Schutterij
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Schutterij (plural - Schutterijen), litteraly "shooters" (Schützenverein in German) was a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the weather did not allow, inside a church. They are mostly grouped according their district and to the weapon that they used: bow, crossbow or gun. Together, its members are called a Schuttersgilde. It is now a title applied to ceremonial shooting clubs and to the country's Olympic rifle team.
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[edit] Functioning
The schutterij or town watch was a support for the local authority, because its officers were appointed by the city magistrates. The officers had to be wealthy and a member of the Reformed Church. Its captain came usually from within the district, the group's ensign was a wealthy young bachelor (often recognizable in group portaits of Schutterijen by his particularly fine clothes and the flag he is carrying). Joining as an officer for a couple of years often was stepping-stone to other important posts within the city council. The members were expected to buy their equipment: the purchase of a weapon and uniform. Each night a couple of men guarded their district in two shifts, from ten till two, and from two till six, closing and opening the gates of the city. At a set time each month, the schutters would parade under the command of an officer. Once a year they held a banquet, with beer and a roasted oxen. A local painter was invited to draw the members and save the scene for eternity.
The ideal was that, for every hundred inhabitants, three would belong to the schutterij. The Dutch Mennonites were excluded from a position in the schutterij in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and paid a double tax in lieu of service. Roman Catholics were permitted in the lower regions. Persons in the service of the city (such as the minister, the city-physician, the teacher, the sexton, the beer-bearers and peat bearers), and the city's Jews, did not need to serve. The beer and peat bearers had to serve as the town's firefighters instead.
[edit] Schuttersstuk (Shooter group-portraits)
A schutterij wanted to be depicted together in paint, and each posed separately so as to be depicted as well as possible. An example of just such a Schuttersstuk is Rembrandt's Night Watch. Every member of the schutterij paid the painter, depending on his position in the painting. According to legend, the schutterij was unhappy with the result in this case: instead of a group of proud and orderly men, they alleged Rembrandt had not painted what he saw. Ernst van de Wetering declared in 2006 that the Night Watch "... in a certain sense fails ... Rembrandt wanted to paint the chaos of figures walking through each other, yet also aim for an organised composition."
[edit] Decline and fall
In 1748 the Doelisten demanded that stadholder William IV allow the bourgeoisie to appoint the militia's officers, but William refused, since in some towns the bourgeois could not even be considered as candidates for these offices. By the second half of the 18th century the schutterij were inactive (sometimes only exercising once a year and with the ill or rich buying their way out of service) and only of importance to Orangists. This brought them much criticism. Translations of the books by Andrew Fletcher and Richard Price became very popular. Patriots tried to breath new life into the schutterij in 1783 or to create an alternative - in many cities, exercitiegenootschappen (military-exercise societies), vrijcorpsen (free corps) or voluntary schutterijen arose which anybody could join and with officers chosen democratically. The Orangists poked fun at the ministers, like Francis Adrian Vanderkemp propagating the system from the pulpit, and shopkeepers joining the new militia.
The system of schutterijen no longer worked after five hundred years, but survived the French occupation until finally king William I set up professional police forces. In 1901, the schutterijen were abolished.
[edit] Reenactment
There are still schutterijen in the Netherlands who honour the old traditions, for instance the schutterij of Geertruidenberg, made up of people who meet regularly to dress in traditional costume and demonstrate how cannons were used in strongholds.
[edit] Artillery and siegework
Cannons around 1600 could often not be fired more than two or three times every ten minutes. If reloaded too fast, and the barrel was still too hot from the previous shot, the cannon might explode. After each shot, a pause was taken, during which the guncrew took a gulp of beer (safer to drink at that time than the dirty water).
For a battery of guns to remain operational, a whole multitude of men was needed. The core of these was formed by the guncrews, who had to be protected in the open field against cavalry and infantry attack. For that reason pikemen were assigned to them, with 5.5 m pikes. Furthermore, there were the standard bearers, the drummers and the battery commanders.
Each gun was given a specific name. Belegeringsaffuiten (siege cannon) had two large wheels so they could be moved easily and a section coming out of the end to prevent recoil during the firing. A schutterij also sometimes had a rolpaard, with four smaller wheels and at first especially used on board ship. To prevent recoil, this type was fastened with a rope to a tree or to a ring in the city wall. Later on this type was also permanently sited in fortifications.
[edit] Oud Limburgs Schuttersfeest
The OLS (Old Limburgs Schutter Festival) is an annual event in which more than 160 schutterijen (sjutterie) from Belgian and Dutch Limburg compete against each other. The winner organizes the event the following year and takes home "De Um", the highest prize for a schutter.
