Organisations
The resolutions of the States General contain many references to local governments, courts of justice, military units, church boards and other organised associations. In Goetgevonden we consider these organisations and institutions as entities. Compared to other types of entities, organisations form a very diverse category. Moreover, it is not always easy to determine whether a certain group of people forms a (separate) organisation. The most important choices will be explained below.
An automated process was used to recognise organisation references in the resolutions and link them to a list of organisations that had been prepared in advance (with the exceptions mentioned below). Approximately 80% of the organisation references recognised in the first step could be identified with an organisation. The remainder of organisation references that could not be identified were not included in this dataset.
General categories
The organisations are divided into categories in different ways. To begin with, each organisation has been assigned a category that corresponds to the level of government or the size of the area in which the organisation was involved. Here are three possibilities:
| Category | Observation |
| Local | |
| Regional | Including provincial institutions |
| Nationwide |
Each organisation also belongs to one or more categories that give a rough indication of the area of operation. An organisation can be classified in more than one of these three categories: for example, the VOC has both the label Republic (because it is an institution of the Dutch Republic) and the label World (because the company’s business is largely conducted outside Europe). This again concerns three categories:
| Category | Observation |
| Republic | In or of the Dutch Republic |
| Europe | i.e. outside the Dutch Republic |
| World | i.e. outside Europe |
Regiments
The military regiments form a special group of organisations, which are disclosed in more than one way in this dataset. Regiments are usually referred to by the name of the captain of the regiment; this closely matches the organisation of the Dutch army. Sometimes, however, the origin or the coat of arms is also mentioned. Although it is unclear how consistently these designations were used, the various coats of arms and nationalities are included as separate organisations in this dataset. One regimental entry can therefore theoretically be considered to belong to three organisations, from three corresponding categories:
| Category | Observation |
| Regiments by name | Grouped by name of the captain |
| Regiments by origin | e.g. ‘Swiss’, ‘Scot’ etc. |
| Regiments by weapons | Infantry, cavalry etc. |
| Regiment | Applicable to all of the above |
The regiments in this dataset were not recognised on the basis of a previously drawn up list. Instead, an organisation was created for each personal name that appears more than eight times in regimental references. It is therefore possible that more regiments actually fall under one organisation.
Subaltern authorities
The way in which subaltern authorities are referred to in the resolutions of the States General is far from uniform. This reflects the diversity of local government forms in the early modern period. In this dataset, therefore, every combination of a capacity in local government (mayor, alderman, etc.) or general administrative term (magistrate, council, etc.) with a previously identified location is designated as a local authority. Subaltern authorities are therefore the second group of organisations that were not identified on the basis of a pre-existing list.
Religious organisations and denominations
The religious organisations form a diverse group in nature and structure. The best recognised and recognisable are the classes and synods of the reformed churches (which, incidentally, do not all appear in the resolutions). The Roman Catholic monasteries and chapters proved difficult to distinguish from each other; many are rare. For that reason, these organisations have only been disclosed collectively: one organisation for all monasteries and abbeys and one for all chapters and chapter churches. Finally, some religious minorities – although strictly speaking not always an organisation – have been included as ‘Religious denomination’.
Geographical distribution
The geographical distribution of organisations within the Netherlands is largely determined by the way in which the various parts of the republic were governed. Because the seven provinces and the Drenthe region were largely sovereign, we find few local organisations there. There were, however, many more local organisations in the Generality Lands, which were governed directly by the Generality.
Other categories
| Categorie | Observation |
| Admiralty | |
| Batavian Republic | From the last years of the Republic |
| Government | |
| Classis | |
| Diplomacy | See also “Royal Court” |
| Finance | See also “Mint” |
| Generality | Fall directly under the States General |
| Religion | |
| Commerce | See also “Colonial” and “Maritime Shipping” |
| Jewish | |
| Colonial | See also“Maritime Shipping” and “Commerce” |
| Mint | |
| Education | |
| War | Also at sea |
| Judiciary | The boundary with “Government” is often blurred |
| Roman Catholic | |
| Religious denomination | |
| Synod | |
| Princely Court | |
| Orphanage | |
| Maritime shipping | See also “Colonial” and “Commerce” |
| Southern Netherlands |