Admiralty of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces
In contrast to other early modern states in Europe, five independent admirals emerged in the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (United Netherlands) . Originally intended as a temporary measure, they existed until the end of the republic in 1795 . Although they were directly subordinate to the States General , they had strong ties to the province in which they were located. These five admirals had different meanings for the so-called state fleet, depending on the interests of the province and its financial resources. In addition to building and maintaining the ships, they were also responsible for paying the crews and the officers' corps. The admirals were also bound to the individual admiralty. The financial needs of the admiralty was regularly covered by regular income from taxes and duties and, when needed, by the States General with special loans.
precursor
The Admiralty followed the tradition of the Admiralty of Flanders . Only when needed was a fleet brought together in the Middle Ages and placed under the command of an admiral. The first mention of an admiral in the Netherlands happened in 1356. Over several stages of development Filips van Kleef became the first admiral of all the Netherlands in 1485 . Since this nobleman opposed the Roman-German King Maximilian I in 1488 , he founded the institution of Admiralty in the so-called Ordonanntie op de Admiraliteit . This year is still considered the year the Dutch Navy was born . The duties and competencies of the admiral are also laid down in this orderly . In addition to overseeing naval warfare, he was also responsible for the legal language in maritime affairs and the right to award prizes. The seat of the Admiralty was set at Veere and in 1540 the Sluis naval port was moved there. With the death of Maximilian of Burgundy in 1558 , the central maritime organization ended, the Admiralty was relocated to Ghent and the ships were sold.
Emergence
William of Orange became governor of Holland and Zeeland in 1559 . At that time, the function of Admiral of the Netherlands ( Admiraal-Generaal ) was tied to this post. He was also admiral of the Netherlands during the uprising against the emperor. However, the Wassergeusen did not obey his orders and pursued their own goals with the letters of piracy he had issued . That is why the rebellious and unoccupied maritime provinces organized their own fleet. After the conquest of Den Briel on the Meuse by the Wassergeuzen, other cities were conquered or joined the rebels. In 1573 William of Orange appointed an admiral for Zeeland, an admiral for Holland and a vice-admiral for Holland . He also appointed admiralty councils in the cities of Vlissingen , Rotterdam and Enkhuizen . In 1576 the Admiralty Maas, Zeeland and Noord-Holland were established . At that time, Amsterdam and Haarlem were still Spanish, dividing the province of Holland in half. In addition, Zeeland was cut off from Holland. In this phase the Admiraal-Generaal, William of Orange, had little influence due to the fragmentation of the territories, so that efforts towards centralization were unsuccessful. This enabled the provincial estates to expand their influence. With the transition from Amsterdam to the side of the rebels, Hoorn was replaced by Amsterdam as the seat of the Admiralty Noord-Holland. Therefore a new Admiralty West Friesland and Noorderquartier was founded there. In 1596, the last and fifth was the Admiralty Friesland .
This provisional arrangement was described in the instructions for the admiralty in 1597 and should only last for one year. Despite many efforts to centralize it, it remained in place until the Navitées tot de Zaken decided to repeal it on February 27, 1795. This gave the province of Holland three admiralty and Zeeland and Friesland one each. In the course of the next developments, the Admiralty Amsterdam proved to be the most important and competed with Rotterdam for the position of the admiral ship . The Rotterdam Admiralty saw itself as the oldest of the institutions and therefore always provided the admiral ship. According to a distribution formula, Amsterdam gave half of the funds of the Dutch admiralty and Holland in turn half of all maritime armaments in the Netherlands. This key still worked in the 17th century but failed throughout the 18th century. Zeeland, on the other hand, felt that the three Dutch admirals had taken advantage of them and demanded more influence. Because many important admirals had come from Zeeland.
Structure and administration
The knowledge about the admiralty and the fleet is intensively researched scientifically. The relationship between central statehood and provincial and regional interests is examined. In addition to the University of Leiden, which has its own chair in maritime history, and a little less the University of Groningen, the University of Ghent is also active in this area. The special feature here is the focus on the Admiralty Zeeland. While the archive of the Admiralty Friesland burned completely in 1771, that of the Admiralty Zeeland has been preserved most completely. This is why research on this institution is the most intensive. Archival holdings from the other admiralty offices are in the Nationaal Archief and the city archives. In the Nationaal Archief, formerly Rijksarchief, a fire in 1844 destroyed an unknown amount of materials from the Admiralty Archives. That is why the second edition of the six-volume work by the Reich archivist JC de Jonge on "Geschiedenis van het nederlandsche Zeewezen" (published 1858 to 1862) is still being received in the scientific community, as it is assumed that files no longer preserved there were used.
The leadership of each of the admiralty was in the hands of councils . These were appointed for three years by the States General at the suggestion of the provincial administration. Most of them come from the regent families and were often former mayors . The number of councils varies in each admiralty, but half are from their own province and the remainder from the other provinces. These councils met for deliberations at least once a week, but mostly more often and in urgent cases also on Sundays and public holidays. Nominally the Admiraal-General led the meeting, but was never present and was represented by the Luitnant-Admiraal. All councils were rarely present, mostly only those from the respective province as so-called seated councils . The foreign councils had equal voting rights, but were seldom present because of the distance. The prince's court in the cities , the former residences of the governor of the Netherlands , always served as the meeting place .
With the Luitnant-Admiraal of Holland and West Friesland as chairman of each of the admiralty, there was still a common link. The province of Zeeland initially left its post of Luitnant-Admiraal vacant after 1627. However, the system was reformed in 1653 and 1665 and the number of admirals skyrocketed. First every Dutch admiralty received a vice admiral and a Schoutby night . The number of Luitnant-Admiraale remained for the time being. In 1664, Zeeland unexpectedly occupied his post of Luitnant-Admiral of Zeeland. The province of Holland definitely did not want its fleet to sail under the command of a Zeeland national and therefore elevated all of its vice-admirals to the rank of Luitnant-Admiraale of their admiralty. They also raised the Schout by night to vice admirals and the Schout by night were newly manned. The Admiralty Friesland followed this example in April 1665 and hired a Luitnant-Admiraal, a Vice-Admiral and Schout by night. This means that each admiralty had an admiral for each of the three ranks of flag officers and the province of Holland also had the Lieutenant-Admiral of Holland and West Friesland as commander-in-chief of the fleet. In theory, this structure lasted until the end of the republic. But in the 18th century these posts were no longer filled because there were simply too few ships in service. So it could happen that admirals registered in a salary roll never boarded a ship. This happened to the Schoutby Night of the Admiralty Friesland Douwe Fije van Roorda. For a short time, Michiel de Ruyter was appointed Luitnant-Admiraal-Generaal from 1673 until his death, sandwiched between the Luitnant-Admiraal and the Admiral General, Prince Willem of Orange. Cornelis Tromp subsequently received this title until his own death and was never used again afterwards.
In addition to these leadership positions, the advocaat-fiscaal , the secretary and the Ontvanger-Generaal had great influence. These functions were given to members of the city's patriciate for life. This enabled them to gain extensive experience and exert great influence on the councils. As a lawyer , the Advocaat-fiscaal was responsible for all legal matters and duties of the Admiralty. He was the only one of the officials to call himself a council and was also addressed as a minister . He had a seat in the congregation and attended all meetings. His other tasks were the supervision of the officials in the exercise of commercial rights, he took care of the judgments ( mutiny , sea litter , prize court, etc.) and drafted the instructions for the fleet commanders.
The secretary was also addressed as a minister and was responsible for all correspondence. This includes not only the correspondence, but also the transcript ( notulen ) of the meetings and their copying. He also kept the archive . This post was particularly influential and financially attractive. Father and son de Wildt were secretaries of the Amsterdam Admiralty from 1640 to 1704 and were in contact with both Johan de Witt and Willem III, King of England and governor of the Netherlands. They had initiated important developments within the fleet.
Every admiralty was obliged annually to report to the Generaliteits Rekenkamer (a kind of financial control authority of the Staten Generaal) about the admiralty's income and expenses. The Ontvanger Generaal had the ultimate responsibility for the finances . This control and the entire financial conduct of the Admiralty had to work for the penny and was strictly controlled.
Under this administration, officials and employees had to fulfill their tasks in three areas. Each admiralty had certain rights to income, as regular and regular income, at sea and on land. These were customs duties , taxes and fees of various kinds. The individual stations and their officials were controlled by the Commies-Generaal , while the Convooimeester provided the administration with funds. All over the territory of the former republic, customs signs with the coats of arms of the respective admiralty have been found in the hallways.
The second task was equipping the navy. The regular income ( ordinaris incomsten ) was used for normal operation with convoy ships , fairway marking and maintenance of the ships . Extraordinary tasks, such as building new buildings on a large scale or preparing for war, were obtained directly from the States General through so-called extra ordinary income. They made a specific sum available, which mostly related to the financial needs of the admiralty for this specific task and was proposed by her. The special expenses related not only to the construction of the new ship, but also to the payment of the crews, the equipment, but also shipyard expansions and the construction of magazines if the regular income was no longer sufficient.
Not all ships of the Admiralty were built in Admiralty shipyards, especially when many vehicles were built at once, orders were also sent to other mostly private shipyards. The famous shipbuilding center Zaandam should be mentioned here. There is evidence of cases in which the admiralty's master shipbuilders also carried out orders at their own private shipyards or acquired advertised orders through intermediaries. The admiralty also hired master shipbuilders. However, he only received a small salary when there were no jobs to be carried out. As soon as these were available, he had to take care of the procurement of materials and personnel. The Admiralty, however, always had responsibility and control over shipbuilding. The master shipbuilders of the Admiralty played an important role in the development of this technology in the Netherlands. In addition to their colleagues from the VOC, they edited publications on problems and solutions in shipbuilding in the Netherlands. They also tried out new concepts and even English master shipbuilders were hired in Amsterdam to learn about English technologies.
The third task was to oversee the piracy . They held court to declare the captured ships at good prices and thus to enable the auction of the now legally captured ship. It was also their responsibility to issue letters of war. Only the Admiraal-Generaal had the right to do so, but the Admiralty was the deputy and the executive institution. From a legal point of view, the admirals also had jurisdiction that no longer fell under that of the admirals. That could be suspected misconduct of the admirals themselves, but also that of the captains . It could also include convening a council of war if it did not have to be kept at sea.
For the official trips of the admiralty councils and officials there were own vehicles available. The largest were the so-called admiralty yachts. They were single-masted yachts with a pavilion and signal cannons. Based on their stern decorations and flags, they can be assigned to the individual admiralty. In the event of war, they could perform other tasks, such as outpost service and courier trips. But they were not warships and were rather assigned to other tasks than to be used up in war. During the Dutch War , however, the Admiralty Friesland near Zwartsluis was the only one of these yachts to be set on fire in 1674.
Locations
Admiralty on the Meuse
The industrial part of the Admiralty was always in the eastern part of the Meuse . There she had two shipyards, one in the Nieuwe Haven and one in the Haringvliet . However, the exit from the Hellingen was so narrow that the bridge was too narrow at this point when the Eendracht was built in 1655 and it was stuck there for several months. That is why the famous flagship Michiel de Ruyters die Zeven Provinciën was built in Delfshaven , about 3 kilometers away . From 1689 the Admiralty moved into the newly created Reuzeneiland terrain in front of Boerengat . Even today the official name s-Lands Werf can be found as a street name. There were three slipways on this site. In addition to the Eendracht and the Zeven Provinciën , the Admiralty Rotterdam also included the well-known flagships Brederode on which Maarten Tromp died and the Aemilia (ship) , the flagship against the Armada of 1639 . Repairs and minor construction work were also possible in Hellevoetsluis.
The administration was located in the so-called Admiralty Court on Haringvliet , at the Spaanse kade . The building was built in 1643 and served as a customs yard after the abolition of the Admiralty. It was popularly known as the Zeekantoor . The house was demolished in 1885. Until 1644, the building called Oude Admiraliteitshof on the Nieuwen Beestenmarkt served as the seat of the Admiralty. This building was built in 1567. In addition to magazines of all kinds, the Admiralty also had a weapons magazine. The first was built in 1660 in the immediate vicinity of the shipyard at Nieuwe Haven . She built another magazine in 1662 at the Oostpoort
The number of councils rose from seven to eleven in 1644. After that it remained constant. The distribution of seats among the seven councils is unknown until 1597, after which six were from Holland and one each from Gelderland, Utrecht and Zeeland. In 1625 there were seven councils from Holland, which were strengthened shortly afterwards by another council from Overijssel. And with the council from Friesland, which joined in 1644, the level was reached by the end of the republic.
Since the direct access to the North Sea from Rotterdam via the Meuse was too shallow, the Rotterdam ships had to leave via Dordrecht and Hellevoetsluis. Hellevoetsluis became the first port of call for See. The larger ships sailed empty from Rotterdam to Hellevoetsluis and received their complete equipment and crew here. In the second half of the 17th century there were also efforts to establish this port as a base for the entire fleet.
Admiralty of Amsterdam
The Admiralty Amsterdam always had its industrial areas on the Oostelijke Eilanden in Amsterdam, first on Uilenburg , then Rapenburg and a little later on Kattenburg. This island was not formed until the middle of the 17th century and the Zeemagazijn was built immediately afterwards . The area between the two islands of Rapenburg and Kattenburg was closed off with rows of stakes and served as winter storage and berth for the ships of the Admiralty. The four slipways on Kattenburg were on the west side of the island and ran off in the direction of the Admiralty Dock.
The ropes were made on the so-called Lijnbaan (see Reeperbahn ) just behind the urban ramparts on Oostenburg. The direct neighbor was the Lijnbaan of the East India Company. The front gables of both buildings are now listed. Facing the city was and still is the former Admiralty magazine, now the Maritime Museum . In the 50s of the 17th century, not only were the three islands (Oostenburg, Wittenburg and Kattenburg) built, but also the Zeemagazijn and the admiralty building in the city. The entire island of Kattenburg and the magazine were naval areas until the end of the last century. Only the magazine had been a museum since the 1970s.
The administration with the official apartments was located in the Prinzenhof on Oudezijds Voorburgwal. First monastery and after the expulsion of the Spanish city residence of the Orange, the court was first used for the city administration and then more and more by the admiralty. In 1661 they built their own representative building in this courtyard, which is now used as a hotel. After Napoleon rededicated the Stadhuis on Dam Square as a palace, the city administration had to move back to the Prinzenhof. Although the Admiralty was abolished in 1795, the farm remained known and in operation as the Zeekantor .
The number of councils rose from seven to twelve in 1606. In the beginning there were four councils from Holland and three from other provinces, which one is exactly unknown. In 1597 the number of councils from Holland was increased by one and now the provinces of Gelderland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Overijssel and Groningen each sent a council to Amsterdam. In 1606 a council from the province of Friesland was added.
Admiralty Noorderquartier
It was the smallest of the three Dutch admirals. From 1593 the seat of the Admiralty changed every three months between Hoorn and Enkhuizen . Since 1606 the distribution of votes of the councils had been established. At first there were only four councils from Holland, then there were also six councils from Holland and one each from Zeeland, Utrecht and Overijssel. There was also a council from Gelderland and 1606 from Friesland. In addition to the centers of the Admiralty in Hoorn and Enkhuizen, Medemblik was also a base. Ships were built in these three places and also in Monnikendam.
Admiralty Zeeland
At the Admiralty Zeeland, the individual industrial areas are most widely distributed. While the administration sat together with the Staten van Zeeland in the former abbey in Middelburg, the shipyards, warehouses and berths of the fleet can be found all over Zeeland. The main port was Vlissingen. Ships were built in Vlissingen, there were three slipways, but also in Veere, with two slipways, and Zierickzee. The only dry dock was built in Vlissingen during the Republic. However, this dock was mostly in a very bad condition.
Until 1597 there were seven admiralty councils, then the number of councils from Holland with two seats and Utrecht with one seat remained constant until the end of the republic. In contrast, the number of seats in the Zeeland councils themselves varied between seven and six, so that the total number of admiralty councils changed between nine and ten seats.
Admiralty Friesland
The youngest and smallest of the admiralty offices had their seat in Dokkum until 1645. This was due to the fact that this city was closer to Groningen. Because in addition to the province of Friesland, Groningen and the Ommelanden also belonged to the Frisian Admiralty. When moving to Harlingen, the number of Groninger councils was also doubled. Up until then there were four councilors from Friesland, two from Groningen and one from Holland. Later the number was changed again. In the 18th century there were four from Friesland, two from Groningen and one each from Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel. Unfortunately, the admiralty building burned down completely in 1771 and the archive was destroyed. Therefore, only a little information about this institution has survived.
The Admiralty building in Dokkum is the only remaining Admiralty building in the Netherlands. After moving to Harlingen, a building on the north quay of the Zuiderhavens was used. After it burned out on the night of January 12th to 13th, 1771, a new building was erected on the same site. This served as a packing house from 1795 to 1865 and was demolished in 1956. Today's address is Zuiderhaven 63.
During the time in Dokkum only one Statenjacht was built there, which was later set on fire as an Admiralty Yacht in 1674. It was only in Harlingen from 1662 that there was also an admiralty shipyard called 's Landswerf . This was located on the opposite bank of the Zuiderhaven. This place served as a shipyard until the 20th century, most recently Werf Welleger . New ships were built here very irregularly. A curiosity happened shortly before the admiralty dissolved. During the Fourth Sea War , the shipyard was greatly expanded. Until then, only a ship up to the size of a 56-gun ship could be built. Now there were three slipways for a 66-gun ship and two frigates. In 1782 the shipyard was expanded to include a fourth slipway, on which ships with up to 74 cannons could be laid. Within three years more was built than ever before: Friesland (74 cannons), Admiraal Tjerck Hiddes de Vries , Oostergoo , Westergoo , Zeven Wouden (all 66 cannons), Harlingen (44 cannons), Juno (36 cannons) and the Hulk Dwinger with 18 cannons. In the same port basin, the Stad en Lande was built with 74 cannons at a private shipyard . In 1786 it was considered that the two 74-gun ships that were still on the stack should be given to the King of France. It turned out, however, that both ships were too wide for the passages and too deep not to get stuck in the driveway. In 1791, the governor Wilhelm V visited the ships that were launched for this purpose. In 1792, they were sold for demolition without ever being completed or ever going to sea.
successor
With the transformation of the republic after the French occupation, many institutions were removed from the responsibility of the provinces and placed under central management. The navy was also transformed. The individual locations were retained and only the structure changed. By decree of February 27, 1795, the Admiralty was abolished by the States General. Until 1798 the Comité tot de Zaken of the Navy had taken over the central management (agent van de marine, 1798–1801; de raad van marine, 1801–1805; secretaris vanstaat voor de zaken van marine, 1805–1806) and the administration buildings the individual former admiralty became zeekantors . All senior officials and officers were dismissed and allowed to reapply. Only about a third was accepted again. The senior officers and members of the Comité were appointed by the Nationale Vergadering (National Assembly), the successor to the States General. The committee consisted of 14 people, seven of whom were supposed to deal with equipment, shipbuilding and the actual maritime affairs. Seven other members were in control of finance, income and expenditure. The locations of the individual former admiralty offices became departments (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoorn or Enkhuizen and Medemblik, Vlissingen or Middelburg, Harlingen). At least two members of the Comité should always be available on site. As Adviseur was (Consultant) Jan Willem de Winter with the rank of adjutant-Generaal member of the Committees . So far, each admiralty had built its vehicles according to its own concepts and with its own master shipbuilders, now the master shipbuilder P. Glaviman has been appointed constructeur-generaal (about a senior engineer). Likewise, until now the captains and senior officers were only employed when necessary and a distinction was made on lists between ordinary and extraordinary masters. Now the long-demanded formation of a permanent officer corps was formed, who was in constant service.
During the time of the Batavian Navy she suffered great losses by giving up without a fight in the Saldanhabucht in 1796 and in the Vlieter in 1799 and after a fierce battle in the sea battle at Camperduin in 1797.
literature
- JR Bruijn: De admiraliteit van Amsterdam in rustige jaren, 1713–1751. Regenten en financiën, schepen en zeevarenden. 1970, ISBN 90-6060-890-9 .
- JR Bruijn: The Dutch Navy of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. South Carolina 1993, ISBN 0-87249-875-1 .
- JR Bruijn: Editing Varend. De nederlandse oorlogsvloot in de zeventiende en achtiende Eeuw. 1998, ISBN 90-5018-407-3 .
- JP Sigmond: Nederlandse Zeehavens tussen 1500 en 1800. Amsterdam 1989, ISBN 90-6707-210-9 .
- David H. Roberts: 18th Century Shipbuilding. Rotherfield 1992, ISBN 0-948864-11-7 .
- L. Kamminga: Schepen van de Friese Admiralty. Leeuwarden 1973.
- PC Jalhay: 's Lands vloot in de Gouden Eeuw 1588–1688. In: 500 jaar marine. Onder redactie van de Afdeling Maritieme Historie van de Marinestaf. De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1988, ISBN 90-6707-171-4 .
- WJ Goossen: Van admiralty naar ministerie. De organisatie van het marinebestuur in de Batafse en Franse tijd (1795–1813). In: Tijdschrift voor zeegeschiedenis. 1, 1990, pp. 19-34
Web links
- private website with heraldic background (nl.)
- Repertory van ambtsdragers en ambtenaren 1428–1861 . Digital version of the portal Huygens ING (nl.)