Father Figures and Faction Leaders. Identification Strategies and Monarchical Imagery among Ordinary Citizens of the Northern and Southern Low Countries (c. 1780-1820)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10588Keywords:
Identity, Continuity, Nationhood From Below, Pauper Letters, William I of the NetherlandsAbstract
After his ascension to the throne in 1813, William Frederick was quickly accepted as a father-monarch who united the various factions previously vying for power in the Dutch Republic. When in 1815 the Sovereign Principality of the Netherlands merged with the former Austrian Netherlands to form the United Kingdom, the new Southern subjects were far less inclined to accept William I as father of the nation. So goes the prevailing interpretation in the historiography, based as it is on politically and culturally elite sources. In this article, we investigate how ordinary folk imagined the new monarch. We examine the identification strategies and monarchical imagery they employed in writing pauper letters, comparing the restoration monarchy with the various regimes that came before it. Ultimately, we conclude that, despite the officially sanctioned imagery, in both North and South, perceptions of the new monarch represented a less distinct rupture with the past than has been thought.
This article is part of the special issue 'Political Change and Civic Continuities in the Age of Revolutions'.
Vaderfiguren en factieleiders. Identificatiestrategieën en monarchale beeldspraak onder gewone burgers van de noordelijke en zuidelijke Lage Landen (ca. 1780-1820)
Na zijn aantreden in 1813 werd Willem Frederik al snel gezien als een vadermonarch met het vermogen alle facties die voorheen in de Republiek hadden bestaan te verbinden. Toen in 1815 het Soeverein Vorstendom der Nederlanden met de voormalige Oostenrijkse Nederlanden werd samengevoegd tot het Verenigd Koninkrijk, waren de nieuwe zuidelijke onderdanen veel minder geneigd om Willem I te beschouwen als vader van de natie. Dit is het dominante beeld in de geschiedschrijving, dat gebaseerd is op representaties van politieke en culturele elites. In dit artikel gaan we na hoe gewone mensen tegen de nieuwe monarch aankeken. We onderzoeken de identificatiestrategieën en monarchale beeldspraak waarvan zij zich in armenbrieven bedienden en vergelijken daarbij de restauratiemonarchie met verschillende regimes die eraan voorafgingen. We concluderen dat, de officiële beeldvorming daargelaten, de percepties van de nieuwe Oranjevorst zowel in het noorden als het zuiden een minder scherpe breuk behelzen dan tot nu toe werd gedacht.
Dit artikel maakt deel uit van het themanummer 'Political Change and Civic Continuities in the Age of Revolutions'.
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