Quo patet orbis Dei: Dutch Deputies for maritime affairs and their global network in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Throughout history, Dutch maritime endeavours have been sparked by political, economic, military and sociocultural factors. This article focuses on the relationship between religion and maritime entrepreneurship in the Dutch Republic during the Early Modern period, at sea and in overseas territories. For almost two centuries, the deputies of a number of classis assemblies (departments) of the Dutch Reformed Church corresponded with representatives of the Dutch East and West India Companies and with merchant associations trading with Russia, the Baltic, and the Eastern Mediterranean, but also with the board members of the five admiralties in the Netherlands. This article is about the performance of the deputies within the framework of their global maritime and Dutch Reformed network; the construction of this network within the maritime communities in the Republic and abroad; and about the results of the deputies’ involvement.