![]() |
![]() |
||
It can be used as a self-study pack, or as part of a Dutch Studies course. The material provided here is aimed at students with an advanced knowledge of Dutch. The Novaya Zemlya study-pack is dedicated to the late 16th century Dutch efforts to find a Northern sea passage to Asia. Three voyages were undertaken in the mid-1590s, with the final expedition of Willem Barentsz and Jacob van Heemskerck acquiring canonical status in Dutch historical conciousness.
The entire crew of seventeen was trapped in the ice, and was consequently forced to spend the winter among polar bears and foxes in the so-called Behouden Huys, a log-cabin built with wood from their ship. Twelve men survived the Arctic darkness and the freezing temperatures, and returned safely to Amsterdam in 1597. This package is centred around fragments of the travel account of Gerrit de Veer, one of the expedition's survivors. His detailed eye-witness report of the wintering at Novaya Zemlya soon became a true best-seller in early modern Europe.
Good luck and enjoy the Novaya Zemlya studypack. |
|||