1608: Anti-papal

Catholic influences

In addition to protests against the papal calendar reform, there were other anti-Catholic sentiments being expressed in the Netherlands regarding almanacs. Because almanacs had their roots in mediaeval calendars, they contained a number of Catholic elements such as saints' days. Even the suggestions to Protestant clergymen to read a particular Bible text on a particular day during church services were Catholic in origin. It is not surprising that beginning in the sixteenth century, the century of the Reformation, Protestants made various attempts to suppress the almanac's papist character.

Caspar Coolhaes

One of the fiercest early opponents was the clergyman Caspar Coolhaes (1536-1615). In pamphlets such as Trovwe waerschouvwinge voor den schandelijcken abuysen offte misbruycken der almanacken [Faithful Warning of Shameful Errors, or the Misuse of Almanacs], he lashed out against almanac designers and publishers who, in his eyes, were only interested in making a profit. He accused astrologers of being liars and false prophets. Almanacs contributed to a situation in which divine truth was being pushed aside by heathen customs and devotion to idols. As an alternative, Coolhaes put an almanac on the market in 1608 that was to serve as a model: Specimen ofte monster eens Christelijcken calenders ofte Almanac (gezuyvert zijnde van alle Heydensche en[de] Papistische abuyzen) [Specimen or Model of a Christian calendar or Almanac (purified of all Heathen and Papist Errors)]. He stripped the calendar of all suspect elements. Christmas, for instance, is the only holiday that he recognizes in the last two months of the year. But his plea brought little result; his model of a pure almanac attracted few imitators.

Abraham Magyrus

In the late seventeenth century the Almanachs heyligen was published by the Texel clergyman Abraham Magyrus. He, too, struck out against the veneration of the saints, fostered by almanacs and the Catholic faith. The book went through five printings, which suggests a certain popularity, but all in all it had little effect on almanacs themselves. The fact that saints' days persisted despite these and other attempts at purification was mainly due to the relation with the markets. Among the local populace, animal markets and markets of other goods were named after saints. Undoubtedly there were a large number of Catholics among the buyers, and a few prominent almanac publishers such as the Stichter family had been Catholic for generations. But the presence of Catholic elements in the almanacs was a question of practical use rather than conviction.

Pillarization

It was not until the nineteenth century, when the system of 'pillarization', or social compartmentalization along sectarian lines, was introduced, that almanacs were published that were especially aimed at Protestants or Catholics. Some of the Protestant almanacs are very austere, which certainly would have earned the endorsement of Coolhaes. But there are also richly illustrated almanacs, produced in colourful gold-embossed bindings. Ideology and almanacs have never really gone hand in hand.