Edward Lee: Erasmus’ English Foe
Shortly after Edward Lee arrived in Europe he found himself embroiled in a bitter dispute with one of the era’s most famous intellectuals. He was soon reviled across the Continent.
Netherlands
The Ambassador, the Spy, and the Chocolatier
The 18th-century Dutch Republic was a hotbed of secretive Jacobite networks producing seditious pamphlets.
The Invention of Microbiology
On 9 October 1676 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek – the ‘Father of Microbiology’ – presented his findings to the Royal Society.
Original Pirate Material
On 28 March 1964, Radio Caroline hit the waves. How did pirate radio discover its winning formula and what happened next?
Diamonds and the Holocaust
As Jewish lapidaries were held in Nazi concentration camps, diamond sales soared in the US. Both sides saw gemstones as integral to the war effort.
Jacob Quack and Maritime Intelligence
From 1650 onwards, writes Elka Schrijver, a Postmaster in Rotterdam organized Dutch seafaring mail.
The Siege of Haarlem
Elka Schrijver describes the dramatic and bloody events of a sixteenth century siege of the Dutch city by a Habsburg army of Philip II.
The Coast of Lost Treasure
W. Charnley describes how, on their route to the East Indies in the seventeenth century, the Dutch first came into dramatic contact with the mysterious Great South Land that is now Australia.
Shipwrecks of Dutch East Indiamen
Off the Shetlands and along the English Channel, writes C.R. Boxer, Dutch East-Indiamen, wrecked by storm, are now being carefully salvaged.
The Seizure of Brill by the Sea Beggars
In 1572, writes S.F.C. Moore, Brill was the scene of a dramatic action in the Dutch revolt against the rule of Spain.