Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: December 31, 2020 at 6:09:45 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Africa]: Ebben on Heinsen-Roach, 'Consuls and > Captives: Dutch-North African Diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Erica Heinsen-Roach. Consuls and Captives: Dutch-North African > Diplomacy in the Early Modern Mediterranean. Changing Perspectives > on Early Modern Europe Series. Rochester University of Rochester > Press, 2020. 258 pp. $125.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-58046-974-6. > > Reviewed by Maurits A. Ebben (Leiden University) > Published on H-Africa (December, 2020) > Commissioned by David D. Hurlbut > > Erica Heinsen-Roach's study fits in seamlessly with existing > knowledge on European contact with North Africa, about which much has > been written, in particular with regard to privateering and Christian > slavery. The initial scholarly focus was on the Christian states on > the north side of the Mediterranean that had been the first ones to > become involved in North Africa: Spain, Italy, and France. It was > only later, when they actively engaged in the Mediterranean trade as > well, that northern Europeans had to face North African privateers. > In fact, these encounters stimulated, intensified, and innovated the > _corso_ in the Maghrib: becoming acquainted with northern European > maritime knowledge and the use of Atlantic ships increased the > corsairs' effectiveness and expanded their area of operations. Also > noticeable is the fact that Europeans started to participate in this > lucrative business with ships sailing under the flag of Moroccan, > Algerian, or Tunisian principalities. > > _Consuls and Captives_ fills a gap in the literature on relations > between northern European states and the North African principalities > by examining the Dutch component of these encounters, a topic that > little has been written about to date. The book also fits in the > present public debate in the Netherlands on North African > immigration, which has stimulated historical interest in Dutch > relations with the Maghrib. A recent study by Abdelkader Benali, a > well-known Dutch-Moroccan author, bears witness to this (_Reizigers > van een nieuwe tijd: Jan Janszoon, een Nederlandse piraat in > Marokkaanse dienst_ [2020]). Benali describes an uprooted early > modern Dutch pirate immigrant in Morocco and thus, conversely, > establishes a relationship with his own experiences in western > Europe. > > _Consuls and Captives_ mainly deals with diplomatic practices and > policies between the States General and North African rulers. > Economic and cultural exchange remains in the background. > Heinsen-Roach rejects the traditional notion that European diplomacy > dominated these relations. It was not solely the Dutch (and other > Europeans) who developed norms, laws, and customs, but both parties > did so, or, more precisely in the North African case, the local > rulers. This claim does not turn current ideas about diplomatic > history upside down, because for some time it has been clear that > traditional diplomatic historical views need serious reconsideration. > We must question, for example, whether there was such a thing as > European diplomacy, let alone whether European powers were able to > impose their diplomatic values and standards on other cultures. > Despite numerous similarities, diplomacy within Europe was carried > out by various participants in their own ways and with various goals. > Consequently, the previously almost exclusive focus on the resident > ambassador has been expanded to other diplomatic actors, and > diplomacy is no longer seen as a monopoly of sovereign states. > > In this context of a renewal of insights into diplomatic history, > Heinsen-Roach's study provides further proof that diplomacy, rather > than being a European monopoly, was a global phenomenon with many > variants. She also shows that the extremely negative European image > of the Maghribi states as unreliable and lawless is incorrect. She > does this by meticulously analyzing the development of Dutch-North > African relations, giving attention to the interests of both parties. > Heinsen-Roach focuses on four themes (state representation, treaty > making, the ransoming of captives, and gift giving); in her opinion, > these dominated the evolution of diplomacy in the western > Mediterranean. She discusses the themes across four periods that > partly overlap but leave out some years in the seventeenth century. > > The first part, "Encountering 'Barbary,' 1596-1622," deals with the > first treaties the Dutch concluded with Morocco, Istanbul, Algiers, > and Tunis on the basis of mutual interest. Treaty making, according > to the author, was one of the main characteristics of Dutch-Maghribi > relations and continued to be so well into the eighteenth century. > This conclusion criticizes the traditional view of North African > principalities as lawless states operating on the margins of > international law. > > In the next part, "Transformations, 1616-30," Heinsen-Roach makes one > of her most important statements. She holds that the transformation > of the Christian merchant-consul into a representative of the state > was one of the most profound changes in state representation. While > in the Christian world consuls were not public ministers but > representatives of trade organizations and merchants' commercial > interests, in the Maghrib, the Dutch Republic and the English Crown > appointed consuls as their chief diplomatic representatives. This > runs counter to the traditional view that without resident > ambassadors there can be no diplomatic relations and challenges the > idea, the author says, that the European variant of diplomacy was the > standard linear model. > > On the basis of agreements with the sultan in Istanbul and Dutch > ideas about free shipping, the Dutch demanded from the Maghribi the > unconditional release of captured sailors. Nevertheless, ransom > always had to be paid and turned out to be the norm that the Dutch > had to accept. Revenue from ransom was an important basis for the > existence of the pirate principalities." Moreover, ransom was not > illegal, because no agreements about free release had ever been > stipulated in the Dutch-North African treaties. > > In part 3, "Confrontations, 1651-83," Heinsen-Roach further > substantiates her thesis by demonstrating the importance of the > actual presence of an official representative of a sovereign state in > the principalities. Although private mediators, often Sephardim, > maintained good relations both in Amsterdam and locally, and had more > financial resources and a better knowledge of the language and > customs, consuls as public ministers had a significant advantage over > them. Consuls were representatives of sovereign Christian states and > their presence symbolized the independence of Algeria and Tunis from > the sultan of Istanbul, who officially had authority over the > Maghribi regencies. > > In the last part, "Normative Relations, 1679-1726," Heinsen-Roach > discusses a period during which Dutch trade and naval power in the > Mediterranean declined and diplomatic relations with the privateer > cities changed. The new balance of power left more room for North > African social norms. Making gifts as part of negotiations was seen > by the Dutch as bribery and prohibited by law. For the North > Africans, gift giving was a sign of respect from the giver to the > recipient and was an essential part of the negotiations to which the > Dutch consuls had to yield if they were to achieve anything. In the > course of time this practice changed from an exchange of gifts to a > kind of tribute payment to the Maghribi princes in the form of weapon > and cannon supplies. According to Heinsen-Roach, Dutch adjustments to > these practices confirm "that early modern diplomacy was the outcome > of cross-cultural interaction rather than the product of European law > and cultural hegemony" (p. 185). > > This study is based almost exclusively on Dutch and European sources. > It offers therefore, strictly speaking, a one-sided view, making it > difficult to fathom the considerations of the Maghribi. The author > cannot be blamed, though, because there hardly are any North African > sources. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that she made no attempt to > offer a statistical impression of the extent of North African > privateering, although for some years meaningful data seem to have > become available. An overview of accredited diplomats and maps of the > Mediterranean area would have been useful as well. > > The author's sense of drama when she analyzes the personal > experiences of a number of Dutch consuls deserves praise. It allows > the reader to empathize with the hardships of individual diplomats > abroad. This aspect in itself makes the book an important > contribution to diplomatic historiography, apart from its > contribution to the knowledge of early modern European, and > especially Dutch, relations with North Africa.__ > > Citation: Maurits A. Ebben. Review of Heinsen-Roach, Erica, _Consuls > and Captives: Dutch-North African Diplomacy in the Early Modern > Mediterranean_. H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. December, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55534 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#5007): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/5007 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/79346996/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
