Moral Panic and Holland’s Libertine Youth of the 1650s and 1660s

During the 1650s and 1660s, the Dutch Republic witnessed a wave of moral panic created by moralists. Every natural disaster, economic setback, and war that the Republic was involved in was considered to be a sign of God’s wrath on Holland’s newly acquired freedom, wealth, and secular society. Much o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family history 2005-10, Vol.30 (4), p.327-346
Main Authors: Roberts, Benjamin B., Groenendijk, Leendert F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children & youth
Church & state
Demography
Early modern history
European history
Family studies
Moral Panic
Morality
Morals
Natural disasters
Netherlands
Panic
Scapegoating
Secularism
Secularization
Seventeenth Century
Social Change
Social history
Youth
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During the 1650s and 1660s, the Dutch Republic witnessed a wave of moral panic created by moralists. Every natural disaster, economic setback, and war that the Republic was involved in was considered to be a sign of God’s wrath on Holland’s newly acquired freedom, wealth, and secular society. Much of the finger-pointing was directed toward Holland’s young people, who were accused of being vain, defying the Sabbath, visiting the theater, gambling, drinking, and fornicating. These accusations were, however, misplaced. This article examines the moral crusade of the 1650s and 1660s, and discovers that moralists were more upset that the Dutch Republic became a secular society and did not evolve into a theocratic state or “Dutch Israel,” as they had hoped. Holland’s youth were used as a scapegoat to create moral panic among political leaders, so they would reform Holland’s secular society.
ISSN:0363-1990
1552-5473
DOI:10.1177/0363199005279152