RKD STUDIES

Adam White

In the early 17th century, the cultural and commercial connections between Britain and the Netherlands were very close. They are well known and are not difficult to perceive. Religion played a great part in them. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, which lasted for nearly 50 years, from 1558 to 1603, Protestant England had offered military help to the Dutch people in their struggle against Spanish rule. Both nations lived by trade and had long coastlines facing each other across the North Sea. After the iconoclasm in the Netherlands in 1566 many artists and craftsmen fled to England and tried to re-establish themselves there. Some were highly successful and greatly enriched the cultural life of their adopted country.

In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died without an heir and the Tudor royal dynasty came to an end. She was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland as James I of England. He styled himself King of Great Britain and the two kingdoms became joined in an uneasy union which has been preserved ever since. King James pursued a policy of reconciliation with the Roman Catholic countries of Europe, mainly Spain and France. Meanwhile, it became apparent that the Spanish troops were not going to succeed in overwhelming the Dutch and the independence of the Republic was secured by the Twelve Years’ Truce in 1609. The military alliance between Britain and the Netherlands became less important than it had been. Commercial and cultural ties, however became stronger than ever and the two were intimately linked. Both countries developed their overseas colonies which brought in wealth, and both now had less need to spend money on war. As a result, they became more prosperous. Commerce between them increased and cultural interchange came in its wake.

Cover image
Nicholas Stone (I)
Monument to Elizabeth, Lady Carey (1545/50-1630), c. 1618-1620
Church Stowe (Northamptonshire), St Michael's Church
Photo: the author

Dutch art was imported across the North Sea. Artists and craftsmen came once more to England, bringing with them a new understanding of the arts and more cosmopolitan outlook to a country which had suffered from a degree of cultural isolation during the last quarter of the sixteenth century.¹ Sometimes, though less often, this cultural trade went both ways when English talent and ideas were imported into the Netherlands. What follows concerns a remarkable case where this happened and where it sustained an important cultural relationship which was to last for the greater part of the 17th century.