Schilderij met tot slaafgemaakten en slavenhouders

By the eighteenth century, the Netherlands was already not a homogeneous white society

19 December 2025 Research news item

Recent studies increasingly show that Dutch cities were involved in slavery well into the nineteenth century. A new book about the history of slavery in Den Bosch confirms this picture, but also uses personal stories to highlight the enormous resilience of (former) enslaved people. 'Despite all the hardships, they managed to make something of their lives.'

In recent years, more and more municipalities and provinces have commissioned studies into their involvement in slavery. Following publications on Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and, earlier this year, Nijmegen, Vergeten verhalen: Slavernij en de koloniale ketens van 's-Hertogenbosch (Forgotten stories: Slavery and the colonial chains of 's-Hertogenbosch) was recently published. 'Initially, we were commissioned to look at the involvement of city administrators,' says Dries Lyna, assistant professor of Economic, Social and Demographic History at Radboud University. 'But we didn't want to just produce a dry report. We also wanted to show how individuals navigated a harsh system and seized opportunities to improve their position.' Lyna did this together with researchers Kim Lempereur and Joris Martens.

Reconstructing these kinds of biographies proved easier said than done. ‘The sources were not created to tell the stories of enslaved people, but snippets of information can still be found in court files or ship registers that enabled us to rescue several remarkable life stories from oblivion.’ In the book, the historians describe the stories of Filippina, Alexander and Constantia, three formerly enslaved people who lived and worked in Den Bosch. 'We found these stories by chance in the sources. We must realise that there are countless forgotten stories of people like Filippina, Alexander and Constantia. We want to do justice to that with this book,' Lyna emphasises.

These are the stories of resilient people who, despite all the hardships of slavery, took control of their own lives and made something of themselves. Take the story of Filippina. Born into slavery, she grew up on a plantation in Berbice (now Guyana). When the contents of the plantation (which, sadly, included the enslaved people) were sold, she moved with her mother to Paramaribo. There she worked as a servant for an army commander. When the commander and his family returned to the Netherlands, Filippina went with them, and so she ended up in Den Bosch, having left Berbice behind. Due to the ban on slavery in the Republic, Filippina was legally free after a transition period of six months. However, she remained in the service of the family that had taken her in. She was baptised and chose Fortuijn, her father's name, as her legal surname. After ten years in the Netherlands, she returned to Suriname as a 'free black woman'.

Colonial stories in the pub

These stories not only illustrate the resilience of enslaved people, but also put into perspective the idea of the Netherlands as a white, homogeneous nation. 'As early as the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people from Suriname, Indonesia and other Dutch colonies were living in cities such as Den Bosch. Their presence has been completely forgotten.'

The presence of people from different colonies in the city also makes it unlikely that only administrators were involved in slavery and that the majority of the population knew nothing about it. 'A garrison town like Den Bosch was a magnet for colonialism. Not only because of the soldiers who lived there and talked about their experiences in the pub, but also because of the relatively high number of senior officers who had previously worked in the colonies and regularly brought enslaved people to the Netherlands.'

During their research, Lyna, Lempereur and Martens made a shocking discovery. 'In 1763, a regiment of 600 was formed in Den Bosch to crush the first major slave uprising in Berbice. This means that many young people from Den Bosch took part in an outright massacre in the jungle, in which some 1,800 enslaved people were murdered.'

Sharing pain, shame and grief

For Lyna, this research commissioned by the municipality of Den Bosch was one of the most meaningful assignments he has worked on. ‘During the book presentation, you could see that there was room to share pain, shame and grief. For example, a young Antillean woman told how she is looked down upon in a coffee bar, while a 70-year-old man from Suriname said he is always treated as a second-class citizen. It is clear from everything that we have to do something about our colonial history here.’

Lyna is hopeful that their research will spark new initiatives. ‘There are already calls to name a street in Den Bosch after Filippa Fortuijn, and I’ve also heard plans to write a young adult novel based on her life story. It’s wonderful to see that so many people feel the need to anchor this past.’

For Lyna, the project ends here. ‘But if these wonderful plans come to nothing, I wouldn't rule out getting involved once more to get things moving again.’

Available digitally for free

Vergeten verhalen: Slavernij en de koloniale ketens van 's-Hertogenbosch (Forgotten stories: Slavery and the colonial chains of 's-Hertogenbosch) is published by Radboud University Press and is available digitally for free (in Dutch).

View the book

Contact information

Organizational unit: Faculty of Arts, Radboud Institute for Culture and History
Theme: Diversity, History