Muslims, Jews, Christians and Atheists: they are all present in the Netherlands of today. For a long time, this country has been considered a tolerant place where everyone is free to practice their own religion. This image goes back to the sixteenth century, when Willem of Orange promised 'freedom of thought' for every citizen of the Low Countries. This promise attracted a lot of refugees to the 'land of true freedom', which led to a representation of all kinds of religions in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. At the same time, the Protestant church was the only formally accepted church in the Netherlands. This meant for example that Catholics had to practice their religion in hidden churches, and Jews were not allowed to marry non-Jewish people. In this (in)tolerant climate of the Netherlands, Joan Blaeu wrote his Stedeboek van Italie. Born as a Protestant in the Netherlands, he traveled across Catholic Italy, where he also faced Jewish and Islamic communities. How are these different types of religion in Italy of that time represented in his work? And to what extent are Blaeu’s descriptions of the Catholics, Jews and Muslims in Italy a representation of the 'tolerant' dutch attitude towards religions in the seventeenth century?

Muslims and grasshoppers
In his description of religion in Italy, Blaeu writes: 'Only the Roman catholic religion is practiced there, except some Jews, who are tolerated in Italy, and some Protestants, who live close to the Canton of Grisons and to the Swiss.' Muslims aren’t mentioned in this religious description. This is remarkable, because a lot of mosques can be seen on the paintings of different cities in Italy, especially in Dalmatia (see the images below).

The city of Nadin in Dalmatia.

The city of Vrana in Dalmatia.

When Blaeu mentions Muslims in his city descriptions, it is not to describe them as citizens of Italy, but as destroyers of Italian cities. About Ostia, he writes: 'It was founded by Ancus Martius, fourth king of Rome, and destroyed by the Saracen.' When he gives a description of the city of Otranto, he writes that it was plagued with grasshoppers, and also with Turkish people. Only in the description of Nadin, the Turkish people are mentioned without any judgement: 'This city belongs to the Turkish people.'

Jews with yellow hats
Like Muslims, Jewish people are not described with great sympathy in Blaeu’s work. In Rome, it seems that the Jews are not considered as Roman citizens: 'This city is so well populated, that it counts three hundred thousand souls, except the eight thousand Jews, who have their own neighborhood.' In the description of Venice, where more than 4000 Jewish people lived in their own ghetto at that time, the Jews are not even mentioned. On a four pages covering map of Venice, were churches are marked with numbers, there is no reference to the synagogue of the Jewish ghetto. And in Avignon, the Jewish people also do not seem to be considered as full members of the city, for they 'have to wear a yellow hat in public, so that they can be distinguished from the Christian people'. When Blaeu describes the triumphal arch of Titus in Rome (see image below), on which you can see the Roman pillaging of Jerusalem, it seems that he does not feel sorry for this Jewish tragedy: 'They say, that the Jewish people here, because of their shame, don’t want to see the monument of their destruction, even though they had deserved this.'

The triumphal Arch of Titus in Rome.

The brave and gentle Catholics
Traveling across Rome in the seventeenth century, Blaeu must have been overwhelmed with Catholic churches. Instead of his judgmental attitude towards the Jews and Moslims, Blaeu writes with much respect and admiration about the Catholics. In his description of Rome, he says: 'All the popes have been settled here, and have ruled the Roman people and everything which is considered the Papal States, and that power the popes have earned with the bravery and gentleness of all the Christian kings.' About Saint Peter’s Basilica, he writes: 'This church is the most beautiful building that one has ever seen. It was the work of several popes.'

Blaeu Carthography Catholics Maps Religion Roman Monuments Seventeenth century Tolerance Vedute