Source – Resolutions of the States-General

The States-General was the governing body of the Dutch Republic between 1576 and 1796. The body was composed of representatives of the seven participating provinces. The States-General formed both the legislative and executive branch of the government. Their political decisions are called resolutions. The resolutions of the States-General dealt with a range of issues: from international treaties to individual appointments.

Digitization and Transcription

Between 2019 and 2024, the resolutions of the States-General were digitized and transcribed using artificial intelligence (handwritten text recognition). The results are now available via Goetgevonden. The accompanying website has more background information in English.

Example: Missive from Bredevoort

My paternal ancestors lived in the domain of Bredevoort, which included Bredevoort, Aalten, Dinxperlo, and Winterswijk. A search for Bredevoort in “vrij zoeken” [free search] leads to 253 hits. I can select a result from the list on the right, or can filter by:

• date (van, tot en met)
• resolutietype [type of resolution]
• propositietype [type of proposition]
• gedeputeerde [involved official]
• persoonsnaam [person name]
• hoedanigheid [role]
• locatie [location]
• organisatie [organization]
• commissie [committee].

A bar diagram shows the distribution of the results over time. You can click on a bar to limit results to that year.

When I click on the result for 20 March 1628, I get the detail page with the image, transcription, and metadata:

On 20 March 1628, captain Lauwijck, commander and sheriff at Bredevoort, requested that the residents of the domain of Bredevoort, which had been ruined during the siege of Groenlo, would be forgiven their contribution [tax] which was demanded of them in full. The States-General resolved that the Council of State would decide that.¹

Unless I happen to descend from captain Lauwijck, this information is unlikely to answer any of my research questions, but it provides a window in the events in the area at that time. That can be useful when we’re writing a story about our ancestors.

The website has recognized several of the items in the resolution as entities. For example, clicking the word Bredevoort will start a new search for other resolutions where Bredevoort was recognized.

Finding the original source to create a proper citation is a bit tricky. I have to click the menu-button at the top left of the viewer, this tells me the source is call no. 3187, for resolutions in 1628. I can also look at the filename of the image, in this case NL-HaNA_1.01.02_3187_0140. NL-HaNA is the ISIL code for the National Archives in The Hague. Next follows the Record Group: 1.01.02, for the records of the States-General. 3187 is the call number within that group, and 0140 is the scan number within that call number. I can use this information to see the record in its archival context in the finding aid at the National Archives website. If I click on the description, that will open the viewer, where I can go to image 140.