Robert Fruin
Encyclopedia
Robert Jacobus Fruin was a Dutch historian, who as a follower of Leopold von Ranke
introduced the scientific study of history in The Netherlands, when he was professor of Dutch national history at Leiden University
.
at Leiden University from 1842, and received his Ph.D. on December 18, 1847 with a dissertation on Manetho
, entitled De Manethone Sebennytha. As he was a man of independent means, he spent the next two years in independent studies and political pursuits in Utrecht
, before he accepted a position as praeceptor (teacher) in history at Leiden Gymnasium
in 1850.
These were tumultuous times in Dutch constitutional history as the liberal 1848 Dutch constitutional reform
by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke had just been completed, and was the subject of heated political debate. In this debate Fruin took the liberal side and he conducted a learned polemic with a fellow eminent Dutch historian, who was also a leader of the Conservative opposition to the new political ideas, Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
. Though the polemic was courteous, it would inaugurate a certain coolness in the professional and personal relationships between the two men, that would last during their careers.
They would cross swords in their professional fields also. Groen van Prinsterer had a style of historiography that was more poetic than Fruin thought appropriate. He shared that style with the American historian John Lothrop Motley
who would use his archival work on William the Silent
in his own work on the Dutch Republic
: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, which caused a furore in the Netherlands. Though Fruin had much sympathy for Motley's work, he also was prompted by it to do his own original research on the events leading up to the Dutch Revolt
, and on the crucial years of that Revolt, which led him to completely different conclusions. He published these in Het Voorspel van den Tachtigjarigen oorlog (Prologue to the Eighty Years' War) and Tien jaren uit den Tachtigjarigen oorlog (Ten years from the Eighty Years' War).
In a later review of Motley's History of the United Netherlands Fruin politely criticized Motley's tendency to take highly partisan points of view (however flattering those might be to Dutch national heroes) and his regrettable habit of introducing events that made "good stories" but never actually happened.
In his inaugural oration (held on July 1, 1860) after his appointment as the first professor of Dutch national history at Leiden University on February 20, 1860 (which was preceded by his promotion to prorector of his gymnasium in 1859), which was entitled Onpartijdigheid van den geschiedschrijver (Impartiality of the historian), Fruin defended the point of view that historians needed to be impartial in their historiography
. He did not deny that pure objectivity was an unattainable ideal, and he himself was known for his partisan standpoints, but he thought that historians should take the point of view of their subjects into account, even if they vehemently disagreed with that point of view, and try to represent it in a fair way.
As such he showed himself to be an adept of Leopold von Ranke, whom he highly esteemed. He helped introduce Ranke's ideas about historiography in the Netherlands and to spread his influence on Dutch historiography in the second half of the 19th century, giving the Dutch profession of historiography a more "scientific" flavor.
Fruin was not a very inspiring lecturer. His lectures were better known for their thoroughness and quality, than for their oratory. Nevertheless, he was popular as a professor. The same thoroughness that characterized his lectures, also characterized his historical research. He was averse to writing large historical handbooks, preferring the elegant little monograph, of which he published many in the literary magazine De Gids, and in the specialized historical journal Nijhoff's Bijdragen. He specialized in certain historical periods and subjects, like the early years of the Dutch Republic and the stadtholderate of stadtholder William III
. He limited his academic subject, Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis to the history of the Dutch Republic, ending in 1795, as he thought more recent history (which, after all, was only half a century old in his time) as yet too unsettled to be properly handled.
Beside his interpretive historical work, he also published two important compilations of sources:
His defense of impartiality in historiography as a matter of principle did not prevent him from taking a stand occasionally, if he felt truth and fairness made it necessary. His polemics with Catholic revisionist historians of the time, about what he felt were their distortions of histrorical truth in their support of the struggle for Emancipation of the long-repressed Catholic minority in the Netherlands, are legendary. Though as a liberal he sympathized with their political objectives, he objected to what he saw as slanders of his histrorical heroes. To show that he could give Catholics their due he wrote his article De Gorcumsche martelaren (The martyrs of Gorkum
) in 1865, about a famous atrocity perpetrated against Catholic priests by the Sea Beggars
.
Another characterizing example is the altercation he had with general Willem Jan Knoop
, a Dutch military historian, about the question whether stadtholder William III had known of the fact that the Treaty of Nijmegen had already been signed, when he fought the bloody Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)
. Fruin thought that William spoke the truth when he swore that he had not known. However, new material brought to light that he must have known, and this so shocked Fruin's faith in William that he everafter displayed a distinct coolness to this heretofore revered subject.
Fruin reluctantly retired from his professorship in 1894, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. In his Afscheidsrede (Farewell Address) of June 1, 1894, he was able to point to the many advances Dutch historiography had made during his professional career. This was mainly thanks to him, but he was too modest to claim it was all his doing, or even that he had founded a "school". He died five years later after a short illness.
His successor was P.J. Blok
.
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
introduced the scientific study of history in The Netherlands, when he was professor of Dutch national history at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
.
Biography
Fruin, a lifelong bachelor, studied classical philologyPhilology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
at Leiden University from 1842, and received his Ph.D. on December 18, 1847 with a dissertation on Manetho
Manetho
Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...
, entitled De Manethone Sebennytha. As he was a man of independent means, he spent the next two years in independent studies and political pursuits in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, before he accepted a position as praeceptor (teacher) in history at Leiden Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in 1850.
These were tumultuous times in Dutch constitutional history as the liberal 1848 Dutch constitutional reform
Constitution of the Netherlands
The Constitution of the Netherlands is the fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The present constitution is generally seen as directly derived from the one issued in 1815, constituting a constitutional monarchy. A revision in 1848 instituted a system of...
by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke had just been completed, and was the subject of heated political debate. In this debate Fruin took the liberal side and he conducted a learned polemic with a fellow eminent Dutch historian, who was also a leader of the Conservative opposition to the new political ideas, Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer , Dutch politician and historian, was born at Voorburg, near the Hague.-Overview:...
. Though the polemic was courteous, it would inaugurate a certain coolness in the professional and personal relationships between the two men, that would last during their careers.
They would cross swords in their professional fields also. Groen van Prinsterer had a style of historiography that was more poetic than Fruin thought appropriate. He shared that style with the American historian John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat.-Biography:...
who would use his archival work on William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
in his own work on the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
: The Rise of the Dutch Republic, which caused a furore in the Netherlands. Though Fruin had much sympathy for Motley's work, he also was prompted by it to do his own original research on the events leading up to the Dutch Revolt
Dutch Revolt
The Dutch Revolt or the Revolt of the Netherlands This article adopts 1568 as the starting date of the war, as this was the year of the first battles between armies. However, since there is a long period of Protestant vs...
, and on the crucial years of that Revolt, which led him to completely different conclusions. He published these in Het Voorspel van den Tachtigjarigen oorlog (Prologue to the Eighty Years' War) and Tien jaren uit den Tachtigjarigen oorlog (Ten years from the Eighty Years' War).
In a later review of Motley's History of the United Netherlands Fruin politely criticized Motley's tendency to take highly partisan points of view (however flattering those might be to Dutch national heroes) and his regrettable habit of introducing events that made "good stories" but never actually happened.
In his inaugural oration (held on July 1, 1860) after his appointment as the first professor of Dutch national history at Leiden University on February 20, 1860 (which was preceded by his promotion to prorector of his gymnasium in 1859), which was entitled Onpartijdigheid van den geschiedschrijver (Impartiality of the historian), Fruin defended the point of view that historians needed to be impartial in their historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
. He did not deny that pure objectivity was an unattainable ideal, and he himself was known for his partisan standpoints, but he thought that historians should take the point of view of their subjects into account, even if they vehemently disagreed with that point of view, and try to represent it in a fair way.
As such he showed himself to be an adept of Leopold von Ranke, whom he highly esteemed. He helped introduce Ranke's ideas about historiography in the Netherlands and to spread his influence on Dutch historiography in the second half of the 19th century, giving the Dutch profession of historiography a more "scientific" flavor.
Fruin was not a very inspiring lecturer. His lectures were better known for their thoroughness and quality, than for their oratory. Nevertheless, he was popular as a professor. The same thoroughness that characterized his lectures, also characterized his historical research. He was averse to writing large historical handbooks, preferring the elegant little monograph, of which he published many in the literary magazine De Gids, and in the specialized historical journal Nijhoff's Bijdragen. He specialized in certain historical periods and subjects, like the early years of the Dutch Republic and the stadtholderate of stadtholder William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. He limited his academic subject, Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis to the history of the Dutch Republic, ending in 1795, as he thought more recent history (which, after all, was only half a century old in his time) as yet too unsettled to be properly handled.
Beside his interpretive historical work, he also published two important compilations of sources:
- the Informacie van 1514 (a compilation of economic statistical material the Burgundian authorities in the province of Holland undertook in 1514 as a preliminary to a tax reform), and a similar survey from the 1490s;
- Annalen van Dusseldorp (a heavily edited ancient chronicle).
His defense of impartiality in historiography as a matter of principle did not prevent him from taking a stand occasionally, if he felt truth and fairness made it necessary. His polemics with Catholic revisionist historians of the time, about what he felt were their distortions of histrorical truth in their support of the struggle for Emancipation of the long-repressed Catholic minority in the Netherlands, are legendary. Though as a liberal he sympathized with their political objectives, he objected to what he saw as slanders of his histrorical heroes. To show that he could give Catholics their due he wrote his article De Gorcumsche martelaren (The martyrs of Gorkum
Gorinchem
Gorinchem , also called Gorkum , is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 21.99 km² of which 3.03 km² is water...
) in 1865, about a famous atrocity perpetrated against Catholic priests by the Sea Beggars
Geuzen
Geuzen was a name assumed by the confederacy of Calvinist Dutch nobles and other malcontents, who from 1566 opposed Spanish rule in the Netherlands. The most successful group of them operated at sea, and so were called Watergeuzen...
.
Another characterizing example is the altercation he had with general Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop
Willem Jan Knoop was a Dutch lieutenant-general, military historian, and politician...
, a Dutch military historian, about the question whether stadtholder William III had known of the fact that the Treaty of Nijmegen had already been signed, when he fought the bloody Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)
Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)
The Battle of Saint-Denis was fought on August 14-15 1678 between a French army commanded by the Marshal Luxembourg and a Dutch army under William III near Saint-Denis, a village outside Mons, then part of the Spanish Netherlands...
. Fruin thought that William spoke the truth when he swore that he had not known. However, new material brought to light that he must have known, and this so shocked Fruin's faith in William that he everafter displayed a distinct coolness to this heretofore revered subject.
Fruin reluctantly retired from his professorship in 1894, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. In his Afscheidsrede (Farewell Address) of June 1, 1894, he was able to point to the many advances Dutch historiography had made during his professional career. This was mainly thanks to him, but he was too modest to claim it was all his doing, or even that he had founded a "school". He died five years later after a short illness.
His successor was P.J. Blok
Petrus Johannes Blok
Petrus Johannes Blok was a Dutch historian.-Biography:Born in Den Helder, Blok studied at the Latin School of Alkmaar and read classics at Leiden University, receiving his doctorate for a study of Sextus Pompeius...
.