, in National Gallery, London In the Labadist community there were craftsmen who generated income, although as many men as possible were sent on outreach to neighbouring towns. Children were tutored communally. The women had traditional roles as homemakers. A printing press was set up, disseminating many writings by Labadie and his colleagues. The best known of Labadist writings was not Labadie's but
Anna van Schurman's, who wrote a justification of her renunciation of secular intellectual life to join the community. Van Schurman was noted in her day as "The Star of Utrecht" and admired for her talents: she spoke and wrote five languages, produced an Ethiopic dictionary, played several instruments, engraved glass, painted, embroidered, and wrote poetry. At the age of 62 she gave up everything and joined the Labadists. After Labadie's death, his followers returned to the Netherlands, where they set up a community in a stately home – Walta Castle – at
Wieuwerd in
Friesland, which belonged to three sisters of
Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, who were his adherents. Here printing and many other occupations continued, including farming and milling. One member, Hendrik van Deventer, skilled in chemistry and medicine, set up a laboratory at the house and treated many people, including
Christian V, the King of Denmark. He is remembered as one of the Netherlands' pioneering
obstetricians. Several noted visitors have left their accounts of visits to the Labadist community. One was
Sophia of Hanover, mother of
King George I of Great Britain; another was
William Penn, the
Quaker pioneer, who gave his name to the US state of
Pennsylvania; a third was the English philosopher
John Locke. Several Reformed pastors left their parishes to live in community at Wieuwerd. At its peak, the community numbered around 600 with many more adherents further afield. Visitors came from England, Italy, Poland and elsewhere, but not all approved of the strict discipline. Those of arrogant disposition were given the most menial of jobs. Fussiness in matters of food was overcome since all were expected to eat what was put in front of them. Daughter communities were set up in the New World.
La Providence, a daughter colony on the
Commewijne River in Surinam, proved unsuccessful. The Labadists were unable to cope with jungle diseases, and supplies from the Netherlands were often intercepted by pirates. Entomological artist
Maria Sybilla Merian, who had lived in the Labadist colony in Friesland for some years, went to Surinam in 1700 and drew several plates for her classic
Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium on the Labadist plantation of La Providence.
Bohemia Manor The mother colony in Friesland sent two envoys,
Jasper Danckaerts and Peter Schlüter (or Sluyter), to purchase land for a colony. Danckaerts, an experienced seafarer, kept a journal which has survived and has been published. It is a valuable early account of life in colonial New Netherland (later New York), on the Chesapeake and the Delaware in 1679–80 and includes several hand drawings and maps. Danckaerts and Schlüter met the son of
Augustine Herman, a successful Maryland businessman, in New York and he introduced them to his father in 1679. Herman was impressed with the men and their group. Initially Herman did not want to grant land to them, only permit Labadist settlement, but in 1683, he conveyed a tract of 3,750 acres (15 km2) on his land
Bohemia Manor in
Cecil County, Maryland, to them because of legal issues. The group established a colony which grew rapidly to between 100 and 200 members. In the 1690s a gradual decline set in and finally the practice of communal sharing was suspended. From that moment on the Labadists dwindled, both in Maryland, which ceased to exist after 1720, and in Friesland they had died out by 1730. ==Key beliefs of the Labadists==