History of Black Christianity in the Netherlands proves to be centuries old
Black Christians in the Netherlands are not a modern migrant phenomenon, but were already part of the church in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This is shown by the unexpected historical discovery of more than one hundred baptism records of Black Christians from that period. To investigate this discovery further, the Church and Slavery project has been awarded an additional grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Image: Knowledge broker Nikita Krouwel
A unique insight into the lives of Black Christians
The baptisms were discovered during research into the role of the church in the Dutch history of slavery. They offer a rare and tangible picture of Black Christians who were already part of church communities in the Low Countries centuries ago. Project leader Dr Martijn Stoutjesdijk says: “These baptism records show who these people were. We learn not only about their faith, but also about their origins, family relationships and their relationship to white employers or owners. This is a history that has so far received very little attention.”
Black Christians also outside the cities
Although the earliest baptisms date back to the seventeenth century, the history of Black Christianity is largely absent from standard works on Dutch church history. There it often appears only in the twentieth century, as a modern or migrant phenomenon. The sources, however, tell a different story: Black Christians were present everywhere – in cities such as Amsterdam and The Hague, but also in villages such as Velp and Bruchem.
Knowledge broker Nikita Krouwel (pictured) takes this insight as a starting point for conversations in various places across the country: “What does it mean, for example, for white village churches to know that they too have a history of Black presence? And does this knowledge help contemporary migrant churches to understand their place in the ecclesial landscape differently?” Krouwel organises dialogues between Black and white (church) communities for this purpose, in collaboration with the Stichting Heilzame Verwerking Slavernijverleden (Foundation for the Healing Processing of the Slavery Past), an impact partner of the project.
Public invited to contribute to digital baptism map
As part of the project, a digital map is being developed that brings together all known historical baptisms of Black Christians in the Netherlands. Much of this information is still held in local and church archives. The research project therefore calls on local (church) historians, archivists and (amateur) genealogists to share information about African, American and Asian Christians via www.kerkenslavernij.nl/doopkaart.
