official and lay religion and the people who might be categorized as such; I seek to evoke the complex and varied religious experiences of rural, Reformed churches.

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Chapter Bibliography Primary Sources: Manuscripts Gelders Archief. “Kerkeraad. Stukken van algemen aard (akta, correspondentie, reglementen e. d.).” In Hervormde Gemeente Huissen, Collection 0528. Historisch Centrum Overijssel. “Nederlandse Hervormde gemeente te Vollenhove, kerkenraad.” In Collectie Overijssel locatie Zwolle, Collection 1285. Zeeuws Archief. “Archieven van kerkeraad en colleigum qualificatum, 1604–1973.” In Hervormde Gemeente te IJzendijke, 1604–1994, Collection 234. Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1613–1628, 1633–1640, 1708–1990.” In Hervormede Gemeente te Serooskerke (Walcheren), 1613–1990, Collection 2702.

Primary Sources: Published Asselt, Willem van, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae/Synopsis of a Purer Theology. 3 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2015, 2016, 2020. Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Translated by John Owen. Vol. 19 of Calvin’s Commentaries. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849. Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Translated by William Pringle. Vol. 21 of Calvin’s Commentaries. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1856. Reprint: Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007. https://ccel.org/ccel/c/calvin/calcom43/cache/calcom43.pdf. Calvin, John. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. Translated by Henry Beveridge, Vol. 19 in Calvin’s Commentaries. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1849. Calvin, John. “Ecclesiastical Ordinances.” In Calvin: Theological Treatises, edited by J. K. S. Reid, 56-72. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 2000. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles and edited by John T. McNeill. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960. Calvin, John. Opera quae supersunt omnia. Edited by Johann-Wilhelm Baum, Edouard Cunnitz, and Eduard Wilhelm Eugen Reuss. 59 vols. Brunswick: C. A. Schwetschke and Son, 1863–1900. Hooijer, Cornelis. Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), en het concept-reglement op de organisatie van het Hervormd

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kerkgenootschap in het koninkrijk Holland (1809). Zaltbommel: John. Noman en Zoon, 1865. Jensma, Theunis W. Uw Rijk Kome. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Dordrecht 1573–1579. Dordrecht: Uitgeverij J. P. van den Tol, 1981. Ravensbergen, C., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 9: Provinciale synode Gelderland. The Hague: Huygens ING, 2011. Rutgers, Frederik L. Acta van de Nederlandsche Synoden der zestiende eeuw. Dordrecht: Van den Tol, 1980. Schroeder, H. J. trans. Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co., 1960. Simons, Menno. A Foundation and Plain Instruction of the Saving Doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Briefly Compiled from the Word of God, Together with Other Instructive Treatises. In The Complete Works of Menno Simon, Translated from the Original Dutch or Holland, vol. 1 of 2. Elkhart: John F. Funk and Brother, 1871. Simons, Menno. The True Christian Faith Which Converts, Changes, Makes Pious, Sincere, New, Peaceful, Joyful and Blessed the Human Heart; with Its Natural Properties, Nature, Operations, and Powers, Carefully Revised, and More Formally Presented, in the Year 1566, In The Complete Works of Menno Simon, Translated from the Original Dutch or Holland, vol. 1 of 2. Elkhart: John F. Funk and Brother, 1871. Ursinus, Zacharias. The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism. Translated by G. W. Williard and edited by Eric D. Bristley. N.p.: The Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States, 2004. Verouden, A. H. G., ed. Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625. Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013. Voetius, Gisbertus. Politica ecclesiastica. 3 vols. Amsterdam: Van Waesberge, 1669.

Secondary Sources Benedict, Philip. Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Boonstra, Harry. “Introduction.” In Abraham Kuyper, Our Worship, edited by Harry Boonstra and translated by Harry Boonstra, Henry Baron, Gerrit Sheeres, and Leonard Sweetman, xvii–xl. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009. Bouwsma, William J. Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 55, no. 1 (Spring 1987): 145–46.

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Bruijn, Enny de. De hoeve en het hart. Een boerenfamilie in de Gouden Eeuw. Amsterdam: Prometheus, 2019. Bruin, J. de, ed. Psalmzingen in de Nederlanden. Vanaf de zestiende eeuw tot heden. Kampen: Kok, 1991. Burnett, Amy Nelson. The Yoke of Christ: Martin Bucer and Christian Discipline. Kirksville: Northeast Missouri State University, 1994. Dieleman, Kyle J. The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration?. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Dieleman, Kyle J. “Elders and Deacons in Kampen and Wemeldinge: Dutch Reformed Approaches to Consistory Elections.” Church History 89, no. 1 (2020): 24–42. Douglass, Jane Dempsey. Women, Freedom, and Calvin. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985. Eire, Carlos. Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450–1650. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. Frijhoff, Willem. “Was the Dutch Republic a Calvinist Community?: The State, the Confessions, and Culture in the Early Modern Netherlands.” In The Republican Alternative: The Netherlands and Switzerland Compared, edited by André Holenstein, Thomas Maissen, and Maarten Roy Prak, 99–122. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008. Gootjes, Nicolaas. The Belgic Confession: Its History and Sources. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007. Jong, Gerald F. de. The Dutch Reformed Church in the American Colonies. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1978. Jong, Gerald F. de. “The Ziekentroosters or Comforters of the Sick in New Netherland.” The New York Historical Society Quarterly 56 (October 1970): 339–59. Kooi, Christine. Liberty and Religion: Church and State in Leiden’s Reformation, 1572–1620. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Kooi, Christine. “Paying Off the Sheriff: Strategies of Catholic Toleration in Golden Age Holland.” In Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, edited by R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop, 87–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Lenselink, S. J. De Nederlandse psalmberijmingen in de 16de eeuw. Van de Souterliedekens tot Datheen met hun voorgangers in Duitsland en Frankrijk. Van Gorcum: Assen, 1959. Machielsen, Jan. “When a Female Pope Meets a Biconfessional Town: Protestantism, Catholicism, and Popular Polemics in the 1630s.” Early Modern Low Countries 3 (2019): 1–31. McKee, Elsie Anne. “Calvin’s Teaching on the Elder Illuminated by Exegetical History.” In John Calvin and the Church: A Prism of Reform, edited by Timothy George, 147–55. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.

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McKee, Elsie Anne. Diakonia in the Classical Reformed Tradition and Today. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989. McKee, Elsie Anne. Elders and the Plural Ministry: The Role of Exegetical History in Illuminating John Calvin’s Theology. Geneva: Librarie Droz, 1988. Nierop, Henk van. “Sewing the Bailiff in a Blanket: Catholics and the Law in Holland.” In Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, edited by R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop, 102–11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Niet, Johan de. “Comforting the Sick: Confessional Cure of Souls and Pietist Comfort in the Dutch Republic.” In Confessionalism and Pietism: Religious Reform in Early Modern Europe and North America, edited by Fred van Lieburg, 197–212. Mainz: Von Zabern, 2006. Niet, Johan de. Ziekentroosters op de pastorale markt, 1500–1880. Rotterdam: Erasmus Publishing, 2006. Noorlander, D. L. Heaven’s Wrath: The Protestant Reformation and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019. Pettegree, Andrew. Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. Pol, Frank van der. “Religious Diversity and Everyday Ethics in the SeventeenthCentury Dutch City Kampen.” Church History 71, no. 1 (March 2002): 16–62. Pollmann, Judith. “Off the Record: Problems in the Quantif ication of Calvinist Church Discipline.” Sixteenth Century Journal 33, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 423–38. Polman, Bert F. “Church Music & Liturgy in the Christian Reformed Church of North America.” PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 1981. Potter, Mary. Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass, The Journal of Religion 67, no. 3 (July 1987): 374–76. Raitt, Jill. Review of Women, Freedom, and Calvin, by Jane Dempsey Douglass. Signs 12, no. 4 (Summer 1987): 804–05. Rittgers, Ronald K. “The Age of Reform as an Age of Consolation.” Church History 86, no. 3 (September 2017): 607–42. Spijker, Willem van ‘t. The Ecclesiastical Offices in the Thought of Martin Bucer. Translated by John Vriend and Lyle D. Bierma. Leiden: Brill, 1996. Spohnholz, Jesse. “Instability and Insecurity: Dutch Women Refugees in Germany and England, 1550–1600.” In Exile and Religious Identity, 1500–1800, edited by Jesse Spohnholz and Gary K. Waite, 111–25. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2014. Spohnholz, Jesse. “Multiconfessional Celebration of the Eucharist in SixteenthCentury Wesel.” Sixteenth Century Journal 39, no. 3 (Fall 2008): 705–29. Spohnholz, Jesse. The Tactics of Toleration: A Refugee Community in the Age of Religious Wars. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2001.

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Spohnholz, Jesse, and Mirjam G. K. van Veen, “The Disputed Origins of Dutch Calvinism: Religious Refugees in the Historiography of the Dutch Reformation.” Church History 86, no. 2 (June 2017): 398–426. Thianto, Yudha. “Calvin in Asia.” In John Calvin in Context, edited by R. Ward Holder, 409–17. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Thianto, Yudha. “Elements of Calvin’s Theology in Java.” In John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium, edited by Amy Nelson Burnett, 91–106. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011. Wouters, A. Ph. F., and P. H. A. M. Abels. Nieuw en ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delftland, 1572–1621. 2 vols. Delft: Eburon, 1994.

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Establishing Confessional Identity: An “Honest Citizen, Even Though a Catholic” Abstract This chapter examines how rural Reformed churches in the Dutch Republic addressed inter-confessional relationships in their communities. Using rural consistory and classis records, the chapter considers conflicts that Reformed Christians had with Catholics and Anabaptists. Reformed authorities sought to discipline, control, and convert these non-Reformed Christians but were limited in their success. Furthermore, the chapter argues that Reformed Christians had frequent confrontations over a variety of religious issues with these “heretical” Christians. Since Reformed and non Reformed Christians were members of the same social community, Reformed authorities sometimes dealt patiently with or even overlooked confessional differences. The complexity of these relationships was more intense in rural communities because of the familiarity members of the communities that had with one another and because of their need to interact with each other beyond ecclesiastical contexts. Keywords: Confessional Conflicts; Catholics; Anabaptists; Consistories

Introduction As has been well established and is described briefly in the introduction of this volume, the early modern Low Countries were remarkably diverse in terms of religious confessions.1 While the Reformed Church was clearly 1 For an introduction beyond the one offered in this book, see Maarten Prak, The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century, trans. Diane Webb (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), chapter 11. This volume was originally published in Dutch as Gouden eeuw. Het raadsel van de Republiek (Nijmegen: Uitgeverij SUN, 2002).

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_ch03

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the privileged church in the Dutch Republic, other religious groups included Catholics, Jews, Muslims, any number of Anabaptist groups, and, later, Remonstrants. In the consistory records researched for this book, by far the most common other religious confessions were Catholics and Anabaptists; those two groups will be the focus of this chapter. The relationship between Reformed consistories and Catholics or Anabaptists has been the focus of several academic studies. This chapter contributes a focus on rural communities and their unique strategies for navigating confessional relationships. As noted in my introduction, the majority of scholarship on confessional interactions in the Low Countries has focused on urban centers and the province of Holland. This chapter considers two rural Reformed congregations: the Reformed churches in Arnemuiden and in Sluis. These churches demonstrate that religious life in rural communities presented opportunities and challenges unlike those confronted by urban churches. With small populations that could foster more intimate relationships and less anonymity, how did Reformed churches approach confessional competition? Were individuals of other confessions treated more leniently since they were part of the small community, or were such individuals more harshly expunged from the community? What sorts of offenses were present? Answers to these questions will help to provide deeper insights into the religious life of rural churches and the challenges that they encountered in seeking to shape their communities” identities within the Reformed confession. From the perspective of ecclesiastical authorities, the existence of nonReformed confessional groups was a particularly persistent problem in rural areas. Because these areas were sparsely populated, the total number of non-Reformed adherents was likely less than in larger cities, especially in diverse and largely populated cities, such as Amsterdam and Utrecht. It is unclear, however, whether percentages of non-Reformed confessions were larger or smaller in rural communities than in urban areas. The issue focused on in this chapter is one described frequently in the church records: how could churches adequately oversee the confessional competition in these rural areas and combat the existence of other religious confessions? In the countryside, it was easier for Christians of other confessions to go undetected or to hide from church oversight, making the task of the rural consistory considerably difficult. Given these difficulties, did Reformed ecclesiastical authorities still work to combat other confessions and, if so, what were the nature of those engagements? From the perspective of the authorities of the classes, little progress was made in curbing the non-Reformed groups across rural areas. In 1620,

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Classis Walcheren lamented that “the papists here in the countryside commit with such boldness as they have not dared to do for twenty or thirty years.”2 The complaints included Catholics who would “taunt and publically blasphemy those who go, as well as with their children, to hear the Divine Word and likely go to make use of the Lord’s Supper.” Furthermore, the “papists” have their children baptized in other lands and “send in large numbers every Sunday or at least every fourteen days people to hear the idolatrous mass.” The classis requested help so that these things would not “hinder us from serving our congregations and the reproduction of the holy gospel.”3

Case Studies in Arnemuiden Arnemuiden is a small village just east of the city of Middelburg in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland. Despite gaining city rights in 1574, Arnemuiden was a small community, as discussed in my introduction. Using member lists and registers of those participating in the Lord’s Supper, Verouden has concluded that roughly 20 percent of Arnemuiden’s population were full members of the Reformed church in 1584. Of course, the number of people who adhered to the Reformed faith, but were not full members, would have been a higher number. Nonetheless, Verouden argues that “at least half the population was still committed to the old religion [Catholicism] or was very indifferent to the new religion [Reformed]” in 1584. Remarkably, forty years later, according to Verouden, more than 90 percent of the population in Arnemuiden was Reformed. 4 Frequently, confessional competitions coalesced around traditional Christian practices and consisted of both theological and practical disagreements. Perhaps unsurprisingly, complaints about Anabaptists raised in rural churches frequently dealt with baptism. Reformed complaints about Catholics varied slightly more. The ubiquitous language of “superstitious,” which scholars have noted in other contexts, also is expressed in the Dutch 2 J. Bouterse, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995), 346–47. 3 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 347. 4 A. H. G. Verouden, ed., Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625 (Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013), 6. The first counting in 1584 of those who had made a confession of faith to the Reformed church or arrived from elsewhere with a certification of their Reformed faith found a total of 152 individuals.

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consistory records when discussing Catholics.5 Underlying confessional disputes were the use of labels for other confessional groups and the people accused of participating in those communities. The specific terms used in the records are important. Similarly, the way those terms are applied to people is telling. For example, when Reverend Busius is the subject of controversy, the Arnemuiden consistory notes that he has been accused of being a “hypocrite, devil’s child (belialskint), and Arminian (emphasis added).”6 One of the basic problems with keeping Reformed church members from other confessional groups was confusion. As one might expect, members of Reformed churches had questions about the theological and practical differences between their own church and the other confessions. For example, Tanneken van Hembyze, listed as the wife of Joos van Hecke, was “worried about the Anabaptists and their baptizing of kids.” Clearly, Hembyze had questions and concerns about the Anabaptist rejection of infant baptism. In response, the consistory, “resolved that the ministers of the Word with an elder, their companion Jan Saligant, will address them [the concerns] and search God’s Word to instruct and admonish, fully sufficient to persevere in adopting the truth.”7 The results of the work by the ministers and elder were to be reported in the next church “collection.” Unfortunately, the response to Tanneken goes unrecorded in the consistory records, although the Arnemuiden consistory addressed baptismal issues frequently.8 In Arnemuiden, one clear way to bring suspicion to oneself was to be absent from “hearing God’s Word”—that is, to be absent from church. Franchincken van Zonnebecque was the subject of the Arnemuiden consistory’s inquiry for such an offense. In 1585, Franchincken was asked why she was disrupting the church with her absences from “God’s Word and the Lord’s Supper.” The consistory also wanted to know why she had left her child unbaptized for “more than six or seven months.”9 As a result of her visit with the pastor and an elder, Joos van Laren and Jacob Janssen respectively, Franchincken promised to prove herself and present her child for baptism.10 She was again brought before the consistory in March 1590 for not hearing God’s Word. This time too, she admitted her fault and promised 5 Carlos Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989). 6 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 146–47. 7 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 83. 8 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 85. 9 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 33. 10 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 34.

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to do better. However, she denied that she had ever gone to the Anabaptists which would have “gone against the [Reformed] community.”11 In Franchincken’s situation, the confessional issue was problematic for a number of reasons. The unbaptized child clearly was of concern to the consistory because it connected Franchincken to the Anabaptist confession, a connection Franchincken had to explicitly reject. Preaching was, of course, foundational for the Reformed tradition, and Franchincken’s absences from the preaching meant that she would have missed the main means by which a Reformed identity would have been formed. Similarly, absences from the Lord’s Supper meant abstaining from the sacramental means of grace available in the “true faith” of the Reformed confession. Ridding a community of various confessional groups could be a difficult task. To do so, local consistories could, and did, lodge their complaints with the regional classis. The classis could then send a gravamen to their provincial synod, which worked in cooperation with provincial political authorities. The Arnemuiden consistory engaged in this process in 1610. Having noted at their April 18 meeting the persistence of Catholics in their community, the consistory brought the complaint to their classis, Classis Walcheren.12 Classis Walcheren received the gravamen at their April 28 meeting in Middelburg and added it to their list of gravamina, which totaled twenty-five items.13 Although the gravamina were not associated with particular congregations in the synod’s records, Arnemuiden’s concern about Catholics is mirrored most closely in the twentieth gravamen.14 Classis Walcheren’s list of gravamina was then presented to the Zeeland provincial synod held at Vere.15 Here, the long lists of gravamina received from the classes (Walcheren, Schouwen, Zuid-Beveland, and Tholen) were not addressed point by point. Presumably, there was not sufficient time to address each concern, and a number of the gravamina from the various classes also overlapped.16 However, the provincial synod did discuss the 11 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 59. 12 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 111–12. 13 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 162–66. 14 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 165. 15 J. Reitsma and S. D. van Veen, eds., Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620 (Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1896), vol. 5, 91–112. The classis records indicate that the gravamina would be brought to the provincial synod to be held at Vere on May 15, 1610, but the provincial synods suggest that the provincial synod began on May 17, 1610 and ended on May 27, 1610. 16 For example, Gravamina 9-14 from Classis Tholen all also complained, in one way or another, about the presence of Catholics. Classis Schouwen did the same in gravamen thirteen. For both, see Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 167, 169–70. Complaints about the Sabbath also are touched

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issue of Catholics seeking to get married in Reformed churches, and they ordered that placards against Catholic and Jesuit schools be reissued.17 Neither the Walcheren classis nor the Arnemuiden consistory considered the decisions of the provincial synod in their meetings immediately following the synod. The example of Arnemuiden petitioning the classis and, eventually, the provincial synod highlights the need for a small congregation to draw on the resources and power of larger bodies, be they ecclesiastical or political. Reformed churches throughout the Low Countries had significant difficulties ridding their communities of competing confessions, so it is hardly surprising that small churches found themselves in a similar situation. It may even be that church members in a small town like Arnemuiden were more hesitant to act against fellow citizens of another confession because of more frequent daily interactions with each another. If that was the case, then the appeal to the higher ecclesiastical bodies usefully involved those who were not personally invested in relationships with members of the competing confessions and were, therefore, more likely to take action against the confessional transgressions that the consistory considered so problematic. Contributing to the difficulty of quelling confessional competition was the fact that consistories were attempting to not only rid the community of variant practices but were also trying to police doctrine and theology. Arnemuiden’s consistory encountered this challenge in their interactions with Bartel Jansen. Jansen’s name first came up in 1605 when he and his wife were readmitted to the Lord’s Supper because their “household was again peaceful.”18 Jansen’s name came before the consistory again in 1611 after he had allegedly been “reading papal books” and had been absent from “hearing God’s Words” and the Lord’s Supper.19 A report later in 1611 indicated that Jansen continued in his error, and consistory records for January 1612 noted that Jansen had been admonished regarding the “errors he had drunk from reading some papist books.”20 In that entry, the consistory mentioned “wanting to teach him [Jansen],” but he “stubbornly opposed the teaching on by all four classes: Walcheren in Gravamen twenty-one, Schouwen in Gravamen fourteen, Zuid-Beveland in Gravamen five and Tholen in Gravamen eight. See, Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 165, 167, 169. 17 Reitsma and van Veen, Acta, vol. 5, 102–03. In particular, see chapter 4, article 10 and chapter 5, article 3. 18 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 104. 19 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 115. 20 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 116.

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of God’s Word.”21 Not only was the consistory unable to rein in Jansen’s behavior, but they also feared that Jansen would lead others into error “in rejecting all good writings” and, promoting “his poisonous pamphlet.”22 Of course, the consistory suspended Jansen from the Lord’s Supper and continued his ban later in April of 1612.23 Alongside suspending Jansen from the Lord’s Supper, the consistory tried to convince him of his theological errors. Echoing its approach when dealing with the presence of Catholics in their midst, the consistory again appealed to the classis for assistance regarding Jansen. Representatives from the classis, Mr. Gillis Bursius and Hermanus Fauckelius, were to meet with Jansen to discuss “the most basic topics of the Christian religion,” for which Jansen seemed “to lean to the papal doctrine.” Again, the consistory entry indicates fear that Jansen’s ideas would spread, noting that he would have to cease “attempting to bring anyone to waste or stiffen in their papal darkness.”24 Classis Walcheren did, indeed, address Jansen’s situation on numerous occasions, though not until several years later. On September 3, 1616, the Arnemuiden again petitioned the classis to address Jansen and his “fall” into the papal religion.25 Only a few days later, on September 7, the classis received Arnemuiden’s report that Jansen was becoming “more and more reprobate.” In response, the classis determined that preachers who were conducting visitations or preaching in Arnemuiden would address the situation.26 Three months later, during December, the classis noted that the work in educating Jansen would continue.27 The consistory continued to battle Jansen and his Catholicism. In July 1617, they noted that he was “more and more entangled” in his “idolatrous error” and was also agitating people within and outside the congregation. At that meeting, the consistory mentioned for the first time wanting to move forward with full excommunication.28 The classis, too, was frustrated in their efforts at pulling Jansen out of his “papal confusion,” so they decided to speak with the magistrates.29 The consistory recorded this process and 21 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 117. 22 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 117. 23 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 118. 24 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 121. 25 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 128. 26 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 268. 27 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 274. 28 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 137. 29 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 284.

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also remarked that Jansen would meet with the president of the classis, who was none other than Willem Teellinck.30 Less than two weeks later, the consistory observed that Jansen had met with a number of men: Mr. Guielmus Tellink (pastor in Middelburg), Mr. Johannis Veldius (pastor in Soutelande), Burgomaster Maarten Adrianssen, Burgomaster Lenart Teerlink, and “the brothers of our diaconate.”31 At that consistory meeting, the recommendation was made to proceed with excommunication against Jansen because of his persistent apostasy. When Jansen continued to reject efforts at reform, the classis eventually, in September 1617, gave approval to the Arnemuiden consistory to make Jansen’s case public; the consistory would announce his offense to the congregation on the following Sunday. The congregation was asked to pray for Jansen, but his name was not mentioned. That is, even though his case was presented to the church, he remained anonymous. The classis also required that the Arnemuiden consistory not proceed against Jansen before his case was made public and that they keep the classis informed.32 Arnemuiden gave a report to the classis at its November 6 meeting and asked for permission to proceed against Jansen in fourteen days. The classis gave its approval and asked for another report to be given at its next meeting.33 The consistory recorded this approval at its November 22 meeting, when it outlined how Jansen’s situation would be announced at two more church services the following two weeks, still with “no mention of his name.”34 The final time that Jansen’s name appears in the classis records is on January 1, 1618, when the classis received a report that he “remains stubborn in his fall into the papacy, notwithstanding the multitude of admonitions and all the ecclesiastical duties to him.”35 In response, the classis decided that Jansen’s name should be presented from the pulpit and a report given to the next classis. The consistory corroborated this action at its January 3 meeting.36 The entry describes how Jansen’s name was to be presented to the congregation with “fervent prayers” requested on his behalf. Unfortunately, Jansen’s story has an unsatisfying ending for the historian, as either no report was given to the classis or the report went unrecorded. Similarly frustrating is the fact that Jansen’s name does not reappear in the consistory records. 30 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 137. 31 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 137. 32 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 286. 33 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 288. 34 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 138. 35 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 290. 36 Verouden, Arnemuiden, 139.

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Jansen’s case will be discussed more fully later in this chapter, but it is worth noting how his situation demonstrates struggles against both practices and ideas. In the consistory’s view, Jansen undermined Reformed identity because of what he did—absenting himself from preaching and the sacraments, reading papal books, and even writing a papist pamphlet. At the same time, Jansen’s identity was reflected in what he believed—the idolatrous doctrines from which the consistory worked so diligently to dissuade him. Unfortunately for Reformed communities seeking to shape a Reformed identity, Jansen’s situation in Arnemuiden was far from unique.

Case Studies in Sluis In the town of Sluis, the Reformed consistory confronted Pieter Noppe and his false beliefs. The perceived confessional danger in Noppe’s situation came not from his affiliations with Catholicism but, instead, from his leanings toward Anabaptism. Several scholarly resources on the Reformed Church in Sluis already exist. The earliest, and still very important, work is A. R. Bauwen’s 1983 unpublished dissertation, and Bauwens has also given a shorter, more accessible summary of the situation at Sluis in his introduction to the transcription of the Sluis consistory records.37 Other important work has been done by J. Geldhof and, more recently, W. J. op ‘t Hof.38 To summarize, the Reformed church in Sluis was officially organized during 1578 with the arrival of the pastor Johannes Arcerius and the election of two elders, although “evangelical,” or “Protestant,” sympathies had already existed in Sluis and the surrounding areas for decades.39 The question pursued here is how the Sluis Reformed community, once more formally established, sought to navigate other religious confessions, beliefs, and practices. 37 A. R. Bauwens, “De toepassing van kerkelijke tucht tijdens het calviniseringsproces te Aardenburg en Sluis,” (PhD diss., Aardenburg/Nijmegen, 1983). 38 J. Geldhof, “Calvinisme in het Brugse Vrije, 1578–1584,” Biekorf 81 (1981): 311–14, 82 (1982): 46–70; J. Geldhof, “De politieke en religieuze situatie in het Brugse Vrije, 1578–1584,” in Brugge in de Geuzentijd. Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de hervorming te Brugge en in het Brugse Vrije tijdens de 16de eeuw, eds. Dirk van der Bauwhede and Marc Goetinck (Bruges: Provincie West-Vlaanderen Werkgroep Herdenkingsbundel en Uitgaven Westvlaamse Gidsenkring, 1982), 35–47; W. J. op ‘t Hof, De Burgerbevolking van Sluis na de Reductie in 1604 en 1605 (Middelburg: Stichting de Gihonbron, 2019). 39 André R. Bauwens and Dirk van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis. Acta van de kerkeraad van de Nederduits gereformeerde gemeente Sluis, 1578–1587 (Torhout: Flandria Nostra, 1986), 9–15, 19, 33–35.

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When Pieter Noppe’s name first occurs in the consistory records in August of 1584, it was not because of any confessional transgressions. Instead, the consistory noted that Noppe was having sex with his fiancé and was to be confronted about it. 40 Just over five months later, in January 1585, Noppe was again brought before the consistory because of his relationship with the woman who was no longer his fiancé but now his wife. Tragically, only a few months into the marriage, the consistory confronted Noppe for abusing (literally, “mishandling”) his wife. 41 They then addressed Noppe’s abuse of his wife throughout the calendar year of 1585. That story is too long to recount here since the consistory consideed Noppe’s case over twenty times. 42 Still, it is worth noting that Noppe’s abuse of his wife was frequent and that the consistory’s response was often woefully inadequate, including the abhorrent conclusion that “his excuse was found good” and the appalling admonishment to Noppe to “bear with his wife.”43 Adding to the misery of the situation was the presence of a child who was either abused or, at least, caught up in his or her parents’ frequent conflicts. In December 1585, the consistory records note that a visit to the Noppe household would be made by a consistory member and the sheriff. The entry on Noppe ends with the heartbreaking remark that “the person [from the consistory] will stay until the child’s bed is out.”44 Presumably, Noppe’s child was taken from his guardianship for the child’s safety. Since Noppe consistently rejected “all Christian admonition,” the consistory decided on December 8, 1585 to “enact the form of excommunication” against him. 45 For a short time, Noppe’s name disappeared from the consistory’s records. The following spring, the consistory recorded Noppe’s confessional transgressions. In May of 1586, four months after his excommunication, consistory records included a complaint that Noppe was a danger to “the church of Christ” because he lured people with “the temptations of the Anabaptists.”46 The entry also notes that two men from the consistory had already discussed theology, in particular “the humanity of Christ,” with 40 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 153, #704. Each consistory record entry is numbered; thus, this and all subsequent footnotes will include the page number, indicated first [e. g., 153], and entry number, indicated second and with the number sign [e.g. #704]. 41 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 167, #811. 42 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 167, #811; 167, #818; 168, #824; 169, #827, #830, #831; 170, #838; 171, #843; 172, #857; 173, #859; 173, #862; 182, #927; 182-183, #934; 191, #985; 193, #1003; 194, #1007; 194, #1010, #1013; 195, #1018; 196, #1020, #1023. 43 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 168, #824; 191, #985. 44 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 196, #1023. 45 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 196, #1020. 46 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 206–07, #1096.

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Noppe. It then ends with a conclusion that the ministers would learn the truth of the situation and act accordingly. Unfortunately, it is not clear from the records whether Noppe was still excommunicated at that point or whether he had been reconciled with the church; at the very least, he was still subject to the church’s discipline. Regardless, Noppe’s case was far from over. He was involved in further offenses, including a conflict between him and another man named Laureijns de Munck. 47 Later, there was another incident with his wife, and the consistory included “also his error in baptism” in the entry recording this incident. 48 Not surprisingly, the consistory pursued Noppe but reported that he was unwilling to appear before the consistory. 49 After attempting to remonstrate with him, the consistory observed that Noppe would not accept “Christian admonishment regarding his errors in baptism.”50 The pastor, Vanden Haute, and an elder were then asked to meet with Noppe after a man named Hamerlijnck arrived since Hamerlijnck was a man whom Noppe “refers to often.” The records do not include a report of the visit with Noppe, but the consistory later discussed announcing his faults, which now included fighting with his wife, errors about baptism, and drunkenness, at a church service while not including his name.51 Presumably, Noppe was informed of such action, but the consistory reported that he was “absolutely unchanged.”52 As a result, the consistory resolved to move forward with the first public announcement of Noppe’s faults, an action that was indeed carried to fruition.53 The consistory continued its pursuit of Noppe. An elder, Arent de Clercq [Clerck], went to admonish Noppe and reported to the consistory that Noppe rejected his admonishments. In fact, according to Clercq, Noppe “thanks God that He [God] brought him [Noppe] the understanding of baptism.”54 Noppe similarly rejected a second admonishment from a man named Aernaout de Pau, another elder serving on the consistory.55 47 The conflict was first addressed on July 13, 1586. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 214, #1144. The issue came up again on July 20, 1586. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 215, #1151. 48 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 225, #1215. 49 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 227, #1229. 50 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 230, #1244. 51 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 233–34, #1267. 52 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 234, #1269. 53 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 236, #1284. 54 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 240, #1317. 55 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 241, #1324.

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After these failed efforts, the consistory moved towards excommunicating Noppe. First, the consistory sent a letter to the classis about possibly excommunicating Noppe.56 Then, they consistory decided to announce Noppe’s offenses during a church service and include his name.57 Third, because of a concern that Noppe “will spread his ideas about baptism,” the consistory “resolved to seek a remedy and help from the magistrate.”58 Finally, the consistory continued its efforts to meet with Noppe.59 After these steps, three meetings happened in a short period of time. First, Vanden Haute admonished Noppe for his “inhumane” life.”60 Then, Blomme confronted Noppe, but Noppe remained “with his propositions” unchanged.61 Then, Vanden Haute again “tried to convince Noppe with the Word of God,” but Noppe still “remained in his opinions.”62 The persistent rebuffs of their efforts led the consistory to observe that Noppe “continues in his drunkenness and aforementioned error.”63 In that same entry, the consistory recorded how Noppe was “reading with a [Ana]Baptist” and noted that they would speak with Noppe about being “cut off” from the church. In another entry, which seems filled with exasperation, the consistory ultimately decided that Noppe be “cut off” because he “persists in his error, drunkenness, and fighting, for more than a year and a half.”64 Thus, Noppe was fully excommunicated from the Reformed church in Sluis. Even cutting Noppe off from the congregation could not end his story, though. The drastic act of full excommunication was not enough to bring about his repentance. Later, the consistory noted again that Noppe remained cut off from the church because his anger and stubbornness were unaltered.65 The last mention of Noppe in the consistory records is particularly telling. The consistory received a report from a woman that there was a man who had not baptized his child “because of the advice of Noppe.”66 Pieter Noppe was not the only person in the Reformed community in Sluis to fall under suspicion of Anabaptist activity. A man who goes unnamed in the consistory records and is simply referred to as a “countryman” (landsman) 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 244, #1345. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 244, #1346. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 246, #1364. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 246, #1369. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 247, #1372. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 247, #1374. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 248, #1386. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 251, #1406. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 252, #1413. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 253, #1418. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 254, #1431.

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also was suspected of harboring Anabaptist sympathies.67 This countryman was reported as possibly being an Anabaptist and having kept his children from being baptized. When approached by the consistory, the man initially agreed to “bring in” his children and have them baptized. However, the consistory needed to confront the man three more times, and the records display clear frustration and suspicion about why he was taking so long to have his children baptized.68 A similar situation occurred with Pieter Hauweel. Hauweel had also not had his child baptized but was less amenable to doing so. After an initial complaint, the consistory again noted that Hauweel’s child was still unbaptized.69 They followed up again the next week, and the records reported this time that Hauweel did not want to follow the consistory’s request.70 As a result of his unwillingness to have his child baptized, the consistory noted that it would contact the magistrate, and Hauweel’s case did not reappear in the consistory records. While the outcome of Hauweel’s case is uncertain, perhaps the threat of the magistrate was enough to pressure himl into having his child baptized. The consistory in Sluis, like other consistories discussed in this book, was deeply concerned with what they perceived to be errors in practice, but they also engaged in theological discussions about confessional differences, as evidenced in the discussions with Noppe. The example of Maeijken Rave in Sluis provides another fascinating case study of these discussions concerning confessional differences. Rave was brought before the consistory on October 13, 1581 and asked why she had separated herself from the congregation.71 Remarkably, Rave replied that she had done so and loved “the true church of Christ.” The consistory pursued the point, and several issues were raised. The first was the issue of baptism, and Rave came out against infant baptism. To support her point, she referred the consistory to Matthew 15, presumably the first twenty verses where Jesus comments about inward purity rather than outward defilement. The consistory “proved to her” that this passage was not applicable to young children. They also “proved to her” the relationship between the old and new covenants and the true substance of the covenants. Though not explicitly stated, the consistory 67 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 130, #555. 68 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 133, #573; 134, #582; 135, #588. 69 The initial report was made on July 21, 1585. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 182 #933. The follow-up note occurred on September 8, 1585. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 187, #960. 70 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 188, #968. 71 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 59–60, #130.

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presumably was linking Old Testament circumcision to the New Testament practice of baptism. Finally, the consistory “proved to her” in quite technical language, that Christ was “in one person true God and true man, God from God, one essence with the Father, who is born of a woman in the fullness of time, His human nature of the substance of the virgin Mary of the seed of David.” In so doing, they made explicit reference to Romans 1, Romans 9, and Hebrews 2, passages which will be discussed in more detail below. The Sluis consistory had subsequent encounters with Rave. During November 1582, nearly a year after the first consistory entry, the consistory assigned Erasmus de Brauwere to exhort Rave “in her error.”72 One month later, de Brauwere reported that he had admonished Rave; however, the issue that the consistory entry reports on is not baptism but the humanity of Christ. According to the entry, Rave had reservations about the humanity of Christ. De Brauwere instructed her that Christ took his humanity from Mary and is, therefore, “like us” in all ways except sin.73 As will be further demonstrated, Rave remained unconvinced. Rave’s name showed up again in the records when it was reported that her son had not yet been to the Lord’s Supper. The consistory set out to speak with him and investigate the cause for his absences.74 The next consistory entry to address Rave included another woman, Pierijne vanden Kerckhove, who, along with Rave, was to be summoned to the consistory for their suspected errors.75 The consistory contains no record of what these errors were or what resulted from this particular summons. However, a month later, vanden Kerckhove and Rave were summoned again for “new complaints” against them. These renewed summons went largely unheeded; they did not appear at the February 12, 1584, February 19, 1584, or March 4, 1584, consistory meetings. Like Rave, vanden Kerckhove had a long history with the Sluis consistory. She had come before the consistory already in 1581, when she was admonished to return to the church. The consistory’s initial efforts were rebuffed; vanden Kerckhove was reported as living “stubbornly in her error.”76 Those errors become clear later when the consistory noted that the issues at stake concerned the humanity of Christ and infant baptism, the same two theological questions debated with Rave.77 The consistory 72 73 74 75 76 77

Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 81, #243. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 85, #265. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 91, #298. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 122, #503. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 58, #126. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 59, #128.

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and vanden Kerckhove had a remarkable discussion on these two questions. She requested to make a statement on three biblical passages from the gospel of John—chapters 3, 5, and 6; a note in the records mentions that these passages address how “the Word became flesh.” The consistory denied vanden Kerckhove’s request for two reasons. First, she was not a teacher, and, second, one “should not investigate from whom Christ had taken his human nature.” Ignoring their own advice, the consistory then cited Romans 1 and 9 and Hebrews 2, all of which were shown to be “contrary to her opinion.” The consistory record also noted that the “passages [she raised] were addressed and shown not to be for her [i.e., in her favor].” Nonetheless, she “stubbornly remain[ed] in her opinions.” Like Rave’s interaction with the consistory, vanden Kerckhove’s encounter was steeped in scriptural texts. She cited three biblical passages, John 3, 5, and 6, and thus indicated a deep familiarity with the Bible. Unfortunately, the consistory records do not describe Pierijne’s interpretation or use of the three texts from John. John 3 recounts Jesus’s interaction with a Pharisee named Nicodemus and Nicodemus’s confusion about the idea of needing to be “born again.” Explaining this issue to Nicodemus, Jesus comments in verse 6, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but spirit gives birth to spirit.” This verse seems a likely candidate for vanden Kerckhove’s articulation of her understanding of Jesus’s humanity, a view that the consistory found to be little more than a denial of Jesus’s humanity. The passage that she would have sought to reference from John 5 is the most difficult to determine. In that chapter, Jesus has several confrontations with the Jewish leaders about his authority, and he describes in his defense his relationship with God the Father. The chapter, then, relates to Jesus’s Incarnation and to his human and divine natures. Perhaps vanden Kerckhove had in mind verse 26: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” In John 6, Jesus has an extended discussion where he famously declares himself to be “the bread of life.” In his explanation to his confused disciples, he says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” Even if vanden Kerckhove had different verses in mind, her ability to recall the biblical texts is remarkable and allowed her to articulate her understanding of Jesus’s divinity and humanity. In the consistory’s view, she overemphasized the former and under-emphasized the latter. In response to vanden Kerckhove, the consistory cited three Bible passages. As with Rave, they highlighted Romans 1, Romans 9, and Hebrews 2 to prove the humanity of Jesus. Though not explicitly stated, the reference to Romans 1 likely drew from verses 3-4, which read, “regarding his [God’s] Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through

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the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” The consistory’s invocation of Romans 9 probably refers to verse 5, which mentions that the Jews “are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah.” Hebrews 2 is perhaps the most theologically thorough discussion of Jesus’s humanity that was mentioned by the consistory. Verse 14 notes, “Jesus too shared in their humanity,” and verses 16-17 make the connection between Israel and Jesus’s human nature: “Surely it is not angels he [Jesus] helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” The theological debates between these two women and the consistory center on the Anabaptist doctrine of Jesus’s incarnation, sometimes known as the doctrine of Jesus’s “celestial flesh.” William Keeney provides a helpful, if slightly dated, historical and theological account of the doctrine.78 The doctrine was a fairly standard part of Anabaptist theology and was articulated by the likes of Caspar Schwenckfeld, Melchior Hoffman, and Menno Simons.79 Joyce Irwin summarizes the Anabaptist position succinctly: “He [Jesus] was, they [the Anabaptists] taught, born through Mary but without partaking of her substance. The intention of the doctrine was the same as that which had produced the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, according to which Mary’s flesh was without any sin which might have been transferred on to Jesus.”80 The doctrine also had implications for the understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Writing with a specific eye towards Schwenckfeld, Ruth Gouldbourne summarizes, “It is the celestial flesh [of Christ] which the believer receives through inner feeding, and which creates new (saved) life.”81 Richard Bailey, too, has demonstrated the relationship between Hoffman’s attitude towards the Lord’s Supper and Hoffman’s 78 William E. Keeney, The Development of Dutch Anabaptist Thought and Practice from 1539–1564 (Nieuwkoop: B. de Graaf, 1968), chapter 4 and appendix II. For a much shorter summary, which includes brief mentions of Reformed responses, see J. Faber, “Dopers denken over de vlesswordig,” The Canadian Reformed Magazine 18 (1969): 6–8. 79 Egil Grislis, “The Doctrine of Incarnation according to Menno Simons,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 8 (1990): 16–33; Ruth Gouldbourne, The Flesh and the Feminine: Gender and Theology in the Writings of Caspar Schwenckfeld (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006), 155–58; Richard G. Bailey, “Melchior Hoffman: Proto-Anabaptist and Printer in Kiel, 1527–1529,” Church History 59, no. 2 (1990): 175–90. 80 Joyce Irwin, “Embryology and the Incarnation: A Sixteenth-Century Debate,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 9, no. 3 (Autumn 1978): 93–94. 81 Gouldbourne, The Flesh and the Feminine, 170.

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conclusions regarding Jesus’s incarnation, which lead Hoffman to agree with the doctrine of Jesus” celestial flesh.82 Reformed theologians had a well-rehearsed condemnation of such a doctrine. Peter Martyr Vermigli, for example, combatted such views when he wrote a letter arguing against Adriaan van Haemstede, who argued for tolerance of Anabaptist views. As John Patrick Donnelly describes in his research on Vermigli, “The Anabaptists’ failure to believe that the Lord’s flesh was taken from the Virgin was not a trivial error that the Reformed could ignore because that very flesh belonged to Christ’s substance [ousia] as regards his humanity and hence his role as mediator.”83 Supporting Donnelly’s point, the Belgic Confession already in the early 1560s had condemned “the heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that Christ assumed human flesh from his mother” in Article 18 on Jesus’s Incarnation.84 The author of the Confession, Guy de Brès, also penned a polemical work against the Mennonites entitled La racine, source et fondement des anabaptistes, which included a refutation of Mennonite teachings on the Incarnation.85 Diarmaid MacCulloch has briefly discussed the responses of other Protestants, noting that, in the face of this theological radicalism, the “magisterial Reformers were anxious to show themselves true to beliefs which the early Church had affirmed about Mary.”86 Remarkably, in the Sluis consistory’s debates with vanden Kerckhove, the focus was less on infant baptism and more on the humanity of Jesus. To be sure, her errors included rejecting infant baptism. The consistory records, though, indicate that the primary discussion was on the nature of Jesus’s Incarnation and the relationship between his divine and human natures. In vanden Kerckhove’s case, the error on baptism seems, from the records, to be secondary to her error concerning Jesus’s humanity. One might consequently speculate that the Sluis consistory considered the debates over Jesus’s humanity more fundamental and important than disagreements over baptism. Perhaps in the consistory’s view, the mistakes surrounding baptism had misunderstandings of Jesus’s humanity, and thus salvific work, at their core. At the very least, since the term of “Anabaptists” was used so 82 Bailey, “Melchior Hoffman,” 182–83. 83 John Patrick Donnelly, S. J., “Christological Currents in Vermigli’s Thought,” in Peter Martyr Vermigli and the European Reformations: Semper Reformanda, ed. Frank A. James III (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 184–85. 84 De Brès, “Belgic Confession,” Article 18. 85 Leonard Verduin, “Guido de Bres and the Anabaptists,” The Mennonite Quarterly Review 35, no. 4 (October 1961): 260–62. 86 Diarmaid MacCulloch, All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 49.

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frequently to describe adherents to the more radical Reformation and its focus on the issue of baptism, vanden Kerckhove ’s case offers the helpful reminder that disagreements among Protestants in the Low Countries were about far more than baptism. The theological debate about these principles, while fascinating, is not of primary concern here. It is important to note, however, the theological precision needed to understand and articulate such nuanced positions. Even if Rave and vanden Kerckhove were simply rehearsing Anabaptist arguments, the women were clearly well versed in the particulars of Anabaptist doctrine. For Dutch Reformed church authorities, then, the task was not just to counter errors on baptism. The theological and practical dangers were far more varied. In addition to the multifaceted threats arising from Anabaptist beliefs, the risks were also theologically complex. As the situations involving Rave and vanden Kerckhove make clear, theological details and debates were not beyond lay Anabaptist women even in rural communities; confessional debates in these communities could, in fact, include incredibly knowledgeable, active participants. In October 1582, almost exactly a year after the above discussions between the consistory and Rave as well vanden Kerckhove, the consistory complained that vanden Kerckhove had been “admonished many times to renounce her errors.”87 Since those admonishments went unheeded, the consistory decided to present her case “from the pulpit to the congregation without naming her.”88 The announcement would include asking the congregation to pray to the Lord to convert her from her sin so that she might be saved. During November, the consistory summoned Pierijnken to admonish her in her error yet again. When this latest effort proved ineffective, Arnault de Clercq and Erasme de Brauwere were sent later in November to exhort vanden Kerckhove before the consistory summoned her again.89 Following a December visit with vanden Kerckhove, de Brauwere and Pieter de Beijr (for unspecified reasons, Arnault de Clercq could not participate in the visit) reported to the consistory that they had encouraged her to renounce her errors. However, she answered that she did not “agree at all about the humanity of Christ” and reaffirmed her rejection of infant baptism. As a result, the consistory decided to “no longer admonish or educate her on the subjects.”90 87 88 89 90

Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 74–75, #208. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 75, #209. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 81, #242. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 84, #264.

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Vanden Kerckhove case’s was postponed twice, but the consistory decided in January 1583 on an announcement from the pulpit, this time including her name.91 Even this public shaming was ineffective in bringing about her repentance. In early March, the consistory decided that her name would be announced for a second time because she “stubbornly continued in her errors and despised all brotherly and ecclesiastical admonitions.”92 All the while, the consistory continued trying to convince vanden Kerckhove of her errors; for instance, they sent the pastor and an elder to speak with her. A month later, in April of 1583, the “servants of the Word” visited to “exhort Pierijne in love.” Remarkably, the report came back to the consistory that she gave the ministers “a better answer than they had expected.”93 Eventually, on March 19, 1584, vanden Kerckhove and Rave appeared together before the consistory to answer for their errors. In that meeting, the “ministers of God’s word” confirmed infant baptism. The responses of the two women were nearly identical. Rave indicated that she wanted “to remain in her opinion.”94 When the consistory “reiterated” to vanden Kerckhove that she had been excommunicated for two Lord’s Suppers and that the consistory would continue to proceed against her unless she relented, vanden Kerckhove replied that she hoped to “live and die in her faith.”95 The consistory then asked if she also “secretly” taught at her house, presumably whether she offered instruction in her false doctrine. Vanden Kerckhove “confessed” that she did.96 Frustratingly, vanden Kerckhove’s and Rave’s names do not appear again in the Sluis consistory records. A reasonable assumption is that their membership and participation in the Reformed congregation at Sluis had finally come to an end. As the above anecdotes demonstrate, the Sluis consistory had significant concerns about Anabaptists. However, the consistory also mentioned Catholics on numerous occasions. For example, in August 1578, they complained about a “papist” from nearby Heintiewerve whose Catholic presence was causing “disorder and unrest.”97 A complaint in 1580 included the “betrothing and marrying to papists.”98 Sometimes, the relationships that Reformed Christians had with Catholics were quite intimate. For instance, Commantius, 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98

Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 92, #305. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 95, #318. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 99, #347. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 129, #550. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 129, #551. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 129, #552. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 46, #21. Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 56, #107.

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one of the Reformed pastors who served in Sluis, had a Catholic working in his home.99 The consistory clearly saw the presence of Catholics in their community as problematic. However, they also recognized that Catholics could be valuable, upstanding members of the community. On one occasion, the consistory admonished Laureijns de Munck because he had called “an honest citizen a thief.”100 As part of his admonishment, de Munck was to be punished by the magistrate and to confess before the minister. Later, two elders were assigned to speak with de Munck, and it was reported that de Munck was “reconciled with the church” because he resolved to “do better.”101 De Munck’s situation is unremarkable, except that the consistory records add the following parenthentical qualification about the accused: “even though a Catholic.” At least two aspects of this story are telling. Most obviously, de Munck’s situation is unique because the Reformed consistory chastise the Reformed man for insulting a Catholic citizen. Unexpectedly, it is not the Catholic who is under suspicion or who is the subject of the complaint. It is quite striking to find a consistory coming to the defense of a Catholic while accusing a Reformed Christian of immoral behavior. Secondly, the consistory clearly knew, or at least could have easily found out, the identity of the Catholic citizen; it is unlikely that they would have defended the honor of an individual of whose life and reputation they were unaware. Moreover, de Munck himself obviously knew the person whom he had insulted and could have easily denounced him as a Catholic, whether voluntarily, under pressure, or even under coercion, in front of the consistory. The fact that de Munck did not mention his opponent’s Catholicism as a method of self-defense indicates that de Munck did not consider such a strategy to be effective. In other words, his opponent’s confessional identity was not an issue that de Munck believed he could use to his advantage in the dispute. Despite clearly knowing the identity of this Catholic citizen, the consistory did nothing. Of course, they only had the authority to discipline those who were members of their congregation; a long as the Catholic citizen was not also a member of the Reformed Church, the consistory could not have disciplined him. However, the consistory could have noted its displeasure at his Catholic’s presence, or it could have complained about de Munck involving himself with someone who was a known Catholic. The consistory 99 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 222, #1195. 100 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 250, #1399. 101 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 251, #1408.

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could have even brought the Catholic to the attention of the magistrates, but it never mentions doing so. The lack of objection to the man’s Catholic sympathies suggests that one’s confessional identity in rural communities did not always trump one’s identity as a member of society, even in the eyes of the consistory.

Themes The above case studies have a number of commonalities that are helpful in understanding more fully how confessional relationships in these small communities were navigated. First, the slow pace of the proceedings is notable. In Arnemuiden, the proceedings against Bartel Jansen transpired over several years. The f irst report of Jansen’s dabbling in Catholicism came in 1612, and his “papism” was addressed again in 1616. It wass not until 1617 that Jansen’s name was made public and that he was fully excommunicated. Even after taking into account the four-year gap between 1612 and 1616, the consistory in Arnemuiden was remarkably patient. Similarly, the timeline of the proceedings against Pieter Noppe in Sluis was quite protracted. Although Noppe’s was addressed more quickly than Jansen’s scenario in Arnemuiden, the consistory reported spending more than a year and a half seeking to resolve the situation with Noppe. Upon closer examination, this report of having dealt with Noppe for a year and a half is a confusing one. In fact, roughly two and a half years elapsed between the consistory’s first confrontation with Noppe in August of 1584 and his full excommunication in February of 1587. However, the time from the first complaint about Noppe’s Anabaptist leanings in May of 1586 to his full excommunication is only around ten months. Why the consistory described their dealings with Noppe as “more than a year and a half” is difficult to discern and is perhaps best seen simply as a mistake. Regardless of whether their negotiations consumed one and a half years or two and a half years, the consistory dealt with Noppe for a long period of time. The consistory’s remark about one year and a half indicates their feeling that they had acted with great patience in Noppe’s situation. In both Arnemuiden’s dealings with Jansen and Sluis’s dealings with Noppe, the consistories expended much effort to reform Jansen’s and Noppe’s behaviors and beliefs. These efforts included house visits by members of the consistories to convince Jansen and Noppe of their errors, appearances before the consistories, public denunciations, involvement the sheriff, appeals to the magistrate, and reporting of the cases to the classes. As was the case

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with all discipline, at least in theory, the efforts were aimed at bringing men and women back into harmony with their respective congregations. Similarly, the Sluis consistory’s interactions with Maeijken Rave and Pierijne vanden Kerckhove demonstrate a strikingly patient repetition of interactions with both women. These interactions stretched across years, from 1581 to 1584. During these years, the consistory’s encounters with Rave had interludes of varying lengths. For example, after appearing before the consistory in October of 1581, Rave was not mentioned again in the records until November of 1582, a period of just over a year. Similarly, Rave’s name is mentioned in January of 1583 and not again until December of 1583, another period of nearly a year. At other points, Rave was a topic of discussion much more frequently, as was the case across late 1582 and early 1583, when she appeared monthly: in November 1582, December 1582, and January 1583. The consistory’s interactions with vanden Kerckhove had much more consistent timing. A gap of a year gap separated her initial appearances before the consistory in April and October of 1581 and her resumption of appearances in October of 1582. From 1582, though, her name litters the records with only a few small breaks. In addition to the timing of the women’s appearances before the consistory, the total number of appearances is important. Again, Rave’s narrative was less extreme. Including some joint appearances with vanden Kerckhove, her name was included in the consistory records at least ten times. Vanden Kerckhove’s case, however, was discussed in the consistory no fewer than twenty-two times. How one understands the repeated dealings between the consistory and these two women is an open question. On the one hand, the consistory was strikingly ineffective at correcting the perceived errors of Rave and vanden Kerckhove. After twenty-two visits, vanden Kerckhove was still unwilling to admit her errors, renounce her heresies, and return to the Reformed congregation. Rave, in contrast, appeared to move towards repentance, but the amount of time that she obstinately adhered to her Anabaptist faith should not be discounted. On the other hand, one could see the consistory’s repeated dealings with both women as dedication to disciplining them. That is, the consistory did not simply condemn and excommunicate the women when they were unwilling to submit to the consistory’s rebukes. The sympathetic observer, then, might see a consistory willing to move slowly, patiently, and even compassionately in dealing with Rave and vanden Kerckhove, doing all they could to bring these women back into the proverbial fold of the true church. The consistories’ continued dealings with these offenders is even more surprising since the consistories risked having undesirable views spread

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throughout their communities by continuing to interact with the offenders. Concern about this risk is most evident in the Sluis consistory’s interactions with Noppe; the consistory expressed fear that Noppe would spread his purported unorthodoxy about baptism. Likewise, the Arnemuiden consistory explicitly commented that Jansen needed to cease his efforts of converting people to Catholicism. In both instances, a desire to limit the spread of heretical ideas and practices was a crucial motivating factor in disciplining confessional transgressions. However, rather than simply declaring such people heretics and enacting full excommunication, the consistories chose to engage these men in an effort to convince them of their errors. Considerable sensitivity to privacy is also demonstrated. In Jansen’s case, the classis emphasized that Jansen’s name be kept private, and the consistory seemed quite willing to acquiesce. Similarly, vanden Kerckhove’s sin was initially announced during worship without her name. In a small community, the importance of anonymity must have been especially important but also challenging. For example, when the consistory complained that Jansen was spreading his Catholic ideas inside and outside the congregation, it is difficult to imagine that most people did not already know of Jansen’s leanings. The same seems equally true for vanden Kerckhove. The theoretical anonymity must have become even less solid when prayers for a church member were announced from the pulpit. Surely, those in attendance must have been able to deduce that Jansen or vanden Kerckhove was likely the person in question. Nonetheless, the consistory and the classis were adamant that these names be kept private until efforts at bringing the offenders “back” had run their due course. Third, the classis played a significant role in navigating both Noppe’s and Jansen’s cases. The Arnemuiden consistory clearly felt unable to adequately deal with Jansen on their own. When they appealed to the classis for aid, the classis obliged readily and regularly broached the topic. In addition, the Arnemuiden consistory did not resist the classis’s recommendations and, in fact, appeared satisfied to follow the classis’s instructions; entries in the consistory records repeatedly reference decisions by the classis as justification for moving forward with Jansen’s case. In a similar manner, the classis played a signif icant role in Noppe’s case at Sluis. Unfortunately, the 1574 records for Classis Walcheren are not extant; its records begin only in 1602.102 As a result, only the consistory 102 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, XIII. As Bouterse notes, this conclusion comes from H. M. Kesteloo, “Akten der Classis Walcheren,” De Navorxscher 42 (1892): 390; H. M. Kesteloo, “Akten der Classis Walcheren,” De Navorscher 43 (1893): 359–60.

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records are available for Noppe’s case; not only do these provide limited explanations, but they also offer only one side of the discussions. Even so, the consistory’s referral to the classis is in itself telling. The consistory must have felt at least somewhat inadequate in dealing with Noppe’s situation and, as a result, sought to involve the classis. In addition, they must have regarded the classis as both capable of and responsible for assisting in resolving Noppe’s heresy. Finally, the exchanges of Rave and vanden Kerckhove with the Sluis consistory are remarkable for a number of reasons and deserve further analysis. First, if the language of the entries are any indication, Rave was not intimidated by the consistory and its authority. When questioned about her separation from the church, she boldly responded with a remark about the “true church,” implying, of course, that the Reformed church was not, in her view, the true church. She was also willing to defend her theological position on baptism. That is, neither did she accept an admonishment and admit fault nor did she depart insistent on her belief. Instead, she undertook the task of arguing against infant baptism; even though she must have known that the consistory would reject her argument, she felt it necessary to articulate in any case. The repetitious language of “proved” in the entry to describe the consistory’s arguments in response to Rave is, indeed, the least surprisingly part of the whole encounter. Despite certain theological “defeat,” nonetheless, Rave persisted. These women also demonstrated a detailed knowledge of Scripture in a strikingly complex discussion of theology. Less surprising but still notable is the fact that at least one person in the consistory was similarly adept in reciting Scripture and using biblical passages to construct and attack theological doctrines. The women’s use of Scripture and understanding of theology was particularly impressive, enough so that the consistory itself commented with surprise. Rave clearly knew her Bible, as demonstrated in her ability to reference, likely from memory, Matthew 15 to support her argument against infant baptism. Vanden Kerckhove likewise desired to engage in theological discussion about biblical texts. That is, her knowledge was clearly more than simply being able to recite the content of biblical texts, even if the consistory disagreed with her interpretation of them. While theological transgressions were frequently raised at consistory meetings, theological debates in the context of the Reformed consistory were rare. As Jeffery Watt has noted about the Genevan consistory, “Calvin’s Consistory was most interested in the regulation of morals and behavior and, with respect to religion, like similar Reformed institutions, was much

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more concerned with rituals and worship than with theology per se.”103 Watt’s conclusion is only for Geneva, to be sure, but a similar generalization could be made for Dutch consistories. Moreover, the engagement of these women in theological disputes with the male-only consistory demonstrates an unexpected agency for women in front of the consistory. The gendered aspects of these interactions should not be discounted. Many scholars have noted—and disagreed about—that the role gender played in consistories.104 For example, Watt has provided a nuanced view of women at the consistory in Geneva, noting that abused wives were not protected by the consistory nor could women benefit from divorce. On the other hand, Watt notes, the consistory did not have a double standard in terms of sexual behavior and did show concern for unwed mothers.105 Scott Manetsch’s assessment, with which Watt disagrees, has been more positive; he observes that the consistory worked to “protect the weakest members of Geneva’s society.”106 Regarding the Dutch situation, Judith Pollmann has argued that women found the discipline enacted by Dutch Reformed consistories attractive because it offered them a “chance to engage in a form of sociability that conferred honor to them.”107 Although Rave and Pierijne were being questioned, they also took the opportunity of being before the consistory to give voice to their beliefs and their theological perspectives. This is particularly important in a context where these women, and all women, sometimes had few options available to them for adding their “theological voices” to any theological discussions. 103 Jeffrey R. Watt, The Consistory and Social Discipline in Calvin’s Geneva (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2020), 40. In the conclusion of the book, Watt contrasts the consistory with the Inquisition, arguing, “In regard to theology and religious practices, the Inquisition demanded compliance in word, deed, and thought, whereas the Consistory was generally content with conformity in word and deed.” Watt, The Consistory, 221. 104 Watt, The Consistory, 222–23, also chapter 4; Judith P. Meyer, “Women and Consistorial Discipline: The Case of Courthézon in the Early Seventeenth Century,” Church History 88 (2): 316–44. For a study particular to France, see Graeme Murdock, “The Elders’ Gaze: Women and Consistorial Discipline in Late Sixteenth-Century France,” in John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium, ed. Amy Nelson Burnett (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011), 69–90. 105 Jeffrey R. Watt, “Women and the Consistory in Calvin’s Geneva,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 24, no. 2 (Summer 1993): 429–39. 106 Scott Manetsch, Calvin’s Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 220. 107 Judith Pollmann, “Honor, Gende,r and Discipline in Dutch Reformed Churches,” in Dire l’interdit: The Vocabulary of Censure and Exclusion in the Early Modern Reformed Tradition, eds. Raymond A. Mentzer, Françoise Moreil, and Philippe Chareyre (Leiden: Brill, 2010): 29–42.

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These two women found themselves standing in front of an entirely male consistory. The power dynamics included a powerful consistory questioning an individual under its authority, but those dynamics also took place in a highly patriarchal setting where men were seeking to correct and even punish a woman. However, neither woman was willing to simply submit to male authority. That an individual would resist the chastisement of the consistory is notable; that individual being a woman and resisting the chastisement of the male-domminated consistory is remarkable. The consistory certainly had religious power and gendered power, but that power was resistible, as Rave and Pierijne evidenced.

Conclusions As this chapter concludes, it is worth briefly summarizing some of the key points raised by the case studies discussed here. Most basically, consistories in rural communities confronted the reality of a religiously plural society that existed in their midst. The consistories were not willing to simply overlook the presence of other Christian confessions or practices and beliefs that strayed from the Reformed confession. In small communities, the temptation may have been to simply “get along” with other religious confessions, but the consistories, at least, were not willing to acquiesce to what they perceived to be heretical and dangerous to their churches. However, the consistories were not particularly successful in combating other religious confessions. Appeals to the classes demonstrate that consistories were ill equipped to deal with confessional conflicts on their own. Furthermore, in none of the instances explored in this chapter did the offending person repent and return to the true faith. Thus, a complex picture emerges in which rural consistories fought against confessional coexistence but also faced a reality where they were not able to discipline and regulate their churches and communities as they might have wished. Second, the interactions of consistories with individuals were often extensive, in terms of both the frequency of interactions and the length of time over which the interactions occurred. The fact that frequent interactions happened indicates, at the very least, how willing consistories were to go to great lengths to attempt to bring someone back into the proverbial fold. That is, the consistory did not simply fully excommunicate someone who refused initial correction. At the same time, consistories were also unwilling to merely overlook what they saw to be errors, be they errors in practice or belief. In other words, consistories were not willing to tolerate, for example,

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heresy regarding the humanity of Christ merely because of the refusal of men or women to recant such heresies. Third, the actual issues in dispute between confessional groups could vary quite widely. Expectedly, Reformed authorities objected when Reformed church members were suspected of attending Catholic masses or Anabaptist gatherings. Similarly, when individuals had their infants baptized in Catholic services or, as was more frequent in the sources researched here, withheld their children from baptism due to Anabaptist belief, it is not particularly surprising that the consistory sought to amend the practice and correct the theology. More surprising, though, are conflicts with Anabaptists that centered on the humanity of Jesus and even seemed to supersede the obvious controversies over baptism. Fourth, those whom the consistory determined to be outside the bounds of Reformed orthodoxy or orthopraxy often held well-informed positions. This depth of knowledge included often a familiarity with Scripture and the ability to use that Scripture to bolster arguments. Such a reality, exposed most dramatically here by the Anabaptist women, affirms the idea that distinctions between educated religious elites and uneducated lay Christians are often faulty. The temptation is to overestimate the ability of pastors and consistory members to theologically overwhelm their lay church members or opponents. Conversely, the risk of underestimating the theological and biblical knowledge of the purported lay Christians also exists. As this chapter demonstrates, discussions could be far fairer fights than one might suppose. Finally, the above cases frequently indicate an unwillingness to simply acquiesce to the consistory. This is true in terms of practice. For example, when the consistory demanded that children be brought forward for baptism, several people simply refused. Persisting against consistorial demands is also seen in the theological intransigence of many of those summoned to be confronted and questioned. As noted above, none of the people brought before the consistories simply recognized the authority of the consistory and admitted their fault. In some cases, the resistance against the consistory could be shocking—for instance, when Jansen “stubbornly refused” to be taught by the consistory or when the Anabaptist women openly challenged the theological positions of the consistory. These reactions remind us again that individual Christians possessed a significant amount of agency in their Christianity and were unwilling to relinquish control of their spiritual lives to the Reformed consistories. Obviously, such spiritual stubbornness, as the consistories might have described it, led to numerous conflicts between confessions. However, religious conflicts of various types among Reformed adherents was also a prevalent part of religious life, including within rural

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Reformed communities in the Low Countries, and it is these conflicts which are the subject of the following chapter.

Chapter Bibliography Primary Sources: Published Bauwens, A., and D. van der Bauwhede, eds. Kerkeraad te Sluis. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Sluis, 1578–1587. Torhout: Uitgeverij Flandria Nostra, 1986. Bouterse, J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573-1620. Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995. Brès, Guy de. “Belgic Confession.” In Our Faith: Ecumenical Creeds, Reformed Confessions, and Other Resources, 25–68. Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013. Reitsma, J., and S. D. van Veen, eds. Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620. Vol. 5 of 8 vols. Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1896. Verouden, A. H. G., ed. Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625. Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013.

Secondary Sources Bailey, Richard G. “Melchior Hoffman: Proto-Anabaptist and Printer in Kiel, 1527–1529.” Church History 59, no. 2 (1990): 175–90. Bauwens, A. R. “De toepassing van kerkelijke tucht tijdens het calviniseringsproces te Aardenburg en Sluis.” Ph.D. diss., Aardenburg/Nijmegen, 1983. Dale, J. H. van. Een blik op de vorming der stad Sluis en op den aanleg harer vestingwerken van 1382 tot 1587. Middelburg: J. C. & W. Altorffer, 1871. Donnelly, John Patrick, S. J. “Christological Currents in Vermigli’s Thought.” In Peter Martyr Vermigli and the European Reformations: Semper Reformanda, edited by Frank A. James III, 177–96. Leiden: Brill, 2004. Eire, Carlos. War against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Faber, J. “Dopers denken over de vlesswordig.” The Canadian Reformed Magazine 18 (1969): 6–8. Geldhof, J. “Calvinisme in het Brugse Vrije, 1578–1584.” Biekorf 81 (1981): 311–14; 82 (1982): 46–70.

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Geldhof, J. “De politieke en religieuze situatie in het Brugse Vrije, 1578-1584.” In Brugge in de Geuzentijd. Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de hervorming te Brugge en in het Brugse Vrije tijdens de 16de eeuw, edited by Dirk van der Bauwhede and Marc Goetinck, 35–47. Bruges: Provincie West-Vlaanderen Werkgroep Herdenkingsbundel en Uitgaven Westvlaamse Gidsenkring, 1982. Gouldbourne, Ruth. The Flesh and the Feminine: Gender and Theology in the Writings of Caspar Schwenckfeld. Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2006. Grislis, Egil. “The Doctrine of Incarnation according to Menno Simons.” Journal of Mennonite Studies 8 (1990): 16–33. Hof, W. J. Op ‘t. De Burgerbevolking van Sluis na de Reductie in 1604 en 1605. Middelburg: Stichting de Gihonbron, 2019. Irwin, Joyce. “Embryology and the Incarnation: A Sixteenth-Century Debate.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 9, no. 3 (Autumn 1978): 93–104. Israel, Jonathan. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477–1806. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Keeney, William E. The Development of Dutch Anabaptist Thought and Practice from 1539–1564. Nieuwkoop: B. de Graaf, 1968. Kesteloo, H. M. “Akten der Classis Walcheren.” De Navorscher 42 (1892): 390; (1893): 359–360. Lourens, Piet, and Jan Lucassen. Inwonertallen van Nederlandse steden, ca. 1300–1800. Amsterdam: Vereniging het Nederlands Economisch—Historisch Archief, 1997. MacCulloch, Diarmaid. All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Manetsch, Scott. Calvin’s Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536–1609. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Meyer, Judith P. “Women and Consistorial Discipline: The Case of Courthézon in the Early Seventeenth Century.” Church History 88, no. 2 (2019): 316–44. Murdock, Graeme. “The Elders’ Gaze: Women and Consistorial Discipline in Late Sixteenth-Century France.” In John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium, edited by Amy Nelson Burnett, 69–90. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011. Pollmann, Judith. “Honor, Gender, and Discipline in Dutch Reformed Churches.” In Dire l”interdit: The Vocabulary of Censure and Exclusion in the Early Modern Reformed Tradition, edited by Raymond A. Mentzer, Françoise Moreil, and Philippe Chareyre, 29–42. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Prak, Maarten. The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century. Translated by Diane Webb. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Prak, Maarten. Gouden eeuw. Het raadsel van de Republiek. Nijmegen: Uitgeverij SUN, 2002.

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Tracy, James. The Founding of the Dutch Republic: War, Finance, and Politics in Holland, 1572–1588. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Verduin, Leonard. “Guido de Bres and the Anabaptists.” The Mennonite Quarterly Review 35, no. 4 (October 1961): 251–66. Watt, Jeffrey R. The Consistory and Social Discipline in Calvin’s Geneva. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2020. Watt, Jeffrey R. “Women and the Consistory in Calvin’s Geneva.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 24, no. 2 (1993): 429–39. Wijn, Jan Willem. Het krijgswezen in den tijd van prins Maurits. Utrecht: Druckerij Hoeijenbox & Co., 1934.

4

Navigating Intra-Confessional Conflict: “Live at Peace with Everyone”? Abstract Rural Dutch Reformed Christians had conflicts not just with religious opponents but also with one another. As this chapter demonstrates, those conflicts could include schoolmasters, sheriffs, pastors, elders, deacons, and even other churches. In rural communities, men could occupy multiple roles at the same time; consequently, conflicts and disagreements arose between men who knew each other well and were forced to interact with one another because of their positions. This chapter explores the nature of those disputes as well as strategies for resolution and, in doing so, highlights the agency of rural Reformed Christians and churches in advocating for their own sense of a properly, faithfully lived Christian faith. Keywords: Intra-Confessional Conflicts; Consistories; Schoolmasters; Pastors; Pastoral Vacancies

Confessional conflict in the early modern period has been the fodder for enormous amounts of research. In addition to this inter-confessional conflict, however, there is the reality of intra-confessional conflict. It is now widely accepted among scholars of the Reformations is that the binary separation of these types of conflicts is arbitrary and belies the blurred lines surrounding religious confessions. The Low Countries is a particularly apt example, though certainly not the only example, since Protestant groups there were notably diverse. Indeed, defining “Protestant” and, later, “Reformed” was a contested process. The most obvious example of this wrangling over confessional definitions in the Low Countries is the conflict between the Remonstrants and the Contra-Remonstrants as they struggled to define Dutch Reformed. The decades-long conflict between the Remonstrants

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_ch04

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and Contra-Remonstrants was indubitably a definitive struggle within in the Dutch Reformed Church, so much so that seeking to address this “intra-confessional” debate—though the Contra-Remonstrants certainly saw the Remonstrants as outside of the true Dutch Reformed confession—is beyond what can be addressed in this chapter. Other scholars, moreover, have already paid close attention to the “Arminian controversy” that culminated in the Synod of Dort.1 The Dutch Reformed Church had other internal conflicts besides the controversy between the Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants. As Benjamin Kaplan has meticulously demonstrated, the much earlier conflict between the Calvinists and Libertines “differed greatly from the well-known religious wars of early modern Europe” because “it was not between Catholics and Protestants nor between any two defined, rival denominations.”2 Both examples demonstrate that conflicts among those who claimed the same Reformed identity were present and could occasion bitter, protracted debates. In this chapter particular attention will be paid to how conflict was negotiated within Reformed communities. Instead of providing an overview, I will examine a number of case studies that illuminate how conflicts arose and were navigated. These case studies highlight the lived experiences of navigating these conflicts in rural Reformed congregations and the impacts of the small size of these communities on the ways in which the conflicts were addressed. This chapter argues that rural contexts complicated and affected the internal conflicts of Dutch Reformed churches because individuals in small communities had multifaceted roles in their communities and often intimate ties to those with whom they were in conflict.

Conflict and Consistory Members The first case study focuses on the smallest-scale conflicts. Consistories in rural communities were intimate groups that often consisted of one pastor 1 Th. Marius van Leeuwen, Keith D. Stanglin, and Marijke Tolsma, eds., Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60–1609) (Leiden: Brill, 2009); Freya Sierhuis, The Literature of the Arminian Controversy: Religions, Politics, and the Stage in the Dutch Republic, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015); Joel R. Beeke and Martin I. Klauber, eds., The Synod of Dort: Historical, Theological, and Experiential Perspectives (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020); Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg, eds., Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619) (Leiden: Brill, 2011). 2 Benjamin J. Kaplan, Calvinists and Libertines: Confession and Community in Utrecht, 1578–1620 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 3.

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and four or six elders. They were also somewhat transient since typically half of the elders were replaced each year. Nonetheless, these small groups of five to seven men meeting weekly for a year spent a significant amount of time together. One can imagine that these men became close, particularly given their discussion of weighty matters, such as sin, discipline, finances, controversy, and conflict. Intimate relationships and communities are not, of course, freed from conflict; on the contrary, as early modern spousal relationships indicate, intimate relationships are often the crucible for the most intense and complicated conflicts. What, then, did consistories do when conflicts emerged? More pointedly, what occurred when these conflicts were between individuals who were serving together as members of these small consistories? At Serooskerke, Adrijaen Sijmonsen was elected elder in 1616 and is noted in the consistory records as also being the town sheriff.3 Sijmonsen was nominated in only one other year, 1619, when he was again elected to the off ice of elder. 4 The consistory records explicitly note that he was the sheriff in both years, even though the inclusion of a church off icial’s occupation was atypical for the Serooskerke consistory records. As described in chapter 2, the Serooskerke consistory elected two elders annually so that they could replace half of the serving elders each year; the small consistory consisted of four elders and one pastor for a total of only f ive men. Sheriffs in the early modern Low Countries were often responsible for enforcing religious as well as civic obedience since those lines were consistently blurred. Oftentimes, the relationship between the Reformed authorities and the local sheriff were strained or outright hostile.5 The typical complaint from the Reformed camp was that the sheriff was not doing enough to enforce expectations of piety or to prosecute other confessional groups, namely Catholics. Inadequate enforcement of Sabbath observance by sheriffs was just one complaint that various Dutch Reformed classes 3 Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1613–1628, 1633–1640, 1708–1990.” In Hervormede Gemeente te Serooskerke (Walcheren), 1613–1990, Collection 2702, Inventaris 1.1–2, fol. 23. 4 Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkenraad te Serooskerke,” fol. 54. 5 Christine Kooi, “Paying Off the Sheriff: Strategies of Catholic Toleration in Golden Age Holland,” in Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, eds. R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk Van Nierop (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 87–101; Henk van Nierop, “Sewing the Bailiff in a Blanket: Catholics and the Law in Holland,” in Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, eds. R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk F. K. van Nierop (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 102–11.

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lodged at their meetings.6 At other moments, the local sheriff was more stringent in his oversight of a community. Not all people in Serooskerke got along well with Sheriff Sijmonsen. In 1612, prior to his election as elder in 1616 and 1619, Sijmonsen came into conflict with none other than Pieter Moerman, the pastor in Serooskerke. The dispute was over the “grazing in the churchyard, by the trees, etcetera.”7 Details regarding what animals were grazing and who owned the livestock are lacking in the records, but, clearly, someone in Serooskerke was allowing his or her livestock to graze in the churchyard. The conflict was not easily resolved and went before the classis for discussion. The classis decided in favor of Sijmonsen and dismised Moerman’s complaint, noting that Moerman did not have any authority in the matter. For his part, Moerman is noted as having “accepted the admonition” and having promised “not to act anymore” on it. However, the bad blood between Sijmonsen and Moerman persisted. As will be described at greater length later in this chapter, a dispute arose in 1618 regarding the local schoolmaster, Daniel Wiliou. Sijmonsen is mentioned twice in the classis records as supporting the schoolmaster. At its November 19, 1618 meeting, the classis received an attestation in support of the schoolmaster from Sijmonsen and an alderman.8 Later that month, at its November 29 meeting, the classis again received good testimony about the schoolmaster from the same two sources.9 However, on November 28, 1618 the classis was given a list of reasons as to why Serooskerke should procure another schoolmaster rather than keeping Wiliou.10 None other than Pieter Moerman signed the list and led the opposition to Serooskerke’s schoolmaster. This time, Moerman was successful in persuading the consistory and the classis. In April 1619, the consistory submitted a document requesting the dismissal of Wiliou, and the classis was presented with the acts of dismissal against Wiliou in June.11 The situation in Serooskerke was not unique. Conflicts concerning sheriffs are frequent in classis records.12 Scenarios like that at Serooskerke 6 Kyle J. Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration? (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 173, 186. 7 J. Bouterse, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995), 198. 8 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 474, Documents #225–27. 9 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 474, Document #232. 10 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 474, Document #228. 11 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 474, Documents #234–36. 12 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 473, Document 218; M. Kok, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 5: Provinciale Synode Zuid-Holland (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis 1996), 36–37.

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demonstrate more than just disagreements between two (or more) men who simply do not get along. Moerman and Sijmonsen held official positions in the community; Sijmonsen even held two posts as both sheriff and elder. Moreover, the two offices that the men occupied required them to work together, at least occasionally. While the pastor was advocating for removing the schoolmaster, one of the consistory’s elders was actively arguing against the same. That is, the Serooskerke consistory was not one where all of its members were working in concert to establish a pious Reformed congregation. Instead, the consistory was a group of men who could and did have conflicting views. Adriaen Sijmonsen found himself in the uncomfortable position of serving both as the town sheriff and as an elder in a consistory where he had disagreed on multiple occasions with the pastor. Negotiating those differences in the intimacy of a local community required compromise, the mediation of the classis, and negotiations about how to live together as a people of faith. Furthermore, it is clear that Sijmonsen was not simply a dutiful sheriff; he was also a faithful Reformed Christian. Notably, Moerman’s disagreements with Sijmonsen could not keep Sijmonsen from being elected and serving as elder. His election twice to the consistory encourages one to assume that his first round of service was viewed as successful enough to warrant another nomination and election. The inclusion of Sijmonsen’s title indicates that at least the consistorial scribe, and presumably, others found his role as sheriff a notable one. The relationship between sheriff and church was obviously intimate. In Serooskerke, even though this relationship was embroiled in conflicts, the community evidently saw themselves as fortunate to have a faithful Christian who could serve both as Reformed elder and town sheriff, even if that sheriff disagreed with the church’s pastor; they elected Sijmonsen as elder on multiple occasions.

Conflict and Schoolmasters The second exploration in this chapter of conflicts in rural communities focuses on conflicts with and about schoolmasters. First, as this chapter will illustrate, conflicts about schoolmasters often centered on the processes by which a consistory secured a schoolmaster. Higher ecclesiastical bodies needed to approve requests regarding schoolmasters; the absence of the request or the denial of the request could cause friction between a local church and these bodies. Second, conflicts with schoolmasters were frequent and could be wide-ranging in terms of both topic and resolution.

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Before we delve into examples of such conflicts, two brief introductions are appropriate. A brief introduction of schoolmasters and their position relative to Dutch Reformed churches is useful for demonstrating how these men were crucial in Reformed communities. Similarly, a quick introduction to Dutch Reformed church polity will help to contextualize the conflicts that could occur between local consistories and higher ecclesiastical bodies. From the early decades of the evangelical movement, education was an essential part of Reformed congregations across the Low Countries. Scholarly work on Dutch education has been extensive, and the links between the Reformation and education more broadly have received attention far beyond what can be summarized here.13 Within the Low Countries, the role of education has been examined in comprehensive studies that stretch from the Middle Ages to the present day.14 Other analyses have considered more limited time periods.15 Leendert Groenendijk’s article, “The Reformed Church and Education during the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic,” provides a helpful introduction to education and the Reformed church in the Low Countries.16 Other scholars, especially in recent years, have paid close attention to how local communities in the Low Countries developed educational priorities and strategies.17 Thus, perhaps it is perfunctory to note that schoolmasters were of great importance in Dutch Reformed churches.18 Huib Uil’s list of schoolmasters 13 Lewis W. Spitz, The Reformation: Education and History (Aldershot: Variorum, 1997); Jordan J. Ballor, David S. Sytsma, and Jason Zuidema, eds., Church and School in Early Modern Protestantism: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Muller on the Maturation of a Theological Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 2013). 14 For example, P. Th. F. M. Boekholt and E. P. de Booy, Geschiedenis van de school in Nederland vanaf de middeleeuwen tot aan de huidige tijd (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1987); D. Wouters and W. J. Visser, Geschiedenis van de opvoeding en het onderwijs, vooral in Nederland (Groningen: W. Versluys, 1926). 15 For example, G. M. J. M. Koolen, Een seer bequaem middel. Onderwijs en kerk onder de zeventiende-eeuwse VOC (Kampen: Kok, 1993). 16 Leendert F. Groenendijk, “The Reformed Church and Education during the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic,” Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History 85, no. 1 (2005): 53–70. 17 Eddy Put, De Cleijne Schoolen. Het volksonderwijs in het hertogdom Brabant tussen Katholieke Reformatie en Verlichting (eind 16de eeuw–1795) (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1990); E. P. de Booy, De weldaet der scholen. Het plattelandsonderwijs in de provincie Utrecht van 1580 tot begin der 19de eeuw (Utrecht: Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1977); J. Bottema, Naar school in de Ommelanden. Scholen, schoolmeesters en hun onderwijs in de Groninger Ommelanden ca. 1500–1795 (Bedum: Egbert Forsten & Profiel, 1999). 18 Schoolmasters were important in other locales as well. In an exchange at a conference and in email correspondence, Bridget Heal described to me exciting (unpublished, as of the date

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across Zeeland and Flanders, which draws from and improves on a previous version by Drost, includes over fifty pages of schoolmasters in these areas alone.19 The importance of schoolmasters is also reflected in classis records. The records contain, quite literally, too many examples of schoolmasters to cite. Of the nine volumes in the Huygens ING series, seven contain index entries on schoolmasters. Those seven volumes have page references ranging in the thirties (Volumes 4, 6, and 8) up to well over one hundred (Volume 9) and everywhere in between (Volume 1, 75; Volume 3, 42; Volume 7, 67). That is to say, schoolmasters come up, with no exaggeration, hundreds of times in the records of the Dutch classes. The same is true at the higher ecclesiastical level of the provincial synods. Again, the mentions of schoolmasters are far too frequent to exhaust here. In Reitsma and Van Veen’s eight volumes on provincial synods, a simple perusal of the indices demonstrates that every single provincial synod mentioned schoolmasters and schools dozens of times during their synods.20 In Dutch Reformed church polity, “ecclesiastical assemblies” were set up in a fourfold system: the consistory, classis, particular/provincial synods, and the general/national synod. As the 1619 Church Order of Dor, describes in Point 30, “In major assemblies only that shall be dealt with that could not be finished in the minor.”21 Thus, when a consistory was unable to resolve disputes to the satisfaction of either party, the issue could be presented to the classis; similarly, a provincial synod dealt with issues not solved by the classis.22 The complaints, recorded as gravamina, could be lodged by an individual, multiple individuals, or an ecclesiastical body. This process of appeal happened frequently at all ecclesiastical levels, except for appeals by provincial synods to national synods. This latter type of appeal was uncommon simply because national synods were held so rarely. of this printing) research on village life in German lands during the Thirty Years War. In her research, she, too, has found conflicts concerning the village schoolmasters. 19 H. Uil, De scholen syn planthoven van de gemeente. Het onderwijs in Zeeland en StaatsVlaanderen, 1578–1801 (Bergschenhoek: Marberg Media, 2015), 778; H. Drost, Overzicht van voorzangers, voorlezers, schoolmeesters, kosters, klokluiders, ziekenbezoekers e. d., 1575–1806, vermeld in de stukken van de rentmeesters van de geestelijke goederen in Zeeland (Middelburg: Rijksarchief in Zeeland, 1991). 20 J. Reitsma and S. D. van Veen, Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620 (Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1892–99), vol. 1, 481; vol. 2, 510; vol. 3, 523; vol. 4, 421; vol. 6, 523–24; vol. 7, 437–38; vol. 8, 298. 21 C. Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638) (Zalt-Bommel: Joh. Noman en Zoon, 1865), 453. 22 The process is articulated in the 1619 Dort Church Order, Point 31; see, Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 453.

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Although Dutch Reformed churches operated under the principle that no church ruled over another church—as had been articulated in the acts of the 1571 Synod of Emden, each lower assembly (e. g., the consistory) of the Dutch Reformed polity was nevertheless under the supervision of the higher assembly (e. g., the classis).23 The 1619 Dort Church Order makes this explicit in Point 36: “The classis has the same authority over the consistory that the particular synod has over the classis, and the general synod of the provincial.”24 Such a principle was not unique to Dutch Reformed churches; it can be traced back to the 1564 synod of Netherlandish churches held in Antwerp. Prior to Antwerp, a similar resolution was adopted at the French Reformed synod held in Paris during1559.25 Thus, Benedict has concluded, “The principle can be deemed nothing short of the foundational axiom of what is typically called the presbyterial-synodal form of church government, since it eliminates the sorts of hierarchies among churches found in episcopal systems or where rural churches are subordinated to the oversight of the pastors of a dominant city.”26 It is worth noting that Dutch authorities did not mindlessly incorporate the approaches and articles of previous synods; however, the principle articulated at Emden in 1571 was certainly not original and, indeed, was characteristic of the Reformed tradition’s approach to church polity.27 Not surprisingly, when a local consistory brought an issue before the classis, the decision of the classis was not always favorable for the consistory. Faced with a conflict between two parties, a classis would sometimes seek 23 The first article of the Synod of Emden reads: “No church shall have dominion over another church, no minister of the Word, or elder or deacon shall exercise dominion over another. Rather shall they be vigilant lest they should give cause to be suspected of desiring dominion.” Cited from Alastair Duke, Gillian Lewis, and Andrew Pettegree, trans. and eds., Calvinisim in Europe, 1540–1610: A Collection of Documents (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992), 158. For scholarly discussions, see Andrew Pettegree, Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 176–87; Willem A. Dreyer, “Die Sinode van Emden. Bakermat van die Nederduitse Kerke in Suid-Afrika,” In die Skriflig 54, no. 1 (2020): 5, https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v54i1.2630. 24 Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 453, Point 36. 25 Bernard Roussel, “La discipline des églises réformées de France en 1559. Un royaume sans clergé?,” in De l’humanisme aux Lumières, Bayle et le Protestantisme. Mélanges en l’honneur d’Elisabeth Labrousse ed. Michelle Magdelaine et al. (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1996), 186. 26 Philip Benedict, “Of Church Orders and Postmodernism: The Convent of Wesel, the Construction of the Dutch Reformed Church Order and the History and Nature of History,” Low Countries Historical Review 136, no. 1 (2021): 67. 27 Frederik Reinier Jacob Knetsch, “Church Ordinances and Regulations of the Dutch Synods ‘Under the Cross’ (1563é1566) Compared with the French (1559–1563),” Studies in Church History Subsidia 8 (1991): 187–203.

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to find a resolution acceptable to both parties. However, on other occasions, the classis was required to side with one party over another. In yet other situations, such as those involving persistent Catholicism or Sabbath desecration and discussed here in chapters 3 and 5, the petitioning church or individual believed that the classis was acting too slowly or passively. As a result, individuals and consistories could find themselves in conflict with their classis over any number of disagreements, including issues regarding schoolmasters. At IJzendijke, the consistory placed a high priority on finding a schoolmaster to serve their church and community. The provincial authorities of Zeeland, of which IJzendijke was a part, were hesitant to approve IJzendijke’s pursuit of a schoolmaster. Within the provincial synod of Zeeland, IJzendijke was initially part of Classis Walcheren and then shifted to be part of Classis Zuid-Beveland. At its September 5, 1605 meeting, Classis Walcheren noted that the consistory of IJzendijke was requesting permission to seek a pastor and a schoolmaster. Classis Walcheren officially agreed to make the necessary request to the heeren staten-generaal.28 A little over a month later, permission was granted for IJzendijke to seek an “ordinary servant” to serve them as pastor. However, a marginal note in the classis records states that permission was not given to search for a schoolmaster because there was “no reason.”29 However, IJzendijke did not cease to push for a schoolmaster. They persisted in their requests, and after roughly another four months, approval was given by the States General. The IJzendijke consistory noted in its January 17, 1606 minutes that the States General had agreed to the search for a schoolmaster.30 That search culminated in the selection of Mr. Pieter de Leeuwe as schoolmaster on May 5, 1606; the decision was then finalized on June 24, presumably after the choice had been approved by Classis Zuid-Beveland.31 The importance that the IJzendijke consistory placed on getting a schoolmaster should not be underestimated. Since the consistory requested a schoolmaster at the same time as a pastor, it appears that they believed employing a schoolmaster to be of similar, if not equal, importance to employing a pastor. While the higher ecclesiastical authorities may have 28 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 61. 29 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 63. 30 Zeeuws Archief, “Archieven van kerkeraad en colleigum qualif icatum, 1604–1973,” in Hervormde Gemeente te IJzendijke, 1604–1994, Collection 234, Inventaris 1.1.1–11, 7. 31 Zeeuws Archief, “Kerkeraad te IJzendijke,” 10, 12.

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disagreed with the consistory’s assessment, the consistory continued in its push to procure a schoolmaster. The persistence of the IJzendijke consistory highlights a recurring theme of this book: local religious practitioners actively pursue their own interests regarding their religious lives and experiences. In this particular instance, the IJzendijke consistory continued its persistent quest for a schoolmaster even when its initial request was rebuffed by higher authorities whose priorities were obviously different than those of the Reformed congregation at IJzendijke. The congregation in Oostburg, a small village that had city rights and that technically included IJzendijke within its municipality, also found the process of securing a schoolmaster to be difficult. Oostburg sought someone to serve as schoolmaster and reader (voorlezer)—an example of the multifaceted roles that schoolmasters could play—at a Classis Walcheren meeting in December of 1608. At that meeting, held in Middelburg, the Oostburg representative noted how the congregation had someone serving provisionally in that role. However, the classis responded that the schoolmaster should not serve in the school without authorization from the classis; until that authorization was given, all reading in church was to be done by the preacher or an elder.32 Records from the following classis meeting, on December 11, 1608, identify the provisional schoolmaster as none other than the aforementioned Pieter de Leeuw, the schoolmaster who had previously served in IJzendijke. At that meeting, the classis noted that De Leeuw’s case would be dealt with during the next meeting and that his service to the school would be “tolerated” until then.33 De Leeuw’s case was not dealt with at the next meeting but was instead addressed in March of 1609. The classis observed then that de Leeuw was “not a schoolmaster here [in Classis Walcheren],” but his case would still be handled by the classis because Oostburg had appointed him, even if preemptively, to the school and as the voorlezer. The classis went on to remark that no new accusation had been brought against de Leeuw and that, consequently, his case could be dealt with properly if he submitted letters to the classis.34 De Leeuw’s situation became more complex when the classis received “new accusations” at a meeting in June 1609 that de Leeuw had been “writing notes for the sick.” It is unclear what these “notes” might have been, but it seems as if de Leeuw was involved in some sort of magical practices.35 The records observe that 32 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 126. 33 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 126–27. 34 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 133. 35 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 63.

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the accusation was true and that de Leeuw had confessed his sin “openly in the church,” rejected his action as “evil,” recognized the “improperness” of his actions, and promised to do so no more. The classis decided that they would admit him as schoolmaster at Oostburg because of his repentance and the positive reports that they had received from Oostburg during his provisional time as schoolmaster; however, they also “once more earnestly” admonished him about the previous faults.36 Notably in this instance, Classis Walcheren bent to the will of the local consistory. De Leeuw’s work as schoolmaster in Oostburg began without approval by the classis, continued without their approval, and, ultimately, was given their approval in the face of serious misdeeds because of consistorial testimony in favor of de Leeuw. While the exchanges regarding de Leeuw indicate the authority of the classis, they also suggest the agency of the local congregation. Oostburg allowed de Leeuw to begin his work as schoolmaster and voorlezer without classis approval; the consistory must have known that such an appointment needed prior approval by the classis. Their granting of permission to de Leeuw to work in their community and church without classis approval reveals that they either believed they inherently had the authority to allow him to work or did not care that they did not possess such authority. The classis records also demonstrate that the power of the Oostburg consistory was not only self-perceived. Based on the consistory’s recommendation and positive report concerning de Leeuw’s work, the classis approved de Leeuw’s appointment and requested funds for his salary. That is, the classis acknowledged the authority of the consistory and its experience with de Leeuw, despite evidence that undercut de Leeuw’s suitability. At least in this case, the small consistory demonstrated remarkable agency, and the classis, which was the authority on the matter at hand according to the church order, accepted that agency. Schoolmasters themselves were also not without their critics. Numerous complaints appear in provincial synod and classis records; examples beyond the ones discussed here can be found elsewhere.37 Indeed, the challenge is not in finding such complaints but, instead, in determining how to categorize them since complaints about schoolmasters vary widely. One category of complaints revolves around curriculum. Schoolmasters were reportedly either teaching things they should not have or were not 36 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 142. 37 H. Scheepstra and W. Walstra, Beknopte geschiedenis van de opvoeding en het onderwijs, vooral in Nederland (Groningen: Wolters, 1908), 47; Wouters and Visser, Geschiedenis van de opvoeding, 97–99.

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teaching things they should have. The schoolmaster at Arkel, a town in South Holland and a member of Classis Gorinchem, was found to have been teaching only the Heidelberg Catechism and was urged to teach also the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort, referred to in the records, respectively, as the “Confession” and the “synodal statements.”38 The use of Catholic books by schoolmasters was a frequent complaint. For example, in Classis Deventer within Overijssel, pastor Johannes van Alckemade was sent to the school at Enschede to ensure that no “papist or other wrong books” were being taught.39 A similar complaint was lodged at a Classis Leiden meeting regarding some of the schoolmasters in the villages because “papist books” were allegedly being taught at their schools. 40 Other complaints concern the suitability and ability of the schoolmaster. These disputes occurred at the local level and were, of course, extremely personal, often involving the moral failings of the schoolmaster. Uil notes that a number of schoolmasters were suspended in the province of Zeeland.41 Not surprisingly, many of the suspensions occurred because of drunkenness; other schoolmasters were simply viewed as incompetent. In addition to moral failings and intellectual shortcomings, the confessional allegiance of schoolmasters was often questioned. For instance, at Engelen, another town in South Holland and belonging to Classis Gorinchem, the schoolmaster was not a member of the Reformed church, despite claiming to the classis that he was “of our religion.” The classis was evidently concerned about his associations with Catholicism and, ultimately, decided that he was unfit for service because he was too “inexperienced in religion” and was attempting to straddle the line between being Reformed and Catholic.42 A similar complaint was lodged against a Mr. Isaac, schoolmaster at Ommoord in Classis Rotterdam. The classis had assigned two men, Arnoldus Genius and Philips Meneel, to visit Isaac and determine how he “fulfills his office of teaching the youth.”43 The initial report by Genius and Meneel stated that Isaac had improved on the “unhealthy books” he was using to 38 A. J. Verschoor, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 8: Classis Gorinchem (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2008), 453. 39 J. van Gelderen and C. Ravensbergen, eds., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 6: Provinciale Synode Overijssel (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2000), 80. 40 Kok, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 359. 41 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, Bijlage 4, 740–41. 42 Verschoor, Classicale Acta Gorinchem, 452–53. The classis records describe his ambivalence towards the Reformed faith and tendency to remain linked to Catholicism as “limping on both sides,” which reads in the original Dutch as, “hinckende aan beijden zijden.” 43 J. Bouterse, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 3: Particuliere Synode Zuid-Holland (‘sGravenhage: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1991), 49–50.

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teach the children, but that he had not yet joined the Reformed church. Isaac’s self-justification, which is partially quoted in the records, included the argument that “it is a free land here” and other answers that the classis deemed “regrettable” and “inappropriate.”44 Isaac’s transgressions went further. He had violated the process by which schoolmasters were appointed and, perhaps, should not have been teaching at Ommoord in the first place.45 One of Isaac’s missteps was his unwillingness to move from Hillegersberg to Ommoord.46 The classis admonished Mr. Isaac in the “hope of improvement,” although what sort of improvement was expected is not noted.47 Regardless, Mr. Isaac’s ability to carry out his task as schoolmaster was deemed to be deficient. In fact, the classis would address Isaac’s situation multiple times, especially his residence in Hillegersberg, and would even involve the political authorities in Schieland.48 Isaac was unwilling to meet with the classis visitors, and he also showed no improvement, even after receiving multiple admonishments to conduct himself “Christianly” and according to the “ministry of his office.”49 As a result, Classis Rotterdam insisted that the Duchy of Schieland use its authority to remove Isaac from his position.50 Another example of schoolmasters at the center of complaints involves Pieter de Leeuw’s situation at IJzendijke. The records of Classis Walcheren hint that de Leeuw’s departure from IJezndijke for Oostburg was not an amicable one. In the final entry mentioning de Leeuw, the classis admonished him that he should press his claims against IJzendijke if he still had demands about IJzendijke that he might “rightly seek.” However, de Leeuw was also warned to not complain about IJzendijke. The implication is that de Leeuw had been complaining about IJzendijke’s treatment of him. While the topic of his complaints is difficult to discern, it may have been related to his salary since the concluding statement in the classis records, immediately following the instructions to de Leeuw regarding IJzendijke, notes that de Leeuw’s salary was to be supplied to him after a request was made to the lords of the States General.51 De Leeuw’s career would conclude in Oostburg, although residents sought to replace him with another schoolmaster, Abraham van der Leen, in 1629. De Leeuw refused to leave town and remained in Oostburg 44 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 52. 45 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 53. 46 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 53. 47 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 54–55. 48 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 56, 59–60. 49 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 59–60. 50 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zuid-Holland, 59–60. 51 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 142.

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until his death later in 1629, timing that must have seemed providential to some residents in Oostburg.52 Nor were the 1629 complaints in Oostburg new. In 1626, the pastor, Salomon Panneel, began teaching students in Oostburg because de Leeuw was neglecting his task. Panneel had the consent of his consistory and some parents, although de Leeuw believed Panneel to be overstepping.53 In 1611, the consistory of Serooskerke received permission from Classis Walcheren to appoint Daniel Wiliock as schoolmaster.54 Wiliock taught for years in Serooskerke without gaining much attention, at least in the records. However, in 1618, his performance as schoolmaster was called into question.55 Wiliock found himself in trouble for criticizing the way in which the pastor, Pieter Moerman, was praying. The consistory deflected Wiliock’s criticism with a scriptural defense. When Wiliock was asked to prove Moerman’s guilt from the Bible, he mocked Moerman for being uneducated and not able to read Latin.56 The conflict here echoes the discussion earlier in this chapter of the conflict among consistory members since Wiliock’s situation in Serooskerke evidences how complicated and tense relationships could be among leaders in Reformed communities, in this case between the schoolmaster and the pastor. The conflict with Wiliock eventually reached the classis, which discussed the situation extensively.57 Initially, the classis decided that Wiliock would remain as the schoolmaster, although he was forced to confess his fault and promise to do better in the future. Then, on February 4, 1619, the classis decided to send visitors to assess the tensions between the schoolmaster and the church.58 As Uil describes, due to Wiliock’s obstinate attitude, the decision in Serooskerke was to release him despite efforts by the classis to mediate a resolution.59 Wiliock was suspended for six months, during which time the classis worked to find him another place to teach.60 It did not take Serooskerke long to replace Wiliock. Already in October 1619, there was a new schoolmaster: Abraham van Hulle.61 52 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 400. 53 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 401. 54 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 191, 193. 55 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 108–09. 56 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 303. 57 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 310–11. 58 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 314. 59 Uil, De scholen syn planthoven, 108–09. 60 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 325. 61 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 327.

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As already noted above, many confessional disputes included complaints about Catholic schoolmasters who had continued teaching. Catholic schoolmasters could find a haven in the anonymity provided by more densely populated cities, but rural areas also provided Catholic schoolmasters with fewer peering eyes of authorities. For example, during March and April 1649 at Wemeldinge. Adriaen Adriaens and Pieter Welleken had a dispute with “Mr. Jan” over whether or not the children at school should fast, presumably because of the Catholic season of Lent.62 In Rhenoy, a small town at the far west of Gelderland province, the schoolmaster was the source of frequent complaints. He was eventually named in the classis records as Joannes de Raett. During 1615, Classis Bommel noted that the schoolmaster in Rhenoy had been approved as a voorlezer, but that he had subsequently been performing “papal ceremonies at the burial of the dead,” presumably reading prayers for the dead. The schoolmaster was brought to the classis where he promised to abstain from these prayers and conduct himself “in everything” according to the Reformed church.63 The schoolmaster’s conduct then resurfaced approximately four months later. The complaints are not described in detail, although the record notes that the schoolmaster had previously promised to “conduct himself in accordance with our churches” and was now the subject of “new complaints.” The schoolmaster promised again to alter his behavior; if he were to misbehave another time, the classis noted, he would be removed from his post.64 The following year, in April of 1616, it was de Raett who lodged a complaint with the classis. His complaint centered around his “austere treatment” and, more specifically, about being paid his salary. The classis sent two men, Ernestum Mersman and Zegerum Wilhelm, to address the official in charge of paying de Raett’s salary.65 To my knowledge, the issue is not mentioned again in the records; de Raett’s pay must have been satisfactorily resolved. During the spring of 1617, Rhenoy received a new schoolmaster. Identifieed only as “Mr. Jan,” he had been a teacher in Buurmalsen but had been dismissed. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any extant record that describes the dismissal. However, the classis decided to aid him in securing a new position and promised to help guide his appointment at Rhenoy as 62 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960,” in Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063, March 28, 1649, 56; April 1, 1649, 57; April 3, 1649, 58. 63 C. Ravensbergen, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 9: Provinciale Synode Gelderland (The Hague: Huygens ING, 2011), 386. 64 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 389. 65 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 394.

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long as he promised to conduct himself in a Christian manner.66 The new appointment was not without its troubles. Roughly four months after he began teaching, in September of 1617, classis visitors were dispatched to Rhenoy to investigate his conduct because he was allegedly conducting some “papish superstitions.”67 Unfortunately, the results of the investigation are not included in the records. The following year, Classis Bommel received a complaint from the pastor in Rhenoy about “a schoolmaster” who still adhered to “papal superstitions and enticed and even transported his schoolchildren to the neighboring villages.”68 The classis entry also includes a complaint about a voorlezer, Hendrick Huymensen, who was likewise following papal superstitions, namely reading prayers for the dead. The classis resolved to send deputies to visit and resolve the issues. Huymensen was suspended, and his suspension was extended in a classis meeting held in August of 1619.69 Poignantly, in the following classis meeting, also in August of 1619, Huymensen petitioned the classis to lift his suspension in view of his old age. The classis agreed to his request, although it noted that Huymansen needed to sign the acts of the national synod of Dordrecht and follow everything in the church order. Huymansen was also required to stop his frequent travel to neighboring towns that were “papist places” in order to prevent further scandal.70 Again, in 1620, complaints about the schoolmaster, presumably still “Mr. Jan,” would surfaced. Pastor Spranckhuijsen complained that a schoolmaster who kept his residence in Rhenoy raised children in their classis “up in the popery.” Classis Gorinchem referred the issue to Classis Bommel, which was Rhenoy’s proper classis.71 In July 1620, Classis Bommel received a letter from Classis Gorinchem about the schoolmaster in Rhenoy teaching “papist books.” Classis Bommel decided to assign two ministers, Joannes Bloem of Bommen and Ernestus Mersmannus of Deil, to gain information about the matter and provide Classis Gorinchem with an “answer.”72 Unfortunately, the classis records contain no further entries about the schoolmaster in Rhenoy. Nonetheless, the situation at Rhenoy is intriguing for multiple reasons and demonstrates how problematic situations with schoolmasters could be. Much of the conflict in Rhenoy centered around lingering Catholic 66 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 404. 67 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 406. 68 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 433. 69 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 443. 70 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 445. 71 Verschoor, Classicale Acta Gorinchem, 507. 72 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 457.

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practices, although the confessional issues can be left aside here since they are discussed more thoroughly in chapter 3. Beyond the confessional struggles, neither Classis Bommel nor Classis Gorinchem were able to resolve complaints about a noncompliant schoolmaster. That is, the issue with Joannes de Raett is not solved after the first complaint and, to the dismay of the classis, resurfaces a short time later. “Mr. Jan” was also a repeat offender. Complaints occur about him on four occasions, in addition to the problems encountered by “Mr. Jan” previously at Buurmalsen. Since the repeated complaints about these schoolmasters indicates that the problems were not immediately solved, questions about the efficacy of the consistories’ and classes’ efforts arise. One might also note, however, that the classes may have been remiss in not expecting these perceived misdeeds. After all, the dismissal of “Mr. Jan” from Buurmalsen could have served as a warning that his conduct might cause further complaints. Even when the issue of “papish superstitions” arose only four months after he was appointed, the classis decided not to dismiss him and instead to work towards reforming his behavior. The second complaint also does not lead to dismissal, and the records do not provide information about what occurred after the third complaint. Regardless, the classis was evidently in no hurry to dismiss “Mr. Jan” from his post. That is, while the classis was not willing to overlook his lingering Catholicism, it also didnot want to dismiss him immediately.

Conflicts and Pastoral Vacancies The final set of conflicts to be explored in this chapter concerns churches trying to secure pastors for their congregations. Conflicts surrounding pastoral vacancies, like the other types of conflicts considered in this chapter, could be varied. In some instances, the conflicts were between a pastor seeking to secure a new post and either his current or future congregation. Other conflicts were between churches who were upset about the tactics used in attempting to, depending on one’s perspective, secure or steal a pastor from another congregation. These disputes, too, were arbitrated at the level of the classis. Sometimes, the classis was part of the conflict because it prevented a church from securing the pastor desired by the church. These conflicts are valuable because they shed further light on the challenges faced by small, rural churches. Furthermore, the case studies here illustrate how rural churches handled frustrations with pastors, other churches, and the classis and found ways to resolve conflicts according to their preferences.

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Despite their importance, pastors for Dutch Reformed congregations were in short supply during the sixteenth century. Richard Fitzsimmons has given a general overview, noting, “That the newly arisen [Reformed] churches were desperate for ministers is shown by the avalanche of letters to the exile churches in England pleading for the communities there to send whatever ministers they had, even to the detriment of their communities.”73 This shortage of pastors was not unique to Reformed churches in the Low Countries. Karin Maag summarizes the situation succinctly: “In the early years of the Reformation, as churches sprang up across Europe, all Protestant groups, whether Luther, Calvinist, Zwinglian, or even Anabaptist, faced a key problem, namely, locating sufficient numbers of leaders for these new congregations.”74 This was particularly true in rural areas. Fitzsimmons has observed that “the best and most respected ministers were quickly taken by the churches of the larger towns,” although it is not particularly clear how terms like “best” and “most respected” were determined.75 Fitzsimmons also convincingly argues that, while most larger towns had succeeded in finding a pastor by 1576, “in the rural parishes, the process took much longer, and it was on the classis that the main burden fell.”76 In a more specific example, the research that Wouters and Abels have conducted on Delft and the surrounding areas has allowed them to conclude that, “On the face of it there were some differences between the ministers in the urban congregation and those in the village churches of the classis.”77 Most notably, pastors in urban congregations were typically experienced and well-educated. In Delft, for instance, the academically trained Arent Cornelisz had arrived already by 1573. After 1603, the Delft congregation had no uneducated preachers.78 On the other hand, pastors in village churches were less experienced, and most had not been to university. In Classis Delft, only four villages prior to 1600 received an educated pastor, and the pastor in three of those villages left after a short period of time.79 73 Richard Fitzsimmons, “Building a Reformed Ministry in Holland, 1572–1585,” in The Reformation of the Parishes: The Ministry and the Reformation in Town and Country, ed. Andrew Pettegree (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), 177. 74 Karin Maag, “Called to Be a Pastor: Issues of Vocation in the Early Modern Period,” Sixteenth Century Journal 35, no. 1 (2004): 69. 75 Fitzsimmons, “Building a Reformed Ministry in Holland,”180. 76 Fitzsimmons, “Building a Reformed Ministry in Holland,” 186–87. 77 A. Ph. F. Wouters and P. H. A. M. Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delftland, 1572–1621 (Delft: Eburon, 1994), vol. 1, 543. 78 Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 456. 79 Wouters and Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien, vol. 1, 456–57, in particular, table 4.9.

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The task of finding pastors to serve in colonial contexts was also challenging and increased the competition that rural churches faced in securing their own pastors. Troosten De Bruijn has estimated that the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) sent out around 900 pastors in total.80 Those pastors received a salary that was second only to the VOC captains and that was substantially more than the ziekentroosters. Pastors were also given space in the ships’ cabins and had their own desks and bookshelves.81 Noorlander has also traced how the Westindische Compagnie (WIC) needed pastors after 1612 but struggled to fill those positions.82 The recruitment of ministers for colonial parishes meant that there were more open positions for pastors, and that rural churches found themselves competing not just with larger urban churches but also with the recruitment efforts of the VOC and WIC. Maag lays out four main strategies that churches could use for securing pastors. One of those strategies included dealing “with the problem of lack of training [for pastors] by creating centres of higher study, in which young men could be formally educated for parish ministry.”83 The Dutch Reformed tradition would eventually settle on this method of finding pastors and filling pulpits. However, such an approach was not the only solution, especially prior to 1620. Early on in the Low Countries, as Phyllis Mack Crew has so carefully researched, preachers came from a variety of contexts; these men ranged from clergy of the Catholic Church to lay Christians with varying occupations and degrees of education.84 Fred van Lieburg has drawn similar conclusions. However, the appointment of former Catholic priests was not common. Van Lieburg has calculated that of the 2,667 preachers admitted to the ministry between 1572 and 1620, 230 former Catholic priests were welcomed into the Reformed church. In contrast, according to van Lieburg, roughly half of pastors came from the “pool of capable laymen” prior to 1620. While educating these men for ministry was the goal, “the hope for 80 C. A. L. van Troostenburg de Bruijn, De Hervormde Kerk in Nederlandsch Oost–Indië onder de Oost–Indische Compagnie (1602–1795) (Arnhem: H. A. Tjeenk Willink, 1884), 216. 81 C. van den Broeke and J.C.A. Schokkenbroek, “Quo Patet Orbis Dei: Dutch Deputies for Maritime Affairs and Their Global Network in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries,” International Journal of Maritime History 31, no. 1 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1177/0843871418824964. 82 D. L. Noorlander, Heaven’s Wrath: The Protestant Reformation and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019), 22, 29–35. 83 Maag, “Called to Be a Pastor,” 70. 84 Phyllis Mack Crew, Calvinist Preaching and Iconoclasm in the Netherlands, 1544–1569 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978). See especially Appendices A, B, and C for lists of ministers and lay preachers active before and during “the troubles.”

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a sufficient supply of candidates with an academic education could only gradually be realised.”85 Vacant churches were in an obvious bind. Most immediately, these congregations needed someone to preach for them on Sundays. Without a pastor, churches had several options for making sure that the basic task of Sunday preaching was accomplished. Frequently, the classis stepped in to establish a rotation by which the non-vacant churches of the classis would supply their pastor to preach at the vacant church. The burden on congregations who supplied preachers for vacant congregations was not always weighty. In 1606, for example, the church in Oostburg was vacant and requested preachers from Classis Walcheren to lead their church services. The classis then assigned preachers from various congregations to Oostburg. Remarkably, the list of preachers was twenty-eight names long. Thus, each congregation had to lend their preacher to Oostburg only once every twenty-eight weeks or, to put it another way, only twice a year. In addition, the classis entry notes that the church in Oostburg must be prepared to “tolerate the costs that must be incurred.” The records do not expand on what those costs might have been, but one can safely assume that they included at least travel expenses and perhaps some sort of stipend, all of which the Oostburg church would cover.86 Meliskerke was similarly lacking a pastor in 1612. There, the situation was somewhat more desperate and unexpected; the pastor, Johannes Schiyvius (Jan Schijve), was in declining health and had given up preaching due to his weakness and inability to speak well. The four nearest churches were assigned to supply preachers.87 Schiyvius’s health deteriorated rapidly, and he died unexpectedly only a month later, in March 1612, at the young age of twenty-five or twenty-six.88 While the classis encouraged the consistory to secure a new pastor, obviously the congregation needed preachers to preach on Sundays in the meantime. Again, the classis composed a list of pastors who would rotate preaching for the congregation. In this instance, the list was twenty-three names long. The situation was slightly different in 1611 when three rural churches in Classis Walcheren—Westersouburch, Sinte Laureis, and De Polder—were 85 Fred van Lieburg, “Preachers between Inspiration and Instruction: Dutch Reformed Ministers without Academic Education (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries),” Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis 82, no 1 (2003): 171. 86 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 77. 87 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 193. 88 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 195–96.

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all vacant.89 The classis again developed a long list of pastors to preach for each congregation; twenty-four preachers were included. However, since three churches needed to be covered, each church received a rotation of eight different preachers. Compared with the arrangements made for Oostburg and Meliskerke, the burden for the churches supplying pastors was thus more onerous. The rotation of preachers would last each church only eight weeks before the rotation would need to begin again or other arrangements would need to be made. Rotating pastors was not the only method of resolving the preaching needs of vacant churches. Another method was to simply task a nearby pastor with more work. Pastor Wierus Vorchtenius (Wieri Verchtenii) was serving the church in Maurik (frequently “Maurick” in the records) as part of Classis Nijmegen in the province of Gelderland. However, Vorchtenius was also preaching at the nearby church of Rijswijk (frequently “Rijswijck”), a church which was part of neighboring Classis Tiel. Classis Nijmegen declared his service to the Rijswijck congregation so important that “the calling of the church of Rijswijck” was granted to him. In addition, he was given an honorarium for his work with the additional congregation.90 The particulars of the agreement were worked out at a later classis meeting, and the agreement lasted seventeen months, during which time the church in Rijswijk was to pay seventy-five gilders to the church in Maurik.91 One might expect that the funds would be used to pay Vorchtenius his honorarium for the extra work, but the classis records do not state the purpose of the funds. Predictably, the arrangement between Maurik and Rijswijk did not go well. Already in September of 1604, the church in Maurik complained about the arrangement, arguing that it was against the church order, though which one is not specified, and that, essentially, Vorchtenius had shirked his responsibilities to them. In addition, Maurik complained about the salary arrangement. The classis responded by making Vorchtnenius promise to fulfill his duties, sealing the promise with a handshake from the president of the classis. Regarding Vorchtenius’s salary, the classis would write to Classis Tiel, of which Rijswijk was a part, and ask that the burden of cost be distributed more equitably between the congregations.92 Classis Nijmegen was not always so understanding towards Maurik, however. The classis confirmed the arrangement at its March 1605 meeting, even though the 89 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 184. 90 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 25. 91 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 33. 92 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 42.

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church in Maurik was still protesting about the salary arrangement.93 Classis Nijmegen continued to seek to resolve the conflict between Vorchtenius and the church in Maurik but to no avail.94 Vorchtenius later complained to Classis Tiel about how the church in Maurik treated him, including that his salary was not being paid.95 Finally, in 1608, the dual appointment proved impossible to maintain; Vorchtenius was relieved of his combined service to the two churches and served only Rijswijk.96 On other occasions, vacant churches were able to secure the services of a pastor on an interim basis. For example, in 1602, Classis Dordrecht addressed the pastoral vacancy in Streefkerk, a small town north of Dordrecht and east of Rotterdam. To fill their pulpit, four area pastors were each assigned one month of service to the congregation. The combined service of these “brothers” ensured that the congregation in Streefkerk was supplied with preaching and the sacraments for no less than four months.97 This method was also employed at IJzendijke. After the Reformed congregation was formed in 1604, the consistory records note a series of interim pastors. These men typically served two-month terms. In 1605, Jacobus Hondius preached during May and June, Abraham Vander Myle (Mylius, Van der Mijle) during July and August, Johannes Bussonsius (Bussonius, Bussontius) during September and October, and Jacobus Miggrodius (van Miggrode) during November and December. At the beginning of 1606, Jacobus Cornelius (Cornelii) served in January and February. Notably, all of these men were preaching at other churches simultaneously. Hondius was towards the beginning of his long career at Vlissingen, where he served from 1602 to 1625. Vander Myle was also at Vlissingen, where he served from 1589 to 1609, when he was appointed at Papendrecht. Bussonsius had been serving at Oost-Souburg since 1603 and would remain there until 1623. Miggrodius moved around more frequently. His work at IJzendijke came in the middle of his nearly decade-long service in Gapinge. He had previously been at Scherpenisse for a year, would later serve at Arnemuiden, and would end his career at Middelburg. Finally, Cornelius was serving in Middelburg, where he carried out his work from 1594 to 1633.98 93 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 46. 94 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 50. 95 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 238. 96 Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Gelderland, 946. 97 J. Roelevink, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 2: Particuliere Synode Zuid-Holland (‘sGravenhage: Instituut voor Nederlandse Gedschiedenis, 1991), 31. 98 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 47, Bijlage 2, 452–62.

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Because these pastors were already serving at churches means, their service at IJzendijke rendered them unable to preach at their own churches. Offering one’s pastor for two months could be challenging for smaller communities. In this instance, Oost-Souburg and Gapinge were such small congregations. The pastors serving temporarily in Streefkerk also came from smaller communities such as Alblasserdam and Brandwijk en Molenaarsgraaf. Larger communities could more easily absorb the temporary loss of a clergy member. However, during the vacancy in Streefkerk, none of the four interim pastors came from a large community, such as Dordrecht. In the IJzendijke vacancy, on the other hand, Hondius and Vander Myle were both serving in Middelburg; consequently, one could potentially absorb at least some of the other’s duties during his absence.

Church Order Accommodations Quite early on in the Low Countries, the process of a particular church appointing a pastor was delegated to the classis. The earliest exception to this practice was articulated at the Synod of Emden in 1571 where, as Ingrid Dobbe has noted, the sixteenth article states that the church seeking a pastor would examine the called pastor in doctrine and life.99 However, even at the Synod of Emden, Article 13 assigns the appointing of the pastor to the consistory with the “good judgment of the Classis” or “three ministers from neighboring churches.”100 Later synods would largely reiterate this process, though with additional restrictions on those who had not studied theology at a university. For example, the national Synod of Dordrecht in 1578 repeats the stipulation that consistories appoint pastors but then have those pastors go before the classis, or at least two or three pastors from the classis, for their examination.101 The national synods of Middelburg in 1581, Den Haag in 1586, and Dordrecht in 1618–19 all have similar articles.102 99 Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 69; Ingrid Dobbe, “Requirements for Dutch Reformed Ministers, 1570–1620,” Netherlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History 83, no. 1 (2003): 192. 100 Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 68–69. 101 Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 145–46. 102 For the Synod of Middelburg, see Article 4, found in Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 217; for the Synod of Den Haag, see Article 4, found in Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 286–87; for the Synod of Dordrecht, see Article 4, found in Hooijer, Oude kerkordeningen, 449–50.

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The candidates for ministry had to provide a testimony about their doctrine and life, have their preaching tested, and complete an examination on doctrine. Dobbe has described these steps in depth, noting that the process changed slightly over time to include an initial appearance in front of the classis before the examination, as churches emphasized admitting “only those candidates who would prove to be good pastors.”103 The appointing of pastors did not always proceed smoothly. In March 1606, IJzendijke began the process of appointing a new pastor, Johannes Veldius.104 While the appointment of Veldius was “in process,” the pastors of Middelburg were tasked with caring for the church.105 Veldius, along with Abrahamus Appart, had already been examined by the classis, and they had been found to “understand the basics of the Christian religion” and had provided “praiseworthy attestations concerning their walk [of life].”106 However, the appointing process of Veldius ultimately failed when, after some dispute, Veldius declined the post.107 IJzendijke was then in a difficult spot since they had not arranged for another interim pastor. Instead, according to the classis records, the church would be served by the nearby town of Arnemuiden for the next eight weeks, beginning on May 17, 1606.108 In June 1606, the IJzendijke consistory would begin the process of appointing Daniel van Laren to serve as pastor of their congregation. On June 5, 1606, the consistory petitioned their classis to be allowed to appoint van Laren as their pastor. Throughout June and July, preparations were made for van Laren’s arrival in IJzendijke, as the classis had officially approved IJzendijke’s request. Van Laren’s service in IJzendijke continued until 1609, when a conflict erupted. Vlissingen, a larger, neighboring community, gave van Laren an offer to serve as their pastor. They had recently been through a frustrating experience with their pastor. Reverend Abraham van der Mylen had been at Vlissingen for around twenty years, since 1589 but had received a new post.109 Vlissingen complained to the classis that the period of time from the approval of van der Mylens’s new appointment to the date when he ended his work in Vlissingen had been too short, leaving them scrambling. Given this haste, they argued, the matter

103 Dobbe, “Requirements for Dutch Reformed Ministers,” 203. 104 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 68. 105 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 69. 106 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 59. 107 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 72. 108 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 74. 109 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 459.

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should be subject to deliberation again.110 When it became clear that they needed a new pastor, Vlissingen offered their post to van Laren. IJzendijke objected to Vlissingen’s offer. In their view, larger Vlissingen congregation was poaching their pastor and should have looked outside the classis for a new pastor. The classis then discussed the situation at length. At its January 19, 1609, meeting, the president and scribe of Classis Walcheren advised the IJzendijke consistory and governor not to release their minister to Vlissingen without the knowledge and approval of classis.111 Nonetheless, Vlissingen appointed van Laren, and he began his service there. IJzendijke continued to object, noting that their congregation had never agreed to release van Laren as church order required. They appealed to the classis, and the classis eventually apologized, replying that they did not realize that IJzendijke had not released van Laren.112 Vlissingen reacted coldly and argued that IJzendijke’s appeal was without basis.113 They also stated that they had “no intention of ordering Daniel back to IJzendijke” and claimed to have the backing of the magistrates. Vlissingen was ultimately the victor in the dispute, and Daniel van Laren was allowed to remain as the pastor there. After IJzendijke lost their minister to the larger, more powerful congregation in Vlissingen, their difficulties continued. For roughly the next year, IJzendijke would seek to appoint another pastor, Joos van Laren. the consistory first inquired with their classis about appointing another preacher in March 1609 when Classis Goes, where Joos van Laren was serving, refused to release him from Vlissingen.114 IJzendijke’s frustration is palpable in the classis records. On June 2, 1609, IJzendijke argued that they should not even need to pursue Joos van Laren since Daniel van Laren was still rightfully their pastor.115 The consistory repeated those sentiments to the classis on June 11 and again on June 25.116 Eventually, IJzendijke realized the futility of their appeals and moved on to securing Joos van Laren as their new pastor. On July 6, 1609, the consistory sent another request, noting that they were “asking again for a new preacher.”117 Not even two weeks later, the IJzendijke magistrates joined 110 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 129. 111 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 129 112 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland,140. 113 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 141 114 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 137 115 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 144. 116 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 145–46. 117 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3: Relatieven tot de acta 1588–1619, Item 67, 466.

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with the consistory in repeating the request.118 When those requests were not given a satisfactory response, IJzendijke repeated its request to appoint Joos van Laren on August 12, 1609.119 Nearly a month later, IJzendijke raised the topic again, this time “insisting on the acceptance of calling Joos.”120 In November 1609, civic deputies from IJzendijke again lent their support, and they were the ones to “insist” on the appointment of Joos van Laren.121 The civic deputies promoted the cause again a month later, on December 6.122 Finally, on December 19, 1609, IJzendijke played their last card, asserting that they were “seeking to call Joos van Laren in place of his brother [emphasis mine].”123 Joos van Laren’s brother was, of course, none other than Daniel van Laren, the pastor whom IJzendijke believed was stolen from them less than a year prior. The not-so-subtle message is clearly that if the classis could callously allow Daniel van Laren to be drawn away from IJzendijke by a neighboring church, then the classis could, at the very least, allow IJzendijke to call Joos van Laren as his replacement. Finally, in 1610, Joos van Laren began his service of the IJzendijke congregation.124 In other situations, rural congregations were wholly dissatisfied with their pastor and sought ways to rid themselves of him. Here, rural churches faced a unique quandary: they could simply endure having a pastor whom they did not like with the assurance they would at least have access to pastoral services, such as baptism, or they could try to remove their pastor and risk being vacant for an extended period of time. As has just been illustrated above, large, urban churches had an easier time finding pastors than did rural churches. Thus, getting rid of a pastor in a large church was a much less risky endeavor. Rural congregations did, on occasion, work to rid themselves of their pastor. For example, Gijsbertus Brakel came to serve as pastor in Herwijnen in 1674, but the congregation in Herwijnen did not like Brakel’s sermons, judging him “wholly incompetent.”125 The congregation appealed to the classis, but the process of removing Brakel became stymied in a host of objections, including Brakel’s insistence that he receive his salary. In the meantime, the church members of Herwijnen took the remarkable step of boycotting church services. For four years, no children were baptized and 118 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 68, 466. 119 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 71, 466. 120 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 74, 466. 121 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 78, 466. 122 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 82, 467. 123 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, Bijlage 3, Item 85, 467. 124 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 158. 125 Bruijn, De hoeve en het hart, 353–56.

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no marriages were conducted. Finally, when Brakel was removed and sent to the Indies, the congregation in Herwijnen received a new pastor by the name of Johan Schutter. In this example, two major themes are notable. First, the congregation needed to get the classis in order to resolve the conflict between the church and its pastor. Given the prominent role of the pastor in the consistory, the congregation had to “go above” the consistory and appeal directly to the classis. Here, as in other cases covered in this book, the rural consistory needed to utilize the authority of the classis to navigate the challenges that they faced. Second, the church members demonstrated a remarkable agency in their lived religious experience. That is, they were not satisfied to simply appeal to the classis and await the results. Instead, they took it upon themselves to express their frustration and anger in tangible ways, even halting their participation in fundamental religious rituals in order to achieve their desired outcome.

Conclusions Since the case studies examined in this chapter are diverse and unique, attempting to draw summative conclusions risks overgeneralizing. Nonetheless, the evidence here provides some broad conclusions regarding how religious identity was lived in small, early modern Reformed communities across the Low Countries. At the very least, this chapter makes clear that Dutch Reformed communities could disagree radically about how to navigate their religious lives. As described above, these disagreements included individual congregations arguing over how and when to secure schoolmasters and pastors. Furthermore, conflicts not only involved ecclesiastical institutions but also individuals within these institutions; the most striking example was the conflict in the Serooskerke consistory between the pastor and sheriff. Thus, just as broad statements about early modern Dutch Reformed theology steamroll over the diversity within the tradition, so too speaking of a singular piety or religious life in early modern Dutch Reformed churches ignores disagreements and conflicts. At the communal level, churches could certainly cooperate to assist other churches that were in difficult situations. The regional classes had various strategies—again, the variety is notable—for assisting small churches with pastoral vacancies. Church records include only occasional objections from other churches to the assistance required of them, indicating a general willingness of churches to assist one another. On the other hand, the relationships between individual churches or between a church and its

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classis could also be riddled with conflict. The various aspects of identity in these conflicts only added to the complexity. In conflicts between a church and a classis, the structures, processes, and theological beliefs of Dutch Reformed church polity dictated what actions could and should be taken to work towards resolution. Conflicts among congregations often included substantial differences in the size of the congregation, such as the examples in this chapter of smaller churches lamenting what they perceived to be an abuse of power by larger, and thus more powerful, churches. The size of churches was often closely related to geographical positioning; conflicts often arose between smaller, rural churches and larger, urban churches. Clearly, conflicts within the Dutch Reformed Church as a whole were unavoidablly part and parcel of early modern religious life in the Low Countries. Combined with the interconfessional conflicts addressed in the previous chapter, the amount of conflict that Dutch Reformed Christians and institutions faced both inter-confessionally and intra-confessionally was remarkable and could rightly be considered a defining part of their religious identities. This conflict and cooperation at the institutional and communal levels relates closely to another complicated conclusion regarding religious identity within Dutch Reformed churches. Scholars have long noted the importance of the classis in the Dutch ecclesiastical system, and this chapter reaffirms that the classis did frequently play a significant role in intra-confessional conflicts. The classis, for example, arbitrated the disputes in Serooskerke that involved Moerman, the pastor, and Sijmonsen, the sheriff, when the local consistory could not resolve the matter. Similarly, the classes were crucial in setting up the system by which rural churches could have preachers fill their pulpits while enduring pastoral vacancies. However, this chapter has also complicated the position of the classis since instances also arose in which the classis was protested against, was derided, or was even slightly ignored. The latter was the case when Oostburg employed a schoolmaster without the approval of the classis. Similarly, IJzendijke did not hesitate to protest the classis’s refusal to act when their pastor was appointed by another congregation. In sum, the classis was undoubtedly an important part of Reformed religious life in the Low Countries, but individual churches, including small ones, had their own agency and did not always align themselves perfectly with their classis. At the individual level, these conflicts demonstrate the complexity of relationships in small communities, especially when people occupied multiple societal roles. The tensions between Sijmonsen, the elder and sheriff, and Moerman, the pastor, in Serooskerke illustrate the complexity of

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navigating these relationships. While virtually all communal contexts across the Low Countries necessitated interacting with others with whom one might disagree, smaller communities especially required living in intimate settings where roles within the community overlapped and interactions were frequent. Sijmonsen found himself as sheriff and elder and so in the awkward position of trying to carry out his duty as a sheriff in a religiously diverse town while also serving faithfully as an elder in a Reformed congregation. In addition, Sijmonsen’s interactions with Reverend Moerman included occasions where Sijmonsen was serving on the consistory with, or even “under,” Moerman but also occasions where Sijmonsen was the sheriff working with the local pastor. These interpersonal conflicts, of course, could include pastors, schoolmasters, and others. This chapter makes it clear that Reformed individuals were not immune from interpersonal conflicts, even when religious confession was a uniting element. As a result, Reformed Christians needed to develop strategies by which they could negotiate, and sometimes resolve, these conflicts in order to be able to carry on their religious lives. In addition to the complexity of individuals’ roles and relationships, this chapter demonstrates, as did chapter 2, that the divisions between religious authorities, or elites, and lay Christians are largely artificial. In the first place, speaking of religious authorities as a singular group ignores the fact that they were hardly a monolithic body operating with the same values and perspectives. The example of Sijmonsen and Moerman in Serooskerke as well as the conflicts about pastors demonstrate this point clearly. Similarly, disagreements among consistory members about how well schoolmasters were functioning and what steps should be taken to correct them reveals how unanimity among church authorities was far from a given. The elders, deacons, and pastors could and did have significant disagreements at the levels of the consistory and the classis as to how best to negotiate Reformed religion in their communities. Other scholars have demonstrated similar tensions among consistory members. Kaplan’s classic work on Utrecht portrays the intense debates between “Calvinists” and “Libertines” within the Reformed consistory. At Utrecht, the “Libertines” could appeal to magistrates and were even able to control, with the support of the magistrates, the Reformed congregation. Each of these cases demonstrates that the consistory—or, by extension, the classis or synod—was not a monolithic body that had only one perspective but was, instead, a body of men who could and did disagree with one another in ways that could lead to open conflict. The anecdotes above also provide multiple examples of men who straddled the proverbial line of what might be considered lay versus what might be

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considered official. For example, was Pieter de Leeuw an “official” representative of the Reformed tradition when he was serving as schoolmaster but without the approval of the classis, or, at that point, was he functioning as a lay Christian? To put the point more bluntly, did the approval from the classis actually change anything in terms of lived religious life in Oostburg? As was discussed in the previous chapter, similar questions might be asked of Sijmonsen and others who served on and off as elders or deacons. Was Sijmonsen acting as an official representative of the Reformed church when he and Moerman went before the classis prior to his term as an elder or was he acting as solely a sheriff? In what ways did his position before the classis change when he later went before the classis as both sheriff and elder? From a slightly different, perspective, when consistory or classis members found themselves in conflict with each other personally or with the institution on which they served, whose voice was actually functioning as the “official” one? In such a situation is the elder or pastor taking a position contrary to religious body no longer representative of the “official” religion, even though he himself is one of those authorities? Has he somehow ceased to be a religious “elite”? The boundaries between lay and official religion were far more porous in Dutch Reformed communities than might initially be imagined. Finally, this chapter continues the examination of how Reformed Christians in rural communities understood and practiced their religious identity. In these smaller communities what options were available for resolving these intra-confessional conflicts? Magistrates were often less powerful if, such as in truly rural places, they existed formally at all. Consequently, appealing to secular authorities to resolve conflicts could be practically difficult, involving significant travel time and expense. Perhaps, then, appeals to religious bodies offered a more accessible means of remedy. In addition, those involved in religious conflicts in these small communities may have been less able to avoid those with whom they were in conflict since they were less able to remove themselves from their opponents; they could not simply move to another congregation or another city. These hypotheses are offered tentatively. However, the possibility that religious disagreements needed to be resolved with unique strategies in small, rural communities points to the further research that is needed on how religious authorities in these communities were able, or perhaps forced, to negotiate conflicts with their confessional brethren in ways that differed from approaches in more urban settings. Regarding religious identity, this chapter again reminds us that Reformed Christians in rural communities understood themselves as having control

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over their religious lives, and they were not hesitant to enact that control. Whether it was protesting the decision of a classis perceived to be unjust or seeking a schoolmaster without the approval of the classis or pushing back against a pastor, Reformed Christians, both individually and communally, did not simply cede control of their religious lives to ecclesiastical authorities or urban elites. Instead, these Christians sought ways, sometimes unsuccessfully, to secure what they considered to be their best interests in shaping their own religious lives and identities. The next, and final, chapter will build on these conclusions by considering the means by which religious life and identity were shaped on one specific occasion, Sabbath observance.

Chapter Bibliography Primary Sources: Manuscripts Zeeuws Archief. “Archieven van kerkeraad en colleigum qualificatum, 1604–1973.” In Hervormde Gemeente te IJzendijke, 1604–1994, Collection 234. Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960.” In Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063. Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1613–1628, 1633–1640, 1708–1990.” In Hervormede Gemeente te Serooskerke (Walcheren), 1613–1990, Collection 2702.

Primary Sources: Published Bouterse, J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 3: Particuliere Synode Zuid-Holland. ‘s-Gravenhage: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1991. Bouterse, J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995. Gelderen, J. van, and C. Ravensbergen, eds. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 6: Provinciale Synode Overijssel. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2000. Hooijer, C. Oude kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), Oude Kerkordeningen der Nederlandsche hervormde gemeenten (1563–1638), en het concept-reglement op de organisatie van het Hervormd kerkgenootschap in het koninkrijk Holland (1809). Zalt-Bommel: Joh. Noman en Zoon, 1865. Kok, M., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 5: Provinciale Synode Zuid-Holland. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis 1996.

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Ravensbergen, C., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 9: Provinciale Synode Gelderland. The Hague: Huygens ING, 2011. Reitsma, J., and S. D. van Veen, eds. Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620. 8 vols. Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1892–99. Roelevink, J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 2: Particuliere Synode Zuid-Holland. ‘s-Gravenhage: Instituut voor Nederlandse Gedschiedenis, 1991. Verschoor, A. J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 8: Classis Gorinchem. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2008.

Secondary Sources Ballor, Jordan J., David S. Sytsma, and Jason Zuidema, eds. Church and School in Early Modern Protestantism: Studies in Honor of Richard A. Muller on the Maturation of a Theological Tradition. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Beeke, Joel R., and Martin I. Klauber, eds. The Synod of Dort: Historical, Theological, and Experiential Perspectives. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2020. Benedict, Philip. “Of Church Orders and Postmodernism: The Convent of Wesel, the Construction of the Dutch Reformed Church Order and the History and Nature of History.” Low Countries Historical Review 136, no. 1 (2021): 59–77. Boekholt, P. Th. F. M., and E. P. de Booy. Geschiedenis van de school in Nederland vanaf de middeleeuwen tot aan de huidige tijd. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1987. Booy, E. P. de. De weldaet der scholen. Het plattelandsonderwijs in de provincie Utrecht van 1580 tot begin der 19de eeuw. Utrecht: Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1977. Bottema, J. Naar school in de Ommelanden. Scholen, schoolmeesters en hun onderwijs in de Groninger Ommelanden ca. 1500–1795. Bedum: Egbert Forsten & Profiel, 1999. Broeke, C. van den, and J.C.A. Schokkenbroek. “Quo Patet Orbis Dei: Dutch Deputies for Maritime Affairs and Their Global Network in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” International Journal of Maritime History 31, no. 1 (2019): 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0843871418824964. Crew, Phyllis Mack. Calvinist Preaching and Iconoclasm in the Netherlands, 1544–1569. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978. Dieleman, Kyle J. The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration?. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Dobbe, Ingrid. “Requirements for Dutch Reformed Ministers, 1570–1620.” Netherlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History 83, no. 1 (2003): 191–203. Dreyer, Willem A. “Die Sinode van Emden. Bakermat van die Nederduitse Kerke in Suid-Afrika.” In die Skriflig 54, no. 1 (2020): 1–8.

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Drost, H. Overzicht van voorzangers, voorlezers, schoolmeesters, kosters, klokluiders, ziekenbezoekers e. d., 1575–1806, vermeld in de stukken van de rentmeesters van de geestelijke goederen in Zeeland. Middelberg: Rijksarchief in Zeeland, 1991. Duke, Alastair, Gillian Lewis, and Andrew Pettegree, trans. and eds. Calvinism in Europe, 1540–1610: A Collection of Documents. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992. Fitzsimmons, Richard. “Building a Reformed Ministry in Holland, 1572–1585.” In The Reformation of the Parishes: The Ministry and the Reformation in Town and Country, edited by Andrew Pettegree, 175–94. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994. Goudriaan, Aza, and Fred van Lieburg, eds. Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619). Leiden: Brill, 2011 Groenendijk, Leendert F. “The Reformed Church and Education during the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic.” Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History 85, no. 1 (2005): 53–70. Kaplan, Benjamin J. Calvinists and Libertines: Confession and Community in Utrecht, 1578–1620. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Knetsch, Frederik Reinier Jacob. “Church Ordinances and Regulations of the Dutch Synods “Under the Cross’ (1563–1566) Compared with the French (1559–1563).” Studies in Church History Subsidia 8 (1991): 187–205. Kooi, Christine. “Paying Off the Sheriff: Strategies of Catholic Toleration in Golden Age Holland.” In Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, edited by R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop, 87–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Koolen, G. M. J. M. Een seer bequaem middel. Onderwijs en kerk onder de zeventiendeeeuwse VOC. Kampen: Kok, 1993. Leeuwen, Th. Marius van, Keith D. Stanglin, and Marijke Tolsma, eds. Arminius, Arminianism, and Europe: Jacobus Arminius (1559/60–1609). Leiden: Brill, 2009. Lieburg, Fred van. “Preachers between Inspiration and Instruction: Dutch Reformed Ministers without Academic Education (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries).” Netherlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History 83, no. 1 (January 2003): 166–90. Maag, Karin. “Called To Be a Pastor: Issues of Vocation in the Early Modern Period.” Sixteenth Century Journal 35, no. 1 (2004): 65–78. Nierop, Henk van. “Sewing the Bailiff in a Blanket: Catholics and the Law in Holland.” In Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age, edited by R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop, 102–11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Noorlander, Danny L. Heaven’s Wrath: The Protestant Reformation and the Dutch West India Company in the Atlantic World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.

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Pettegree, Andrew. Emden and the Dutch Revolt: Exile and the Development of Reformed Protestantism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. Put, Eddy. De Cleijne Schoolen. Het volksonderwijs in het hertogdom Brabant tussen Katholieke Reformatie en Verlichting (eind 16de eeuw–1795). Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1990. Roussel, Bernard. “La discipline des églises réformées de France en 1559. Un royaume sans clergé?.” In De l’humanisme aux Lumières, Bayle et le Protestantisme. Mélanges en l’honneur d’Elisabeth Labrousse, edited by Michelle Magdelaine, Maria Cristina Pitassi, and Ruth Whelan, 169–91. Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1996. Scheepstra, H., and W. Walstra. Beknopte geschiedenis van de opvoeding en het onderwijs, vooral in Nederland. Groningen: Wolters, 1908. Sierhuis, Freya. The Literature of the Arminian Controversy: Religions, Politics, and the Stage in the Dutch Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Spitz, Lewis W. The Reformation: Education and History. Aldershot: Variorum, 1997. Troostenburg de Bruijn, C. A. L. van. De Hervormde Kerk in Nederlandsch Oost–Indië onder de Oost–Indische Compagnie (1602–1795). Arnhem: H. A. Tjeenk Willink, 1884. Uil, H. De scholen syn planthoven van de gemeente. Het onderwijs in Zeeland en Staats-Vlaanderen, 1578–1801. Bergschenhoek: Marberg Media, 2015. Wouters, A. Ph. F., and P. H. A. M. Abels. Nieuw en ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delftland, 1572–1621. 2 vols. Delft: Eburon, 1994. Wouters, D. and W. J. Visser. Geschiedenis van de opvoeding en het onderwijs, vooral in Nederland. Groningen: W. Versluys, 1926.

5

Establishing Belief and Practice: Rural Approaches to Sabbath Observance Abstract The Sabbath played an important role in early modern Dutch Reformed churches in terms of both theology and piety. Theological understandings of the Sabbath were not uniform in the Dutch Reformed tradition, as demonstrated here by the differing emphases of Jeremias Bastingius and Cornelis Corsten. Similarly, expectations around practices of Sabbath observance were also far from uniform. Sabbath desecration in rural communities was a frequent complaint from Dutch Reformed classes and provincial synods. However, those complaints occur less often in the consistory records of rural churches. Thus, a tentative conclusion is that rural Dutch Reformed Christians, because of the uniqueness of their rural contexts, had different, perhaps more lax, understandings of proper Sabbath observance than did their urban counterparts. Keywords: Sabbath; Theology; Heidelberg Catechism; Discipline

One of the most basic identity markers for Reformed Christians in the Low Countries was attendance at Sunday worship services. 1 However, expectations for Sunday observance went beyond simply going to church. The Fourth Commandment, as explained in the Reformed tradition, might appear simple at first glance. Indeed, the tendency in modern scholarship has been to ground the origin of theological disputes about the Sabbath in the Puritan tradition, which arose in England and was later transported by migrations to the Low Countries and the Americas. However, recent 1 Philip Benedict, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A History of Social Calvinism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 491–508; Joke Spaans, “Reformed in the Low Countries,” in A Companion to the Reformation World, ed. R. Po-chia Hsia (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 128–29.

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_ch05

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studies have begun to demonstrate the complexity of understandings of the Sabbath within Dutch Reformed communities. Theological debates about the Sabbath had significant implications for expectations regarding how Sundays were to be observed. Not surprisingly, the theological expectations did not translate seamlessly into practice. A number of academic studies have tangentially noted the ways in which Sabbath complaints were registered and disciplined in church records. My previous research has also focused on the ways in which the Sabbath was disciplined at a variety of ecclesiastical levels; I have focused on how Sabbath expectations and practices aligned or failed to align with theological understandings. The current chapter builds on my previous research and expands it in two ways. First, this chapter will broaden current understandings of Dutch Reformed theological approaches to the Sabbath. Given the number and variety of theological voices within the Dutch Reformed tradition, which itself defies neat categorization, developing a more complete understanding of the theological perspectives requires additional scholarly work to add to what has previously been done. The research here makes no claim to exhaust the theological perspectives, but it adds to the existing picture in ways that are significant and enlightening. Second, this chapter pays closer attention to church records, particularly at the levels of the classis and the consistory, in order to better understand how the Sabbath was disciplined. In keeping with the theme of the entire book, the focus is on small, rural communities. Close attention to the Sabbath practices and discipline in these locales allows for comparisons with other studies, which have tended to investigate cities. These comparisons will demonstrate how expectations surrounding Sunday observance were relatively uniform among Reformed churches in the Low Countries and will also suggest how expectations may also sometimes have differed in rural communities. The benefits of such an approach for the broader goals of this book are multifaceted. In the first place, exploring how the Sabbath was disciplined will provide further insights, albeit filtered through the lenses of the consistories and classes, into how Sundays were observed in early modern Dutch Reformed communities. The attention to small communities, moreover, allows for a better understanding of Sunday practices and conflicts over those practices in rural areas. These insights allow for reflections regarding the extent to which Reformed Christians in these communities viewed Sunday observance as a crucial part of their identity. Which parts, if any, of Sunday observance did they view as indispensable? What was less important and, thus, less faithfully observed?

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Furthermore, the types of complaints that surface reveal how church members understood the Sabbath as part of their religious life and also are indicative of the expectations that consistories and classes had about Sabbath observance. In other words, further analysis of church records illuminates the ways in which religious authorities sought to use Sabbath observance as a means of identity formation among their church members. In addition, pairing these complaints and discussions of actual Sunday practices with theological explanations of the Sabbath allows for exploration of the interplay between theology and piety. Were theological understandings of the Sabbath reflected in the expectations and practices of actual Sunday observance? What theological conclusions, if any, were echoed in practice, and in what ways, if any, were theological expectations absent from Sunday observance? Finally, the sheer existence of Sabbath complaints in church records indicates at least some level of tension between church members and ecclesiastical authorities. In what ways did differences in expectations surface? How did those in power and lay church members, with the caveat that such a binary is overly simplistic, negotiate different values surrounding Sunday observance? In terms of theoretical analysis, the research in this chapter can elucidate the varying expectations of piety present in rural Dutch Reformed churches and the ways in which those variations were enforced, disciplined, and resisted within ecclesiastical power structures.

Expositions of the Sabbath: Catechetical Commentaries Recently, increased attention has been paid to the role of the Sabbath in the early modern Dutch Reformed tradition. As mentioned above, my book, The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration?, has considered theological approaches to the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformed tradition and has also explored the ways in which the Sabbath was or was not practiced and disciplined. Concurrent with my work, Casey Carmichael has analyzed the theological understanding of the Sabbath within the Puritan and Dutch Reformed traditions in his book A Continental View: Johannes Cocceius’s Federal Theology of the Sabbath. As indicated in the title, Carmichael’s work focuses on Johannes Cocceius’s theology of the Sabbath.2 However, Carmichael ambitiously seeks to explore the 2 Casey Carmichael, A Continental View: Johannes Cocceius’s Federal Theology of the Sabbath (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 95–166.

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theological understanding of the Sabbath from the early church onwards and with more in-depth attention given to the English Puritan Sabbath and the Dutch Reformed Sabbath.3 While I understand the relationship between English Puritan and Dutch Reformed attitudes towards the Sabbath somewhat differently than Carmichael, especially in terms of piety, discipline, and lived religious experience, Carmichael’s exploration of Dutch Reformed theological conceptions of the Sabbath is helpful and thorough. In his chapter entitled “The Dutch Reformed Sabbath,” Carmichael addresses the English influence of William Ames and Willem Teellinck, explicates the Synod of Dort and the Leiden Synopsis of Purer Theology, and summarizes the positions of Professors Walaeus, Gomarus, and Rivetus. 4 Given the focus in Carmichael’s work on Coccieus, there remains more work to be done on the Sabbath as understood by the likes of Ames, Teellinck, Dort, the Synopsis, Walaeus, Gomarus, and Rivetus; however, such deeper examinations are beyond the scope of this chapter and will have to remain an open line of research for other venues and other scholars. What is demonstrably true of the theological approach to the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformed tradition is that it was far from standard. Any number of methodological approaches could help to illustrate and elucidate this theological diversity. One could, for example, pay particular attention to the Synod of Dort and its discussions of and decisions about the Sabbath. Or, one could examine pastors’ sermons on the Fourth Commandment. In the first part of this chapter, I will examine instead a selection of Dutch commentaries on the Heidelberg Catechism. Ursinus’s commentary on the Catechism is c the most significant of these commentaries and has already been addressed elsewhere, including in my own work.5 Commentaries on the Catechism are numerous, as Kees de Wildt has demonstrated, but this chapter will discuss two particular pastor-theologians: Jeremiah Bastingius and Cornelis Corsten. 3 For the early church, see Carmichael, A Continental View, 28–36; for the medieval church, see Carmichael, A Continental View, 36–38; for the broader Protestant Reformation, see Carmichael, A Continental View, 38–53. Not surprisingly, Carmichael’s brief research on the various movements, especially of the early and medieval traditions, which receive nine and three pages of attention, does not fully explore the theological issues or the traditions’ treatment of those issues. 4 Carmichael, A Continental View, 73–92. 5 Lyle D. Bierma, “Remembering the Sabbath Day: Ursinus’s Exposition of Exodus 20:8–11,” in Biblical Interpretation in the Era of the Reformation: Essays Presented to David C. Steinmetz in Honor of His Sixtieth Birthday, eds. Richard A. Muller and John L. Thompson (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1996), 283–85; Kyle J. Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration? (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019), 97–103.

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Focusing on each of these two men is not arbitrary and not without justification. Bastingius’s commentary was widely published in Dutch, Latin, English, and German, leading de Wildt to conclude that “Bastingius’ commentary became the second most influential commentary [on the Catechism] in the sixteenth century.”6 At the other end of the spectrum, in terms of influence, is Corsten’s commentary, which was not widely published. However, as described below, because Corsten served a relatively unremarkable career as a small-town pastor, his insights are valuable for understanding how less prominent pastors, who were still active in shaping the lives of their congregants, understood the Sabbath. Jeremias Bastingius (Dutch: Jeremiah Bastinck; 1551–95) provided theological commentary on the Sabbath commandment in his Exposition of the Catechism of the Christian Religion.7 Having studied under Zacharias Ursinus, Caspar Olevianus, and Theodore Beza, Bastingius held a fairly standard theological understanding of the Sabbath, so far as a standard actually existed for a sixteenth century Dutch theologian. To begin his discussion of the Sabbath, Bastingius situates the Fourth Commandment within the context of the previous three commandments. He explains that the first commandment is connected with “the inward worship of God,” the second commandment with “the outward manner in serving God,” and the third commandment with “how he [God] will have his name sanctified of all men privately and publicly.”8 In the fourth commandment, God returns to the spiritual realm, outlining a stipulation that ensures the service and calling upon of God, the hearing of His law and word, and the ordaining of times and places for the church to meet for the admonishing and encouraging of works of piety and charity. 6 Kees de Wildt, “Interpreting the Heidelberg Catechism in the Sixteenth Century,” in The Spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism: Papers of the International Conference on the Heidelberg Catechism Held in Apeldoorn 2013, ed. Arnold Huijgen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), 75. 7 Bastingius’s exposition was first published in Latin in 1588: Jeremias Bastingius, In catechesin religionis Christianae, qvae in ecclesiis et scholis tum Palatinatvs tum Belgii traditur, exegemata siue commentarii, auctore Hieremia Bastingio Dei verbi administro (Dordrecht: Johannes Caninius, 1588), 344–54. The work was translated and published into English in 1591: Jeremias Bastingius, An Exposition or Commentarie upon the Catechisme of Christian Religion Which Is Taught in the Scholes and Churches Both of the Lowe Countries, & of the Dominions of the Countie Palatine. By Ieremias Bastingius, Minister of the Word of God (Cambridge: John Legatt, 1596), 203–09. I have consulted both versions online via https://www.prdl.org/search.php?q=Bastingius, but subsequent references will refer to Legatt’s 1596 English version. The PDF of that version has broken up each recto and verso into two PDF pages. References will indicate the sheet number and verso or recto rather than PDF page numbers, e.g., 203r or 203v. 8 Bastingius, Exposition, 203v.

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As Bastingius probes into the Fourth Commandment, he divides his explanation into three sections: the exposition of the commandment, the use of the commandment, and the exposition of the Catechism’s answer. The exposition of the commandment opens with the obvious focus on the commandment’s text addressing rest, although Bastingius emphasizes the importance of “remembering” in contrast to those who neglect or forget the commandment, noting that God “hates nothing so much.”9 The outward observance of rest, however, is not sufficient; the commandment requires a “religious mind, without which whatsoever is outwardly performed in the external work is not accepted.” Bastingius’s third point of exposition continues to stress that the commandment is about more than outward appearances. He observes that the purpose of this rest is to serve God and not ourselves. Notably, Bastingius laments those who go to taverns for alcohol, “run to plays,” or set up f ights on Sunday since the day should be dedicated to “the service of God.”10 He points to God’s own example in Creation—how God rested on the seventh day and sanctified the day. Concluding his exposition of the commandment, Bastingius argues that the sanctity of the seventh day was part of the ceremony that was given to the Jews. He quotes from Exodus 31 to highlight the punishment of death that was commanded for anyone who conducted work on the Sabbath. In addition, he explicitly references Numbers 15:32-36, which tells how a man who gathered wood on the Sabbath day was stoned to death.11 Bastingius’s mention of the death penalty provides evidence of the seriousness with which God took the breaking of the Fourth Commandment as well as the ceremonial nature of the commandment since Christians no longer punished Sabbath-breakers with death. Bastingius then moves on to the “use” by the commandment for Christians. Here, he begins where the exposition concluded, namely, the sanctifying of the seventh day as a part of the “rudiments” of the commandment that has been “taken away at the coming of Christ.”12 Bastingius counters the argument, which he associates with the Jews but which will later become part of the Nadere Reformatie’s assertions about the moral perpetuity of the commandment, that the Sabbath must be perpetual because it is part of the Ten Commandments. He argues, f irst, that the principle of the commandment remains but the “appertinence” was 9 Bastingius, Exposition, 203v–204r. 10 Bastingius, Exposition, 204r. 11 Bastingius, Exposition, 204v. 12 Bastingius, Exposition, 204v–205/r.

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added only for signification and was to be kept simply until the coming of the Messiah. In the second place, Bastingius argues that the Sabbath is perpetual “in respect of the thing signified, which is a ceasing from sin and a rest unto God.” Thirdly, he groups the observance of the seventh day with other “ceremonies,” such as circumcision and sacrifices, that were abolished at the coming of the Messiah. Finally, Basintingius responds to the specific argument that the commandment was a law of God before the Fall and, therefore, binds all humankind. He answers this argument by acknowledging its truth for moral laws, but he rejects the conclusion that the observance of the seventh day is of the same category. Instead, he argues, observance of the Sabbath was made “a type of the benefits of the Messiah, and, therefore, as other ceremonies, was subject to change at the coming of the Messiah.”13 Immediately, though, Bastingius seeks to ward off any argument that Christians are now free from the Sabbath.14 He advises that Christians must endeavor to understand the true purpose of the commandment, which was obscured “partly by observing a certain day” and “partly by this carnal rest.” This “mystery” is not limited to a certain time but to the Church of all times and places and is, thus, still commanded. Here, Bastingius turns his attention to the Catechism and Question 103, which asks what this day requires of Christians. Curiously, Bastingius begins his explanation of the Catechism’s answer with an explanation of the threefold ministry of the church.15 The methodology is justified, Bastingius reasons, because if God ordained a certain day and place when the godly should gather together, then God indubitably established a ministry that should teach sound doctrine, administer the sacraments, and conduct discipline. In his discussion of the ministry, Bastingius unequivocally sees the magistrate as having a central role. It is, he argues, the role of the magistrate to provide for able and learned ministers so that the gospel may be purely taught. As evidence, Bastingius points to the Old Testament examples of the “most godly kings,” Jehoshaphat, Josiah, and Hezekiah, all of whom were commended for their zeal and diligence in providing ministers for God’s people. Bastingius also points to the “barbaric” Egyptians who likewise recognized that those in service to God, here the Levites, should be allowed means to maintain themselves; the pharaoh, Bastingius avers, respected this principle even during Egypt’s great famine. 13 Bastingius, Exposition, 205r. 14 Bastingius, Exposition, 205v. 15 Bastingius, Exposition, 205v–206r.

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Since the office of ministry included schools and colleges, Bastingius also understood the Fourth Commandment as requiring magistrates to provide for the education of the youth.16 This education included the “human sciences” and the “principles of religion.” The education that the magistrate was to provide was primarily aimed at instruction in “divinity and the Holy Scriptures” for the service of the church. Recognizing the confessional nature of education, Bastingius noted the importance of education for countering “the darkness of idolatry” and “the abuses of the popery.” Again, he turns to Scripture to prove his point. Here, he cites first a passage from 2 Kings 2 where, according to Bastingius, “children of the prophets” come to Elijah to inform him that Elisha will soon be taken away. Bastingius argues that the phrase “children of the prophets” is used because the children “were trained up in schools and instructed by the prophets in the way of the Lord.” He also mentions Paul’s New Testament report, recorded in Acts 22, that he had been instructed at the feet of Gamaliel and Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 to “continue in what you have learned.” Bastingius takes particular care to charge the magistrate with these responsibilities.17 He includes a paragraph in which he argues that kings and magistrates have been given the titles of “nursing fathers of the Church” and “shepherds of the people,” most likely alluding to 2 Samuel 5. Bastingius even observes that the responsibility for caring for the ministry and maintaining the schools lies “principally upon them as deputies of God upon earth.” Not surprisingly, then, he admonishes the magistrates to consider how they might promote the sanctification of the Sabbath day. Using the fairly standard Reformed designation that he had already invoked, Bastingius asserts that the ministers’ role is to instruct the Church, to administer the sacraments, and to enact discipline. Having established the responsibilities of the magistrates and the ministers, Bastingius moves on to the “whole Church,” whose duty it is to diligently attend the holy assemblies in order to “hear and learn the heavenly doctrine.”18 Bastingius uses the language of “holy days” but contrasts the “Lord’s day” with the days that are “dedicated to idols” under “popery.” He rejects the argument that observing the Lord’s Day is equivalent to “Jewish superstition” because it retains the observation of certain days. He replies to such an accusation by noting, as he argued previously, that adherence to rest on the seventh day was nullified by the appearance of the Messiah. 16 Bastingius, Exposition, 206r–206v. 17 Bastingius, Exposition, 206v. 18 Bastingius, Exposition, 206v–207r.

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Consequently, the Church was then free to make a choice of any day for the Sabbath and chose the first day of the week because it was the day of Christ’s resurrection, a day “whereby the spiritual and everlasting Sabbath or rest is begun in us.” Bastingius constructs a proof based on multiple biblical texts that the change from the seventh day to the first day was made by the Church in the time of the apostles; he cites 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelations 1:10, and Acts 20:7. According to Bastingius, the Christian Lord’s Day differs from the Jewish Sabbath on at least two counts.19 First, the Church was free to choose the first day or any other day of the week, whereas the Jewish Sabbath must occur on the seventh day because that was God’s command. The Christian Church chose a specific day to assemble but did so out of concern for order and peace rather than the “untoward observing of days.” Second, the “old Sabbath” was a type or shadow to be fulfilled in the New Testament with the coming of Christ. This observing of days was characteristic of Jews because the Sabbath for them was a “shadow of spiritual things and did so greatly dim the glory of Christ and the light of the gospel.” Bastingius does allow for other holy days in the life of the Church, including remembrances of Christ’s birth, resurrection, ascension, and circumcision as well as Pentecost. In addition, he notes that other days may be set aside for the “edifying of the Church,” and he draws special attention to days of fasting and prayer, when the whole Church is called to humble themselves and make public confession of sin to God. Having defined holy days, Bastingius then describes the Christian’s duty on those days.20 First, the faithful should diligently hear the word of God and meditate on it. This includes not forsaking holy assemblies; on the contrary, Christians should make use of every occasion to learn more and profit from an understanding of the holy Scripture. Second, Christians should use the sacraments “according to the Lord’s institution and commandment.” The use of the sacraments distinguishes the true church from “other sects and people,” and the sacraments also “stir up and maintain godliness and love among us.” Furthermore, the sacraments serve as a public profession of faith and thankfulness to God. In the third place, Christians should observe the Sabbath by adding their own personal prayers to the public prayers. Likewise, Christians should join their confession and thanksgiving to that of the whole Church. Bastingius goes on to explain that these things are to be done both publicly and privately. Finally, Christians should aid the 19 Bastingius, Exposition, 207r–207v. 20 Bastingius, Exposition, 207v–208v.

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poor, as was done in the early church. The giving of money is not, Bastingius argues, an obligation only of the rich but of all people; indeed, he notes, the “ready will to give” is more important than the gift itself. After thus establishing the importance of Church assemblies, Bastingius transitions to his discussion of rest.21 The Lord commanded the Jews to rest from their work, but Bastingius argues that this command signified “that by nature they were corrupt and prone to all vice.” Thus, rest on the Sabbath is especially meant to free Christians from all wicked actions and to allow God to do his “own works in them by his Holy Spirit”—that is, to “regenerate them unto newness of life.” Here, Bastingius again refers to the notion of a sign and the thing signified. He argues that the sign is the “outward and carnal rest” but that the “thing itself” is sanctification, which involves mortifying one’s own will. For Bastingius, it is precisely because the Sabbath is about this sanctification that violations of the commandment are punished more harshly than any other commandment. Thus, those who do not keep the Sabbath undermine true religion itself, and those who sanctify the Sabbath are promised God’s blessing. Finally, Bastingius argues that the outward rest foreshadows the perfect and everlasting rest from sin that is begun in this life but finished in the next. He concludes his discussion of the Sabbath with a brief refutation of false doctrine.22 He begins with the Zwencfeldians [sic], whom he accuses of undermining the use of the ministry and the preaching of the gospel through their emphasis on direct revelations and speculations, which are contrary to the commandments of God and the practices of Christ, the apostles, and the early church. Bastingius also decries the Catholics. He accuses the “Romanists” of being only concerned with “ceremonies, diverse superstitions, and gross idolatry.” These Catholics do not attend to the word of God but, rather, beguile people with human philosophy. Most grievously, the Catholics undermine the eternal rest evoked by the commandment because they “refuse to give the honor of regeneration to the Spirit of Christ alone.” Instead, Catholics put confidence in the flesh and, as a result, will not “be heirs of the kingdom of God”; that is, they will not share in the promised “eternal rest.” At least a few of the points that Bastingius makes are worth considering, particularly since they relate to the lived religious experiences of Christians as described in the consistory and classis records. Perhaps most strikingly, Bastingius spends almost no time discussing the role of work on Sundays. 21 Bastingius, Exposition, 208v–209v. 22 Bastingius, Exposition, 209v.

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The topic of rest from work does arise, but Bastingius quickly transitions to the true meaning of rest which is, in his view, a rest from one’s evil works. In other words, Bastingius sees physical rest from labor as a sign for the Jewish people that points to the reality of the commandment: sanctification which requires the mortification of one’s will. Thus, for Christians, physical rest is not the primary concern of the Lord’s Day. Bastingius briefly raises the issue of recreation on Sundays. He avers that recreational activities, even when morally permissible, keep the focus on oneself rather than on God. This connects with Bastingius’s overall point that the Sabbath is about resting from one’s own works, and thus about mortification, so that one can allow God to do His work of sanctification in him or her. Because recreation keeps the focus on oneself, it prevents God’s sanctifying work from fully taking root. In addition, Bastingius is clearly concerned with the ministry of the church. He devotes a significant portion of his commentary on the Fourth Commandment, approximately three of the fourteen pages, to the offices of ministry, including the role of the magistrate in supporting ministers. His emphasis on “the ministry” and the magistrate’s duty to support it might seem tangential to the Fourth Commandment. However, for Bastingius, the commandment hinges on the faithful ministry of pastors and schoolmasters and adequate support from the magistrate for raising and training church leaders since it is largely about corporate worship. Finally, the differences between the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sabbath feature prominently in Bastingius’s commentary. These differences arise from the theological distinction between ceremonial and moral laws. Reformed theology had largely adopted a tripartite approach to Old Testament laws, dividing them into moral, ceremonial, and civil laws.23 Civil laws had an impact on the Fourth Commandment because some Dutch Reformed ecclesiastical authorities pushed for civil regulation of Sunday observance, although such efforts were often met with resistance. Bastingius understands much of the Sabbath commandment, including its focus on physical, outward rest, to be ceremonial. This part of the commandment serves as a type for Christians—a type which has found clear expression through Christ and the new covenant. Consequently, the physical rest included in the commandment is no longer morally binding for Christians. Cornelis Corsten was a sailor who became a Dutch Reformed pastor and then served in Vlaardingen, Schiedam, and Delfshaven. His career spanned 23 See, for example, Calvin and Turretin, both of whom are addressed briefly in Jonathan F. Bayes, The Threefold Division of the Law (Newcastle upon Tyne: The Christian Institute, 2017).

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ten years, from 1572 until his death in 1582. Scholarly work on Corsten is quite limited; it has primarily been executed by Kees de Wildt.24 Corsten had his most lasting impact through his massive commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Uutlegghinge des catechism der Reformeerde christelicke kercke in Neerduytslandt.25 As de Wildt notes, Corsten’s Uutlegghinge was not published until after his death. The manuscript was owned by Willem Vinck Dircxz and ultimately published by the Leiden publisher Henrick Haestens.26 From the lack of subsequent editions, de Wildt also concludes that Corsten’s work was unsuccessful, possibly because of Corsten’s relative anonymity, ministers’ preferences for Bastingius or Ursinus, and congregants’ preferences for sermons from Balthasar Copius or Philippus Lansbergius.27 Nonetheless, de Wildt argues, “Through his edition of Cornelis Corsten’s Uutlegghinge he [Vinck] gives us a fascinating insight into the manner in which the first generation of preachers in the established Reformed Church started working with the Heidelberg Catechism.”28 Corsten’s work is particularly relevant to this study for two reasons. First, as a village pastor, Corsten was working with a small, largely rural congregation, the type of community that is the focus of this book. Second, Corsten was deeply concerned with the presence of other confessions, including Anabpatists, Lutherans, and Catholics, and makes explicit mention of them throughout the Uutlegghinge.29 He begins his discussion of the Sabbath with an exploration of the Fourth Commandment and, in particular, what the word “Sabbath” signifies.30 Unsurprisingly, Corsten defines the word as meaning “rest,” but he then 24 Kees de Wildt, “Cornelis Corsten (1582) en zijn verklaring van de Heidelbergse Catechismus (1598),” in Vijf continenten, vijf eeuwen. Vijf jaar geschiedbeoefening in het Kerkhistorisch Gezelschap S. S. S., eds. Christel de Lange and Roos Mulder (Leiden: Kerkhistorisch Gezelschap S. S. S., 2011), 92–104. Other bibliographical information can be found in the following: Bert Stamkot, “Schipper-predikant Cornelis Corstenz. Ongeletterde of geleerde,” De Hoeksteen. Tijdschrift voor vaderlandse kerkgeschiedenis 15 (1986): 83–91; A. Ph. F. Wouters, “Corstenz. (Christiani), Cornelis,” in Biografisch Lexicon voor de Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse protestantisme V, ed. C. Houtman (Kampen: Uitgeverij Kok, 2001), 124. 25 Cornelis Corsten, Uutlegghinge des catechism der Reformeerde christelicke kercke in Neerduytslandt (Leiden: Henrick Haestans, 1598). I also consulted the 1650 edition: Cornelis Corsten, Uitleggingh de Kategismi der Gereformeerde Kerck in Nederduitslandt (Amsterdam: Gillis Dirckz Booner, 1650). The 1598 scanned version (accessible via Google Books) is difficult to decipher in places, so subsequent references will refer to the 1650 edition. 26 De Wildt, “Cornelis Corsten,” 5–6. 27 De Wildt, “Cornelis Corsten,” 9. 28 De Wildt, “Cornelis Corsten,” 9. 29 De Wildt, “Cornelis Corsten,” 8–9. 30 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 674–75.

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goes on to explain that humans and animals rest from outward works, mimicking God’s rest after Creation and allowing humans to more freely serve the Lord. This physical, or outward, rest is an example of the “spiritual and eternal” rest that the believer will attain in the afterlife for all eternity. Having defined “Sabbath,” Corsten enumerates the various types of Sabbath that God commanded Israel to observe: the seventh day, feast days, the seventh and fiftieth years, and the promised “eternal bliss.”31 Corsten next asks what God demands of Christians in the Fourth Commandment.32 To answer this question, he finds it necessary to establish (1) what the Jews were commanded, (2) what aspects of that command God intends for Christians, (3) how much Christians have in common with Jews regarding the Sabbath, and (4) how far expectations for Christians differ from what was expected of Jews. Having outlined his method, Corsten turns to the Catechism’s answer, the reply to Question 103.33 He explains the opening clause of the Catechism, “First, that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained,” by emphasizing the preaching of the Word and education in schools. Corsten is clear that both the preaching and the education are to persist “as long as the world exists,” citing as evidence the command to do so throughout Scripture, including in Paul’s instructions to Timothy, the noting of the need to counteract people’s persistent foolishness and wickedness, God’s perpetual ordination of preaching and education, and the explicit promises of God that such ministry will continue until the end of time. Corsten follows this explanation with three arguments, each of which has a series of proofs. The first argument states that Christ does not want the preaching ministry to be neglected but, rather, to be maintained until the end of the world. The second argument concludes that the good news of the kingdom must be preached because Christ said that such proclamation will continue until the end of the world. Finally, Corsten asserts that the preaching of the Word will destroy the Antichrist’s outward destruction and thus must be continued. Similarly, education must be maintained for a variety of reasons.34 Corsten begins with the importance of education for maintaining a supply of trained preachers. He then provides a host of biblical proofs regarding education for Christian leaders; these proofs contain a wide variety of references, from 31 Corsten includes specif ic examples of feast days, namely, the Passover, Pentecost (i.e. Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles. Corsten also points to the book of Isaiah to support his inclusion of eternal bliss as appropriate to the word “Sabbath.” 32 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 675. 33 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 675–79. 34 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 679–80.

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Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament to Jairus in the New Testament. Precisely this connection between education and ministers leads Corsten, and in his view the Catechism itself, to link the maintenance of the schools to the Fourth Commandment. Notably, the clear emphasis in Corsten’s Uitlegginge is on education for ministers; a broader public education is not excluded, but it is clearly not Corsten’s main concern. Maintenance of the education of ministers is the responsibility of the government because “they are appointed by God to their offices mainly to advance his [God’s] honor.” Corsten points to a litany of Old Testament leaders—Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Josaphat, and Josiah—who provided for the education of religious leaders with “great diligence.” Corsten then considers the second phrase of the Catechism’s answer: “And that especially on the festive day of rest I diligently attend the assembly of God.”35 He begins with a negative appraisal, writing that Christians should not, “Sit and drink beer or wine [literally: sit in beer seats or wine seats] or do any unnecessary actions at that time. Nor should they play or go to other events. Nor should they walk the empty streets.” These things, Corsten avers, desecrate the Sabbath day. From there, Corsten launches into a discussion about whether “especially” refers to the “on the Sabbath” or to “I,” concluding that “especially” refers both to the specific day and to the specific person. Consequently, he claims, every Christian should individually desire to gather for worship without reservation, particularly on the Sabbath day that has been set aside. To his chagrin, Corsten notes that “one sees the opposite happening too much.”36 Here, Corsten points again to those who “sit in the beer and wine seats” and those who would rather “walk in the streets” than join the congregation. However, he also mentions confessional conflicts. Remarkably, Corsten claims that the Anabaptists mistakenly argue for not being bound to the Sabbath and not needing to consider it; according to him, they simply pursue their work and labors on the Sabbath. He also asserts that others go to the assembly of the sect (zekterij). While Corsten does not identify the sect, he most likely again has Anabaptists in mind. Those who “go against” the commandment in this way are guilty of “grievous sin” and “will not escape God’s punishment.” The purpose of attending worship is delineated in the next phrase of the Catechism, which Corsten then discusses.37 Hen spends considerable time 35 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 680–82. 36 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 682. 37 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 682–85.

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explaining that those listening to the preached Word should be attentive and not simply hear the “external sound” without understanding what is being preached, sung, or read. Some responsibility is on the preacher to be sure that he preaches sufficiently clearly for the Word to be understood. Corsten’s subsequent discussion of participating in the sacraments is briefer; he primarily emphasizes an understanding of the inward focus of the sacraments and a proper examination of oneself before participating in the Lord’s Supper. He also quickly notes the role of public prayer in worship as well as the importance of giving to the poor, the latter of which should be done “out of a Christian heart.” Corsten concludes his commentary on the first section of the Catechism’s answer with a consideration of the seventh day and its function within the commandment.38 The Old Testament link between the commandment and the seventh day is obvious in Corsten’s view. However, he argues that this aspect of the commandment is a “shadow,” or “ceremony,” and so is no longer binding for Christians. The shift of the Sabbath to the first day of the week, which Corsten predictably connects to Jesus’s resurrection, was at the behest of the apostles and has been in use ever since. Corsten concludes, “That is why one uses this [first] day and has not changed it. However, if there were any congregation that decided to observe another day, I would tolerate it without annoyance.” He splits the second section of the Catechism’s answer to Question 103 into four sections.39 First, he first addresses the phrase, “That I rest from all evil works.” Here, outward and inward rest are distinguished from each other; Corsten defines inward rest as the “renunciation of every human will from all evil and ungodly works.” He also argues that the keeping of the outward Sabbath is still displeasing to God if the inward Sabbath has not also begun. Secondly, Corsten describes the phrase “let the Lord work in me through his Spirit” with two metaphors. God is the Lord, and Christians are his servants; thus, Christains must be submissive, just as servants are submissive to lords. Similarly, God is the master of the house, and Christians are his dwelling; consequently, Christians must allow themselves to ruled by the mind of the lord of the house. Thirdly, Corsten explains how the phrase “all the days of our lives” indicates that it is not enough to allow God to work in one’s life only on a few days, weeks, months, or even years. Instead, all the days of a Christian’s life are to be dedicated to “shunning all evil works” so that “our Lord may work in us by his Spirit and lead us to 38 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 685–87. 39 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 687–89.

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all godliness.” Finally, Corsten explains the notion of an eternal Sabbath that is begun in this life. Again, he emphasizes the necessity of the inward Sabbath that occupies the whole of one’s life. Individuals who are able to “give themselves to God’s service” without ceasing will obtain both the blessing of God in this life and “eternal rest hereafter.” The concluding section of Corsten’s commentary is divided into two sections: (1) promise and reward and (2) threat and punishment.40 Corsten cites four biblical passages to prove that God promises blessing to those who keep the Sabbath. He then points to no fewer than nine biblical examples as evidence that those who did indeed keep the Sabbath received their promised reward. Conversely, Corsten notes God’s threats to those who fail to observe the Sabbath, relying on a number of biblical examples, such as Jeroboam, Ahab, and Israel’s exile at the hands of the Assyrians and Nebuchadnezzar. In addition, for the first time in his commentary on the fourth commandment, Corsten alludes to non-biblical examples, too; he cites the fall of the Romans at the hands of Allaric, Attila, and Totila. These punishments should, Corsten concludes, act as a warning to those who violate the commandment, for they too can expect punishment if they “change or break” the Sabbath. At least a few points from Corsten’s Uitlegghinge are worth highlighting. First, despite acknowledging that the “outward” Sabbath is incomplete if the “inward” Sabbath is not kept, Corsten’s overwhelming concern is with the outward observance of the Sabbath. In particular, he spends a considerable amount of time explaining the importance of the ministry of the church and education. For the ministry of the church, he emphasizes the preaching of the Word, and for education, he stresses the preparation of pastors. While neither emphasis is particularly surprising to anyone familiar with Reformed traditions and values, Corsten’s commentary provides further evidence that the preaching of the Word and education are foundational, even though not exclusive, to the identity formation of Christian disciples. Second, Corsten’s commentary demonstrates the complexity of identifying Sabbatarianism. On the one hand, Corsten clearly identifies the observance of the seventh day as a ceremonial aspect of the Fourth Commandment that is no longer binding for Christians. Even the transition to the first day of the week is not binding on Christian communities, in Corsten’s view, because this shift was done under the authority of the apostles and so is not divinely ordained. These theological positions are decidedly not Sabbatarian. On the other hand, Corsten unequivocally articulates restrictive 40 Corsten, Uitlegghinge, 689–91.

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Sabbath practices. He opposes the drinking of alcohol as well as less morally dangerous activities, such as playing games, going on walks, or any other unnecessary activities. Since he primarily associates the prohibition of those activities with attendance at worship services, it is possible that Corsten would find such activities permissible if they did not interfere with attendance at worship. Unfortunately, Corsten does not address such a point. Similarly, Corsten seems to assume that physical rest from work is a crucial aspect of the commandment, but he provides little commentary on the role of work. The clear emphasis on total cessation of activities on the Sabbath underscores Corsten’s stricter leanings. Finally, Corsten notably situates the Sabbath within the context of confessional plurality. His confessional qualms are not overwhelming but are introduced in ways that are unusual. Surprisingly, the complaints are particularly aimed at Anabaptists and not Catholics, despite Corsten’s close attention to the Lord’s Supper and the “proper” observance of the sacraments. One might expect Corsten to mention the “superstition” of the papists either relative to the sacraments or relative to worship services in general; he simply does not make this conclusion. However, Corsten criticizes Anabaptists for drawing members to their “sect” for worship assemblies. Anabaptists are also at fault, he alleges, because of their theological errors and subsequent conclusions. For instance, since they have concluded that the Sabbath commandment is not applicable, they do not hesitate to work on the Sabbath. The contrast between the Anabaptist and the orthodox, Reformed positions is obvious. Two further points are worth pausing on briefly. First, a comparison of the approaches of Bastingius and Corsten demonstrates the range of understandings of the Sabbath found even within the Dutch Reformed tradition. Their interpretations of the Fourth Commandment do not contrast sharply with each other, but their emphases land in strikingly different places. For example, Bastingius and Corsten agree that religious education is part of the Fourth Commandment because the Catechism includes this assertion. However, Bastingius gives more attention to the education of the youth, whereas Corsten is more concerned with educating clergy members. More remarkably, Bastingius spends no time discussing recreation and very little time discussing work. His emphasis is clearly on the spiritual rest that he views as prefigured in the Old Testament emphasis on physical rest. On the other hand, Corsten is deeply concerned about Christians who engage in recreational or morally risky activities and stresses physical rest more than Bastingius. These differences may seem inconsequential, but they indicate the seeds of disagreements about what the primary impact

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of the commandment should be. In fact, I would suggest that the differing emphases seen here in Bastingius’s and Corsten’s commentaries set the stage for the more hostile and robust conflicts regarding the Sabbath that occurred across the Low Countries during the seventeenth century. However, further research would be needed to thoroughly prove that hypothesis. Regardless, should there still be any doubt, the research here indicates yet again that theological views within the Reformed tradition, and within the Dutch Reformed tradition more narrowly, were far from uniform. Second, as will be discussed in the rest of this chapter, both Bastingius’s and Corsten’s theological formulations of the Sabbath suggest ways in which the Sabbath could be put into practice. Bastingius and Corsten are in agreement, for instance, about the importance of church attendance. Both men, though Bastingius to a greater extent, argue that the Sabbath should include a cessation from sinning. Yet, unsurprisingly, these theological principles were not always enacted. The question, which I have considered elsewhere but which is worthy of further consideration here, is: in what ways did lived Sunday observance in rural churches and communities reflect or fail to reflect theological understandings of the Sabbath? At stake are the ways in which theology affected religious piety and thus the ways in which theological voices sought to shape religious identity as well as the ways in which Reformed Christians practiced their own lived religion.

Practicing and Disciplining Sabbath Observance At the outset, Sunday observance was certainly not only an issue in the rural Low Countries. Various classes complained explicitly about Sabbath observance in the cities. For example, Classis Dordrecht noted the profanation of the Sabbath in cities and classes alike. 41 A number of other classes, such as Classis Nijmegen, Classis Over-Veluwe, and Classis Kampen, lodged similar complaints, in which the undesirable activities included commerce, drunkenness, recreation, and working. 42 Following the procedures of Dutch Reformed church polity, complaints regarding Sabbath observance were not always generated by the church in which the objectionable behavior was occurring. Sabbath observance was a significant topic of concern at the higher levels of Dutch Reformed ecclesiastical meetings. Numerous Dutch classes and provincial synods 41 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 184. 42 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 183–84, 189.

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received a multitude of complaints regarding the desecration of the Sabbath. 43 Those complaints did not fall on deaf ears, for classis after classis and provincial synod after provincial synod attempted to remedy Sabbath desecration in a variety of ways. 44 When various classes and provincial synods sought to curb Sabbath desecration, rural churches were not always quick to acquiesce and, in fact, asserted their religious agency by defining their own expectations regarding Sabbath observance. Such was the case at Classis Walcheren’s January 1611 meeting which took place at Middleburg in Zeeland. The classis meeting records include three points, the first two of which were related to examinations of pastor candidates. The third, however, concerns a report given about Sunday church services at six Reformed churches within the classis. These churches “declared” that they intended to “suspend the later afternoon sermons during the harvest and in the winter.” The classis noted that it would discuss their request in “due time.”45 A decision was not imminent. At the March classis meeting, a brief note was included that the next classis would consider “the reasons some rural church councils have suspended their afternoon sermons at some times of the year.”46 During the June 1611 classis meeting, f ive months after the issue of suspending afternoon services was first raised, the classis decided that the “afternoon preaching in the village will no longer be neglected during the harvest and in the winter.” The record of this decision included a note that clergy members should do their “very best” to bring people to “come hear” those services. 47 The classis records are, of course, told from the perspective of the classis and not that of individual churches. Consequently, although we read about the desire of the six rural churches to suspend afternoon worship services and of the classis’s consideration of their “reasons,” we do not get any insight into how and why the churches decided to suspend afternoon services or into how the churches responded to the classis’s decision to overturn the suspension. This episode is seemingly a “loose end” when we examine the religious life of early modern Dutch Reformed churches. One might be tempted to dismiss such an episode because it provides so little research material with 43 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 140–51, 174–85. 44 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 185–90. 45 J. Bouterse, ed., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995), 180. 46 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 181–82. 47 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 185.

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which to work. The issue is resolved in a matter of months. Moreover, to my knowledge, since it comes up only in three brief notes in the classis records, there are few details about the contexts or the conflict itself. Indeed, we are left in the uncomfortable position of receiving only one report and thus only one perspective on the sequence of events. As a result, we are is forced to reconstruct the narrative with only a few details. However, when one pulls on the proverbial thread of the apparent loose end, one finds that the discussion of Sabbath observance is not rare in classis records or in provincial synod records. Complaints about the lack of observance in the platten landen (the rural lands) are frequent. However, the complaints are often quite general in nature. Notably, the provincial synods consistently portrayed the rural areas as very difficult to control; they were clear that the desecration of the Sabbath was often worse in these rural areas and much harder to regulate. In 1606, the North Holland synod discussed how best to get rid of abuses on the Sabbath, particularly in rural districts.48 The synod of Gelderland in 1620 complained of the “great disorder in the rural areas” that included “running in the church, [and] walking and clapping in the churchyard and the church doors during preaching.”49 Worship services in rural areas faced unique challenges, as I and others have detailed elsewhere.50 To begin with, rural churches were often small and faced the problem of low attendance. Already in 1593, the South Holland synod insisted on catechism preaching services in the afternoons, no matter how few people attended.51 Often, rural churches would share a pastor, making it impossible for each church to hold two services on Sundays. Furthermore, market days were much more important in rural areas because people traveled considerable distances to towns to reach them and so could not attend the markets as frequently. Additionally, farming on the Sabbath was a temptation too great to bear for many rural Reformed Christians because of the time-sensitive nature of planting and harvesting crops. Complaints from Reformed churches about other churches’ or Christians’ Sabbath observance were especially prevalent in rural areas where there was no local Reformed church or where church members were spread across 48 J. Reitsma and S. D. van Veen, Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620 (Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1892–99), vol. 1, 394. 49 Reitsma and van Veen, Acta, vol. 4, 343. 50 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 192–94; Donald Sinnema, “The Second Sunday Service in the Early Dutch Reformed Tradition,” Calvin Theological Journal 32, no. 2 (November 1997): 318. 51 Reitsma and Van Veen, Acta, vol. 3, 7.

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the countryside. In these instances, complaints would come from a church regarding the areas around it, especially if the perceived Sabbath desecration affected that church. For example, at a 1616 meeting of Classis Walcheren, the church of Middelburg requested the classis’s help because “brothers from the countryside” would come into their city for “playing, riding [horses?], and other insolences, desecrating the Sabbath of the Lord.” The church also noted the “disorder” and “annoyance” that this was causing and threatened that if action was not taken, that they would do so themselves. The classis recorded that they understood the concern and would address it with the “brothers of the countryside.”52 Sabbath practices in rural areas were also sometimes adapted to account for the challenges presented by rural life. Baptism practices were one such instance. As Classis Kampen described in 1620, there were “often various reasons that prevent children from being baptized only during the Sunday preaching [service].” As a result, the classis decided that children could be baptized instead on Thursday as long as the occasion was announced from the pulpit during the Sunday service. The parents and other witnesses were to present themselves at the baptism, and the church clock was also to be sounded so that others could attend.53 Baptizing infants outside of a Sunday preaching service was certainly not recommended practice. The classis record does not explain why children were often unable to be present at Sunday service for baptism. One can surmise, though, that the required travel could be arduous or even dangerous for an infant, particularly if the child had any of the ubiquitous health problems that plagued the early modern world. Bad weather could also complicate travel and make it more perilous. Regardless, Classis Kampen’s decision indicates a recognition of the unique challenges facing their rural churches. Tholen raised the same question in 1602 for Classis Walcheren, wondering if it was allowed for ministers to conduct baptisms outside the “usual time of the preaching.”54 At its next meeting, the classis answered that no child should be baptized outside of public meetings or without preaching preceding the baptism. The classis records note, however, that the “servants of the countryside pleaded with her [i.e. the classis],” even if unsuccessfully. While Classis Walcheren came to a different conclusion than did Classis 52 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 257. 53 J. van Gelderen and C. Ravensbergen, eds., Classicale Acta 1573–1620, Vol. 6: Provinciale synode Overijssel (The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2000), 138–39. 54 Bouterse, Classicale Acta Zeeland, 13–14.

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Kampen, both scenarios evidence the unique desires and expectations held by rural churches. In Classis Kampen, the rural churches successfully argued that rural contexts could make Sunday baptisms impossible and negotiated an adaptation to standard practices, while the rural churches in Classis Walcheren vainly sought flexibility regarding baptismal practices. Attendance at afternoon worship services was particularly burdensome for people who lived in rural areas and difficult to enforce for church authorities. For this issue, too, complaints could arise from classes rather than individual churches. Classis Deventer noted that “afternoon catechism preaching in the countryside is so beautiful and important” but was not being carried out as it should have been. As a result, the “churches of Overijssel” were appealing to the nobles of the cities to use their authority to ensure that these rural churches would be “encouraged by all proper and Christian means to hear God’s Word, both in the mornings and afternoons.” The complaint goes on to describe a number of Sabbath activities which needed to be curbed, including playing cards and farming during the preaching. The records then reiterated that these activities were happening during the “morning and also in the afternoon preachings.” A separate note was made that the village churches did not have clocks—an evident problem when trying to alert people about the beginning of church services. The classis recommended that each church should at least have a “small time piece that strikes and then the sexton, schoolmaster, and preacher can direct people to the church.”55 Consistories in small Reformed churches also addressed Sabbath desecration. The three congregations of Arnemuiden, Wemeldinge, and Sluis, all of which have been discussed in previous chapters, will be the focus of the following pages in this chapter. At Arnemuiden, complaints about Sabbath desecration were not particularly frequent, but individuals were certainly confronted by the consistory for their lack of Sunday observance. When complaints arose, there were often multiple complaints in one entry or in consecutive entries. Adriaen Cornelissen Lixis (spelled in a wide variety of ways) was noted as “desecrating the Sabbaths” because he was attending to his own matters during the preaching and the Lord’s Supper; the consistory records do not specify what those matters were.56 In that same meeting, Jan Cornelissen’s “desecration of the Sabbaths” was again noted later for 55 Gelderen and Ravensbergen, Classicale Acta Overijssel, 67. 56 A. H. G. Verouden, ed., Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625 (Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013), 136.

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the same offense of “investigating his matters during the preaching.” The language of the two complaints is virtually identical, and specifics are lacking both times. The remedy in both situations was for an elder and burgomaster to speak with the individual involved. Lixis received a visit from Elder Buys and Burgomaster Brune, while Cornelissen’s visit was “done” by Elder Jacobus and Burgomaster Michielssen.57 Resolving Sabbath offenses, then, was the task of the consistory but the civic authorities could also be involved. It is not clear whether ecclesiastical or civic punishments were enacted in either case. Even if civic involvement in the Sabbath offenses was limited only to the presence of a burgomaster, the fact that an elder and a burgomaster, rather than an elder and the pastor, carried out the visits is a significant difference from other cases of impiety. Enforcing Sabbath expectations was not only done at an individual level, however. Communal reverence for the Sabbath was also important to Reformed religious authorities. In many Dutch communities, the community as a whole was required to adapt its social patterns to reflect Reformed ideals. At Arnemuiden, the Chamber of Rhetoric was the subject of the consistory’s discussion because, in part, of its performances on Sundays. In another instance, the Arnemuiden consistory noted that on the “day of the Lord” the game kaatsen was being played during the preaching at Kleverskerke (in the records: Cleverskerke) and was causing a great disturbance. Kleverskerke, which exists today as part of Arnemuiden, was a village technically separate from Arnemuiden. Nevertheless, the congregation in Kleverskerke received assistance from the Arnemuiden consistory and pastor.58 The consistory decided to have the sheriff of the larger, nearby town of Veere, Mr. Jacobus, address the situation.59 The consistory records of Wemeldinge also provide a few examples of Sabbath complaints in rural communities, although the examples are from 1648–49, quite late in the time period considered in this book. Church 57 Burgomaster Engel Brune (Bruyne) was elected as elder in 1617. Burgomaster Michielssen (Machielssen) was elected as an elder in 1615. Frustratingly, I have been unable to locate who “Buys” and “Jan” are. Presumably, each man was serving as an elder, but using the consistory records to track the men who would have been on the consistory in 1617 does not yield results for either name. Given the variance of how names were recorded, it is still possible that the men were elders and that “Buys’ and “Jan” were shortened versions of full names, nicknames, or middle names” 58 Verhouden, Arnemuiden, 120. This relationship is mentioned in the June 10, 1612 entry of the Arnemuiden consistory; the entry discusses helping those in the “rural lands,” as was done for Kleverskerke. 59 Verhouden, Arnemuiden, 155.

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members visiting taverns (herbergen) on Sundays was a frequent problem for the Wemeldinge consistory. On March 21, 1649, Janneken Frans was mentioned as having spent the “day of the Lord in the tavern,” an offense the consistory noted as going against their January 3 resolution for better Sabbath observance.60 Frans was frequently before the consistory. Later in March, she was barred from the Lord’s Supper.61 On June 20, she petitioned to be readmitted to the Lord’s Supper.62 However, on June 25, she was reported as again having been at the tavern on the Lord’s Day and so was barred from the Lord’s Supper again.63 Decades earlier, the Sluis consistory had questioned people on numerous occasions about their absences from worship services. Church attendance was certainly a primary point of emphasis. The inquiries ranged from relatively mild admonishments to more severe threats. In April 1583, Cornelis Ducken was recorded as having been “absent from hearing God’s Word” and as having made Sundays into “work days.” Yet, despite his dual offense, the consistory records noted that the pastor, Vanden Haute, would admonish Ducken in a “friendly” manner.64 More drastically, in January 1587, Joores van Hessche was questioned about his and his wife’s absences at church. Hessche answered that they were sick, but the consistory records state that “his excuse was not sufficient” and that he should avoid further church absences.65 Since the Hessches’ absence was from the Lord’s Supper rather than from a preaching service, it was particularly noteworthy—perhaps the reason for the harsher words offered to the couple. The other issue regarding Sabbath observance at Sluis was conducting commerce on Sundays. The consistory laments the “buying” and/or “selling” that happened on the “Sabbath-days.” Often, the items and the manner of 60 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960,” in Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063, Inventaris 1.1.1–8. As explained in chapter 1, notes will follow the following format: Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” page number. For the March 21, 1649, entry, see Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 52; for January 3, 1640, rsee Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 48. 61 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 55. 62 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 63–64. 63 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 64–65. 64 A. Bauwens and D. van der Bauwhede, eds., Kerkeraad te Sluis. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Sluis, 1578–1587 (Torhout: Uitgeverij Flandria Nostra, 1986), 97, #339. As described in chapter 3, each consistory record entry in the Sluis records is numbered; thus, this and all subsequent footnotes will include the page number, indicated first and only numerically [e.g. 153], and entry number, indicated last and with the number sign. 65 Bauwens and van der Bauwhede, Kerkeraad te Sluis, 245, #1359; 246, #1362; 246–47, #1371.

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the buying and selling are not described in the records. On May 30, 1649, Adriana Jans and Matie Frams were both noted as “buying on the Sabbath,” and Macharis Feijnousten and his wife were listed as selling.66 Similarly, in April 1647, Marinis Pijcke had “desecrated the Sabbath day with buying, selling, drinking, etc.”67 Unfortunately, no further details about the specific commerce conducted are included in any of these instances. Pijcke, however, was frequently before the consistory; in 1648, he was summoned more than three separate times for a dispute with his brother-in-law, again for desecrating the Sabbath with his selling and drunkenness, and for another instance of fighting.68 Martijne Jacobssen likewise was the subject of protracted inquiry by the Wemeldinge consistory for selling on the Sabbath. The consistory noted that Martijne was selling brandy-wine to the daugher of a Mr. Rutger (first name illegible) and that he was “also selling on Sabbath-days.” The first complaint occurred on April 1, 1649.69 While the records do not state that members of the consistory visited Jacobssen, such a visit must have occurred within a couple of days. Only two days later, on April 3, the consistory records observe that Martijne “will not sell brandy-wine to Rutger’s daughter or on Sabbath-days.”70 Notably, the consistory’s visit was prompt and appears to have been remarkably effective. However, Martijne’s encounters with the consistory were not finished. On May 30, 1649, his name again appeared in the recordsf or selling on the Sabbath. This time, the records do not specify what he was selling and make no mention of Mr. Rutger’s daughter. However, the consistory mentioned that he had previously been admonished and decided to “proceed against him.”71 On June 25, his name came up again. The records report that “the brothers” had a friendly visit with Jacobssen about selling on the Sabbath and that they would continue to speak with him about it.72 The promising report, though, was quickly seen to be misleading. A week later, on July 2, Martijne and his wife are recorded as selling on the Sabbath, “against all admonitions and threats of the consistory and against his earlier promise.”73 As a result, they were to be barred from the Lord’s Supper. 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73

Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 62. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 16. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 31, 36, 68. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 56. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 58. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 62. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 66. Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 68.

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The consistory had several means of dealing with such offenses, and the consistory records describe the process of discipline. Much of the discipline followed the formal process found in many early modern Reformed churches. Offenders were often suspended from the Lord’s Supper until they repented of their sin. Sometimes, the church member’s name was announced from the pulpit. Howevr, the Wemeldinge consistory records also point to a less formal means of ensuring proper behavior: house visits by the pastor and an elder together to confront the person in question about the alleged offense. Examples of these visits abound in the Wemeldinge consistory records and are too ubiquitous to detail here. Two brief instances can suffice. On November 29, 1648, the aforementioned Marinis Pijcke was mentioned because he had been absent from the previous Lord’s Supper. The entry ends with the note that the “consistory will speak with him about his ways.”74 Similarly, the “preacher with the elder” were assigned to visit Jan Morresen regarding his disordered drunkenness, dancing, running around, and brutal clipping of geese (likely part of a “goose pulling” game).75 Sometimes, the consistory dispatched the pastor and an elder simply to gather more information. On November 29, 1648, the consistory noted that rumors were flying about Mr. Pauwels Piersen.76 Although the record does not state Piersen’s offense, it seems as if he had missed the previous Lord’s Supper. The rumor was that he was instead “again grinding flour.” This activity was assumed to be a violation of the Sabbath because it broke the prohibition against work and kept Piersen from attending the Lord’s Supper. Still, the consistory records emphasized that the accusations were merely rumors. Sending the pastor and an elder to investigate indicates that the consistory was not ready to presume guilt or enact a hasty punishment. Similarly, on April 1, 1649, Gerrit Franque and David Dillissen were reported as having spent the previous Sabbath in the tavern.77 The consistory “found it good” that the brothers would visit Franque at his house. Among the goals of this visit was determining whether Franque was planning to attend the preaching and the Lord’s Supper. The brothers were also going to visit Dillissen to speak to him about the offenses. We know that this conversation happened promptly after the consistory meeting because a report was given to the consistory two days later. In his conversation, 74 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 36. 75 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 60; Arie Th. Van Deursen, Plain Lives in a Golden Age: Popular Culture, Religion, and Society in Seventeenth-Century Holland (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 109–10. 76 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 36. 77 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 57.

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Dillissen denied going to the tavern on the Sabbath; without further proof or recourse, the consistory resolved to “leave it to his conscience.”78

Prevalence of Sabbath Offenses At this point, however, an important point about sources and research on those sources needs to be addressed. While the preceding paragraphs have noted occasions on which rural churches and their regional classes addressed transgressions related to Sunday observance, discipline at the consistorial level was fairly rare. Across six sets of rural consistory records researched for this project, I have observed little mention of Sabbath observance. If I may be permitted a moment of methodological reflection, I was quite surprised and, in all honesty, even somewhat disappointed at the lack of Sabbath issues or complaints in the consistory records. I distinctly recall waking up at night worried that perhaps I had gotten the paleography wrong or that I was missing mentions of the Sabbath in the records—possibility that are certainly real and that continue to bother me. As a historian, I should let the sources guide the research, but the consistory records were not guiding me where I thought they would. The complaints about Sabbath observance in the rural consistory records were relatively infrequent when compared to the numerous complaints in the records of the classes and provincial synods. Moreover, complaints about the Sabbath appear less often in rural consistory records they do in urban consistory records. Sabbath complaints are found consistently in the consistory records of churches in larger cities. Elsewhere, I have detailed Sabbath complaints from the city of Kampen in the province of Overijssel; Kampen was not necessarily a major city, but it was certainly not a small village.79 Other studies of urban Dutch Reformed consistories demonstrate similar emphasis on Sabbath observance. Jensma’s study of the Dordrecht consistory demonstrates how authorities there frequently sought to curb Sunday desecration. For example, in 1577, the consistory admonished the city sheriff to combat all the stores that were open on Sundays, noting that such things were done “under the papacy.”80 Sabbath complaints also arose in Delft, as Wouters and Abels have made 78 Zeeuws Archief, “Notulen van de kerkenraad te Wemeldinge,” 58–59. 79 Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, chapter 6. 80 Theunis W. Jensma, Uw Rijk kome. Acta van de Kerkeraad van Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Dordrecht, 1573–1579 (Dordrecht: Uitgeverij J. P. van den Tol, 1981), 73.

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clear.81 Huib Uil’s research on Zierikzee, the second most important city in Zeeland, has revealed similar results, leading Uil to observe that “The sanctification of the Sabbath or Lord’s Day, as the consistory called it, is the most prominent theme when it comes to public life.”82 The consistory in Zierikzee, for instance, complained about the meat and fish markets on Sunday and, years later, about the recreational driving of wagons in and out of the city during worship services.83 My findings are similar to what Fred van Lieburg has uncovered across the Zeeland province of Schouwen-Duiveland. Van Lieburg discusses several examples in which local consistories complained about Sabbath desecration. For example, he notes that the consistory of Brouwershaven criticized the local sheriff in 1611 for allowing fish markets on Sundays and complained in 1616 about work and commerce occurring on Sundays.84 Despite these complaints, van Lieburg observes, “It [Sunday observance] was not a major theme on the ecclesiastical agenda.”85 In fact, his brief discussion of Sabbath observance focuses mainly on the Synod of Dort and the classis as well as the provincial synod.86 Perhaps van Lieburg’s most helpful point regarding Sabbath observance is that the punishment of Sabbath desecration was often assigned to local sheriffs and political authorities.87 However, these authorities were frequently unwilling to enforce the strict Sunday observance for which the ecclesiastical authorities were advocating. In fact, the persistence of complaints about the Sabbath, particularly at the levels of the classis and the provincial synod, is due, in part, to the political authorities’ resistance to enforcing Reformed expectations about Sabbath observance in their local communities.88 The political authorities of other areas, such as Zierkizee, were more active in enacting the consistory’s wishes.89 The importance of political authorities and th degree of theiir willingness to enforce Sabbath observance was crucial, in both urban and rural settings, for determining 81 A. Ph. F. Wouters and P. H. A. M. Abels, Nieuw en Ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delftland, 1572–1621, 2 vols. (Delft: Eburon, 1994). 82 Huib Uil, “Redres ende reformatie: Magistraat en kerkenraad in Zierikzee en het openbare leven, 1576–1672,” Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie 32, no. 1 (2008): 56–79, 62. 83 Fred van Lieburg, Een eiland na de Reformatie. Schouwen-Duiveland, 1572–1700 (Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2011), 275–76. 84 Lieburg, Een eiland, 275. 85 Lieburg, Een eiland, 271: “Het was geen groot thema op de kerkelijke agenda….” 86 For the Synod of Dort, see Lieburg, Een eiland, 273–74; for discussions at the level of the classis and provincial synod, see Lieburg, Een eiland, 279–81. 87 Lieburg, Een eiland, 276–78. 88 Lieburg, Een eiland, 282. 89 Uil, Redres en reformatie, 68, 76.

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how successful consistories could be in combatting the desecration of the Lord’s day. No attempt at quantitative analysis of Sabbath offenses in the consistory records has been undertaken here. Although such analysis may be useful, it is a nearly impossible task, and, more importantly, it would be only somewhat beneficial because of the nature of consistory records.90 As mentioned earlier, Pollmann’s demonstration that consistories frequently addressed issues outside of official meetings means that the frequency of reports about a topic in the consistory records is not a guarantee for how often that topic was actually addressed by the consistory. Since the data regarding the frequency of the topic is thus questionable, drawing conclusions about the importance of a topic based on how frequently it appears in consistory records is overly presumptive. In addition, the frequency of Sabbath offenses in rural consistory records is largely a relative question. The above examples prove that the consistories did address Sabbath offenses, but whether those instances are deemed frequent or rare is fairly subjective. Relying on admittedly vague terminology, I have concluded that the mentions of Sabbath offenses are quite rare. More confidently, though still relying on vague descriptors,I can assert that these mentions occur less frequently than in the records of classes and provincial synods. The remaining question, then, is: how is one to explain the relatively sparse mentions of Sabbath offenses in rural consistory records? Unfortunately, the sources do not allow for definite conclusions. At least three possible explanations exist, although these constitute more of a continuum than three discrete responses. First, rural churches may simply not have adopted the expectations of Sunday observance that had been developed in Dutch Reformed theology, propagated in urban churches, and complained about at the meetings of classes and provincial synods. The infrequency of Sabbath complaints in rural consistory records would thus give further credence to the conclusion that Reformed Christians in the countryside simply did not see the need to significantly alter their Sabbath behaviors to align with classis or provincial synod expectations. Rural Christians simply kept doing on Sundays what they saw as appropriate and did not consider their practices to be sinful and in need of discipline. Regional authorities continued to lodge complaints about these rural practices, which they thought problematic, but rural Reformed Christians and consistories did not share their view. In sum, did the consistories not address Sabbath 90 Andrew Pettegree, Foreign Protestant Communities in Sixteenth-Century London (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), 183–84, note 5.

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observance as frequently because they did not see any significant problems with the ways in which their congregants were observing the Sabbath? A second possible explanation is that rural consistories held similar principles about Sunday observance and shared the usual theological tenets on which those principles were based. The infrequency of complaints, then, would not be due to a lack of prioritization; the presence of complaints at the higher ecclesiastical levels indicate that misconduct was prevalent in rural communities. According to this line of reasoning, consistories were concerned about the Sabbath desecration among their church members, but they realized, or at least supposed, that they were powerless to curb such desecration. This explanation is closest to what van Lieburg suggests when he notes that church authorities were forced to rely on political authorities for Sabbath enforcement, even though those political authorities were often hesistant to take action. In other words, were rural consistories more hesitant to address Sabbath observance because they thought their efforts would be futile? A third scenario is that while classes and provincial synods complained about the profaning of the Sabbath in rural communities, those complaints were misguided and, in fact, Sabbath observance in rural communities was quite good. The infrequency of complaints in rural consistory records would then be reasonable because there were relatively few cases of misconduct. This explanation would mean that the higher ecclesiastical bodies were mistaken in their complaints and that the imagined situations in rural areas were strikingly different than what was actually happening in those communities. If the first hypothesis is accepted, it indicates varied theological positions on proper Sabbath observance—variations that may be exacerbated by the contrasts between rural and urban environments. If the second hypothesis is considered to be the most plausible, interesting questions arise about potential limits to the authority of rural consistories versus potentially more authoritarian urban consistories. If the final hypothesis is the most accurate, the clear disjuncture between the higher ecclesiastical bodies and the local consistories needs to be explored since a misunderstanding, or even a misrepresentation, of local circumstances is involved. Regardless, the questions underpinning these three scenarios—including a more lax Sabbath observance leading to a more lax Sabbath enforcement or a more lax Sabbath enforcement leading to a more lax Sabbath observance—are difficult to disentangle. However, very tentatively, I would like to propose that the first of these three explanations is the most likely. The idea that higher ecclesiastical bodies misrepresented or drastically

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overestimated the profanation of Sundays and thus were complaining about rare or even nonexistent infractions seems improbable. The classes were composed of men who had served local congregations; at least some of these men would presumably have been familiar with the Sabbath practices of their own communities and of nearby communities. The second hypothesis described above—that consistories viewed themselves as unable to affect change in their congregations—is possible and was almost certainly closer to reality than the consistories themselves were willing to admit. The scholarly assumption has often been that ecclesiastical bodies, and in particular consistories, did not frequently adjust their expectations and priorities to the whims of church members, although that view has proved increasingly problematic.91 Nonetheless, even if the consistories felt ill-equipped to address the profanations of the Sabbath, they did so occasionally. Furthermore, it is perplexing that they would not have at least raised Sabbath desecration in the consistory records even if they were not unable or unwilling to take action. Thus, I would argue that Sabbath complaints are so prevalent in the records of the classes and the provincial synods and appear to be not as prevalent in rural consistories because rural churches simply had more lax attitudes towards Sabbath observance. It is tempting to adopt the argument that complaints at the local level were less common because political authorities were not apt to take action, but the hesitancy of political authorities seems unlikely to be enough for local consistories to simply ignore Sabbath desecration, especially if that desecration was objectionable to the consistories. Instead, I am in closer agreement with Uil and van Lieburg that strict Sabbath observance was simply not something with which rural consistories were overly concerned or, at least, were incapable of enacting.92 These attitudes would include the consistory members themselves, and such attitudes would fit well with the nature of rural consistories described in chapter 2. If this first hypothesis is indeed accurate, then it would provide a clear instance of varied religious beliefs and divergent expectations surrounding religious piety in the Reformed churches of the Low Countries. Moreover, in the particular instance of Sabbath observance, the variance 91 As one exception, Karen Spierling has noted “the needs and concerns of Genevan church members affected the design and implementation of Calvin’s baptismal doctrine.” Karen E. Spierling, Infant Baptism in Reformation Geneva: The Shaping of Community, 1536–1564 (Burlington: Ashgate, 2005), 219. Similarly, I have noted examples of Dutch Reformed classes recognizing their inability to prevent the popular market days from occurring on Sundays, despite theological reservations; Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 184–85. 92 Lieburg, Een eiland, 276–77; Uil, Redres ende reformatie, 67–68.

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in expectations appears to be directly linked to discrete early modern rural and urban lifestyles, political cultures, and theological beliefs.

Conclusions The overall pattern in these church records, then, is significant concern by classis authorities and provincial synods regarding rural Sabbath observance but more sparsely recorded worry by the rural consistories themselves. This discrepancy is important pursue, for it can help to shape the broader narrative of piety across Dutch Reformed churches. In particular, light is shed on how urban church authorities could, and did, have different expectations about the importance of Sabbath observance than did their rural counterparts. Frequency of complaints in church records is one means of attempting to demonstrate the importance given to a particular issue. Similarly, the consistency with which complaints arise over time can also be instructive. In the classis records, complaints about Sabbath observance in the countryside persist at least until the 1618–19 Synod of Dort and, although I have not studied the years after 1620 in great depth, likely beyond.93 Given the persistence of complaints, it is fair to surmise that rural behaviors regarding Sabbath observance did not dramatically improve. That is, classis authorities continued their struggle against this impiety. Of course, perceptions of rural Sabbath desecration by the classes may have exceeded reality, but it is unlikely that these complaints were completely dissociated from reality. Thus, the obvious conclusion is that classis complaints about Sabbath observance in the countryside had little impact on solving, what was from their perspective, the problem. The persistence with which the classes raise Sabbath complaints also speaks to the agency of Dutch Reformed Christians in rural areas. Because the complaints continue so steadily, these Christians apparently did not see the need to acquiesce to the classes’ demands. Religious authorities in small communities across the Low Countries were clearly concerned about Sabbath observance. However, the research conducted for this chapter indicates that Sabbath concerns were raised 93 Certainly, the theological debates surrounding the Sabbath only became more intense after the Synod of Dort. See Willem op ‘t Hof, “Ambivalent Assessments of the Synod of Dordt,” in Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), eds. Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 371–72, 383–85; also, Carmichael, A Continental View, 81–83; Dieleman, The Battle for the Sabbath, 106–12.

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less frequently than in urban communities and less frequently than at the levels of the classes and the provincial synods. Church records thus suggest that Reformed Christians, including those serving on consistories, in rural areas were less concerned about strict Sabbath observance or, at least, were less willing to pursue discipline against those who were desecrating the Sabbath. It would seem, then, that rural Christians had different definitions of “desecration,” were not overly concerned about Sabbath desecration, viewed Sabbath desecration as a problem that could not or should not be addressed, or, most likely, some combination of all of these explanations. While more research needs to be done to draw more definitive conclusions about Sabbath observance in rural areas, the issue of Sabbath observance across the Low Countries seems to illustrate one way in which religious experience and expectations was unique for Reformed Christians living in rural areas. Differing experiences between rural and urban areas are not particularly surprising. Naturally, weekly markets would be more tempting to rural Christians since buying and selling with various individuals sporadically during the week would require additional travel and time. Demands for attendance at the second, afternoon service would also be more burdensome for these Christians who, again, would have to take the time and make the effort to travel. Interestingly, it also seems that Christians in rural areas did not just experience the Sabbath differently but also viewed Sabbath observance itself differently. The findings here also suggest that theology, however it was formulated and disseminated, was not the only factor shaping of religious identity. In other words, Sunday practices did not simply mirror theological understandings of the Sabbath. Instead, this chapter has demonstrated that relationships between theology and practice were negotiated. For example, while Bastingius and Corsten, not to mention any number of other Dutch Reformed theologians, were both clear that the Fourth Commandment required participation in the ministries of the church, some Dutch Reformed members, such as those highlighted in this chapter, found that requirement too onerous. Similarly, while Corsten took a theologically standard position against Christians going to taverns on Sundays, any number of Reformed Christians, including, again, some of the individuals discussed above, ignored such prohibitions. Clearly, there was a sharp division between the theological expectations of certain Dutch Reformed Christians and the lived piety of other Dutch Reformed Christians. Furthermore, theological understandings themselves were also varied. In this chapter’s brief foray into Dutch Reformed expressions of theological understandings of the Sabbath, a considerable amount of variance is evident. As explored earlier in the chapter, for example,

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Bastingius was primarily interested in a “spiritual rest” that was prefigured by the Old Testament emphasis on physical rest, while Corsten was more interested in the physical activities of Sunday observance. It is important to reiterate that, no matter how tempting broad conclusions might be, there simply was no one Reformed or even Dutch Reformed theology of the Sabbath, just as there was no one piety that was agreed upon for what was permissible, impermissible, and required on the Lord’s Day. Instead, there was a complicated set of negotiations in which religious identity was not simply the adoption of theological principles, which themselves were diverse; rather, religious identity consisted of the recognition or dismissal of theological understandings that could be adopted, adapted, or rejected in the idiosyncratic lives of Dutch Reformed Christians.

Chapter Bibliography Primary Sources: Manuscripts Zeeuws Archief. “Notulen van de vergaderingen van de kerkenraad, 1606–1616, 1644–1647, 1648–1960.” In Hervormde Gemeente te Wemeldinge, 1606–1980, Collection 4063.

Primary Sources: Published Bastingius, Jeremias. An Exposition or Commentarie upon the Catechisme of Christian Religion Which Is Taught in the Scholes and Churches Both of the Lowe Countries, & of the Dominions of the Countie Palatine. By Ieremias Bastingius, Minister of the Word of God. Cambridge: John Legatt, 1596. Bastingius, Jeremias. In catechesin religionis Christianae, qvae in ecclesiis et scholis tum Palatinatvs tum Belgii traditur, exegemata siue commentarii, auctore Hieremia Bastingio Dei verbi administro. Dordrecht: Johannes Caninius, 1588. Bauwens, A., and D. van der Bauwhede, eds. Kerkeraad te Sluis. Acta van de Kerkeraad van de Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Sluis, 1578–1587. Torhout: Uitgeverij Flandria Nostra, 1986. Bouterse, J., ed. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 4: Provinciale synode Zeeland. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1995. Corsten, Cornelis. Uitleggingh de Kategismi der Gereformeerde Kerck in Nederduitslandt. Amsterdam: Gillis Dirckz. Booner, 1650. Corsten, Cornelis. Uutlegghinge des catechism der Reformeerde christelicke kercke in Neerduytslandt. Leiden: Henrick Haestans, 1598.

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Gelderen, J. van, and C. Ravensbergen, eds. Classicale Acta 1573–1620. Vol. 6: Provinciale synode Overijssel. The Hague: Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 2000. Jensma, Theunis W. Uw Rijk kome. Acta van de Kerkeraad van Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Dordrecht, 1573–1579. Dordrecht: Uitgeverij J. P. van den Tol, 1981. Reitsma, J., and S. D. van Veen, Acta der Provinciale en Particuliere Synoden, Gehouden in de Noordelijke Nederlanden Gedurende de Jaren 1572–1620. 8 vols. Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1892–99. Verouden, A. H. G., ed. Actaregister van de kerkenraad Nederduits Gereformeerde Gemeente te Arnemuiden, 1575–1625. Rotterdam: Hollandse Vereniging voor Genealogie “Ons Voorgeslacht,” 2013.

Secondary Sources Bayes, Jonathan F. The Threefold Division of the Law. Newcastle upon Tyne: The Christian Institute, 2017. Benedict, Philip. Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A History of Social Calvinism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Bierma, Lyle D. “Remembering the Sabbath Day: Ursinus’s Exposition of Exodus 20:8–11.” In Biblical Interpretation in the Era of the Reformation: Essays Presented to David C. Steinmetz in Honor of His Sixtieth Birthday, edited by Richard A. Muller and John L. Thompson, 272–91. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1996. Carmichael, Casey B. A Continental View: Johannes Cocceius’s Federal Theology of the Sabbath. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Deursen, Arie Th. van. Plain Lives in a Golden Age: Popular Culture, Religion, and Society in Seventeenth-Century Holland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Dieleman, Kyle J. The Battle for the Sabbath in the Dutch Reformation: Devotion or Desecration?. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019. Hof, Willem op ’t. “Ambivalent Assessments of the Synod of Dordt.” In Revisiting the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), edited by Aza Goudriaan and Fred van Lieburg, 367–96. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Lieburg, Fred van. Een eiland na de Reformatie. Schouwen-Duiveland, 1572–1700. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2011. Pettegree, Andrew. Foreign Protestant Communities in Sixteenth-Century London. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. Sinnema, Donald. “The Second Sunday Service in the Early Dutch Reformed Tradition,” Calvin Theological Journal 32, no. 2 (November 1, 1997): 298–333. Spaans, Joke. “Reformed in the Low Countries.” In A Companion to the Reformation World, edited by R. Po-chia Hsia, 118–34. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

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Spierling, Karen E. Infant Baptism in Reformation Geneva: The Shaping of Community, 1536–1564. Burlington: Ashgate, 2005. Stamkot, Bert. “Schipper-predikant Cornelis Corstenz: ongeletterde of geleerde.” De Hoeksteen. Tijdschrift voor vaderlandse kerkgeschiedenis 15 (1986): 83–91. Uil, Huib. “Redres ende reformatie. Magistraat en kerkenraad in Zierikzee en het openbare leven, 1576–1672.” Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie 32, no. 1 (2008): 56-79. Wildt, Kees de. “Cornelis Corsten (1582) en zijn verklaring van de Heidelbergse Catechismus (1598).” In Vijf continenten, vijf eeuwen. Vijf jaar geschiedbeoefening in het Kerkhistorisch Gezelschap S. S. S., edited by Christel de Lange and Roos Mulder, 92–104. Leiden: Kerkhistorisch Gezelschap S. S. S, 2011. Wildt, Kees de. “Interpreting the Heidelberg Catechism in the Sixteenth Century.” In The Spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism: Papers of the International Conference on the Heidelberg Catechism Held in Apeldoorn 2013, edited by Arnold Huijgen, 71–83. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015. Wouters, A. Ph. F. “Corstenz. (Christiani), Cornelis.” In Biografisch Lexicon voor de Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse protestantisme V, 124. Kampen: Kok, 2001. Wouters, A. Ph. F., and P. H. A. M. Abels. Nieuw en Ongezien. Kerk en samenleving in de classis Delft en Delftland, 1572–1621. 2 vols. Delft: Eburon, 1994.



Conclusion: Establishing and Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Low Countries Abstract Using the concept of identity, the focus on lay religious experience in rural communities allows for unique insights into the lives of Dutch Reformed Christians. In particular, rural churches adopted theological ideas but, in some cases, adapted that theology for their own particular contexts. Similarly, rural Dutch Reformed churches sought their own solutions for navigating ecclesiastical life, as is evident in their varying approaches to nominating and electing elders and deacons, to addressing other confessions within their communities, and to dealing with conflict within their churches. Even the desire for order and proper Sabbath observance were theological principles which rural churches sought to apply in ways unique to their specific rural settings. Thus, religious life in Dutch Reformed churches at local levels was varied to the point where rural churches could establish, maintain, and navigate the religious identities of their communities. Keywords: Religious Experience; Rural; Identity; Reformed; Dutch Republic

One of the basic and most important arguments of this book is that lay religious experience in Dutch communities was far from monolithic and was, in fact, often divergent from official proclamations by theologians and synods. Such a conclusion may seem obvious, but scholarship on the Reformations at least occasionally remains beholden to arguments or implicit assumptions that the Reformations were a top-down affair in which powerful theologians dictated changes to religious laity. The acceptance of these arguments and assumptions has arisen out of a temptation, driven in part by Enlightenment ideals, to privilege theology over practice.

Dieleman, K.J., Navigating Reformed Identity in the Rural Dutch Republic: Communities, Belief, and Piety. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023 doi: 10.5117/9789463727624_conc

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For far too long the story told of the Reformation was one where powerful, white men opened people’s eyes to religious truth. Once these heroic leaders illuminated the gospel truth, Christians throughout Europe bravely joined the cause. This top-down approach, if hyperbolically described, placed the impetus for change in the hands of a few theologically literate men. However, this narrative is no longer sufficient. Discussing Luther, for example, Susan Karant-Nunn pointed out over forty years ago that “the age is past when men look exclusively to the life and theology of Martin Luther for insight into the success of the German Reformation.”1 The Calvin Studies Society, in a volume edited by Amy Nelson Burnett, provided a similar corrective regarding Calvin through a sequence of essays that address the “myth and reality” of Calvin.2 Historians of the Reformations have increasingly acknowledged the agency of lay Christians in their own religious experience while still acknowledging the important roles of Luther, Calvin, and other theologians. Clearly, the tide has turned. As explored in my introduction, historians over the past several decades have investigated the lived experiences of early modern Christians and the ways in which their experiences could shape communities. For instance, Raymond Mentzer has observed, “Historians recognize that the Reformation was far more than the transformation of theological tenets or the introduction of new modes of prayer and liturgical practice. It also involved a careful reordering, delimitation, and supervision of the community.”3 In order to write these narratives based on lived experiences, scholars have turned to a variety of sources, including diaries, letters, and consistory records. While the use of consistory records to construct historical accounts is no longer new, many of these records remain unstudied, and the results of researching them continue to be fruitful. Consequently, like preceding studies, this book has focused on church records to consider the daily lives of Reformed Christians in the Low Countries and to understand the ways in which these Christians constructed and navigated their communities. While historians and casually interested observers may still be inclined to focus on the practices of individuals deemed significant and important, 1 Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Luther’s Pastors: The Reformation in the Ernestine Countryside (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1979), 6. 2 Amy Nelson Burnett, ed., John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva’s Reformer, Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011). 3 Raymond A. Mentzer, “Introduction,” in Sin and the Calvinists: Morals Control and the Consistory in the Reformed Tradition, ed. Raymond A. Mentzer (Kirksville: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1994), vii.

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historical theologians and intellectual church historians have increasingly reacted against this tendency in their studies of early modern Protestant theologies. As Richard Muller recently quipped, rightly or wrongly, “We’ve recognized that Calvin has been overstudied. We don’t need another book on the theology of Calvin or Calvin’s theology of topic X.”4 Social historians, especially those who consider the Low Countries, have tended to focus on urban centers as the most important centers of early modern religious life. This book has attempted to meet the above challenges in two significant ways. First, it has sought to demonstrate the importance of theological understandings and also to examine the piety and practices of ordinary people. Chapter 1, for example, addressed the biblical and theological understandings of order within the Reformed tradition. The theological belief that order is a divine command flowing from God’s very nature led to a specific sort of ecclesiastical life and helps to make sense of the Reformed use of church orders. Similarly, in chapter 2, attention was paid to the theological underpinnings of the offices of elder and deacon. As in the first chapter, the argument pursued there emphasized that these theological convictions shaped religious life in rural Reformed communities even when the theological views were altered or ignored. That same line of argument is pursued in chapter 5 regarding the Sabbath. Theological understandings of the Sabbath were more varied, but they were still part of a reciprocal relationship with people’s actual Sabbath practices, continuing to prove the point that religious life was a complex balancing of theology, belief, piety, and practice. Second, the research and argument of this book have tried to shift scholarly focus from large churches in urban centers to small communities in rural areas. Smaller rural churches encountered various difficulties that could present unique challenges. For example, chapter 2 explores the ways in which nominating and electing elders and deacons could be challenging when the number of possible candidates was small. Chapter 3 presents the further difficulties that occurred when small consistories engaged with members of Reformed churches who slid into Catholicism or Anabaptism. 4 Richard A. Muller, “Reformations Conversation: A Talk with Richard Muller,” hosted by Karin Maag, October 16, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1WqvSZxVlU. He sets out the relevant academic argument in After Calvin: Studies in the Development of a Theological Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 63–102. The exaggeration of Muller’s statement, however, is evidenced by recent, excellent works, such as Lyle D. Bierma, Font of Pardon and New Life: John Calvin and the Efficacy of Baptism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021); Barbara Pitkin, Calvin, the Bible, and History: Exegesis and Historical Reflection in the Era of Reform (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020).

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From those difficulties, valuable insights were gleaned regarding how aspects of daily life, such as privacy, patience, and power, functioned in these rural churches. Finally, chapter 4 explored what religious life was like in small churches as they sought to navigate conflicts within the consistory, with schoolmasters, or with other ecclesiastical bodies, including larger churches and classes. These conflicts, of course, were not unique to rural churches, but the ways in which small communities sought to handle and resolve these conflicts shed light on the religious lives of these communities. In sum, this book has sought, as much as possible, to reveal ways in which small, and thus frequently ignored, church congregations experienced their religious lives in the early modern Low Countries.

Lay Religious Experience A first conclusion of this book is, at its core, not particularly groundbreaking. Lived religious experiences in Reformed churches throughout the early modern Low Countries were remarkably varied. Consistent with the variety of virtually every aspect of early modern life in the Low Countries, religious practices were varied, including from one Reformed church to another, and theological beliefs were not uniformly enacted in religious practices. On some occasions, theological articulations were closely reflected in people’s religious piety, to be sure. The issue of the Sabbath, addressed in chapter 5, is particularly complicated because theological understandings of the Sabbath varied dramatically. The multifaceted theological understanding of the Sabbath itself is worth noting since it serves as a reminder that there was no single, unanimous Reformed theological tradition. Adding to the complications surrounding the Sabbath is the fact that some church records suggest how many church members were willing to adapt Sunday observance. On the other hand, other church records, especially those at the level of the classes, evoke a much different portrayal, one in which Sunday observance was poor and desecration, a contested term in itself, was frequent. The theological arguments surrounding elders and deacons recognized that many procedural expectations were not essential matters of doctrine but fell under the category of “adiaphora.” For example,this ambivalence was present in debates about term lengths and the methods of elections. However, Reformed polity, as it pertained to elders and deacons, was based on a specific reading of Scripture according to which elders and deacons were viewed as divinely ordained offices. The regulations guiding those offices and the understanding of who was eligible to serve in those offices

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were also seen as ordained in Scripture. However, chapter 2 revealed that theological premises about elders and deacons were not always reflected in practice. Consequently, that chapter provides yet another example of how Reformed theological beliefs did not always align with the lived experiences of Reformed individuals and congregations in the Low Countries. Finally, the ways in which churches regulated religious life was hardly uniform. From the views of church orders held by individual churches (discussed in chapter 1) to the process of electing elders and deacons (discussed in chapter 2), the realities of religious life in small communities was clearly varied. This could mean that some men were nearly permanent fixtures on the consistory in some churches, or it could mean that other communities altered the election process of elders in the face of untimely deaths. In addition, some churches sought to align themselves closely with church order protocols, while other churches simply formulated their own church orders. That is, churches navigated their religious lives differently based on the unique contexts and needs of their particular communities. The second conclusion of this book builds from the first and, consequently, is slightly more complex. In the context of the multifaceted nature of Reformed religion, Reformed communities in the Low Countries did not simply adopt and mimic top-down versions of early modern Dutch Reformed Christianity. Across the Dutch communities researched here, lived experiences of Reformed Christianity did not always align with official prescriptions. For example, as demonstrated in chapter 1, church orders agreed upon at the upper levels of the Dutch Reformed church polity, for instance national or provincial synods, were not always incorporated into the lives of churches at the level of the classis or even the local congregation. Similarly, lay piety incorporated aspects of other religious confessional groups much to the consternation of consistories and classes, as discussed in chapter 3. Furthermore, from the conflicts considered in chapter 4, it is clear that local consistories did not always seek, or even heed, the direction of the regional classes. The final chapter reveals how Sabbath observance was far from the ideal that church authorities desired. Together, these chapters prove that religious life in early modern Reformed communities across the Low Countries was not merely dictated from above. Rather, individual Christians and local congregations could and did consistently adapt their religious practices to fit their own belief systems and local contexts. More complicated still and, perhaps, most unique for current understandings of the Reformations is the third conclusion: the distinction between lay Reformed actors and official, elite religious authorities is a deceptive construct that did not always reflect the more porous boundaries of religious

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life in Reformed churches. In chapter 2, the narrow margins of victory in consistory elections demonstrate the small margins which could shift someone from being a lay, non-office-holding church member to an official officeholder in a Dutch Reformed church. Similarly in that chapter, men were frequently reelected after varying lengths of time when they were not serving as elders or deacons. At times, these men were part of the official ecclesiastical hierarchy, and at other times, they were not; whether they might be classified as “elite” or “lay,” then, was determined only by the year in question. Chapter 4 provides evidence that religious knowledge was not simply the privilege of the formally educated; for instance,Anabaptist women were able to argue specific theological points in ways that shocked even the consistory and, perhaps, surpassed the religious “elites” with whom they were debating. Thus, it is necessary to realize that binaries such as “lay” versus “elite” or “theologically educated” versus “theologically illiterate” are not representative of reality, even if the aspersion cast on such dualities causes difficulties in terminology.

Rural Religious Experience As indicated in the “Introduction,” defining communities as cities, towns, villages, or even rural is a process beset with a number of difficulties. In addition to the complexities of terminology, it would also be presumptuous to assume that these small communities, however defined, were fundamentally different from urban areas. In fact, a number of instances throughout this book have indicated that rural and urban churches operated in similar ways and held similar concerns. This first conclusion is important to keep in mind, lest an overzealous author overstate his claims! For instance, parts of chapter 2 reveal that aspects of the election process for elders and deacons were remarkably uniform regardless of church location or size. In chapter 3, the confessional interactions encountered by rural churches were certainly not unknown to urban congregations, and the conflicts highlighted in chapter 4 were also ubiquitous in urban churches. However, Reformed churches in rural communities did face unique challenges. Each chapter explores these challenges. In chapter 1, the existence of a local church order suggests not only the autonomy that the local church seized but also that the church perceived a need to conduct its own affairs since the church orders developed in regional and provincial urban centers were, in blunt terms, not for them. Across chapter 2, rural congregations needed fewer elders and deacons and also had fewer men from

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whom to choose; those limitations required adapting processes when facing untimely deaths or unqualified nominees. Chapters 3 and 4 illuminate the various tactics deployed by rural churches when facing interconfessional competition and intra-confessional conflicts. In addition to considering situations which were simply more prevalent in rural churches, such as pastoral vacancies, both chapters reveal that the intimate nature of rural communities frequently influenced and complicated the ways in which interconfessional and intra-confessional relationships were navigated. Less definitively, chapter 5 raises fascinating questions and provides tentative conclusions regarding expectations and practices surrounding Sabbath observance in rural churches and communities. Two specific features of religious life in rural Reformed churches are worth briefly addressing further. First, one reality of religious experience in small Reformed churches that emerges from this book is that the ways in which community members’ lives overlapped could cause conflict and require learning to negotiate daily life together. As discussed in chapter 4, this reality of conflict and learned negotiation included consistory members who disagreed with each other so intensely that their quarrels would be heard before the classis. At the same time, these men needed to continue serving together on a small consistory and to conduct their other social relationships. Another clear example of negotiating conflict is one consistory’s comment defending the honor of a Catholic citizen when abused by a Reformed church member. Clearly, interpersonal relationships were complex, and life as a Reformed Christian added another layer of identity to further complicate social interactions. Secondly, the defining feature of rural communities—their small populations—created difficulties that required unique strategies and a willingness to adapt. Rural life fostered a different sort of existence in terms of economics, transportation, and social relationships, but it also necessitated, or at least lent itself towards, different types of religious experiences. Related to the previous conclusion, conflicts within rural churches were almost automatically personal since community members would have known each other and would have been in frequent contact with one another. That would have been even more true of the members of the Reformed church within those communities. While Christians in larger cities and churches also had intimate relationships, they had the potential for greater distance in relationships due to less frequent encounters between members. Similarly, as described above, the processes of nominating and electing elders and deacons presented unique challenges. However, the impact of the rural nature of these communities went beyond such challenges and,

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in fact, affected the processes themselves and the men who were elected. The margins by which a candidate could win or lose an election could be extremely small, and the processes could be altered if suitable candidates, however mysteriously determined, were available to substitute for those deemed less suitable—for instance, when nominees for elders were inserted into the office of deacon or when certain candidates were withdrawn. As for the men themselves, given the small pool of men who might be elected, the call to service seems to have impacted a larger percentage of men in smaller communities, especially since larger consistories in cities frequently drew on the same officeholders year after year. Thus, one would be justified in supposing that rural churches needed to be less stringent in whom they viewed as suitable candidates, and the men themselves needed to be open to the reality that they would likely serve as elders or deacons.5 Again, it is not impossible for these realities to have been present in urban churches, but the circumstances were certainly different. Similarly, some of the above conclusions are difficult to prove definitively given the limitations of the sources. However, the reality of unique religious experiences in rural communities seems plausible. As many historians of the Reformations know, the large nature of the annual American Historical Association conference is sharply distinct from the smaller, though still substantial, Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, which is quite different yet again from the still smaller biannual Calvin Studies Society Colloquium. The evidence in this book regarding the unique situations and strategies present in the Reformed churches of the Low Countries supports the argument that rural churches, which represented a significant amount of the total population of Reformed Christians in the Low Countries, had lived religious experiences that were fundamentally different from those of urban churches precisely because of their small, rural natures.

Religious Identity The topics addressed in the preceding chapters have been framed as ways in which Dutch Reformed church authorities sought to shape the religious 5 Jesse Spohnholz has commented that he has found evidence in Dutch Reformed exile communities of men who had been subjected to discipline and subsequently elected as elder or deacon. Those comments were part of a Sixteenth Century Studies Conference session: “The Loose Ends of History 2.5: New Sources for New Reformation Narratives,” Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, Minneapolis, 2022 in response to Kyle Dieleman, “Gleaning Insights on Dutch Reformed Religious Life from Elections of Elders and Deacons in Rural Dutch Reformed Consistories.”

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identity of their church members and communities. On this point, it is helpful to return again to the conceptual structure of the book. Part I, consisting of the first two chapters, addresses the ways in which ecclesiastical structures shaped life in Dutch Reformed churches. Church orders, discussed in the first chapter, were remarkably frequent since the concept of order itself was a theological foundation upon which Reformed churches could ground their own identities and those of their church members. Similarly, elders and deacons functioned as divinely instituted authorities. Since elders and deacons were considered to be divinely instituted in Reformed theology, both offices possessed an authority that was used to orchestrate Reformed churches and the lives of church members. However, the first two chapters demonstrate that these religious structures and authorities did not simply dictate religious life from above. In other words, the formation of religious identity in Dutch Reformed churches was not simply a top-down affair, even if that was the intention of the religious authorities. Consistently, local churches insisted on their ability to control and shape their own religious experiences and identities. Part II of this book, comprising chapters three through five, shifts the focus to aspects of lived, everyday piety. In recent decades, scholars have demonstrated well how confessional interactions were simply a part of Dutch life. How these interactions were negotiated continues to be an important part of understanding Dutch religious life. Chapter 3 demonstrates that religious authorities sought to shape the identities of their own church members, especially when those members ventured into religious thought and practices of other confessions. However, their efforts were not always successful; in fact, they often confronted the reality that confessional lines were not always ardently maintained in their churches and communities. That is, while religious authorities sought to shape the religious identities of their community members, they were often unable to do so in because individuals refused to surrender their religious beliefs and practices. Chapter 4 shifted from conflicts among religious confessions to conflicts within the Reformed confession. The case studies considered in this chapter illustrate both the ways in which conflicts were handled and the topics over which conflicts occurred. They also suggest how complex identities in small communities could be since members of the community had intimate relationships with one another and wore a number of different hats, so to speak. Churches themselves often had a perception of what they wanted their identity to be, whether that identity centered around securing or dismissing a schoolmaster or filling a vacant pastoral position. Conflicts could and did occur when achieving that identity was frustrated or even

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prohibited. Thus, conflicts often centered around the question of authority and who was able to make decisions regarding religious life and autonomy. These conflicts were, then, fundamentally about determining religious identity, whether as individuals or as a community. Finally, the last chapter, which considered Sabbath observance, demonstrates that priorities surrounding religious practices were not always shared. While Reformed theologians interpreted the Sabbath commandment in different ways, it is also clear that these theological articulations were not necessarily the primary factor in how people practiced their Sunday observance. In the eyes of the Dutch Reformed classes, Sunday observance was a cornerstone of Reformed identity, but church members in rural Reformed communities seemed to be less concerned about this aspect of their identity. Whether this was because rural communities had already incorporated the practice of a strict Sabbath into their religious lives or whether this was because they were so unconcerned with a strict Sabbath observance that they did not see the need to address it frequently in consistory records is difficult to discern. However, the latter scenario seems more probable. Nevertheless, it is clear that Sabbath observance in rural areas did not play the role of establishing a Reformed identity that was expected by Reformed ecclesiastical authorities.

Research Limitations and Trajectories As with any historical reconstruction, and thus as with any history, the arguments presented here are incomplete and worthy of further study. As Jesse Spohnholz has argued, “The past is fundamentally unknowable to us in the present, at least in a complete sense.”6 Since each of the previous chapters builds to some extent on the research of other scholars, this book seeks to clarify and further our knowledge of how Dutch Reformed communities organized their churches, believed in Christian doctrines, and navigated their religious lives. Source limitations are a reality for much of the research conducted on the long sixteenth century, and researching the Low Countries during this 6 Jesse Spohnholz, The Convent of Wesel: The Event That Never Was and the Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 228. While I tend to agree with Spohnholz’s approach in The Convent of Wesel, his viewpoints are not without critics; see Philip Benedict, “Of Church Orders and Postmodernism: The Convent of Wesel, the Construction of the Dutch Reformed Church Order and the History and Nature of History,” Low Countries Historical Review 136, no. 1 (2021): 59–77.

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time period is no exception. This is particularly true of rural communities, for which consistory records have often not survived. Even the consistory records that do survive can often be in poor condition and offer daunting paleographical challenges. In other words, reconstructing the religious lives of rural communities in the long sixteenth century remains a challenge. The religious lives of rural communities in the Low Countries indubitably needs more scholarly attention. Because this book touched on only a few Reformed communities, it is limited in a number of ways. For example, more geographical coverage is needed. The focus in this book was primarily on churches in the provinces of Zeeland and Holland. Given that provinces in the Low Countries varied dramatically, including in approaches to religious issues, more research is needed on other provinces. In particular, additional research on rural communities in northern provinces, such as Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe, would be valuable. Another important opportunity for further research is comparative studies between urban cities and rural communities. This type of study could take a number of approaches. One could do a one-to-one comparison between an urban community and a rural community on any of the topics addressed in this book. Or, a more comprehensive comparison among several urban and rural communities on one or more of the themes explored here would also provide fascinating insights into the work begun here. These additional studies would provide helpful confirmations and correctives to the conclusions that I have drawn and, most likely, would highlight new conclusions not broached in this book. In addition, the focus in this book has been primarily on Reformed communities, even when touching on inter-confessional relationships. While much work has been done on the religious experiences of Catholics, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Remonstrants, Jews, and Muslims, more detailed analysis of these faith communities in rural areas would be useful. Such studies would be particularly enlightening since scholars have supposed that these religious minorities could find a safe haven in rural communities. Despite these limitations and in the face of these exciting possibilities for further research, the study here of various aspects of Reformed life in small, rural communities reminds us that religious movements, including the Protestant Reformations, should never be reduced to only the ponderings and conclusions of theologians, the deliberations and decisions of urban elites, or the inclinations of and instructions from religious authorities. Instead, a thorough understanding of religious life in the Low Countries must take seriously the religious lives of those living in small Reformed communities who sought, resisted, and adapted their own religious beliefs,

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practices, and structures. These everyday religious lives, pursued in the everyday realities and complexities of small, intimate communities, have always been complex webs of beliefs and practices that weave together to shape religious identity.

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Index Amsterdam 30, 36, 47, 49–50, 126, 245 Anabaptists 23 n.37, 24, 28, 42–45, 56, 59, 77, 125–29, 134, 136–37, 140–42, 145–46, 151–54, 172, 202, 205, 230, 235, 240, 248, 258–59 Antwerp 16, 27, 36, 42, 47–48, 52, 162, 242–43, 251 Arnemuiden 18–19, 31–32, 34, 46, 60–61, 82–84, 87, 101–02, 104, 107, 112–13, 121, 126–133, 145, 147, 152, 176, 178, 210–211, 223, 240 Baptism 12–13, 68, 70, 77–79, 127–28, 135–38, 141–43, 147–48, 151, 180, 209–210, 219, 224, 227 n.4, 236, 241, 256 Bastingius, Jeremias(h) 189, 192–200, 205–206, 221–222, 237 Belgic Confession 61–62, 67, 86, 95, 122, 141, 152, 166, 238, 245 Benedict, Philip 15, 21–22, 42 n.110, 47, 54, 62 n.16, 87, 92, 121, 162, 186, 189 n.1, 223, 234 n.6, 236, 241, 256 Biblical books 1 Corinthians 57, 63–67, 86–87, 93, 197, 238, 240, 251 1 Timothy 93–95 2 Timothy 64–65, 196 Romans 93–95, 120, 138–140, 238 Jeremiah 64–65, 86, 238 John 139 Hebrews 138–140 Bucer, Martin 93, 122–123, 242, 256 Burgomaster 106–07, 119, 132, 211 Calvin, John 15 n.17, 51, 57, 59–60, 62–65, 68, 86–87, 89, 92–95, 114–115, 120–124, 128 n.5, 148–149, 152–154, 199 n.23, 219 n.91, 226–227, 236, 238, 241–242, 244–245, 248, 250–254, 257–258 Calvinism 15, 39, 47–51, 53–55, 66, 88, 121–24, 152, 156, 172, 183, 186–87, 223, 236, 241, 243–45, 247–48, 251–54, 256, 258 Catholic(s) 12–14, 16, 24, 28, 42, 44–45, 50–56, 59, 92, 122–23, 125–131, 133, 143–45, 147, 151, 156–57, 163, 166, 169–71, 173, 187, 198, 200, 205, 227, 231, 235, 247–48, 250–53, 255–56, 258–59 Papist 12, 78, 127, 130, 133, 143, 145, 166, 170–71, 205 Church Orders 19, 43, 57–58, 60–63, 68–77, 80–85, 91–93, 98–103, 106, 118, 165, 170, 175, 179, 227, 229–30, 233 Cleves 32

Classis Classis Bommel 169–171 Classis Delft 172 Classis Deventer 166, 210 Classis Dordrecht 176, 206 Classis Goes 179 Classis Gorinchem 166, 170–71, 186, 240 Classis Kampen 206, 209–210 Classis Leiden 166 Classis Nijmegen 117, 175–176, 206 Classis Over-Veluwe 206 Classis Rotterdam 166–167 Classis Schouwen 11, 129 Classis Tholen 11, 129, 209 Classis Tiel 175–76 Classis Walcheren 11, 127, 129–135, 147, 153, 163–165, 167–168, 174, 179, 209–210, 248 Classis Zuid-Beveland 11, 129, 163 Classis Zutphen 117 Confessionalization 11, 20–23, 25–26, 28, 47, 49, 51–52, 80, 241, 246, 2501 Corsten, Cornelis 189, 192–93, 199–206, 221–222, 224, 238 257–259 Deacons 14, 19, 25, 40–41, 43, 61–62, 68–71, 77, 80, 82–85, 91–112, 114–15, 117–19, 122, 155, 183–84, 225, 227–33 Death 42, 75, 168, 194, 200, 229, 231 Delft 38, 53, 108–12, 124, 172, 188, 215, 224, 253, 259 Desecration 12, 163, 189, 207–10, 215–21, 228 Discipline 14, 28–29, 37, 64, 69, 71–74, 78–79, 94–97, 125, 135, 144, 146, 149–50, 157, 190–92, 195–96, 214–15, 217, 221, 232 n.5 Disorder 12, 74, 94, 143, 20 Dordrecht 109–12, 121, 177, 215, 223, 239 Provincial Synod, 1574 69, 99 National Synod, 1578 69–71, 80, 98, 100, 177 National Synod, 1618-1619 71, 99, 170, 177 Drenthe 73 n.55, 81, 235 Drenthe Church Order 73–74 Duke, Alastair 27, 49, 88, 187, 244, 254 Elders 14, 19, 25, 40–41, 43, 61–62, 66, 68–71, 77, 80, 82–85, 91–110, 112–15, 117–19, 133, 144, 155, 157, 159, 183–84, 225, 227–33 Elections 14, 40, 43, 80, 82–83, 91, 98–102, 104–106, 109–11, 113–14, 117–19, 133, 158–59, 228–30, 232 Emden 63, 69–71, 89, 98–100, 123, 162, 177, 186, 188, 244, 253

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Friesland 54, 81, 84, 235, 256 Frijhoff, Willem 27, 49, 101 n.43, 122, 245 Gelderland 18–19, 101, 118, 121, 169, 175, 186, 239 Provincial Synod of 208 Geneva 15, 51, 59, 68, 88–89, 92, 94, 124, 148–49, 153–54, 224, 236, 241–42, 248, 250, 252 Goes 75, 80, 83 Gravamina 11–12, 19, 83, 129–30, 161 Hauweel, Pieter 137 Heidelberg Catechism 96, 121, 166, 192, 193 n.6, 200, 224, 240, 258–59 Holland Province of South Holland 39, 166, 208, 244 Province of North Holland 208 Honor 95, 144, 149, 198, 202, 231 Huissen 18, 31–32, 117–118, 120, 237 Hyperius, Andreas 57, 60 n.10, 66–67, 87, 89, 239–240, 255–56 IJzendijke 18, 31–34, 53, 103, 104 n.51, 106, 108, 120, 163–64, 167, 176–80, 182, 185, 237, 254 Jews 23 n.28, 42, 52, 126, 139–40, 194, 196–199, 201, 235, 251 Kampen 102, 122–23, 215, 244, 253 Kaplan, Benjamin 23, 26 n.49, 27, 50, 53, 156, 183, 187, 245, 247–48, 253 Kerckhove, Pierijne vanden 138–139, 141–142, 146–148 Kingdon, Robert 15, 48, 51, 60 n.10, 62 n.16, 88, 243, 248 Kooi, Christine 9, 16 n.21, 18, 23, 24 n.40, 29 n.58, 42, 51, 101 n.43, 117 n.98, 122, 157 n.5, 187, 248 Laren, Daniel van 178–80 Laren, Joos van 128, 179–80 Lasco, Johannes a 63, 87, 90, 239, 257 Leeuw, Pieter van 163–165, 167–168, 184 Leiden 57, 60 n.10, 67, 96–97, 118, 192, 200 Lieburg, Fred van 51, 81, 85, 88–89, 115, 123, 173, 187, 216, 218–219, 223, 246–247, 249, 252, 255 London 63, 89, 223, 253 London Church Order 63 Lord’s Supper 77–8, 127–131, 138, 140, 143, 203, 205, 210, 212–14 Lutherans 24, 38 n.99, 42–43, 50, 55, 59, 66, 88, 200, 235, 246, 249, 257–58 Maag, Karin 9, 15 n.17, 48, 60 n.10, 66, 89, 172–73, 187, 227 n.4, 236, 243, 250, 252 Magistrate 67, 73–74, 78–79, 82–83, 97, 100–01, 106, 131, 136–37, 144–45, 179, 183, 195–96, 199

Marriage 70, 74, 77, 79, 134, 181 McKee, Elsie 93–94, 114, 122–23, 251 Mennonites 24 n.42, 49, 141, 246 Mentzer, Raymond 9, 22 n.29, 23 n.27, 47, 52, 59, 89, 149 n.107, 153, 226, 236, 241, 251, 254 Middelburg 96, 127, 129, 132, 164, 176–78, 209 National Synod of 1581 70–71, 99, 114, 177 Provincial Synod of 1591 73, 80–81, 83, 100–01 Moerman, Pieter 158–159, 168, 182–184 Muller, Richard 60 n.10, 89, 186, 223, 227, 236, 240, 252 Nadere Reformatie 81, 194, 216 n.82, 224, 258 Noppe, Pieter 133–37, 145, 147’ Oostburg 164–65, 167–68, 174–75, 182, 184 Order 12, 14, 20, 57, 69, 76, 85, 114, 197, 225, 227, 233 Parker, Charles 16 n.21, 23, 24 n.40, 41 n.107, 42, 53, 253 Pastors 14, 18–20, 25, 37, 43–44, 46, 66, 68, 71, 75, 77, 81, 92, 95–97, 101, 117–19, 128, 132–33, 135, 143–44, 151, 155–59, 162–63, 166, 168, 170–85, 192–93, 199–200, 204, 207–208, 211–12, 214, 231, 233 Pettegree, Andrew 24, 25 n.46, 53, 63, 89, 116 n.94, 123, 162 n.23, 172 n.73, 187–88, 217 n.90, 223, 244–45, 253 Pollmann, Judith 17, 23, 27, 27, 42, 49–51, 53, 55, 116 n.92, 123, 149, 153, 217, 244, 248–249, 253–254, 257 Poor, care for 41, 82, 94–96, 99–100, 198, 203 Population 19, 29–36, 39, 42, 109, 112, 126–27, 231–32 Prak, Maarten 29–30, 35–36, 53, 122, 125 n.1, 153, 245, 254 Rave, Maeijken 137–139, 142–143, 146, 148–150 Remonstrants 126, 155–56, 235 Rest 54, 194–205, 222, 256 Rhenoy 169–70 Sabbath 11–14, 29, 40–41, 44–45, 79–81, 96, 122, 189–223, 225, 227–29, 231, 234, 241, 243–44 Salary 165, 167, 169, 173, 175–76, 180 Scandal 79, 97, 170 Schools 12, 164, 166, 169, 186, 241–242 Schoolmasters 19, 44, 69, 74, 77–78, 80–81, 83, 116, 155, 159–161, 163–167, 169–171, 181, 183, 199, 228 Serooskerke 18, 31, 33, 102, 104–07, 112, 120, 157–59, 168, 181–83, 185, 237 Sheriff 122, 134, 145, 155, 157–59, 181–84, 187, 211, 215–16, 248 Sijmonsen, Adrijaen 157–159, 182–84 Simons, Menno 92, 121, 140, 153, 239, 246

Index

Sluis 18–19, 31, 33–34, 46, 48, 126, 133–38, 141–48, 152–53, 210, 212, 222, 238, 240, 243, 247 Spaans, Joke 16 n.21, 22, 23 n.34, 42, 54, 189 n.1, 223, 256 Spanbroek 58, 86, 237 Spicer, Andrew 47–49, 53–54, 241, 243–244, 254, 256 Spohnholz, Jesse 9, 25, 40 n.105, 54, 69, 90, 101 n.43, 114, 116, 117 n.98, 123–24, 232 n.5, 234, 236, 256 Sunday 12, 14, 77, 79–80, 127, 132, 174, 189–91, 194, 198–99, 206–212, 215–19, 221–23, 228, 234, 256 Synopsis of Purer Theology 57, 67, 86, 97–98, 120, 192, 237 Teellinck, Johannes 77, 81 Teellinck, Willem 81, 132, 192 Tholen 12, 74, 80 Tolerance/Toleration 26–29, 49, 55, 141, 150, 164, 174, 203, 246, 258 Towns 29–31, 33–36, 38–40, 75, 107, 117–18, 130, 133, 157, 159, 166–67, 169–70, 172, 176, 178, 183, 193 Urbanization 29, 31, 35–36 Ursinus, Zacharias 96, 121, 192–93, 200, 223, 240–41 Utrecht 23 n.35, 27 n.50, 30, 39, 50, 56, 126, 156 n.2, 160 n.17, 183, 187, 247, 259 Province of 35, 38, 56, 186, 242, 244, 259 Union of 34 Provincial Synod 100-01

263 Vacancy 44, 82, 103, 114, 171, 174–77, 180–82, 231, 233 Veen, Mirjam van 9, 24 n.42, 25, 50, 54–55, 101 n.43, 116, 124, 247, 256, 258 Vermigli, Peter Martyr 57, 60 n.10, 65–66, 87, 141, 152, 240, 244 Villages 12, 31, 33, 35–36, 38–39, 127, 164, 166, 170, 172, 200 202, 210–11, 215, 230 Vlissingen 176, 178–79 Voorlezer 78, 164–65, 169–70 Weddings 71, 79, 81 Wemeldinge 18, 31, 33, 57, 60–61, 74–86, 102, 122, 169, 185, 210–215, 222, 237, 244 Working 76, 110, 144, 159, 165, 175, 183, 193–94, 198–99, 201–203, 204–206, 212, 214, 216 Wildt, Kees de 192–93, 200, 224, 258 Women 16, 64, 96, 114, 140, 142–43, 146, 148–51, 230 Zeeland 18–19, 29, 33, 35, 55, 75, 81–84, 87, 127, 161, 163, 166, 187–88, 207, 216, 235, 239–40, 244, 249, 257–58, Provincial Synod 11, 13, 46, 73 n.54, 80, 83, 88, 127, 129, 152, 163, 185, 222, 238 Church Order 73–74, 80, 82, 86, 237 Ziekentroosters 115–16, 122–23, 173, 247, 252 Zuid-Beveland 33, 75 Zurich 38, 63