Vrijheidsstrijders en verzoeners

Samenvatting

For three centuries, the Batavian myth was used in The
Netherlands as a historical legitimisation for contemporary
political and societal opinions. Current Dutch historiography
assumes that this myth-shaping ended around 1800, therefore
the Batavian myth is lacking in literature on the nineteenth
century. The research presented in this article shows that this
is incorrect through analysing two historical works that discuss
the Batavians. One is Vaderlandsche historie (1749) by Jan
Wagenaar, which was written in a period wherein the Batavian
myth was actively used. The other work is Onze voorouders
(1838) by Jacob van Lennep, and this research concludes that
Onze voorouders shows several similarities with Vaderlandsche
historie. It can be stated that the work of Van Lennep also shows
mythologising characteristics when it comes to the Batavians.
Moreover this article shows that historical novels can be studied
not only as fiction, but also within historiography.