Exam 22: The Baroque in the Protestant North

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After a long,bitter struggle against the Catholic forces of the Spanish king Philip II,the seven provinces of the north Netherlands declared their independence in 1581.By the end of the century the predominantly Calvinist Dutch republic (later called "Holland")was a self-governing state and one of the most commercially active territories in Western Europe.In Amsterdam,as in hundreds of other Dutch towns,merchants and craftspeople shared the responsibilities of local government,profiting handsomely from the smooth-running,primarily maritime,economy.The autonomous towns of the north Netherlands,many of which supported fine universities,fostered freedom of thought and a high rate of literacy.Hardworking,thrifty,and independent-minded,the seventeenth-century Dutch enjoyed a degree of independence and material prosperity unmatched elsewhere in the world.Their proletarian tastes,along with a profound appreciation for the physical comforts of home and hearth,inspired their preference for such secular subjects as portraits,still lifes,landscapes,and scenes of domestic life.
Calvinism held that Christians were predestined from birth for either salvation or damnation,a circumstance that made good works irrelevant.The "Doctrine of Predestination" encouraged Calvinists to glorify God by living an upright life,one that required faith,obedience,and abstention from dancing,gambling,swearing,drunkenness,and all forms of public display.These characteristics fit in well with the Dutch way of life and their emphasis on efficiency and simple living,as well as their view as God's "chosen" people.