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The Frigid Golden Age: Experiencing Climate Change in the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720

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dc.contributor.advisorHoffmann, Richard C.
dc.creatorDegroot, Dagomar Sebastiaan
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-26T14:05:53Z
dc.date.available2015-01-26T14:05:53Z
dc.date.copyright2014-05-14
dc.date.issued2015-01-26
dc.date.updated2015-01-26T14:05:53Z
dc.degree.disciplineHistory
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractDuring the nadir of the Little Ice Age between 1565 and 1720, average European temperatures declined by nearly one degree Celsius. While altered weather patterns strained the adaptive abilities of Europe’s agricultural societies, the northern Netherlands enjoyed the prosperity of its Golden Age. The economy, culture, and environment of the Dutch Republic yielded a distinct pattern of vulnerability and resilience in the face of early modern climate change. In this dissertation, newly interpreted documents are examined alongside scientific evidence, first to establish relationships between local, short-term environmental conditions and human activity, and ultimately to identify broader connections between long-term climate change and the history of the Dutch Republic. This methodology reveals that the coldest decades of the Little Ice Age presented not only challenges but also opportunities for Dutch citizens. Central to the increasingly capitalist economy of the Dutch Republic was the development, maintenance, and continued expansion of transportation networks that spanned the globe. Complex relationships between local environments, weather, and climatic trends stimulated new discoveries in Arctic waters, quickened the journeys of outbound United East India Company ships, hampered Baltic commerce, and altered how travelers moved within the borders of the Republic. Weather patterns that accompanied the Little Ice Age also affected how commerce was forcibly expanded and defended. The Anglo-Dutch Wars, fought from 1652 to 1674, were contested in a period of transition between decade-scale climatic regimes. In the first war, meteorological conditions that accompanied a warmer interval in the Little Ice Age granted critical advantages to English fleets, which were usually victorious. By contrast, in the latter wars, weather patterns that now reflected a cooling climate repeatedly helped Dutch fleets prevail over the English and later French armadas. Finally, climatic fluctuations affected mentalities within the Dutch Republic. Understandings of weather in the Republic may have demonstrated a vague awareness of climate change, and cultural responses to weather reflected the resilience of the Republic by expressing the conviction that weather could be confronted and endured. Ultimately, the influence of the Little Ice Age was ambiguous for the resilient society of the Dutch Republic in its Golden Age.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/28161
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectEuropean history
dc.subjectClimate change
dc.subjectEnvironmental studies
dc.subject.keywordsBalticen_US
dc.subject.keywordsClimate changeen_US
dc.subject.keywordsGlobal warmingen_US
dc.subject.keywordsClimate historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsHistorical climatologyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsMedieval Warm Perioden_US
dc.subject.keywordsMedieval Climatic Anomalyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsMaunder Minimumen_US
dc.subject.keywordsClimatologyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsInterdisciplinary studiesen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmental historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmental studiesen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEnvironmenten_US
dc.subject.keywordsEuropean historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEarly modern historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsDutch historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsDutch Republicen_US
dc.subject.keywordsMilitary historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEconomic historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsCultural historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsSocial historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsHistory of scienceen_US
dc.subject.keywordsTransportationen_US
dc.subject.keywordsDutch East India Companyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsAnglo-Dutch Warsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsDutch Golden Ageen_US
dc.subject.keywordsEnglanden_US
dc.subject.keywordsCommonwealthen_US
dc.subject.keywordsFranceen_US
dc.subject.keywordsNetherlandsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsArcticen_US
dc.subject.keywordsWestern Europeen_US
dc.titleThe Frigid Golden Age: Experiencing Climate Change in the Dutch Republic, 1560-1720
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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