Preliminary Programme

This paper intends to study the factors, which determined the moral boundaries of corruption in the 17th-Century Dutch Republic. More specifically we use the example of Stadholder William Frederick of Nassau (1613-1664) to examine how an awareness of public and private spheres influenced his opinions on patronage modes. In doing so we aim to identify the patronage roles and codes, which were considered to be appropriate to distinct public and private spheres. (Show less)

When studying early modern government, one often stumbles upon cases of corruption.
Some public functionary had been accused of transgressing the thin line separating normal administrative practice from abuse of power, and evidence had been brought against him. In some cases the accused might even have been sentenced. Now what should we make of the imputations and condemnations we come across?
Finding corrupt behavior of officials in the archives is simple enough. Analyzing such cases to try and find out how corruption was actually perceived during the Ancien Regime is quite another matter. As it happens theoretical approaches to corruption, and definitions of the phenomenon abound in a number of academic disciplines, and finding one's way in that theoretical tangle is far from easy. In our contribution to ESSHC 2004 we aim to provide a survey of the field, to subsequently make an informed choice between the different theoretical approaches to corruption. Finally we test the theory of our choice by using it to analyze a 17th century Dutch case. (Show less)