The Dutch (33 page)

Within days, the roadways that both Alschultz and Lutwaff had built with the help of Spanish engineers were impassible for supply wagons. After a few more days of rain, they were impassable for any man or beast. The Germans tried using their boats to traverse parts of the causeway constructed too near the swamp floor but they had too few to keep the army supplied. To make matters worse “teardrop-shaped” raindrops by day now became freezing rain and hail each night, coating everything with an icy glaze as the water level continued to rise. On the mainland, the Baron was receiving reports that neither new enemy troops nor supplies were arriving because of the massive flooding. The Baron, after long conversations with his brother, decided to make the enemy's positions even more tenuous. He and Karl had already decided to block the entrance way to the canal that took the excess water across the width of the Droger Land. Both knew if lake water no longer filtered through the marshes to the sea, the levels of water in the swamp would rise even higher but they also knew the settlements and parts of the mainland would also flood. Both had faith their people would again reclaim the saturated land. They also knew he could not replace the lives lost in an unnecessary defense of the homeland by force of arms. Those lives could never be reclaimed.

As commanded, the Flemish villagers sealed the canal's entrance way. The walls built for protection from an enemy assault now protected their village from the rising water levels. The same was true for the other village within its stone walls. The islands had no such protection and the raising water flooded everything, including all of the recently built enemy encampments and fortifications. The faster raising water level also forced the evacuation of farm families along the banks of the mainland, but these patriotic people utter not a single word of complaint. They understood the need to sacrifice their homes and thought it but a small price to pay to rid the land of invaders. By the third week in December, Alschultz was struggling to ferry his hungry and water-logged troop's home to Germany. Even a determined general like Count Alschultz knew his first responsibility was to save his army. It would not be a simple task. With too few boats, he ordered rafts built to ferry his troops. That meant trees had to be downed while men stood in freezing water reaching up to their armpits. Sickness, hypothermia, and death were the price these ax men paid so others could escape.

By early spring, the German soldiers who survived the massive flood had joined Parma's army in the South, and the canal was reopened. Lake Derick swiftly returned to its normal level. To the delight of the farmers, they found the flooding had deposited a layer of beneficial silt, which regenerated agricultural yields for years to come. That extra layer of river stone, which Sir Wilhelm Wind had demanded, a century before, had held the bulk of the topsoil in place on the islands. Even with the massive flooding, the precious soil had not returned to the swamp. Soon planting began on the islands and on the mainland shoreline. By the end of that first summer, the industrious farmers were replanting orchards and harvesting an abundance of grain and vegetable crops from the once-flooded fields. It would be a few years before all the houses and barns were rebuilt.

* * * *

The Baron told everyone, particularly Jon, Karl, Henri, and Gustoff, that the ancient gods had sent the rain, keeping the commitment made over fifteen hundred years ago. His offer of proof was the fact that there had been so little lasting damage. On the islands, the rain had actually saved many of the homes and barns when the bitter Germans tried to torch them in their retreat. Some residents began to agree with their Great Lord that the old gods had indeed been partly responsible. Most, with a stronger Christian fervor, assumed that Jesus had rendered the most important support. Lord Karl, a good Calvinist, like many of his brethren, kept his tongue, but felt privately that an all-powerful Jesus had probably played the major role in their redemption and felt the rain was preordained. Jon and Gustoff wisely just remained silent. The only contrary opinion, or at least the only person willing to loudly argue with Clifford, was Henri. He had recovered from his gunshot wound and for reasons unknown to the van Weirs, added a touch of cockiness to his personality. He felt nature had much more to do with the weather conditions than any new God or even any ancient god and often said so.

Henri's new swagger had everything to do with Reylana. She and Kahili have given him the kind of care that allowed him to survive his serious wound and he truly appreciated the way they nursed him to health. Except for the loss of some arm strength, Henri was feeling fit and anxious to return to his shipyard. He meant to keep a commitment he had made to Teewes, his oldest son that kept him safe and away from the battlefield. At the time, Henri committed to build a new warship because it was the only way he could convince Teewes to leave before the actual fighting began. Having seen one of the new English warships, Teewes thought they could build an even more powerful version, and his brother Petrus, who had his mother's gift for finance, was intent on finding the guilders to fund the project.

It was Reylana's folly, a few days following Henri's injury, which modified his personality. She had a moment of weakness, convinced that Henri was dying, and felt obligated to tell Henri what she hid from him about her departure from Spain. She disclosed the bastard Inquisitionist's and other corrupted royal officials who ransacked her home found more than they expected. Besides her father's jewels, in another part of the hacienda, where her grandfather resided, they found a wooden chest. It was filled with ancient scrolls, all written in Hebrew. The cache clearly indicated her family were or had once been Jewish. There could be no other reason that her family patriarchs, over two hundred years, felt obligated to keep and protect the scrolls. Those ancient Hebrew writings would have provided spectacular evidence at a show trial and justify some of the other more heinous activities of these Inquisitors and their allies. Yet the fools had killed everyone and were only left with a thirteen year old girl to bring to trial. A young girl being protected by a convent's devout Mother Superior who had family ties to the King. Initially, an agreement was reached between the nun and the Inquisitors that Reylana could be questioned, without torture, and within the confines of the convent's meditation room. Even in her conversation with Henri, Reylana would hide the horrific experiences she had in a small room with those Inquisitors. These men of God did unspeakable things to her. Yet she only felt obliged, for some reason, to tell her husband she could be Jewish. Reylana could not have chosen a worse time to make the disclosure.

Henri too thought he might be dying and was revisiting his own thoughts about things like the existence of God. He had come face-to-face with that final quandary met by most agnostics and atheists when dying. If a God does not exist on the day of one's death, then tomorrow, there will be no tomorrow. The timing of Reylana's disclosure challenged the sincerity of the feelings he held about all religions. It angered him that his wife would think he would love her less, because over two hundred years ago, an ancestor she had never known, had worshipped God in a synagogue rather than a church. The tardiness of what seemed to Henri, an ancient tale from Valencia, challenged Henri's perception about his own integrity. Did Reylana think she had married a dishonest person? Henri became infuriated that Reylana would have doubts. He did not want to be reminded of his own doubts at this time and under these circumstances. He feared having second thoughts about issues he thought he settled within his own mind decades ago.

Henri couldn't help himself so he began to chastise Reylana for being a “silly woman” who thought his love so shallow that she kept this meaningless revelation from him. He became overly defensive and told her that after all their years of marriage she should know his feelings about such matters. He yelled at her that he always suspected that possibility, when so many prominent Jews befriended them. He declared that he always wondered if at least their Jewish friends suspected her family had been followers of David. He scornfully told her he really did not care about such things as Reylana fled the room in tears. So, for the next few weeks, husband and wife had a strained relationship forcing Kahili into the role of intermediary. As Henri mended, his less-angry old self began to return and one day he spontaneously slapped Reylana on her behind and said, “Woman, don't tell our sons what you told me about your family's roots in Valencia, you know what a Rabbi would do to our three “little” boys!” Soon their relationship returned to normal but they were both very careful to never again discuss Reylana' family's roots.

That spring, the Baron, Lord Karl, and Henri often secluded themselves in Henri's room, lifting pewter cups and pondering the future. The Venetian Ambassador in France had dispatched a rider to inform Jon and his father that Maria had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Soon after they received a letter from Maria that she had consulted the stars and appropriately named the baby Fredrick in honor of Jon's maternal grandfather. The Van Weirs liked the name and were growing anxious to meet Maria and behold the Droger Land's newest young lord.

The year 1586 had nearly passed without the imminent threat of bloodshed. It was a quiet, peaceful year for the Droger Land and most of the Dutch Republic. The Spanish King was fixated on the ever-growing English threat. He was obsessed with invading that island nation, removing Queen Elizabeth, and restoring a Catholic to her throne. Because of the preparation for the invasion, Spain had few military resources available for the war against the Dutch. Phillip's obsession was giving the Dutch Republic what it needed most, the good gift of time. The Republic needed time to consolidate borders, to raise a larger military and of paramount importance, to find a leader who could unite the people.

It was in late September, when a fleet of three Venetian warships, larger but strikingly similar to
Abrahams Youngest Son,
arrived in Amsterdam. Two were flying the flag of the Venetian Lion. The third ship had a simple green banner embodied with an oak tree and a sword attached to its topmast. On the quarterdeck was a very beautiful young woman standing beside Venice's first Ambassador to the new Republic. She held the hand of a small child. The toddler, Fredrick, was destined to become another Great Lord of the Droger Land.

The sixteenth century was an extraordinary time for the people of the Netherlands. They began to establish a strong nation state by entrusting the military leadership to their nobility and the country's financial future to the very special burger class. It was at this time, through evolution and revolution that the Dutch would develop a strong decentralized democratic form of government, which led to the period in history forever known as the “Golden Age of the Dutch.” This novel spans the first fifteen centuries of that saga. The economic and political models developed over centuries by their toil and class interaction are used by today's successful nations. Practically speaking, it was the Dutch who imagined the blueprints we use to stabilize the economic and political equations within the modern super-state. Those Dutch innovations stimulated a future world's sophistication far more than anything Thomas Jefferson wrote or Karl Marx envisioned. These gifts to humankind came as revelations which pushed the Dark Ages into its final recession in Europe. They were simple models that other nation states could follow to prosperity. They were about harvesting entrepreneurial and technological innovation, creating democratic environments, and reaping the benefits of universal education. They were a textbook on fostering wealth within any society.

In pursuing prosperity, the burger merchant class and the ruling nobility formed a partnership that allowed them to make sound economic choices that benefited a growing population. For hundreds of years, Dutch leaders had encouraged agricultural growth by reclaiming additional farm land from the sea. They had developed a scientific method for selecting crops that were suited to the colder and uncertain climate brought to Western Europe by the Little Ice Age. They increased the production of meat, poultry and dairy products and fed this livestock population with crops sowed for success in wetter and cooler weather. Experimentation allowed them to discover that a sturdy crop, like clover, could help sustain man and beast in the most uncertain growing season. By the fifteenth century, the Dutch made the leap from the warmer-weather grain crops, which too often failed, to a diverse agricultural system that reliably fed its population. What they accomplished on land, they duplicated on the sea by reaping a bounty of food from the ocean. Since they could no longer produce sufficient domestic grain, they built a shipbuilding industry and a trading network which imported grain from the Baltic seacoast. They traded excess farm products and surplus fish for the barley, rye, and wheat of Eastern Europe, where the climate remained more temperate. While Northern European neighbors struggled to feed starving populations, the Dutch people thrived on a new wholesome balanced diet.

Dutch governing bodies generally supported free enterprise, low taxation, and fairer distribution of wealth while placing few restrictions on entrepreneurs. As a result, manufacturing grew and a spectacular shipbuilding industry blossomed. Dutch shipbuilders were the first to exploit new technology that allowed them to build the finest commercial ships in Europe at prices far below their competition. The industry introduced a host of specially designed commercial vessels such as Herring Busses, Boyers, Hoys, and Fluyts and developed the very first Yacht for pleasure and transportation. These new types of ships were designed for specific tasks and all had increased cargo capacity. They needed smaller crews and were less expensive to operate because of the technical innovations. This one enlightened industry made their relatively tiny country a prime maritime power in Europe, allowing the Netherlands to gather immense wealth from world trade. Those Dutch ships would bring settlers to a new land where their entrepreneurial spirit and democratic ideals would help foster the birth of the United States of America. But more important, the industry's consistent growth provided opportunities which enriched the lives of each social class: noble, burger and commoner. This prosperity would give a few relatively small provinces the economic means to finance a War of Independence from Spain that would last eighty years.

Because so much of the Netherlands landscape is covered by water, its inhabitants originally settled on patches of dry ground which became small cities and towns protected by stone walls. These separated walled bastions allowed residents to escape much of the famine, starvation and lawlessness that was common in the feudal nations of medieval Europe. The Netherland's diversified family tree had thrived assimilating others who came to their country. In many ways they were the new melting pot of Europe and possessed an almost historical persistence and tolerance, which turned every invader and each refugee into fellow countrymen. Their persistence would serve them well as they sought independence from Spain the super-power of that time.

Long before the Catholic Habsburg Dynasty inherited control of the Netherlands, Dutch cities and towns had purchased or were granted significant autonomy. The most intelligent and enterprising citizens were already becoming disenchanted with the Catholic Church, which placed institutional restrictions on individual, economic and scientific development. The frugal Dutch considered high-living Catholic clergymen to be corrupt. This antagonism allowed the Protestant Reformation to take hold in the Netherlands. The people had shown a willingness to adapt the earlier humanistic ideas of their own Erasmus who remained Catholic, but made them receptive to the teachings of Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers. Some became Lutherans or joined the more radical Anabaptists, but the majority was first inclined to become Sacramentarians and eventually Calvinists. The new Protestant core values inspired freedom of thought and allow for greater upward social mobility. The new religions were a good match for the Dutch virtues of frugality, acquired skills and hard work. The expectation that one must read the Bible was attractive to a society that already respected literacy and education.

As the sixteenth century began, the Dutch Emperor, Charles V knew his subjects were adopting the new religions, having been born in the Low Countries; he understood the unique nature of his most industrious subjects and for awhile ignored their heretical inclinations. He knew for them to be productive and prosperous, the Dutch needed to be somewhat commercially and politically independent. Charles appointed royal officials from the ranks of the ethnic Dutch nobility, who sought practical solutions on volatile issues such as taxation and religion.

The more benevolent Charles V was succeeded by his son, Philip II of Spain, who was raised in Spain and had little understanding of the Netherlands. Philip was a fervent Catholic whose desire to restore the Roman Catholic faith to all Europe led to war with France in the Italian Wars, the Ottoman Turks in the Mediterranean, and the Protestants in Germany. When he asked the Low Countries to help him fund these wars they resisted. Many of the countries King Philip II had targeted were major Dutch trading partners. The Dutch Protestants, already a significant minority, were truly concerned about the well-being of their fellow believers. The ethnic ruling class appointed by Charles V, though Catholics themselves procrastinated when asked to help pay for wars or move against Dutch Protestants. King Philip saw the resistance as treason and replaced royal officials with Spaniards who were less hesitant to carry out his instructions. In 1568, the entire Protestant population of the Netherlands was condemned to death for heresy and Spanish soldiers were dispatched to force all to bend to the will of the King.

Upon the army's arrival, the Spanish troops mercilessly killed Dutch citizens who attempted to bar the gates of their cities. Once the army occupied the cities, the infamous “Blood Court” was created to pass judgment on those who opposed the King's will. Some prominent opponents of the policies, such as Prince William of Orange, later become known as the “Father of the Netherlands,” was forced to flee the country. Other nobles, burghers and common citizens remained and suffered severe consequences. These Blood Courts hastily convicted the King's opponents and other innocent citizens of heresy and treason. Thousands of Protestants and hundreds of Catholics were condemned and executed. When two well-respected Catholic leaders, the Counts Egmont and Horne, were beheaded, even the Catholic population openly opposed the King's actions. Less than a year after the initial occupation, Catholics and Protestants alike united against the Spanish reign of terror. It was the beginning of a conflict that would last eighty years and change the future of the entire world.

It had begun as an uncomplicated dispute about religious preference and financial matters and eventually evolved into a confrontation about the existing order of all societies about who had the right to rule a nation. The Dutch challenged the universally accepted concept of the Divine Right of Kings. This concept, developed during the Middle Ages, stated kings alone were given the power to rule any country and had been given that right by God Himself. It was the basis for every king's claim to authority. The Dutch idea that a king could be removed, and that a population could govern themselves, was considered the most radical, revolutionary idea of its time. Yet, after eighty years of war, not only the Spanish King, but all the major monarchs of Europe would accept the existence of the Dutch Republic governed by representatives of its provinces and people. Its existence planted the seed that would eventually eliminate or limit the rule of all kings in Europe. The ability of the Dutch people to win their freedom and prosper under a republican government would be the major precursor to events such as the American and French Revolutions.

This novel chronologically follows the ascent of two families and their descendents during the first fifteen hundred years of recorded Dutch History. Hopefully you have followed these Lords and Ladies with pleasure. All of these events follow a historical prospective and are not intended to show preference to any religion. They are an honest representation of the political and religious climate of that time. As my novel ends another period is reached when the Dutch struggle for freedom and religious tolerance is about to be blemished. This time it will be the Calvinists who demonstrated intolerance, not only against others but among themselves.

In my story the decedents of the second family, the Roulfs are warriors, craftsmen, merchants and shipbuilders. Their evolution is representative of the family trees of many people in Holland. Their epic has always been about the survival of the family in the worst of times, and when more favorable conditions arrive, taking hold of that moment to build a more prosperous life for themselves and future generations. The characters in this book live today in the genetic pool of the Dutch people and the entrepreneurial spirit they distributed around the world. It was Dutch families, such as these, who courageously attached a spear point of productivity to a shaft of adventurous technical development that truly thrust us into the economically motivated world we live in today. Hopefully, the old gods and some human interest will allow me to continue their story, before I actually get to meet them.

Richard Schultz has led a long and interesting life. He spent his last year in high school as President of New York States “Youth for Kenned-Johnson” which became a model for similar organizations in future presidential campaigns. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Army. His service included a tour of duty with the First Calvary Division in the Republic of South Korea. Upon his discharge he earned an Associate Degree from Orange County Community College where he was elected class president.

Dick's business career began on Wall Street where he became a licensed OTC stock trader. After five years on trading desks in New York and California, he used his entrepreneurial skills to found Mountain Lodge Office Systems in Washingtonville, New York. For the next twenty-five years he served as the firm's CEO and was active in his local community. He was elected to many important positions and was the recipient of a host of community service awards by local and national organizations. He also served as a feature story writer for the local newspaper.

Dick and his wife Nancy have been married for thirty seven years and live in a home they built from recycled cobblestones. They have three children and one grandchild. In his late forties, Dick returned to college and earned a Master's degree in Education from Mount Saint Mary College. He became a New York State certified Special Education teacher and has taught Middle and High school students. He also served as a teacher and counselor to gang kids at a rehabilitation facility.

The author has always had a great love of history and early on discovered that the gigantic Dutch contributions to America had been somewhat minimized or ignored with our own English language and culture. It was for that reason he wrote this novel. For the sake of full disclosure, as far as the author knows, he has no Dutch ancestors; just an appreciation of the many gifts the Netherlands has given America and the entire world.