Dutch society has enjoyed a reputation, or notoriety, for permissiveness since the sixteenth century. The Dutch Republic in the Golden Age was the only society that tolerated religious dissenters of all persuasions in early modern Europe. Paradoxically, it was committed to a strictly Calvinist public Church and also to the preservation of religious plurality. R. Po-chia Hsia and Henk van Nierop have brought together a group of leading historians from the U.K., the U.S. and the Netherlands. Their outstanding essays probe the history and myth of Dutch religious toleration.

This volume compares the position of Catholic minorities in England and the Dutch Republic. Looking beyond the tales of persecution that have dominated traditional historiography, the contributors focus on the realities of Catholic existence. Thematically organised, the book explores Catholicism as a minority culture that resorted to unorthodox means, both to retain its own identity, and to survive in a hostile political environment. It examines ritual, material culture, international networks, and above all relations: between laity and clergy, men and women, Catholics and Protestants By...