![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What the hell are they thinking????
Do please take the time to read. *shakes her head and grumbles* To quote Hermione "What an idiot!"
Do please take the time to read. *shakes her head and grumbles* To quote Hermione "What an idiot!"
Jun. 5th, 2004
It' s been another looooooooong day...
Jun. 5th, 2004 07:14 pmI only got a short nap this morning, trying to stay up most of the day so I could actually get to bed early tonight. Dustin's done the same thing and is now heading to bed (yeah I know, early lol). I'll be following suit once I'm done on here I think.
I tried searching online again, actually narrowed it down to a specific area, but that didn't help much. I know the Zaanstreek was there in the Middle Ages, I found that much out. Also found out that the town now known as Zaandam, didn't exist yet, but Oostzaandam and Westzaandam did. I've always had an affinity with that area, so I figured..why not. But! I haven't been able to get any further then that! It is so incredibly frustrating! I've got half my family looking in Holland, another Dutch friend's also checking into it for me and I've joined several groups just in the mere hopes of getting an answer! So far, to no avail though *sighs deeply*
I have found out some interesting things though, about life in general then, for the Low Lands anyway, not sure if it's the same way everywhere. Well...was...you know what I mean.
- dyeing wool and spinning wool was considered a woman's job, where as knitting was considered a man's job. Knitting was a main source of income back then
- a woman did not take her husband's name when they married, but retained her own name
- a woman could work the same jobs as men could, though mostly they stayed around the house. Men however helped out as much as women did in the housekeeping and taking care of children, as their work was mainly done at the house. Also, when a man died, it was fairly customary for the woman to take over his job and actually get his place, or a place of her own in a guild.
The knitting bit strikes me the most, I'll admit that. Given how people look at it as being too feminine these days *chuckles*. Don't get me wrong, the whole equal opportunity thing is also of high interest, but the knitting's just funny and interesting at the same time.
Oh, something else I wasn't aware of: Tsar Peter the Great learned (and I'm not sure of the right wording in English, since I got it off a Dutch site) shipbuilding in Zaandam. I think if I understood correctly though, that right after he'd learned the trade, he went back to Russia and was less then pleasant there. *shrugs* I couldn't get much from the site about that. Then again, I couldn't get much from it period.
*sighs* It's kind of sad to think that what I just wrote, is the most I've been able to glean from over a week's worth of internet searching *shakes her head sadly*. I've had a few sites stating certain books about the subjects though, but they're all Dutch and therefore not available to me here. But, since my family's also looking, I'm hoping they'll check them out. I can't really ask them too, seeing they're all strapped for money too and the only ones that have the time to go anywhere like a library, are unable to due to their health. *shrugs* We'll see where it gets me I guess. So far though, it's been quite disheartening.
Ok, I think I'll go to bed now. I'm getting tired and I'm starting to ramble and make typo's. Night!
I tried searching online again, actually narrowed it down to a specific area, but that didn't help much. I know the Zaanstreek was there in the Middle Ages, I found that much out. Also found out that the town now known as Zaandam, didn't exist yet, but Oostzaandam and Westzaandam did. I've always had an affinity with that area, so I figured..why not. But! I haven't been able to get any further then that! It is so incredibly frustrating! I've got half my family looking in Holland, another Dutch friend's also checking into it for me and I've joined several groups just in the mere hopes of getting an answer! So far, to no avail though *sighs deeply*
I have found out some interesting things though, about life in general then, for the Low Lands anyway, not sure if it's the same way everywhere. Well...was...you know what I mean.
- dyeing wool and spinning wool was considered a woman's job, where as knitting was considered a man's job. Knitting was a main source of income back then
- a woman did not take her husband's name when they married, but retained her own name
- a woman could work the same jobs as men could, though mostly they stayed around the house. Men however helped out as much as women did in the housekeeping and taking care of children, as their work was mainly done at the house. Also, when a man died, it was fairly customary for the woman to take over his job and actually get his place, or a place of her own in a guild.
The knitting bit strikes me the most, I'll admit that. Given how people look at it as being too feminine these days *chuckles*. Don't get me wrong, the whole equal opportunity thing is also of high interest, but the knitting's just funny and interesting at the same time.
Oh, something else I wasn't aware of: Tsar Peter the Great learned (and I'm not sure of the right wording in English, since I got it off a Dutch site) shipbuilding in Zaandam. I think if I understood correctly though, that right after he'd learned the trade, he went back to Russia and was less then pleasant there. *shrugs* I couldn't get much from the site about that. Then again, I couldn't get much from it period.
*sighs* It's kind of sad to think that what I just wrote, is the most I've been able to glean from over a week's worth of internet searching *shakes her head sadly*. I've had a few sites stating certain books about the subjects though, but they're all Dutch and therefore not available to me here. But, since my family's also looking, I'm hoping they'll check them out. I can't really ask them too, seeing they're all strapped for money too and the only ones that have the time to go anywhere like a library, are unable to due to their health. *shrugs* We'll see where it gets me I guess. So far though, it's been quite disheartening.
Ok, I think I'll go to bed now. I'm getting tired and I'm starting to ramble and make typo's. Night!
