Christian history The history of Christianity began with the life of Jesus, an itinerant Jewish preacher and teacher, who was crucified in Jerusalem . His followers proclaimed that he was the incarnation of God and had risen from the dead. In the two millen ...

, the Collegiants (; ), also called Collegians, were an association, founded in 1619 among the

Arminians Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally ...

and

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. They were so called because of their colleges (meetings) held the first Sunday of each month, at which everyone had the same liberty of expounding the

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

and

praying File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

History

Collegiants were an association, founded in 1619 among the Arminians and Anabaptists in Holland. The practice originated in 1619 when, after the

Synod of Dort The Synod of Dort (also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht) was a European transnational Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. ...

forced the

States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, but only his "lieutenant" (the stad ...

to dismiss clerics for encouraging refuge to individuals being persecuted for religious beliefs, three brothers of

Warmond Warmond () is a village and former municipality in the Western Netherlands, north of Leiden in the province of South Holland. The municipality covered an area of , of which is water; had a population of 4,977 in 2004. Together with Sassenheim an ...

by the name of van der Kodde (or Codde)—Gijsbert, Jan Jacobsz, and Adriaen—decided to hold religious services of their own. The sect began as a refuge from the bitterness of the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and Arminian controversies of the day. Their name is derived from the custom they had of calling their communities "Colleges", as did Spener and the Pietists of Germany. The Collegiants' first place of meeting was at the village of

, at the residence of one of the brothers, but they shortly established their headquarters at

Rijnsburg Rijnsburg () is a village in the eastern part of the municipality of Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It lies on the Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn, from which it takes its name. History Rij ...

, a village northwest from

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, and were hence called the Rijnsburgers (Dutch: ''Rijnsburger Collegianten''). In

, the Collegiants had a guest-quarter in the present-day alleyway of Kwakelsteeg called the ''Grote Huis'' (Large House). There were also large communities of Collegiants in other places, for instance in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

. The Amsterdam college was founded in 1646 by

Adam Boreel Adam Boreel (2 November 1602 in Middelburg, Zeeland, Middelburg – 20 June 1665 in Sloterdijk, Amsterdam) was a Dutch theologian and Hebraist. He was one of the founders of the Amsterdam College; the Collegiants were also often called Boreelis ...

as a spiritualist cell, like those of

Sebastian Franck Sebastian Franck (20 January 1499 Donauwörth, Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia – c. 1543 Basel, Switzerland) was a 16th-century Germany, German freethinker, humanism, humanist, and Radical Reformation, radical reformer. Biography Franck was born in 1 ...

and Kaspar Schwenkfeld, but Daniel De Breen, a Leiden-educated Remonstrant theologian, brought the college in line with Rijinsburger principles. A disaffected Mennonite, Galenus Abrahamsz (or Abrahamson), brought many other Mennonites to the Amsterdam college. In Amsterdam, the Collegiants ran an orphanage, 'De Oranjeappel', where the Dutch writer Aagje Deken was raised.

Belief and practice

Their principle from the beginning had been to admit all individuals to their society who were willing to acknowledge their belief in the Bible as inspired scripture, and to take it as a guide for Christian life; but no confession of faith was used, and the widest diversity of opinion was permitted. Their form of worship consisted of prayer meetings held on Sundays and Wednesdays, at which any men of the community might pray and expound the scripture, but there was no regular organization of a ministry among them. They recognized the necessity of

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, which they administered by immersion, and twice a year they had a sacramental meeting extending over several days, similar to those of the

Scottish Presbyterians Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

The Collegiants and Spinoza

Benedict Spinoza joined the study groups of the Collegiants while living near

from 1660 to 1663. It was during this period that he began working on his major book, ''The Ethics''. At the end of the 17th century, the opinions of Spinoza had obtained a strong hold upon the Collegiants, and caused a temporary division of their members into two parties, with separate places of meeting. The leader of the Spinozist party was John Bredenburg, a merchant of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and he was opposed by a bookseller from Amsterdam, named Francis Couper, who attained some eminence by a work which he wrote against Bredenburg under the title ''Arcana Atheismi detecta'' ("The Secrets of Atheism Revealed"); he was also the publisher of the ''Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum seu Unitariorum''. The two parties were reunited on the death of these two controversialists, and attracted many to their society from other sects during the 18th century.

Final years as a religious group and ongoing legacy

The last (open) meetings of the Collegiants were held in Rijnsburg om 27 May 1787, in Rotterdam on 9 September 1788, and in Amsterdam in 1791. The last baptism in Rijnsburg was in 1801. The center in Rijnsburg was sold in 1828, after the last Collegiant had died. The orphanage of the Collegiants called 'De Oranjeappel' survives to this day as a foundation promoting youth work ("Stichting Weeshuis der Doopsgezinde Collegianten "De Oranjeappel").

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Stichting Weeshuis der Doopsgezinde Collegianten "De Oranjeappel"
Former Christian denominations Reformed Christianity in the Dutch Republic 1619 establishments in the Dutch Republic Organizations established in 1619 Religious organizations established in the 1610s Protestant denominations established in the 17th century 1828 disestablishments in the Netherlands Organizations disestablished in 1828 Dutch Baptists Arminian denominations Christian pacifism