Dutch Activities in the North and the Arctic during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Abstract

The Dutch were engaged in important activities in the north and in the Arctic during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, particularly in the areas of commerce, exploration, whaling, and cod-fishing. Dutch commerce with northern Europe must have begun around the middle of the sixteenth century; their explorations were started in 1584, and they began whaling in 1612. All of these activities expanded during the seventeenth century, at a time when the United Provinces became the greatest commercial power in Europe. ... Accounts of Dutch activities in the north and in the Arctic were popular in Holland from the very beginning. Manuscripts, printed works, and illustrations concerning our Arctic past are numerous. Also, since the mid-1800s, it has been possible to develop an historical research covering the various aspects of Holland's Arctic past, involving several disciplines - history of explorations and of cartography, economic history, and maritime history (Muller, 1874).