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(2014) Character assassination throughout the ages, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
"As awkward and deficient as his wife is amiable and accomplished"
the character assassination of the dutch statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (1761–1825)
Edwina Hagen
pp. 191-209
In history Dutch politicians have a longstanding reputation for their tendency of always avoiding conflict, adhering to a certain kind of tolerance that historians have subscribed to the influence of the age-old phenomenon of the consensus-based "polder model."2 However, early modern politics in the Netherlands is definitely a rich source of striking examples of character assassination. In 1672, for instance, hostile rumors and royal propaganda spread via numerous pamphlets resulted in the character assassination of the brothers De Witt, two leading statesmen of the Dutch Republic and opponents of William III, the Prince of Orange from 1672 to 1702. The accusations against them (of betraying the fatherland and conspiring against William) even led to their actual physical assassination. Both were dragged out of prison to be killed, hung, and mutilated by an angry mob.3
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Full citation:
Hagen, E. (2014)., "As awkward and deficient as his wife is amiable and accomplished": the character assassination of the dutch statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (1761–1825), in M. Icks & E. Shiraev (eds.), Character assassination throughout the ages, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 191-209.
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