Arie Theodorus van Deursen (23 June 1931 – 21 November 2011) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

historian whose focus was the early modern period. He was Professor Emeritus of History at the

Vrije Universiteit The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

in Amsterdam. He was a specialist in Dutch history of the 16th and 17th century.

Career

Arie van Deursen was born at

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

. He was a prolific author with a refined style. He has written several books about daily life in the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

, religious controversies in the 16th and 17th century (

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. He ...

versus

Franciscus Gomarus Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...

) and the political situation of that period; he wrote biographies of

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

and

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

, a history of the

, a history of the Netherlands (1555–1702), a biography of

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

and several volumes of collected essays. As an orthodox Protestant Christian, Van Deursen was heavily involved in polemics about the history of

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

and its consequences. In his

Huizinga Lecture The Huizinga Lecture (Dutch: ''Huizingalezing'') is an annual lecture in the Netherlands about a subject in the domains of cultural history or philosophy.See. The lecture is in honour of Johan Huizinga, a distinguished Dutch historian (1872–1945) ...

, ''Huizinga en de geest der eeuw'' (Huizinga and the spirit of the age) Van Deursen compared the critical evaluation of the secularization by

Isaäc da Costa Isaäc da Costa (14 January 1798 – 28 April 1860) was a Sephardi, Jewish poet. Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Spanish and Portuguese Jews, Portuguese Jew, Daniel da Costa, a relativ ...

and

Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. Life Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two y ...

. Van Deursen died in

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cent ...

on 21 November 2011, aged 80. He was member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

Books (Dutch)

* ''Professions et métiers interdits: Un aspect de l'histoire de la révocation de l'Édit de Nantes'', Groningen: Wolters, 1960 (doctoral thesis) * ''Honni soit qui mal y pense? De Republiek tussen de mogendheden (1610–1612)'', Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevers Maatschappij, 1965 * ''Bavianen en slijkgeuzen: Kerk en kerkvolk ten tijde van Maurits en Oldenbarnevelt'', Assen: Van Gorcum, 1974 ()Online edition DBNL
''Bavianen en slijkgeuzen: Kerk en kerkvolk ten tijde van Maurits en Oldenbarnevelt.''
/ref> * ''Mensen van klein vermogen: Het kopergeld van de Gouden Eeuw'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 1991 (). Translated into English: ''Plain lives in the Golden Age. Popular culture, religion and society in seventeenth-century Holland.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. ** ''Volume 1, Het dagelijks brood'' ** ''Volume 2, Volkscultuur'' ** ''Volume 3, Volk en overheid'' ** ''Volume 4, Hel en hemel'' * ''Een dorp in de polder: Graft in de zeventiende eeuw'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 1994 * ''Willem van Oranje: een biografisch portret'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 1995 * ''De Bataafse revolutie (1795–1995)'', Apeldoorn: Willem de Zwijgerstichting, 1995 * ''Geleefd geloven: geschiedenis van de protestantse vroomheid in Nederland'' (coauthor: G.J. Schutte), Assen: Van Gorcum, 1996 * ''Maurits van Nassau, 1567-1625: de winnaar die faalde'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2000 * ''Rust niet voordat gy ze van buiten kunt: de Tien Geboden in de 17e eeuw'', Kampen: De Groot Goudriaan, 2004 * ''De last van veel geluk: De geschiedenis van Nederland 1555-1702'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2004 () * ''Een hoeksteen in het verzuilde bestel: De Vrije Universiteit 1880-2005'', Amsterdam: Bert Bakker, 2005 () * ''De admiraal: De wereld van Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter'', Franeker: Van Wijnen, 2007 () * ''In Katwijk is alles anders. Een christelijk dorp ontmoet de wereld, 1940-2005''. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2011.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deursen, Arie van 1931 births 2011 deaths Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam People from Groningen (city) 20th-century Dutch historians 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch male writers