The research project has been assigned to the Leiden University Fund and is being carried out by the Leiden University Institute for History.

See also: Independent study of the House of Orange-Nassau and colonial history
 

The committee in charge of the research consists of:

• Dr. Esther Captain
•  Kathleen Ferrier MSc
• Prof. Gert Oostindie (chair)
• Prof. Henk te Velde

An academic feedback group advises the research committee on the setup and final results of the research project. It consists of:

• Wendeline Flores MA
• Prof. Idesbald Goddeeris
• Prof. Maria Grever
• Prof. Susan Legêne
• Wim Manuhutu MSc
• Prof. Maarten Prak
• Prof. Susie Protschky

A team of over thirty researchers has been put together. They will be given access to the Royal Collections, including the Royal House archives. They will also consult various other archives and collections for their research. The study will end in the final quarter of 2026 with the presentation of four books.

There will be an edited collection of chapters considering the involvement of the House of Orange-Nassau along biographical lines, and a second edited volume taking a thematic approach to the same question. A third edited collection will explore the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in the representation of an imperial community, including its impact through to modern times. The results of the entire study will be summarised in a compact book for a general readership.

The study is subject to the usual rules on academic integrity, impartiality and independence as applied by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the joint Universities of the Netherlands (formerly VSNU).

See also: Academic integrity at Leiden University

 
The Royal Household will not be involved in any way with the design and execution of the research project or with the formulation of the results.

The study will end in the final quarter of 2026 with the presentation of four books. There will be an edited collection of chapters considering the involvement of the House of Orange-Nassau along biographical lines, and a second edited volume taking a thematic approach to the same question. A third edited collection will explore the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in the representation of an imperial community, including its impact through to modern times. The results of the entire study will be summarised in a compact book for a general readership.

Provisional contents of the biographical volume (working titles)

Eds. Gert Oostindie, Tristan Mostert, Erik Odegard & Bart Verheijen

• Gert Oostindie – Introduction
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Maurits (1584-1625)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Frederik Hendrik (1625-1647)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Willem II (1647-1650)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – First Stadholderless Period (1650-1672)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Willem III (1672-1702)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Second Stadholderless Period (1702-1747)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Willem IV (1747-1751)
• Tristan Mostert & Erik Odegard – Willem V ([1751] 1766-1795)
• Bart Verheijen – Republic/French period (1795-1813/1815)
• Bart Verheijen – King Willem I (1815-1840)
• Bart Verheijen – King Willem II (1840-1849)
• Dik van der Meulen – King Willem III (1849-1890)
• Monica Soeting – Emma (1890-1898)
• Esther Captain & Hans van der Jagt – Queen Wilhelmina (1898-1948)
• Gert Oostindie – Queen Juliana (1948-1980)
• Gert Oostindie – Queen Beatrix (1980-2013)

Provisional contents of the thematic volume (working titles)

Eds. Gert Oostindie & Henk te Velde

• Gert Oostindie – Introduction     

Part I Politics and government

• Jasper van der Steen & Henk te Velde – Constitutional and political-administrative structure, 1600-2020
• Ineke Huysman, Camilla de Koning, Erik Odegard – Networks: Republic
• Marlies van der Riet, Monica Soeting & Paul van der Velde – Networks: Kingdom
• Jeroen van Zanten – Royal councillors

Part II Financial flows

• Christiaan van Bochove – Republic
• Ariëtte Dekker, Maarten Manse – Kingdom

Part III Social and cultural topics

• Esther Schreuder – The colonies at the Royal Court: subjects and visitors
• Marie-Christine van der Sman – The colonies at the Royal Court: collections
• Marlies van der Riet – Collections, research, exhibitions
• Martin Bossenbroek, Rudi Ekkart & Valika Smeulders – Colonial collections, provenance, restitution
• Dienke Hondius, George Harinck & Hans van der Jagt – The Royal Family, colonialism and the Church
• Esther Captain & Guno Jones – Imagining a unified empire and the legacy in modern times

Epilogue

• Karwan Fatah-Black – International comparison, history and accountability

Provisional contents of the volume on the imagined community and the legacy (working titles)

Eds. Esther Captain & Guno Jones

This edited volume focuses on the topic of the imagined community and its legacy today. On the one hand, various historical themes will be explored. They include contemporary and subsequent representations of the role of King Willem III in the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean (1863-1913-1963) and the bond certain groups in the late-colonial society of the Dutch East Indies (the Indisch Dutch, Moluccans, Chinese) have with the Royal Family. On the other hand, this subproject will investigate the extent to which this past has repercussions today, and what those repercussions are, both in the former colonies and in the postcolonial communities of the Netherlands.

A diverse group of senior and junior researchers will be contributing to this volume, many of them with a postcolonial heritage. The draft table of contents will be filled in further once this team is more or less complete and the research topics have been worked out in more detail.

Provisional contents of the monograph on the Orange-Nassau project

Author: Gert Oostindie

This book is intended for a broad readership and will consist of an introduction, four thematic sections and an epilogue. In the Introduction, a brief sketch will be given of Dutch colonial history, paying particular attention to what was already known about the role of the House of Orange-Nassau. The Introduction will also explain how the study was set up and carried out.

In the first thematic section, the involvement will be described of the House of Orange-Nassau in their governing role. Questions that will be addressed include how the stadholders, kings and queens were prepared, kept informed and advised about colonial matters, and how important and natural they found colonialism. The second section will consider their financial and economic involvement and the consequences for the development of the family’s assets and the status of the House of Orange-Nassau.

The focus in the third section will be on the visibility or otherwise of colonialism at the Court and whether it enhanced the prestige of the House of Orange-Nassau. Topics that will be covered include the accumulation of colonial collections, the patronage of the arts and science, and colonial subjects at the Royal Court. In the fourth section, the focus will shift to the role of the Oranges in imagining an imperial community, via the media, education, missionary work and (in later years) royal visits. This will include consideration of overt anti-Orange anti-colonialism in reaction to this charm offensive, and to the legacy today.

The Epilogue will summarise the conclusions of the study as a whole and place them in an international perspective. It will look at both the results of the historical investigation and debates and questions concerning the significance today of this history.

If you have suggestions or questions concerning the research project, please contact the project leader, Prof. Gert Oostindie.