Daniël Marot (I): The civic guard of Amsterdam on the Dam square (1686)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

An engraving by the French artist Daniël Marot (I) (1661 - 1752). A lot of Dutch cities in the Middle Ages had a civic guard ('schutterij' in Dutch) which protected the city in time of troubles (attack from the outside, fire, internal rebellions etc). The size of these unites varied a lot - from about 100 men to more then 10,000 men. As Amsterdam was the wealthiest city of the Netherlands in the 17th century, its civic guard was the largest of the country. Each district of the Amsterdam had its own civic guard unit with its members coming from their own neighborhood. When the city expanded, so did the number of districts and with that the total size of the civic guard of the city: around 1672 there were 54 districts with a civic guard of about 20,000 men (Amsterdam had around that time about 200,000 citizens). The units of the districts were organized into 5 regiments which had their own color: orange, yellow, blue, white and green. As a whole it was commanded by 2 colonels. During the annual fair the complete civic guard of Amsterdam presented itself to the city council as the print shows. The entire ceremony takes places on the Dam square. The large building on the left is the town hall (now the palace on the Dam). Next to that the New Church, the weigh house, the Damrak, the old church and the fishmarket. The text at the bottom identifies the colonel (Dirk Munter) the names of the 12 captains of each regiment and how each regiment is organized). Engraving from 1686.