News from Prague: The Bohemian Revolt and the Birth of the Dutch Newspaper (1618)

News om P ague: The Bohemian Re ol and he Bi h o he Du ch Newspape (1618) A hu de Weduwen Uni e si y o S And ews adw7@s -and ews.ac.uk I goes wi hou saying ha he Bohemian Re ol had momen ous in luence on he his o y o he Czech lands, i s people and i s cul u e. Wha may no be as well known oday is ha he ou b eak o he Thi y Yea s’ Wa in 1618 also had decisi e impac elsewhe e, o en in unexpec ed ways. In my home coun y, he Ne he lands, he wa in Bohemia is gene ally conside ed as an appendix o he longe Eigh y Yea s Wa ; he igh o independence agains Habsbu g Spain which s a ed in 1568 and e- sumed in ull o ce a ound 1621. In he se en een h cen u y, howe e , he con lic in Bohemia was o i al in e es o he people o he Du ch Republic. The P o es an Du ch saw ana u al ally in Bohemia o igh he Habsbu g Empi e, opening up anew on in aglobal s uggle. The Du ch suppo ed he Bohemian cause inancially: hey had con ibu ed 50,000 guilde s pe mon h o he P o es an Ge man Union since 1613, and in 1618 hey added ano he 50,000 guilde s. A e he Ba le o Whi e Moun- ain, he Du ch would p o ide ahome o he Win e King and his wi e, Elizabe h S ua . The e ol in Bohemia was also la gely esponsible o an impo an media de- elopmen in he Ne he lands: he bi h o he newspape . The i s p in ed weekly newspape s we e Ge man, and had appea ed in S asbou g in 1605, ollowed by an- o he pape in Wol enbü el in 1609. The Du ch may no ha e in en ed he newspape , bu hey would p oduce mo e newspape s pe capi a in he i s hal o he se en- een h cen u y han any o he coun y in Eu ope. Ams e dam would de elop in o he newspape capi al o Eu ope: i was he e ha he i s F ench and English newspa- pe s (1620) we e p in ed. The i s Du ch pape s eme ged a ound he summe o 1618. The oldes ex an issue da es om 14 June, and we ha e ou o he su i ing issues, om 22 June, 15 No embe , 23 No embe and 30 No embe . All o hese issues belong o he weekly Cou an e uy I alien, Duys land , &c. (Cu en news om I aly, Ge many, and so o h), published by Caspa an Hil en in Ams e dam. We know ha a he same ime ano he weekly pape was published by B oe Jansz, also in Ams e dam, named he Tijdinghen uy e scheyde Qua ie en (Tidings om a ious qua e s), bu he i s su i ing issue o ha pape da es om Feb ua y 1619. These wo Ams e dam newspape s, like all se en een h-cen u y pape s, we e la gely composed o sho news bulle ins. These we e dense epo s, and wen unac- OPEN ACCESS ARTHUR DER WEDUWEN 243 companied by any commen a y o u he analysis. Newspape s did no in e p e he news, as hey do oday, bu p o ided aw in o ma ion o eade s, who we e ex- pec ed o be in o med enough o o m he igh opinion abou he alue and meaning o he news epo s. This was a adi ion ha he p in ed newspape s had adop ed om comme cial manusc ip newsle e s, he so-called a isi, which had o igina ed in I aly, and which we e ex emely popula amongs Eu ope’s uling eli e. The i s p in ed newspape s eme ged ou o his es ablished ma ke o manusc ip newsle - e s. The incen i e o u n o p in was comme cial: ap in ed newsle e could be p oduced in hund eds o copies, ins ead o acouple o dozen. Bu he eme gence o p in ed newspape s in he Ne he lands canno be explained by he ease o p oduc- ion o lowe p ice alone. I was no acoincidence ha he i s newspape s appea ed a ound 1618, when he e ol in Bohemia b oke ou . The con en o he ea lies su i ing Ams e dam newspape s is la gely made up o epo s conce ning he umul uous e en s aking place in Bohemia: he a e ma h o he de enes a ion, he allying o oops on bo h sides, and he diploma ic and mili a y manoeu ing o he mos impo an p inces o he ealm. The newspape s all con ained long epo s om P ague, which ook up a ound aqua e o each issue, while epo s om Vienna, Cologne and The Hague also conce ned he de elopmen o he con lic in he Czech lands. Why did hese newspape s de o e so much a en ion o Bohemia? O cou se, he e was genuine in e es amongs Du ch ci izens in he e ol . Mo e impo an ly, he wo news publishe s, Caspa an Hil en and B oe Jansz, belonged o apoli ical ac ion in he Du ch Republic which had ap o ound in e es in publicizing he wa . The wo newsmen bo h desc ibed hemsel es as news w i e s o P ince Mau ice o O ange, he S adholde and Cap ain-Gene al o he a my. Mau ice was emb oiled in apoli ical con lic wi h he mos powe ul egen s o Holland, led by he elde ly s a esman Johan an Oldenba ne el , who wished o a oid a enewal o wa wi h he Habsbu gs. Mau ice, on he o he hand, was in a ou o con inuing he wa , and igh ing he Habsbu gs on as many on s as possible by sponso ing o helping o he enemies o Spain. The newspape s o Van Hil en and Jansz o e ed welcome publici y o he cause o P ince Mau ice and his allies, by exposing he ibula ions o in e - na ional Cal inism, and allying wa sen imen o suppo he Bohemians agains he Habsbu g Empe o . Al hough hey claimed o be objec i e publica ions wi h sobe news epo s, he i s Du ch newspape publishe s had apa isan allegiance, and placed he Bohemian e ol a he cen e o hei weekly issues. A e he Ba le o Whi e Moun ain and he exile o he Win e King, he Ams e - dam newspape s did no old. Ins ead hey con inued o publish many news epo s om he di e en hea es o he Thi y Yea s’ Wa , and soon also conce ning o he poli ical con lic s a ound Eu ope. The pape s p o ed inc edibly popula in he Du ch Republic, and by he 1640s, Ams e dam was home o six Du ch newspape s, some o which we e published wice o h ee imes aweek. Newspape s also appea ed in o he owns, ollowing he s anda d se by he Ams e dam pape s. The newspape s expanded in size and scope, and ins ead o he ou o i e epo s ha he i s news- pape s included, hey con ained mo e han wen y. Al hough P ague emained an impo an news cen e o he Du ch pape s, wi h a leas 1,402 epo s om P ague placed in se en een h-cen u y Du ch newspape s, a e he Thi y Yea s’ Wa he ci y OPEN ACCESS 244 SLOVO A SMYSL 33 los i s p ominence o new cen es o con lic , such as London, Pa is and Vienna. Ne - e heless, i was he news om P ague ha i s encou aged news w i e s o hink o publishing ap in ed newspape . I is o he Bohemian e ol ha he Du ch p ess oday owes i s exis ence. FURTHER READING Helme s, Helme J.: Fo eign News in Times o Domes ic C isis: The T uce Con lic s, he Thi y Yea s’ Wa and he Rise o he Du ch Newspape . In: Alexande Wilkinson— G aeme Kemp (eds.): Con lic and Con o e sy in he Ea ly Mode n Book Wo ld. B ill, Leiden 2019. Weduwen, A hu de : Du ch and Flemish Newspape s o he Se en een h Cen u y, 1618–1700. 2 ols. B ill, Leiden 2017. THE REPORTS Below you will ind ex ac s om he i s i e su i ing Du ch newspape issues. Each con ained a epo om P ague, which is ep oduced he e, ansla ed in o Eng- lish. The epo s p o ide agood indica ion o he s yle and one o ea ly newspape s, which has been kep as ai h ul o he o iginal as possible. This is he oldes su i ing Du ch newspape , he Cou an e uy I alien, Duy sland , &c. o 14 June 1618. Mos Du ch newspape s we e p in ed simila o his example, on ahal -shee olio, in double columns. The i s issues we e p in ed on he on side o he shee only, bu by 1621 epo s also occupied he back side. In his issue, he epo om P ague akes up mos o he i s column and he op o he sec- ond column. Image ep oduced wi h pe mission om he Kungliga Biblio eke , S ockholm. OPEN ACCESS ARTHUR DER WEDUWEN 245 OPEN ACCESS