Jacob de Witt

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Jacob de Witt, painted by Gerrit van Honthorst
Jacob de Witt, painted by Nicolaes Maes
The bodies of the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt ,
The Hague , August 1672.
Painting by Jan de Baen

Jacob de Witt (born February 7, 1589 in Dordrecht ; † January 10, 1674 ibid) Army of Manezee , Melissant and Crostryen , was a well-known city regent and mayor of Dordrecht in the Golden Age of the Netherlands . Jacob de Witt joined the republican party of Oldenbarnevelt and was one of those influential regents who helped Dordrecht and Amsterdam to take the lead in the anti-statehood party, which was gradually regaining its strength.

biography

Jacob de Witt came from the respected patrician family De Witt , which had political influence in Dordrecht since the early 15th century. His father was Cornelis Fransz. de Witt , who laid the foundation for the family's government in the 17th century. He was married to Anna van den Corput, who was a niece of Johannes Corputius , an influential Dutch military leader and cartographer . Furthermore, he had the council pensioner Andries de Witt as a brother and was the father of Cornelis and Johan de Witt .

After completing his law degree at the University of Leiden , he became treasurer of the Dordrecht church and a member of the magistrate (Dutch: Vroedschap ) in 1618 , as well as being mayor of his hometown six times in later years. Jacob de Witt was a state-minded politician, which is why he was politically on the side of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt , and after whose overthrow temporarily lost his offices. His older brother Andries de Witt stood on the side of the governors from the House of Orange-Nassau and after Oldenbarnevelt's execution was elected as a pensioner for the states of Holland and West Friesland.

Jacob de Witt was also politically active outside his own city; together with Andries Bicker he was the Dutch envoy to Sweden to conclude a trade agreement for the republic.

As a member of the Dutch estates and as a deputy of the Dutch States General , he was, as mentioned, an opponent of the Orange governors and their desired power over the republic. De Witt, like the Andries brothers, Jan and Cornelis Bicker as well as Cornelis and Andries de Graeff , therefore advocated the Peace of Munster , as it led the republic to the height of its power and at the same time weakened the governor, as it was under pressure from De Witt and Andries Bicker the army was reduced. The situation in the republic deteriorated more and more after the peace of 1648, so that in 1650 there was an attempted coup d'état by the governor William II of Orange . The Orange managed to get rid of the powerful republican city rulers by force of arms. Jacob de Witt and six other Republicans were imprisoned at the Loevestein Fortress . Since Wilhelm II died of smallpox a short time later and no further governor was named, the prisoners were released again. After these events, De Witt no longer held high offices.

He later moved to live with his son Johan in The Hague. After the murder of his two sons in Rampjaar in 1672, he and his five grandchildren - including Johan II. De Witt - stayed for a short time in safety at Pieter de Graeff's Ilpenstein Castle . Jacob de Witt then returned to Dordrecht, where he died in 1674 as the patriarch of the De Witt family.

literature

  • HP Fölting: De landsadvocaten en raadpensionarissen der Staten van Holland en West-Friesland 1480-1795. Een genealogical benadering. Deel III . In: Jaarboek Centraal Bureau Voor Genealogie. Deel 29 (1975 The Hague; Centraal Bureau Voor Genealogie)
  • CA van Sypesteyn: De slaughtered De Witt te Dordrecht en te Amsterdam . In: De Nederlandsche heraut. Tijdschrift op het gebied van geslacht-, wapen- en zegelkunde jrg. 3 (1886's-Gravenhage; C. van Doorn & zoon)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert H. Rowen: John de Witt, Statesman of the True Freedom . Cambridge University Press 1986, reprint 2002, p. 220
personal data
SURNAME Witt, Jacob de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch politician; Mayor of Dordrecht
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1589
PLACE OF BIRTH Dordrecht , Holland , Republic of the Seven United Provinces
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 1674
Place of death Dordrecht , Holland , Republic of the Seven United Provinces