Book publication on Zeeland Heerlijkheden

From power to folklore (3) Heerlijkheden in Zeeland after the French Period

This year, Picture Publishers will publish the third book by Peter de Jong on Heerlijkheden. One might think that this is a cookbook, but it is not. A “heerlijkheid” (English: seigniory, but in Dutch is it also means delicacy) was a form of government that could be bought with money and gave the owner certain rights in a village or area. These were nomination rights (sexton, education, vicar), but sometimes also forms of judicial power. In the Napoleonic Era and in the following decades, this form of government disappeared and grew into a somewhat folkloric privilege.

In 2018, author Peter de Jong’s impressive book on the rise and especially the disappearance of the time-honoured seigniories in the province of South Holland shone through. Four years later, a similar book on the Utrecht seigniories was published. And this year it is Zeeland’s turn.

The book will have about 400 pages and around 1,000 illustrations. The book will be available from 28 June on.

Laudatory reviews (in Dutch) of the first and second volumes can be found here:

1. From power to folklore. Heerlijkheden in Zuid-Holland after the French Period.
2. From power to folklore (2) Heerlijkheden in the province of Utrecht after the French Period.

The Familiefonds Hurgronje is helping the publication of this book with a financial contribution.