Read Online The Dutch by Richard E. Schultz - Free Book Online Page B

knowledge of ship construction. They became his friends and mentors who delighted him with wonderful tales of their adventures at sea. Henri also socialized at the Guild Hall, though his youth made him cautious in approaching the more established master builders. Yet he received a secondary education in shipbuilding by just listening to the conversations around him. Many of the premier shipwrights welcomed him to their tables for all had high regard for his late father and grandfather. Two of the oldest and most respected shipbuilders were particularly cordial and both, like his grandfather, could trace their family roots to the Duchy of the Droger Land. They urged Henri to someday visit his ancestral homeland. They spoke about the ancestral homeland as if it were a magical place and held the ruling family in reverence. Those two shipwrights, more than anyone, other than his master, helped Henri became an accepted if not yet respected member of the maritime community.
    In a position to make choices, Henri’s first important decision was to turn away from the Catholic Church. This caused a confrontation with his parish priest, who expected financial rewards from the boy who became a shipwright, particularly one rumored to have received a healthy inheritance. At the time, many people were dissatisfied with the Roman Church and its clergy which had lost contact with their parishioners for many reasons. The Protestant Reformation was already well underway in neighboring Germany. Henri’s parish priest at first feared the young man was renouncing Catholicism to follow Luther’s Reformation but Henri had little interest in joining any new religion. In truth he had begun to have doubts about the existence of God but he kept those thoughts to himself for he knew the world could be a dangerous place for anyone holding such a perspective. Yet Henri bravely confided to the priest that the death of his parents had influenced his faith in God and he needed time to come to grips with the loss. A few silver coins “for the poor,” made the priest less antagonistic and more understanding. Both the priest and Henri knew the “poor” would never see those coins.
    Like many young men with newly acquired means, Henri discovered the joy in spending money on things even he perceived as frivolous. He had a tailor fashion a set of expensive clothes though he had few occasions when such finery was appropriate. He also purchased an assortment of new work shirts, trousers and boots which he wore at the shipyard if only to signify his new status. At a time when the sentiment among commoners was that bathing could be hazardous, he frequented a bath house run by a former Portuguese trader because he liked feeling clean in his new apparel. His master’s status allowed him sufficient free time to widen his intellectual horizons and Henri re-discovered his love of reading. At first, he borrowed books but soon began purchasing them. Every payday he visited the bookseller and returned with a book. Since he enjoyed reading everything, he could usually negotiate a good price on whatever book caught his fancy. The book he owned and treasured the most was an expensive world atlas acquired cheaply when one of his fellow borders needed some coins to visit a tavern.
    The ship captains he lived with had a wild side that became quite apparent most nights after the dinner meal ended. While waiting for their ships to be repaired, they were more promiscuous than their ordinary seamen. These new friends often insisted Henri accompany them on their after-dinner excursions to the seedier parts of the port. Those areas of the city contained taverns overflowing with maidens of questionable character. Henri did little more than acquire a taste for different alcoholic beverages while receiving a great deal of ribbing from his self-indulgent companions whose real interests were sexual liaisons with almost any available female. The truth was Henri