‘Schep immer nieuwe vreugd, vriendschap gezelligheid’

Over Brabantse adel, ‘herengezelschappen’ en regionale identiteit

Samenvatting

‘Always Make New Pleasure, Friendship, Companionship’: On Brabant Nobility, ‘Gentlemen’s Fraternities’ and Regional Identity

In the second half of the nineteenth century, there existed several so-called ‘gentlemen’s fraternities’ in North Brabant. These associations are an important source in the investigation of local and regional elites. This article concerns itself with such associations and centres on the question to what extent the Brabant nobility expressed a self-identity by being a member of and participating in these fraternities.

The first part of the article discusses the way in which membership played a role in the relations between Brabant noblemen and contributed to the cohesion of the noble part of the provincial elite. Consecutively, societies and associations established in ’s-Hertogenbosch with a local and provincial outreach are discussed. Aspects that are reviewed here include the popularity of the associations among the Brabant nobility, the composition of the noble part of the membership and the way in which noblemen showed their involvement by being a member of the board and/or by attending the meetings. As it turns out, the involvement in ‘gentlemen’s fraternities’ contributed to the cohesion within the Brabant nobility. Brabant noblemen were not striving for a strict noble elitism but instead expressed themselves as members of a Brabant elite. Some noble families and noble indi- viduals proved to be very involved and participated in an administrative elite with much influence. They were determining the extent to which these Brabant ‘gentlemen’s fraterni- ties’ possessed and expressed a regional (noble) self-identity.

In the second part of the article, the question is discussed as to what extent Brabant noblemen showed a Brabant identity, especially by means of their activities as members of cultural societies. The discussion centres on the Provinciaal Genootschap voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Provincial Society for the Arts and Sciences) and especially around the historiography as source of cultural emancipation that was practised in this society. By means of these activities, a number of noblemen contributed to the developing of the image of Brabant as a glorious and important part of the Dutch nation, an image that prevailed between 1840 and 1880.

The conclusion reached in this article is that noblemen in the province of North Brabant in the second half of the nineteenth century presented themselves as Brabanders by means of their membership of and activities in ‘gentlemen’s fraternities’. In this way they constructed a (group)identity, and as long as the image they cherished continued to be an image in which people of the province recognized themselves, their self-identity and persona could be seen as being Brabant. As soon as another image of Brabant became more relevant, they were no longer considered to be standard-bearers of Brabant culture and identity.