Welcome to the online exhibition!

400 years of tax stamps

Let’s go back to 1623, 400 years in the past. The Twelve Years’ Truce expired in 1621 and the country is again at war. The Spanish have besieged and taken Bergen op Zoom, Steenbergen has fallen and enemy troops are at the borders. The young Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands is struggling. Defence spending suffered serious cutbacks during the truce. Although all taxes have been increased, there is still not enough money coming in to meet defence expenses. The search for new taxes is on.