Diplomatics in the Netherlands

Charters and other administrative texts have long had the full attention of medievalists as primary sources in their historiographical work. This also applies to scholars from the Netherlands. Ever since the late Middle Ages, they recognised the value of these sources, included them as testimony in their historiography and gradually began to realise that charters and other documents required a specific form of textual criticism and a special way of editing. In this, Dutch historians usually followed developments abroad. Sometimes, as in the early seventeenth century, they were ahead methodologically, but for long periods they depended for new insights on developments elsewhere. This was especially true in the nineteenth century, when scientific diplomatic methods and editing techniques emerged which would only be introduced and applied in the Netherlands in the next century. In the twenty-first century, Dutch scholars are fully participating in the ‘digital turn’ that is creating new research tools in diplomatics.

Ultimately, the history of diplomatics in the Netherlands is part of the broad development of historiography in the country, and therefore a valuable aspect of the history of scholarship in general.

Preface, Glossary, Abbreviations, List of Figures

Introduction

1. Late Medieval and Early Humanist Historiographers, 1280–1517

Charters in Medieval Chronicles from Holland and Utrecht: Chronicon Egmundanum, Rijmkroniek van Holland, Wilhelmus Procurator, Johannes Beke, and Johannes a Leydis

The Beginnings of Diplomatic Criticism: Willem Heda

Tables

2. City Secretaries, Civil Servants and Humanist Historians, 1470–1620

Local Historiography in the Towns

Administrative Collections of Documents

Humanist Historiographers

3. The Antiquaries: Arnoldus Buchelius and Petrus Scriverius, 1590–1660

Arnoldus Buchelius

Petrus Scriverius

4. Historians, Noblemen, Civil Servants and Charter Books, 1600–1660

Historiographical Works Including Documentary Evidence

Urban Historiographies

Charters in Genealogical and Historiographical Research on Noble Families

Editions of Charter Books

5. Historians, Collectors and Editors, 1644–1780

Antiquaries: Collectors, Transcribers, and Editors of Charters for Genealogical and Historical Research

Editions of Diplomatic Sources: Books of Placards and Charter Books

Adriaan Kluit

6. Historiography as a Profession: The Nineteenth Century

The Edition of Diplomatic Sources

Lists of Regests

Auxiliary Sciences: Diplomatics

Auxiliary Sciences: Palaeography

7. The Emancipation of Diplomatics: The Twentieth Century

Diplomatic Research in the First Half of the Century: Otto Oppermann

Charter Books and Other Charter Editions

Diplomatic Research in the Second Half of the Century

Palaeography

Conclusion

Epilogue: Diplomatics 2.0: The Twenty-First Century

Traditional Diplomatics

Digital Diplomatics

Summary

Bibliography

Index