Why philosopher René Descartes had such a good time in the Netherlands ★★★★☆

It is impossible to find out exactly what went wrong. It is certain that one day René Descartes entered the room of Anna Maria van Schurman and ‘caught’ her reading the Bible in Hebrew. The then 32-year-old Anna was considered a kind of world wonder, the virginum eruditarum decus, ‘jewel of learned virgins’. Specially for her, a cubicle had been placed in the lecture hall of Utrecht University so that she could attend the lectures unseen (by the male students). She was probably the first woman in Europe to receive such an academic education.

Schurman had taught himself Hebrew to be able to read the Bible in the original language, but Descartes grumbled that it was a waste of time. He had also learned Hebrew, for the same reason, and had found nothing of value in the Bible. It was their last contact. Shortly afterwards Anna wrote in her diary that she had removed this ‘wicked man’ from her heart, we read in Descartes – The Dutch Years†

Anyone expecting to find a paragraph on Descartes and the Bible next (and whether he really learned Hebrew or was just bluffing) will be disappointed. Author Hans Dijkhuis already warns in the introduction that Descartes’ philosophy is ‘summarily treated’ in his book. Dijkhuis is solely concerned with the ups and downs of the philosopher during his stay in the Netherlands. At the same time, those twelve years are a crucial period in Descartes’ intellectual life. All the books he published himself were written during his stay in the Republic. The ‘French period’, until 1637, was only a run-up; after his departure for Sweden in 1649 he had four months to live. René Descartes felt at home here. Here he found the peace to work. In essence, he is a Dutch philosopher.

Between Alkmaar and Haarlem

Descartes – His Dutch Years is the portrait of a man who constantly navigated between looking for a place where he could work quietly and maintaining contact with friends and associates who were indispensable, especially in times of need. Dijkhuis goes into detail about where Descartes lived for a short or long time. (That was mainly in the area between Alkmaar and Haarlem.) He always wanted to be around one or two good friends.

Influential friends, preferably. Life in the Republic was based on a system of service and service in return. Descartes’ most important friend was Anthonis Studler van Zurck, a descendant of a merchant family who, thanks to the purchase of a piece of land, was allowed to call himself ‘Lord of Mons’ and who in those years lent Descartes enormous sums of money so that the philosopher could live like a nobleman. . In return for his financial support, Descartes asked his admirer Constantijn Huygens (secretary of stadtholder Frederik Hendrik and ‘lord of Zuylichem’) if Anthonis could not obtain a hunting permit. At the time, that was a coveted document; the real proof that you belonged to the nobility. It took a while, but Anthonis got his permit. And René’s money.

Hate campaigns and admirers

Those influential connections also came in handy when theologians in Leiden or Utrecht attacked his philosophy. (We don’t read what it was about.) Descartes would invariably panic, but thanks to his connections, those kinds of campaigns could be nipped in the bud. Characteristic is that after that he still damaged the honor in his honour gentleman who, for all his enormous merits, was treated as a stranger. But Descartes never applied for citizenship. He always considered himself a subject of the French king.

In 1648, his French admirers arranged for the scholar to receive a princely annuity if he settled in France. It was a lot of money. Descartes left. But Paris became a huge disappointment. Life (as he wanted to live it) was expensive; the city was depressing and at court he was just stared at. Shortly after his arrival, a civil war broke out (the Fronde) and oh yes: the treasury was empty. He returned to the Republic and praised ‘a quiet and withdrawn life, and the wealth of a moderate fortune’.

Five months later, a letter arrived from the Swedish Queen Christina. She admired his work and wanted to talk to him. The nobleman in him could not refuse. One of Descartes’ admirers arranged for Frans Hals to paint a portrait of him at the last minute. Then he was gone.