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Scènes uit een huwelijk
De correspondentie van Anna Elisabeth Christina van Tuyll van Serooskerken met haar echtgenoot
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: De Achttiende Eeuw, Volume 56, Issue 2024, Oct 2024, p. 24 - 43
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- 01 Oct 2024
Abstract
This ‘portrait’ of Anna Elisabeth Christina van Tuyll van Serooskerken (1745-1819) is based on what remains of her correspondence with her husband Frederik Christiaan van Reede (1743-1808), lord of Amerongen and fifth earl of Athlone. Whereas he enjoyed a life of public offices and privilege, she was mainly occupied in their Utrecht home and Amerongen castle, where she usually spent the summer. Despite being a mother of seven in 1774, Van Serooskerken preferred to run the household herself. She took responsibility for managing the staff, the financial situation, and for educating the children. It seemed natural for her to consider herself an equal partner in this marriage. When it came to topics such as vaccination and education, Van Serooskerken took the side of the Enlightenment. Although criticizing her husband a lot, she appeared to be reasonably happy with the situation, knowing it was she who was in charge.