"The Most Expert in Europe”: Patents and Innovation in the Building Trades in the Early Dutch Republic (1580-1650)

Abstract

Famous early modern engineering feats in architecture, such as Brunelleschi’s dome in Florence, have traditionally been presented in historiography as the accomplishments of individual ‘authorial’ figures. Yet, for many other innovative building technologies of the early modern period, the authorship remains unknown. Often such inventions were the result of incremental advances for which many people were responsible. The socio-economic circumstances that allowed for technological developments remain an understudied field in architectural history. This paper presents the building site as an important space of knowledge production. Difficulties that arose during construction had a stimulating effect on the exchange of ideas among various professional groups, including architects, master craftsmen, and engineers. A special case is found in the development of specialised building techniques in the 17th-century Dutch Republic. By the end of the Golden Age, the ‘Hollanders’, considered ‘the most expert in Europe’ in the construction of large structures in marshy conditions, were valued for their ‘incomparable inventions’ in hydraulic engineering and their skill in laying foundations. The work involved in this process — driving piles and excavating pits in marshy conditions — was by definition an interdisciplinary endeavour, and required the expertise of architects, masons, carpenters, and others. Building in these conditions not only posed serious technical difficulties, but also involved high costs, challenging master craftsmen to invent new cost-saving methods and techniques. In this paper, this innovative and interdisciplinary climate will be explored through the analysis of 17th-century patents, or inventor privileges, in the Early Dutch Republic (1580−1650). Patents are an understudied source in architectural history, yet architects and artisans from the building trades were highly active in obtaining such privileges. In addition, the patenting process was an important incentive to invest time and capital in technological innovation among various social groups within and outside the building trades, thus stimulating exchanges between people with theoretical and practical backgrounds.