Pieter Geyl

Pieter Catharinus Arie Geyl (December 15, 1887 – December 31, 1966) was a Dutch historian well known for his studies in early modern Dutch history and in historiography.

Background

Geyl was born in Dordrecht and graduated from the University of Leiden in 1913. His thesis was on Christofforo Suriano, the Venetian Ambassador in the Netherlands from 1616 to 1623. He was married twice, first to Maria Cornelia van Slooten in 1911 (died 1933) and secondly to Garberlina Kremer in 1934.

Early career

Geyl worked as a teacher at a "gymnasium" (grammar school) in Schiedam (1912-1913) before going on to serve as the London correspondent for "Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant" newspaper. During this time, Geyl befriended many influential people in Britain. In 1919 Geyl took up a professorship in Dutch history at the University of London, where he taught until 1935. In 1935, Geyl returned home to become a professor at the University of Utrecht.

Wartime experiences

In 1940, Geyl wrote an article on how historians view Napoleon that was due to be published in June 1940. After the German occupation in May 1940, the publishers declined to publish Geyl's article out of the fear that comparisons could be made between Napoleon and Adolf Hitler. In September 1940, Geyl used his article for the basis of series of lectures at the Rotterdam School of Economics. In October 1940 the SD (Security Service) of the SS took Geyl hostage in retaliation for what the Germans alleged to be maltreatment of Germans interned in the Dutch East Indies. Geyl spent thirteen months at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Even after his release from Buchenwald, Geyl continued to be held by the Germans at a Dutch prison until he was finally released for medical reasons in February 1944.

In 1945 Geyl became the chair of history at University of Utrecht. In his opening address, he called for his students to disprove political and cultural myths that could lead to movements like National Socialism. Geyl was a critic of the "Sonderweg" interpretation of German history that argued that Nazi Germany was the inevitable result of the way German history developed. In particular, Geyl defended the German historian Leopold von Ranke against the charge of being a proto-Nazi.

Geyl's historical outlook

Geyl was best known as a critic of the British historian Arnold J. Toynbee, who maintained that he had discovered "laws" of history that proved how civilizations rise and fall. Geyl often debated Toynbee both on the radio and in print. He accused Toynbee of selective use of evidence to support pre-conceived notions, and of ignoring evidence that did not support his thesis. In addition, Geyl considered Toynbee's theory to be simplistic, ignoring the full complexity of the past; he regarded Toynbee's theory of "Challenge and Response" to explain historical change as too loose and a catch-all definition. Finally, Geyl was opposed to Toynbee's claim that Western civilization was in terminal decline.

Geyl was noted for challenging the then-popular theory that the Dutch and Flemings had little common history. Geyl made the claim that there was a "Great Netherlands" history and that the Dutch and Flemings only separated during the Eighty Years' War (better known as the Dutch Revolt in the English-speaking world) against Spain in the 16th century. Geyl argued that the revolt failed in the south not because of political, cultural or religious differences, but only because the geography in the north with its lakes, bogs and rivers favored the rebels and the geography in the south with its flat plains favored the Spanish Army. Had it not been for the accident of geography, Flanders would have been part of the Dutch Republic.

Geyl was also was noted for arguing that the House of Orange and the Dutch people were often in conflict, especially during the 18th century. Geyl accused William IV of Orange of using the uprising of the "Doelisten" (a group of Amsterdam burgers) against the ruling élite to seize power for himself in 1748. Another revisionist claim made by Geyl was that the marriage of William of Orange (later William III of England) to Mary II was the main cause of the first Anglo-Dutch War in the 17th century.

"Napoleon For and Against" was an account of how French historians of different ages and views have regarded the French emperor. From Napoleon's time to the present French historians have presented Napoleon as either a Corsican adventurer who brought death and destruction to France or as a patriotic Frenchman who brought glory and prosperity. Geyl used his book to advance his view that all historians are influenced by the present when writing history and thus all historical writing is transitory. In Geyl's view, there never can be a definitive account for all ages because every age has a different view of the past. For Geyl the best that historians could do was to critically examine their beliefs and urge their readers to do likewise. Geyl felt that history was a progress of "argument without end", but did not feel that this meant that an "anything goes" interpretation of history was acceptable.

Published Works

*"Christofforo Suriano: resident van de Serenissime Republiek van Venetië in Den Haag, 1616-1623", 1913.
*"Willem IV en Engeland tot 1748", 1924.
*"De Groot-Nederlandsche gedachte", 1925.
*"De geschiedenis van de Nederlandsche Stam", 3 volumes, 1930-1959: translated into English as "The Revolt of the Netherlands, 1555-1609" and "The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century".
*"Revolutiedagen te Amsterdam, Augustus-September 1748", 1936.
*"Patriotten en NSBers", 1946.
*"The Revolt of the Netherlands, 1555-1609", New York: Barnes & Noble, 1966.
*"The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century", 2 volumes, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1961-1964.
*"Oranje en Stuart, 1641-72", 1939: translated by A. Pomerans into English as "Orange and Stuart, 1641-72", New York: Scribner, 1970.
*"Napoleon: voor en tegen in de Franse geschiedschrijving", 1946: translated by O. Renier into English as "Napoleon, For and Against", New Haven, CT; Yale University Press, 1948.
*"De Patriottenbeweging, 1780-1787", 1947.
*"Can We Know the Pattern of the Past? Discussion between P. Geyl and A. Toynbee concerning Toynbee's Book 'A Study of History"', Bossum: F.G. Kroonder, co-written with Arnold Toynbee, 1948.
*"The Pattern of the Past: Can we Determine it?" cowritten with Arnold Toynbee and P. Sorokin, New York: Greenwood, 1949.
*"Use and Abuse of History", New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1955.
*"Debates with Historians", Cleveland, Ohio: Meridian, 1958.
*"Studies en strijdschriften", 1958.
*"Encounters in History", Cleveland, Ohio: Meridian, 1961.

References

*Bark, W. "Review of 'Encounters in History'"" pages 107-123 from "History and Theory", Volume 4, Issue #1, 1964.
*Boogman, J.C. "Pieter Geyl (1887-1966)" pages 269-277 from "Bijdragen voor de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden", Volume 21, (1967).
*Duke, A.C & Tamse, C.A. (editors) "Clio's Miror: Historiography in Britain and the Netherlands", Zutphen: De Walburg Pers, 1985.
*Mehta, Ved, "Fly and Fly Bottle: Encounters with British Intellectuals", London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1962.
*Rogier, L.J. "Herdenking van P. Geyl", Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uitgevrs Maatschappji, 1967.
*Rowen, Herbert H. "The Historical Work of Pieter Geyl" pages 35-49 from "Journal of Modern History", Volume 37, Issue #1, 1965.
*Tolebeek, Jo "De toga van Fruin: denken over geschiedenis in Nederland sinds 1860", Amsterdam: Wereldbibliotheek, 1990.