In this thesis, I examine the interaction between the business strategy of the Amsterdam banking house Hope & Co. from 1756-1780 and the credit crisis of 1772-1773. Hope & Co. played a...Show moreIn this thesis, I examine the interaction between the business strategy of the Amsterdam banking house Hope & Co. from 1756-1780 and the credit crisis of 1772-1773. Hope & Co. played a central role in the unfolding of this historical event, whereas on the other hand, the crisis had a decisive impact on the Hopes’ business strategy. Before the credit crisis, the Hopes operated prudently and consistently, and the firm acted as a market-regulating institution. However, in the runup to the crisis, Hope & Co. became increasingly involved in large-scale financial speculation in London and Amsterdam. Subsequently, in the aftermath of the crisis, the Hopes returned to a strategy of caution. They diversified their business portfolio by investing in the loan sector and gradually shifted from mercantile activities to financial services. Moreover, as the last major family firm in Amsterdam, Hope & Co. affirmed its market-regulating role, henceforth becoming the banker’s banker. This thesis emphasises the importance of credit governance structures for the resilience of markets and merchant communities. The fact that Hope & Co. established itself as a market-regulating institution poses a challenge to new institutional economics. It raises questions on the role of family firms in (the governance of) early modern credit structures.Show less
This thesis has analysed the publisher Jacobus van Egmont and the place he occupied on the competitive popular book market of early eighteenth century Amsterdam. The thesis focuses on how the...Show moreThis thesis has analysed the publisher Jacobus van Egmont and the place he occupied on the competitive popular book market of early eighteenth century Amsterdam. The thesis focuses on how the societal and cultural changes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century are represented in Van Egmont's list of publications and how these changes influenced Van Egmont's strategy and career.Show less
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) suggests that true Christian spirituality and virtue was threatened by eighteenth-century capitalism. In his novel, Defoe illustrates how religious piety was...Show moreDaniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) suggests that true Christian spirituality and virtue was threatened by eighteenth-century capitalism. In his novel, Defoe illustrates how religious piety was rendered difficult in the eighteenth century, an era in which many people participated in overseas trade because of the rise of proto-capitalism (Semmel 30). Crusoe has less difficulty being a devout Christian when living on the uninhabited island than he does before he is shipwrecked and after he goes back to society after twenty eight years of living in isolation. Crusoe’s lifestyle on the desolate island is in stark contrast to his lifestyle on the European mainland. On the latter, the European bourgeois capitalist culture motivates Crusoe to become wealthy and lures him into the trading business overseas. Yet on the desolate island, where Crusoe is the sole survivor of a shipwreck, he thanks God and repents the previous mistakes he has made. The absence of social and economic distractions gives him an opportunity to become more familiarized with Christianity. As Crusoe is isolated from society on the desolate island, he initially feels desperation and fear, which makes him turn to the Bible. It is because of what he reads in the Bible and his isolation from society that Crusoe reflects on his previous lifestyle and appreciates his new connection with God. However, by the end of the novel, the reader might wonder whether Crusoe has been able to keep the resolutions which he has made on the island. He is unable to maintain his religious piety when he leaves the island, as the capitalist society tempts him to become a private trader again. Indeed, by contrasting life on the mainland in a blooming market economy to life in isolation on an island, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe suggests that capitalism and a society obsessed with materialism made conversion to true Christianity difficult, or even impossible. As regards the influence and historical context of Robinson Crusoe, I will approach the novel from a New Historicist perspective and explain that it is a product of its time. Below, I will first show that the novel reflects contemporary ideas of true Christianity and conversion. After placing the novel in a historical context, I will contrast Crusoe’s lifestyle on the mainland amidst society with life in isolation on the island to analyze Crusoe’s religious experience and his psychological change to see how the capitalist society affects him and renders him unable to maintain religious piety. I will do this in three separate chapters. In this paper, I will limit my research to The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, as a focus on the whole Crusoe trilogy would be more appropriate in a master thesis.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
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The implementation of the Taksim water network was initiated near the end of the reign of Ahmed III, but was interrupted as a consequence of the Patrona Revolt in September 1730. The uprising...Show moreThe implementation of the Taksim water network was initiated near the end of the reign of Ahmed III, but was interrupted as a consequence of the Patrona Revolt in September 1730. The uprising brought about the deposal of Ahmed III in favor of his nephew Mahmud I who continued the Taksim project sometime after the unrest in the capital was suppressed. The water network supplied the neighborhoods of Kasımpaşa, Galata, Tophane, Fındıklı, and Kabataş, and was primarily financed from the privy purse of Saliha Valide Sultan. In addition, the queen mother selected a number of wealthy and loyal dignitaries to invest in the project by means of a monumental fountain. The fountain network confirmed the social contract that was negotiated between the sultan and his favorites, and put the social network of the former at the center of a "negotiated empire". The Taksim water project sheds new light on the concept of centralization in historiography, and expands our understanding of the processes through which wealth, power, and prestige were regulated in Ottoman society.Show less
