The Banished Scholar: Beverland, Sex, and Liberty in the Seventeenth-Century Low Countries

In his De Peccato Originali, Hadriaan Beverland (1650–1716) identified the original sin with sexual desire. Beverland's reinterpretation was not new, yet the author was arrested and, after five weeks in jail, banished from the province of Holland. Who had he offended with his study? Why did a well-connected young scholar receive such a harsh punishment? In his work, Beverland showed a clear contempt for Dutch theologians who were accused of ignorance, hypocrisy, and immorality. He also accused classical scholars of ignoring the sexual contents of Greek and Roman literature and art. Finally, he explicitly promoted sexual freedom. Discussing the connections between his reinterpretation of the original sin and his views on women, human nature, and toleration, this chapter aims to position Beverland's study in its contemporary intellectual context and to read De Peccato Originali against the backdrop of other early modern writings on sex and sin.