This chapter outlines the history of freedom and toleration. It pays particular attention to the Dutch Golden Age that exemplified tolerance, a trendsetting pragmatic response to the problems of modern plural society. It addresses John Locke, who composed his A Letter Concerning Toleration during his stay as a political refugee in Amsterdam in the 1680s. Inspired by his Dutch intellectual friends, Locke expounded the basic ideas of a liberal constitution, albeit not as yet in a perfect way. Spinoza and other representatives of the ‘Radical Enlightenment’ were more coherent in their elaborations of the liberal principles of liberty and equality.
