Amsterdam: once the very heart of the Western world, brimming with centuries old art and architecture, drawing visitors by the thousands with its quaint meandering avenues, its canals, and the allure of its illicit wares.
But strip away the coffee shops, the culture of cycling, and the prostitutes in their windows of red, and what do you have? That is exactly what Geert Mak, one of the most prominent contemporary Dutch journalists today, uncovers in his definitive history of the city that at in the 15th century had already become "so famous that many people in faraway lands did not think it a city but a country." (p.54)
Geert Mak's Amsterdam begins at the beginning: in 1000 A.D. when Dutch settlers made their homes in the dunes along the Ij, the bay bordering present-day Amsterdam to the North of Central Station. These early settlers would clear a plot of land of its vegetation and then dig trenches around it, letting the water drain away. Between 1000 and 1300, the trenches dug gave rise to a system of canals that allowed the sea-water further inland. The settlers answered this phenomenon with dykes.
But strip away the coffee shops, the culture of cycling, and the prostitutes in their windows of red, and what do you have? That is exactly what Geert Mak, one of the most prominent contemporary Dutch journalists today, uncovers in his definitive history of the city that at in the 15th century had already become "so famous that many people in faraway lands did not think it a city but a country." (p.54)
Geert Mak's Amsterdam begins at the beginning: in 1000 A.D. when Dutch settlers made their homes in the dunes along the Ij, the bay bordering present-day Amsterdam to the North of Central Station. These early settlers would clear a plot of land of its vegetation and then dig trenches around it, letting the water drain away. Between 1000 and 1300, the trenches dug gave rise to a system of canals that allowed the sea-water further inland. The settlers answered this phenomenon with dykes.
Mak calls Amsterdam an "impossible city," built only to sink in the mud. But mere geographical circumstances weren't enough to halt the Dutch tenacity that was to make Amsterdam one of the most important cities of its day. Geert Mak calls attention to the "cog" as a key to Amsterdam's success. The cog was a "large broad-beamed wooden ship with a rounded prow and stern," capable of transporting goods cheaply across the seas. Another contributing factor was the greed of the Bishop of Utrecht, who strangled existing trade routes with dams and tolls, while the unhampered trade along the Amstel prospered.
Religion has long played a major role in Amsterdam, and Geert Mak sheds light on the early religious mythology of the city. He tells us the story of the dying man who in 1345, upon receiving the holy sacrament, threw it up immediately. The man's vomit was then thrown into the fire which burned through the night. When morning came and the ashes were raked, the man's caretakers were astonished to find a clean white host in the fireplace. Priests were notified, and they carried the holy sacrament to the Oudekerk (Old Church) where it lay enshrined for sometime thereafter.
Religion has long played a major role in Amsterdam, and Geert Mak sheds light on the early religious mythology of the city. He tells us the story of the dying man who in 1345, upon receiving the holy sacrament, threw it up immediately. The man's vomit was then thrown into the fire which burned through the night. When morning came and the ashes were raked, the man's caretakers were astonished to find a clean white host in the fireplace. Priests were notified, and they carried the holy sacrament to the Oudekerk (Old Church) where it lay enshrined for sometime thereafter.
The history of the Holy Place, where the sacrament was enshrined, gets even better. In 1531, the city's leaders decided to erect a storehouse for wool in the courtyard of the Holy Place. After all, it was an ideal location with convenient access to the Rokin, the harbor created by the dammed Amstel River. Such a desecration however appalled a large number of pious Amsterdam women who petitioned the city government to reconsider. Unmoved, the burgomasters went ahead with the digging of the foundation, and in what as known as "The Women's Uprising," 300 women carrying spades came in the night and refilled the holes that were dug.
"The Women's Uprising" was, of course, a mere shade of the religious turmoil that was to plague Amsterdam for centuries, encompassing the ripple effects of Martin Luther's movement, the Anabaptists (followers of Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli), and the Eighty Years War of 1568-1648.
Amsterdam details the rise to power in 1602 of the Dutch East India Company which was to control trade with Asia for the next two hundred years, and the West India Company, which established a small trading post on the Hudson River, the very beginnings of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
"The Women's Uprising" was, of course, a mere shade of the religious turmoil that was to plague Amsterdam for centuries, encompassing the ripple effects of Martin Luther's movement, the Anabaptists (followers of Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli), and the Eighty Years War of 1568-1648.
Amsterdam details the rise to power in 1602 of the Dutch East India Company which was to control trade with Asia for the next two hundred years, and the West India Company, which established a small trading post on the Hudson River, the very beginnings of New Amsterdam (later New York City).
Amsterdam also recounts the lives of a number of persons linked to the growth of the city. Notable among these is Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, a miller's son from Leiden. After his arrival in Amsterdam, Rembrandt took an apprenticeship under the painter Pieter Lastman in the workshop of the art dealer Hendrick Uylenburg, who ran what amounted to a fine art factory. A quick study, Rembrandt was quickly made manager of Uylenburg's operation, churning out portrait after portrait and eventually becoming a rich and famous artist. He died, however, a pauper, a fact that Geert Mak attributes to Rembrandt's poor character and an inability to proffer the necessary social graces to his clientele.
