Amsterdam

The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was founded in 1588 during the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule. The Republic was a confederation of provinces, each with a governing official known as the stadhouder (stadtholder or steward), who was usually chosen from the royal House of Orange. Essential to our baking story is that honey cake (gingerbread) moulds were often carved into stadhouder figures.

The Dutch colonial empire was established when the Netherlands took control of several Spanish and Portuguese colonies. The Republic controlled a network of trade routes through its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie; VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie; GWC). The income generated from this trade allowed the Republic to finance wars against France, England, Spain and Portugal.