Introduction

In 1619, the famous Dutch legal philosopher Hugo Grotius, who as a political and legal advisor to the chairman of the States of Holland had played an important role in the religious conflict taking place in the Netherlands at the time, received a life sentence of imprisonment in Loevestein Castle. Two years later, Grotius managed to escape the prison in a book chest regularly sent to him by his family, as Grotius was allowed to study during his imprisonment. The story of Grotius’ escape inspired many authors and poets of the time and has since become an important part of Dutch cultural memory.

Although the chest initially disappeared, already in the late eighteenth century a book chest said to be associated with Grotius’ escape was claimed as a relic. Today, three museums in the Netherlands have a book chest in their collection that they link to the escape of the seventeenth century jurist. Although all of these objects have been dated to the seventeenth century, it has been established that none of them can be the chest that Grotius had actually used. As the curator of Loevestein Castle, which is now a museum, said in 2013, ‘people who visit Loevestein expect a chest, so we give them a chest. But it is not the real one and we tell that as well.’

This example illustrates how the choices that museums make in presenting and narrating history are much influenced by a historical culture in which specific historical events have acquired a strong iconic status.