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King Willem-Alexander we do research to the role of his family, the Van Oranje-Nassau family, in the colonial past. This covers the period from the late 16th century to the present.
But what is actually already known?
The Orange are known to have been involved in colonial rule in both the East (formerly Dutch East Indies) and West (Suriname and the Caribbean Islands). Former professor Gert Oostindie (Leyden University), who research will realize, he has already researched it himself and published his findings in the book The pearls and the crown.
“There is no doubt that they were deeply involved in that colonial history, but to what extent they were actually active, we really don’t know. What if he gained a lot from that colonial property? It’s not clear either.” These are then important questions that need to be answered in the research.
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King Willem-Alexander’s ancestors belonged to the country’s absolute elite and held senior positions in both the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the West India Company (WIC). It all started with the nephew of Willem van Oranje’s brother: Johan Maurits van Nassau was governor of Dutch Brazil from 1636 on behalf of the WIC. There were large sugar cane plantations.
In order to have enough workers, the Elmina slave fort on the coast of Ghana was captured by the Portuguese in 1637. From then on, the WIC plunged into the transatlantic slave trade.
Stadtholder William V
During the 18th century, Stadtholder William IV (1711-1751) and his successor William V (1747-1806) were both Supreme Governors of the WIC, William V also of the VOC. Often they did not participate directly in the meetings, but were represented by their advisers.
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One of them was Thomas Hope. He held a senior position within the WIC on behalf of Willem IV and Willem V. He was also a banker at Hope & Co, a predecessor of ABN Amro. The bank commissioned an investigation into its involvement in the slave trade and made an offer earlier this year apologies in.
Pepijn Brandon was one of the researchers and also found references to stadtholders in the WIC archives. If, in their view, the distribution to shareholders was too minimal, they would throw their top board member, Stadtholder William V, into battle. “Since the pleasure for the Highness is also too low, the benefits must increase.”
Like much nobility during this period, the Oranges also had black retainers. You can sometimes see these (usually) men in the paintings noble families had made of themselves. For example, a black man can be seen in a painting of stadtholder William III in the Veere Town Hall. Research has shown that this man often accompanied the governor to dinner parties.
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Cupid -
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Sideron
“It was a sign of prestige,” says Esther Schreuder, who has written a book about Cupid and Sideron, two black boys who were entrusted to Stadtholder William V. “At first they were meant to be seen. There was something regal about them, dark people in court It showed that you had ties to the whole world.”
Slavery
Even in the 19th century, when the Netherlands became a monarchy, the Oranges kept a firm finger in the colonial past. After the accession of King William I (1772-1843) to the throne, he had it stipulated in the Cultural System (1830) that the indigenous population of the Dutch East Indies had to perform forced labor for the Dutch government.
After the constitutional amendment of 1848, in which parliament limited the power of the king, criticism grew and the cultivation system was abolished around 1870. Seven years earlier, under King William III (1817-1890), slavery was finished.
But Dutch colonial rule in the East and West lasted well into the 20th century. Even historians like Brandon have questions about that period. “To what extent did the Orange continue to invest in those colonial enterprises, from private companies to Royal Dutch Shell?”
Publish everything
To conduct research, the committee led by Oostindie will have access to documents from the archives of the Royal Household. That archive, especially in the 21st century, can only be viewed with the permission of the king.
According to Brandon, this is a task for the researchers. “As long as the conclusions are not traceable to other researchers, we cannot speak of a scientific conclusion”. Oostindie agrees. “What we have now agreed is that we can publish whatever we find. We still have to agree on the accessibility of the archive for other researchers to test.”
The research will last about three years.
