THE REPUBLIC OF GOD OR THE REPUBLIC OF CHILDREN - CHILDHOOD AND CHILD-REARING AFTER THE REFORMATION - AN APPRAISAL OF SCHAMA,SIMON THESIS ABOUT THE UNIQUENESS OF THE DUTCH CASE

In The Embarrassment of Riches (1987) Simon Schama claims that the Dutch of the 17th century were the first to approach children in a modern, love-oriented way. Schama came to this conclusion from (emblem-)books and above all from Dutch paintings. According to the authors of the present paper Schama's thesis is a reestablishment of the old idea of the 'discovery of childhood', now settled in the United Provinces. His view can only be upheld by ignoring the criticism of evolutionistic writing on the subject. In this paper Schama's portrait of pedagogical relations in the Dutch Republic will be critically examined and compared with iconographic and literary evidence from other times and places which has been made available in recent years.