Huizinga, Van Vollenhoven and the image of Javanese courts

The best known book on late mediaeval history of the Netherlands is written by Johan Huizinga (1871-1945) with the title: Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen or The Autumn of the Mediaeval Society. One of the possible titles of the book is also 'The Burgundy Century and the Low Countries, 1400-1500.' It tells how a feudal family ruled over about 25% of present-day France, conquered present-day Belgium and Netherlands through wars and marriages. The book was published in 1919, I use now a 21st edition of 1997. Huizinga was professor of history in Leiden University. He was a multi-talented scholar. He gave much attention to comparative languages. His dissertation was on Sanskrit. Before publication of his book on the late European Middle Ages he asked the opinion of Cornelis van Vollenhoven, the eminent scholar of Indonesian adat or customary law. His reaction was: "An eminent book. I enjoyed reading it. I was continuously thinking: it helps me much in understanding the courts of Surakarta and Yogyakarta." (Schitterend, ik genoot. En doorlopend denk ik: door dit de hoven van Soerakarta en Jogjakarta begrijpen. page 394)

'Burgundian' is in European culture the equivalent of 'exuberant, excellent food and drinks, great festivities, rich nobility, absolute rulers and rich citizens'. It is nearly the opposite of the sparsimonious living Calvinists, it is joy for living, warriors but also pious Christians. It is the beginning of absolute power of the monarch. It is a mixture of local tradition and elaboration of the still unbroken Roman Catholic tradition. This altogether probably made Van Vollenhoven think that it is a good stimulus for the writing about the Javanese courts.
Merle Ricklefs was the Huizinga for Indonesia. He wrote individual portraits of the lives of the major rulers in the period 1700-1800, gave a theory of the way they included Islam in their mystical synthesis. Of course, there are more differences than similarities. Java did not have independent towns like Gent or Bruges, not a strong middle class of traders. Still, Van Vollenhoven made an interesting remark about comparative history.