ABSTRACT
The promise of religious freedom contained in Article XIII of the Union of Utrecht of 1579 was not made with Jews in mind. At the request of the States of Holland and West Friesland, a set of regulations for the Jews was developed in 1615, with jurist Hugo Grotius as its most important architect. Grotius raised three issues: whether it was desirable that Jews should settle in the Dutch Republic; whether, if so, they should be allowed to practise their traditional religious customs; and to what degree the damage done to Christianity and the state by their presence, were it to be permitted, could be kept within bounds.
