ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Dutch approaches to problems of illness and poverty in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries the period between the Dutch 'golden age' and the fin de siecle. The Dutch 'golden age' of the 17th century was followed by a still fairly prosperous 18th century. Trade and shipping remained the principal economic activities, but, with the deterioration of the economic situation from the 1770s onwards, the Dutch Republic lost its leading status. In the field of health care, special mention should be made of research into the control of cholera and smallpox, the hygienist movement, health conditions in Amsterdam, hospitals, nursing, mental health care and financial and legal arrangements with respect to illness and health care. The accent will lie on changing ideas about, and ways of dealing with, the problem of poverty and poor relief towards the end of the 19th century.
