Coenraad van Beuningen

Coenraad van Beuningen, painted by Caspar Netscher (1673)

Coenraad van Beuningen (* 1622 in Amsterdam ; † October 26, 1693 there ) was a Dutch diplomat , politician and Amsterdam regent of the late Golden Age . Van Beuningen was a political supporter of Johan de Witt and his opponent Wilhelm III. from Orange-Nassau .

biography

See also : Regent of Amsterdam

Coenraad came from the patrician family Van Beuningen . His parents were the grain wholesaler Dirk van Beuningen (1588–1648) and Catharina Burgh . Coenraad's grandparents were Amsterdam mayors Geurt van Beuningen and Albert Burgh . After studying law at the University of Leiden , he came to Paris to become the Swedish delegation secretary to Hugo Grotius . In 1643 he received the office of Amsterdam City Secretary. In 1651 he became a pensioner from Amsterdam. The following year Van Beuningen headed a diplomatic mission to Sweden and Denmark, after which he represented the Dutch Republic in Great Britain and France. During this time, Van Beuningen was, along with Hieronymus van Beverningh, the most successful diplomat in the republic. In 1656 Cornelis de Graeff sent him to Copenhagen to win the allied Danes for a fight against Sweden. In 1660 he came to the government of the city as Schepen . In the same year, Van Beuningen was together with Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen , Cornelis van Vlooswyck and Pieter de Groot, Amsterdam's envoy to King Charles II to congratulate him on his accession to the throne in The Hague. In 1668 he became a member of the Amsterdam Vroedschap . A year later Van Beuningen was elected mayor, whose appointment was followed by five more until 1684.

After the murder of his friend Johan de Witt in Rampjaar in 1672, Van Beuningen was nominated as his successor. But since he did not accept this office, Gaspar Fagel was appointed as the new council pensioner. After the Rampjaar, he politically supported the new governor Wilhelm III. of Orange-Nassau . In 1674 Van Beuningen negotiated on behalf of the Republic at the Peace of Westminster . After that he moved closer to Louis XIV in terms of foreign policy with the aim of making peace with France . Domestically he stood after the death of Gillis Valckenier and Henrick Hooft as head of the Amsterdam rulers and as an opponent of Wilhelm III. In the years 1680/1681 he was the Dutch envoy to Great Britain. In 1681 Van Beuningens was appointed one of the directors of the Dutch East India Company . In December 1682 he was accepted as a member ( Fellow ) in the Royal Society .

In 1686 Van Beuningen married Jacoba Victoria Bartolotti van den Heuvel . He was considered manic-depressive all his life . At the end of his life he lost his capital when he speculated on shares in the Dutch East India Company. Van Beuningen was buried in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam .

literature

• Balbian Verster, JFL de (1942) Burgemeesters van Amsterdam in de 17e en 18e eeuw
• Elias, JE (1903–1905, herdruk 1963) De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578–1795 , two parts
• Franken, MAM (1966) Coenraad van Beuningens politieke en diplomatieke activiteiten in de jaren 1557–1684 .
• Gaastra, F. (1989) Bewind en beleid bij de VOC 1672 - 1702
• Roldanus, CW (1931) Coenraad van Beuningen. Staatsman en Libertijn

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography in the Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek (NNBW), part 7, pages 119/120
2. ^ DBNL, De Gids. Jaargang 14, p. 625
3. ^ Entry on Beuningen, Coenraad van (1622 - 1693) in the archive of the Royal Society , London
4. ↑ Biography in the Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde

predecessor	Office	successor
Andries de Graeff	Regent and Mayor of Amsterdam 1669–1684 together with Andries de Graeff (1657–1672), Gillis Valckenier (1665–1679), Johan Hudde (1672–1703) and Joan (II) Huydecoper van Maarsseveen (1673–1693)	Johan Hudde and Joan Corver (1681–1715)