Canon of the Netherlands

The Canon of the Netherlands (; also known as the Canon of Dutch History) is a list of fifty topics that aims to provide a chronological summary of Dutch history to be taught in primary schools and the first two years of secondary school in the Netherlands.

Canon The Canon of Dutch History was prepared by a committee headed by Frits van Oostrom and presented to the Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Maria van der Hoeven, on 16 October 2006.

A revised version was presented to the Dutch government on 3 October 2007 and in October 2008 it was agreed to include the canon in the school curriculum by 1 August 2009. An updated version was presented in June 2020, with ten topics replaced, parts rewritten and other modifications made to make the canon more diverse and accessible.

The canon was designed to provide an overview of "what everyone ought to know, at the very least, about the history and culture of the Netherlands", as well as providing a framework for the teaching of History in Dutch schools. Schools are not obliged to teach the canon, in accordance with the Freedom of education principle incorporated in the Dutch constitution (article 23) that guarantees the right of parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views.

The website canonvannederland.nu is responsible for developing the canon for use in schools and in society in general.

The 50 topics TopicDateDescription1Trijntje5750 BCE - 5250 BCEThe hunter-gatherers2Megalithic tombsc. 3000 BCEThe first farmers3 The Roman Limes47 CE - c. 400 CEOn the frontiers of the Roman world 4Willibrord658 CE - 739 CEThe spread of Christianity5Charlemagne742 CE - 814 CEEmperor of the West6Hebban olla vogalac. 1100The Dutch language under development7The Hanseatic League1356 - c. 1450Collaboration pays off8Hieronymus Bosch1450 - 1516Painter in a medieval town9Mary of Burgundy1457 - 1482Sovereign between Burgundy and Habsburg10Erasmus1469? - 1536A critical mind in Europe11The Revolt1566From the Iconoclastic Fury to the Act of Abjuration12William of Orange1533 - 1584From rebel to "Father of the Fatherland"13Johan van Oldenbarnevelt1547 - 1619Chasms within the Republic14The trading Companies VOC & WIC1602 - 1799Sailing and fighting for trade15The Beemster Polder1612Dry feet in the polder16Hugo Grotius1583 - 1645Pioneer of modern international law17The States Bible1637The power of the Word18Rembrandt1606? - 1669A country full of painters19Blaeu's Atlas Maior1662Mapping the world20Michiel de Ruyter1607 - 1676The Republic in choppy seas21Christiaan Huygens1629 - 1695The beginnings of modern science22Spinoza1632 - 1677In search of truth23Slaveryc. 1637 - 1863Human trafficking and forced labour24Eise Eisinga1744 - 1828The solar system in a living room251780 - 1785Rebellious women in the Age of Reason26The patriots1780 - 1795Democratising the Republic27Napoleon Bonaparte1769 - 1821The French period in the Netherlands28King William I1772 - 1843The Kingdom of the Netherlands and Belgium29The first railway1839Acceleration30The Constitution1848The most important law of the Netherlands31Max Havelaar1860Injustice in the Dutch East Indies32The child protection act of Van Houten19th centuryOut of the factory and into the school33Vincent van Gogh1853 - 1890Painter in a new age34Aletta Jacobs1854 - 1929Standing up for equal rights35World War I1914 - 1918Wartime neutrality36Anton de Kom1898 - 1945Fighting racism and colonialism37World War II1940 - 1945The Netherlands occupied and liberated38Anne Frank1929 - 1945The persecution of the Jews39Indonesia1945 - 1949The struggle for independence40The great flood1 February 1953The danger of water41Televisionsince 1948The world on your screen42The port of Rotterdamsince c. 1880Gateway to the world43Marga Klompé1912 - 1986The welfare state44The immigrant workers1960 - 2025New Dutch residents45Annie M.G. Schmidt1911 - 1995Going against the grain in a bourgeois country46Coal and gas1974 - 2023The energy issue47The Caribbeansince 1945Far away yet connected48Srebrenica1995Responsible for peace49Europesince 1945Joining forces for a peaceful Europe50That Orange Feeling1974 - 2020Sport connects

Members of the Committee Frits van Oostrom (professor of Humanities at the University of Utrecht, President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Spinoza Prize 1995, AKO Literatuurprijs 1996), chairperson Paul van Meenen (leader of the Democrats 66 (D66) party in Leiden, vice chairperson of entoen.nu), vice chairperson Herman Beliën (senior lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam) Marjolijn Drenth (philosopher, novelist, columnist for de Volkskrant) Frans Groot (history teacher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science) Els Kloek (history teacher and senior researcher in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Utrecht, project leader of the Online Women's Dictionary of the Netherlands) Susan Legêne (professor of political history at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, formerly curator of the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam) Rob van der Vaart (Professor in Human Geography at the University of Utrecht) Hubert Slings (director of entoen.nu, director of education at the Dutch National Museum of History), secretary

Canon of the Netherlands

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