57 BC

Julius Caesar conquers the low countries of Europe, beginning 400 years of Roman rule over the land that will become the Netherlands.

400-800 AD

The Franks take and maintain control of the land that will become the Netherlands. 

 800-1000

Vikings raid and plunder the land that will become the Netherlands. 

1000-1500

The area that will become the Netherlands is divided into small, autonomous principalities and towns without loyalty to any higher political power. 

1300s

The Baltic grain trade develops as early Dutch farmers realize the difficulty of growing wheat on “soggy” Northern Netherlands soil. Dutch farmers begin to import wheat and rye and use their own land to graze cattle. Bread—usually served with butter or cheese—will become a mainstay of the Dutch diet, and the Baltic grain trade will become the “soul” of trade during the seventeenth century.   

The cities of Haarlem and Amersfoort have well-established breweries.  Beer is the common drink and will remain so as the Netherlands enters its seventeenth-century Golden Age.

1500-1558

The Low Countries—the Netherlands and present-day Belgium and Luxembourg—become part of the Burgundian-Hapsburg Empire. 

1514

The first cookbook published in Dutch, Een Notabel Boecxken van Cokeryen (A Notable Little Book of Cookery) by Thomas van der Noot, is published in Brussels.  The cookbook calls for expensive ingredients that only the nobility, high-placed clergy and wealthy bourgeoisie can afford. 

1556

Geeraert Vorselman’s Een Nyeuwen Coock Boeck (A New Cookbook) is the first to publish salad and vegetable recipes.  By the sixteenth century, the Netherlands has become known throughout Europe for its vegetables. 

1559-1584

Willem I of Orange and Nassau serves as the first stadhouder of the Netherlands.

1568

Led by Willem I, the Netherlands begins to fight the Eighty Years’ War against Spain. 

1579

The southern Catholic provinces of the Netherlands affirm their loyalty to Spain by signing the Union of Arras.  Several northern secessionist provinces sign the Union of Utrecht, thereby pledging to resist Spanish rule. 

1589

Carolus Battus publishes Eenen Seer Schonen/ende Excellenten Coc-boek, a book of recipes that culinary historian Peter G. Rose identifies as the only true forerunner of the seventeenth century’s most popular Dutch cookbook, De Verstandige Kok, or The Sensible Cook. 

c.1600-1650

During the first half of the seventeenth century, the areas around Leiden and Delft are known for their cultivation of “coarse” vegetables, such as cabbages, carrots, turnips, parsnips and onions.  These vegetables are likely in demand during this period because they are inexpensive and widely associated with the moderate lifestyle advised by Calvinist teachings.

1602

Combining several Dutch firms, the States General establishes the Dutch East India Company. 

1608

Clara Peeters, the artist often credited with pioneering two categories of still life painting—breakfast pieces and flower pieces—produces her first work. 

1609

During the third of his four voyages of exploration, Henry Hudson travels as far north as the present site of Albany, New York.

Agreeing to a twelve-year truce, the Dutch and the Spanish temporarily stop fighting the Eighty Years’ War.  This provides the Dutch with greater resources to pursue trade and establish settlements in America.

Tea arrives in Europe from China via the Dutch East India Company.  Until after the 1660s, tea is a rare commodity in the Netherlands and is too expensive for all but the wealthiest members of Dutch society to consume. 

1620s-1630s

Coortegardjes, guardroom scenes of soldiers drinking, resting and gambling, are popular in Amsterdam; this likely results from a cultural preoccupation with the ongoing war with Spain.

1618, 1622

Calvinism is adopted as the official religion of the Dutch Republic during the Synods of Dordrecht.  Despite this change, Catholics continue to live and practice in the Netherlands, worshipping privately in schuilkerken—hidden churches.  Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition and Ashkenazi Jews escaping the pogroms of central Europe also find an atmosphere of relative religious tolerance in the Netherlands. 

1621

The Dutch West India Company is chartered. 

1624

Fort Orange is established near the present site of Albany, New York.

1625

Jacob Cats publishes his most popular work, Marriage (Houwelick).  Devoting one chapter to each of six different phases in a woman’s life—maiden, sweetheart, bride, housewife, mother and widow—Cats offers a vision of proper female comportment.  Most likely because it expressed and confirmed common familial values of the period, Marriage was an unequaled bestseller of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. 

1628

Domine Michaelius, the first Dutch minister in America, arrives in Manhattan, officially establishing the Dutch Reformed Church there. 

1629

The Dutch West India Company creates “The Charter of Freedom and Exemptions, establishing a system whereby large tracts of land are granted to private companies who agree to settle at least fifty people there in return.

1630

The village of Beverwijck is founded near the present site of Albany.  Beverwijck is later incorporated into Fort Orange. 

1637

The States Bible is first published.  A Dutch-language translation of the original Greek and Hebrew texts, this edition of the Bible is intended to allow ordinary citizens to study religion without reliance on clerics.  The creation of the States Bible reflects the importance of Calvinism in the Netherlands. 

1640s

Over fifty sugar refineries operate in Amsterdam.  As Brazilian sugar arrives in the Netherlands in large enough quantities that families of even middling wealth can afford it, the traditional Dutch taste for sweets can be further indulged with caramelized sauces and sugar dustings added to waffles and pancakes.

1640

Gerard Ter Borch begins to paint full-length portraits; he is the first Dutch artist to use this pictorial type.

1642

Domine Megapolensis is the first Dutch minister to arrive in Fort Orange.

1647

A visitor to Manhattan reports having heard eighteen different languages spoken during his stay.  Because the Dutch Republic offers an environment of relative prosperity and tolerance, there is little incentive for Netherlanders to move to New Netherland.  As a result, the Dutch West India Company draws settlers for the North American colony from refugees who had come to the Netherlands from other nations, and New Netherland is populated with groups of Dutch, British, French, Germanic, Scandinavian, Hibernian, Iberian and Slavic descent.  

1648

As part of the Peace of Westphalia, the Netherlands signs a treaty with Spain ending the Eighty Years’ War.  The Netherlands is recognized as an independent country, the United Provinces of the Dutch Republic.  The Republic consists of the provinces of Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen, Overjissel and Zeeland.

Jan Steen is a founding member of the painters' guild in Leiden.

1650s

The Dutch West India Company begins to distribute promotional literature in the Netherlands in hopes of increasing settlement in New Netherland.  In order to successfully maintain the beaver trade there, adequate numbers of colonists must begin to form permanent settlements.

The fork is introduced to the wealthy Dutch of New York.  It becomes customary for these more affluent members of society to carry a personal knife and fork while traveling or dining at houses other than their own.  Among the masses, however, the spoon remains the primary eating implement well into the eighteenth century.

1652

Pieter Stuyvesant, director of New Netherland, establishes the free village of Beverwijck.  

1653

Six Beverwijck bakers petition the court for permission to trade white bread, pretzels and cookies to the surrounding Native American population.  Because such transactions are highly profitable, some bakers prefer to do business with Native Americans, resulting in a shortage of flour and bread products for European-origin residents of New Netherland. 

1654

The Dutch West India Company loses control of Brazil, causing it to focus increased attention on its North American holdings. 

1655

Pieter de Hooch enrolls in the Delft school of painters. 

1656

The first church in what is now Albany is erected at the base of State Street hill.

1664

England takes New Netherland, and Beverwijck is renamed Albany.

Amsterdam passes a regulation banning the sale of "rotten, spoiled, or defective spinach, cucumbers, and carrots, ears of corn, radishes, or other fruits [vegetables] because pride could not be taken in or from such things."

De Cierlyke Voorshydinge voor alle Tafelgerechten (Fine Carving for All Table Dishes) is published.  The task of carving meat was considered a great honor during the seventeenth century, especially if it was bestowed during a guild dinner.

1652-1674

The Netherlands’ near monopoly on sea trade poses a threat to the mercantile interests of the English; the Dutch-Anglo Wars of 1652-1654, 1665-1667 and 1672-1674 result. 

1667

De Verstandige Kok (The Sensible Cook) is published for the first time.  Geared towards middle- and upper middle-class families, the book advises a regular and balanced diet, including fresh meat at least once a week, frequent servings of bread and cheese, stew, fresh vegetables and salads.  While simple dishes, such as porridge, pancakes and soup with bread are eaten by all classes, studies reveal that only the affluent have regular access to fresh vegetables during the period; the less wealthy depend on dried peas and beans. 

1670

The Dutch merchant marine has become larger than that of England, France, Spain and Portugal combined.

1673

A Dutch naval force recaptures New Netherland.  Less than a year later, the Dutch government restores the territory to England in return for English support of Dutch claims to Surinam (Dutch Guiana) in South America. 

1760s

A period of prosperity follows the end of the French and Indian War, allowing Dutch-origin colonists the means to indulge their new desires for English-style housing and furniture.  Efforts by conservative Dutch families and the Dutch church fail to halt this trend.

1782

As the Revolutionary War nears its end, the United States and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, beginning the longest peaceful relationship the United States has maintained with any country.  Soon after this agreement is forged, the Netherlands provide the struggling colonies with loans totaling 12 million dollars. 

1795-1813

Weakened by a series of wars with Britain and France, the Netherlands falls to French invasion.  Napoleon places the conquered territory under rule of his brother, Louis Bonaparte. 

1814

Under authority of the Congress of Vienna, Holland and Belgium become the United Kingdom of the Netherlands; Willem I is ruler. 

1830

Southern Netherlands secedes and establishes the country of Belgium.  Willem I recognizes Belgian independence, and the Netherlands acquires its current form.