The Scottish-Dutch Context to the Blaeu Atlas: An overview.

In the early modern period Scotland and the Netherlands had a close relationship. Trade, religion and shared cultural traditions tied the two countries together, and goods, people and ideas travelled freely across the North Sea. That the Netherlands was the senior partner in this relationship is well known. This paper presents an overview of the religious and academic climate in the Netherlands and the appeal of the Netherlands to Scots as background to the 17th century Scottish-Dutch exchange when the Blaeu Atlas was produced. It also looks at the different connections between the two countries - trade, religion, military and, especially, educational links - which effectively provided the infrastructure and mechanics for this exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]