The 17th century where the time of the great religious wars in Europe so yes, people where definitely trying to kill each other over religion back then.
But those other countries that have that tradition you mention are either Catholic (Belgium and Switzerland) or party Catholic (Germany). And in the case of Germany I thinks it's safe to assume that the celebrations of St Nicholaus has spread, since the age of the religious wars was over, from the Catholic south to the Protestant north.
I don't think the protestant states is northern Germany celebrated a Catholic saint in any form in the 17th century - that's probably something they've taken up much later I'd say as catholics from the south moving north has brought their traditions with them.
While the Netherlands I do believe is special because you have this old tradition of religious tolerance that made it OK for you to mix celebrating a popular Catholic saint while at the same time being protestants.
Certainly the protestant church probably did all it could to empty the celebration of all connections to Catholicism, rendering it more as just a non-religious feast for the common folk.
But even so - I don't think any other protestant nation would have allowed the celebration of any Catholic saint in any form as far back as you did.
The national romantic period is infamous for giving birth to all manner of fake "old traditions" all over Europe. You probably have several of them in the Netherlands as well, that was invented in the 19th century, that many people today still think are way older and "genuine".
Historians will know, they study these things, and if you visit a museum on national or cultural history they will probably mention it somewhere among their exhibits as well.
Fakeing you nations history to better suit your present expectations of what it ought to have been like has been popular all throughout history - but especially during that period.
I actually want to my local IKEA yesterday. I figured the first day AFTER all the holidays could be a good day to go, as hopefully most people had done their shopping during the holiday.
It was still rather full, but I actually had great luck as I found an empty self-check out counter with now cue at all so I could just get the specific few things I wanted and be out of there within 15 minutes - which is terrific for being my IKEA! :-)
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@Wortel
The 17th century where the time of the great religious wars in Europe so yes, people where definitely trying to kill each other over religion back then.
But those other countries that have that tradition you mention are either Catholic (Belgium and Switzerland) or party Catholic (Germany). And in the case of Germany I thinks it's safe to assume that the celebrations of St Nicholaus has spread, since the age of the religious wars was over, from the Catholic south to the Protestant north.
I don't think the protestant states is northern Germany celebrated a Catholic saint in any form in the 17th century - that's probably something they've taken up much later I'd say as catholics from the south moving north has brought their traditions with them.
While the Netherlands I do believe is special because you have this old tradition of religious tolerance that made it OK for you to mix celebrating a popular Catholic saint while at the same time being protestants.
Certainly the protestant church probably did all it could to empty the celebration of all connections to Catholicism, rendering it more as just a non-religious feast for the common folk.
But even so - I don't think any other protestant nation would have allowed the celebration of any Catholic saint in any form as far back as you did.
The national romantic period is infamous for giving birth to all manner of fake "old traditions" all over Europe. You probably have several of them in the Netherlands as well, that was invented in the 19th century, that many people today still think are way older and "genuine".
Historians will know, they study these things, and if you visit a museum on national or cultural history they will probably mention it somewhere among their exhibits as well.
Fakeing you nations history to better suit your present expectations of what it ought to have been like has been popular all throughout history - but especially during that period.
I actually want to my local IKEA yesterday. I figured the first day AFTER all the holidays could be a good day to go, as hopefully most people had done their shopping during the holiday.
It was still rather full, but I actually had great luck as I found an empty self-check out counter with now cue at all so I could just get the specific few things I wanted and be out of there within 15 minutes - which is terrific for being my IKEA! :-)