BONUS: LGBTQ+ history of the Netherlands with Elyzabeth Gorman
We sit down with Elyzabeth Gorman, storyteller-in-chief of Badass Tours, to talk about LGBTQ+ history of the Netherlands. Quite the badass herself, Elyzabeth aims to communicate ‘hidden histories’ - stories of women, people of colour and members of LGBTQ+ communities whose lives and experiences are so often overlooked or even wilfully ignored in the mainstream telling of Dutch history. She does public speaking events at museums around the country and has made it her mission to communicate lesser known histories of the Netherlands, in English. Sounds like our kind of person! While there’s a range of areas that Elyzabeth covers in her work, for this episode we wanted to particularly focus on LGBTQ+ history, since we personally feel like this is an area which we have also neglected in our podcasting so far and which we could learn a lot more about ourselves.
Do you want to know more about Flemish and Dutch history and culture? Visit www.the-low-countries.com.
Episode art photo by Dana Marin / Amsterdamian.
Our theme music is created by Samuel P K Smith.
Music clips provided by Storyblocks:
"Minimal Documentary Background Music" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/minimal-documentary-background-music-skxjrbbvvketzhdzl.html
"Documentary Corporate Marimba Background Music" by Media-Music Group https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/documentary-corporate-marimba-background-music-rivttg71dkk2oc0dt.html
"Jazz Bass And Drums Solo" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/jazz-bass-and-drums-solo-bjj7ev19vkhjpmbps.html
“Black Baugette” by Humans Win https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/black-baugette-hy78n0qm_klr27ky7.html
"Escaping Forever" by Michael Vignola https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/escaping-forever-hog3rptosk2xlgdd7.html
"Lofi Jazz Beat (Paris Caf Version)" by The Turquoise Moon https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/lofi-jazz-beat-sdve38movkgogrl4f.html
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54 - The Widowed Bride
After Prince Juan’s death in 1497, Margaret of Austria spent almost two years in mourning in Spain, being treated with empathy and kindness by the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand. Margaret’s sudden singleness meant that, whether she liked it or not, her father Maximilian was going to update her profile on the Tinder for European royalty, and start swiping through every eligible prince or king throughout the continent to see how he could next use his daughter for his own political gains. We will sort through the prospective matches and, while Margaret travels through France on her way back home, we’ll make a detour there ourselves for a game of royal tennis which will end in a royal death, divorce and subsequent sex scandal. Salacious! Margaret of Austria arrived back in Ghent in March 1500, just in time to be present at the christening of her nephew, Charles, a grandiose celebration such as had not been seen in the Low Countries before, even including a fire breathing dragon. In the aftermath, Margaret’s future would once again be discussed within the various courts of Europe and she would be married off for a third and final time, this time to Philibert the Handsome, Duke of Savoy.
With thanks to George, John Ricketson, Jackie Pearson, Geoffrey Egger and Jo Crease.
SHOW NOTES: https://www.republicofamsterdamradio.com/episodes/historyofthenetherlands/episode-54-the-widowed-bride
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/historyofthenetherlands
BLUESKY: https://historyofnl.bsky.social/
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Bonus: Decolonising the AfricaMuseum with Bart Ouvry
We sit down with Bart Ouvry, managing director of AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium, to speak about the challenges he faces attempting to decolonise a colonial museum. Established in 1898, the museum originally served as a propaganda tool to lend support to Belgium's King Leopold II's colonial ambitions in Congo and central Africa. By the late 20th century, the museum was being widely and critically called into question, leading to a five year renovation plan that started in 2013, intended to revamp it both physically and philosophically. Since reopening in late 2018, AfricaMuseum has continued to receive mixed opinions from many different perspectives. This testifies to the complexities and controversies that remain inherent within any discussion about historical narratives and what different and divisive consequences they can bear for people today. To hear more about the museum team’s journey in forging a path through this mire, we were lucky enough to sit down with Bart in his office to ask him about his own background, the importance of history, about his role at the museum and about what it’s like to lead a team that is faced with tackling such difficult and monumental task.
Do you want to know more about Flemish and Dutch history and culture? Visit www.the-low-countries.com.
Our theme music is created by Samuel P K Smith.
Music clips provided by Storyblocks:
"Minimal Documentary Background Music" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/minimal-documentary-background-music-skxjrbbvvketzhdzl.html
"Documentary Corporate Marimba Background Music" by Media-Music Group https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/documentary-corporate-marimba-background-music-rivttg71dkk2oc0dt.html
"Jazz Bass And Drums Solo" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/jazz-bass-and-drums-solo-bjj7ev19vkhjpmbps.html
"Escaping Forever" by Michael Vignola https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/escaping-forever-hog3rptosk2xlgdd7.html
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53 - Clinker to Carvel (and how to shove sphagnum into wood)
We dumbly delve into the deep and desolate doldrums that define trying to understand the growth and development of Dutch shipbuilding in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, particularly in Holland. Conditions would conspire to allow this industry to flourish across the Low Countries. There is, however, a distinct lack of written information from the shipbuilding sector in the 15th century to speak about it definitively. Historians and archaeologists have put together and continue to put together as many pieces as possible, however much of the detail is forever lost. As such, speculation must play its part. In the second part of the episode, we are going to discuss some of the main sources that historians use to try and get a picture of this very opaque past.
With thanks to David Bailey, Emma Kennedy, Elpeniki Lyberis, Lieke Sloot and Nicobellasims.
SHOW NOTES: https://www.republicofamsterdamradio.com/episodes/historyofthenetherlands/episode-53-clinker-to-carvel-and-how-to-shove-sphagnum-into-wood
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/historyofthenetherlands
BLUESKY: https://historyofnl.bsky.social/
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BONUS: Amsterdam 750 with Erik Schmitz from Amsterdam City Archive
On October 27, 1275, Count Floris V of Holland issued a toll exemption to the village of Amsterdam as compensation for damage caused by his troops. This document remains the oldest known written reference to Amsterdam and is kept in a dark depot in the Amsterdam City Archives. One of the curators and people responsible for keeping this document safe for the people of Amsterdam is Erik Schmitz. We had the privilege of speaking to him on October 28, 2024, as Amsterdam kicks off its 750th jubilee year. Our conversation spans from looking at the physical document itself, what it meant for Amsterdam's growth over the centuries and how its significance has changed in line with the development of the city itself.
Do you want to know more about Flemish and Dutch history and culture? Visit www.the-low-countries.com.
Music clips provided by Storyblocks:
"Jazz Bass And Drums Solo" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/jazz-bass-and-drums-solo-bjj7ev19vkhjpmbps.html
"Minimal Documentary Background Music" by Volodymyr Piddubnyk https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/minimal-documentary-background-music-skxjrbbvvketzhdzl.html
"Lofi Jazz Beat (Paris Caf Version)" by The Turquoise Moon https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/lofi-jazz-beat-sdve38movkgogrl4f.html
"Documentary Corporate Marimba Background Music" by Media-Music Group https://www.storyblocks.com/audio/stock/documentary-corporate-marimba-background-music-rivttg71dkk2oc0dt.html
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The incredible journey of the world’s most influential swamp and those who call it home. Beginning at the end of the last ice age and trekking all the way through to the modern era, together we step through the centuries and meet some of the cast of characters who fashioned and forged a boggy marshland into a vibrant mercantile society and then further into a sea-trotting global super-power before becoming the centre for modern day liberalism.
Netherlands