Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen (1625–1704)

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Portrait of the married couple Joan Huydecoper and Sophia Coymans

Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen II (born February 21, 1625 in Amsterdam ; † December 1, 1704 ibid), knight, army of Maarsseveen , Neerdijk, Thamen and Blokland , came from the family of Huydecoper van Maarsseveen and was in the period after the epoch of Golden Age an important regent and mayor of Amsterdam . The presidency of the Dutch East India Company - also called (VOC) -, which he assumed in 1666, stands out from the multitude of offices he has performed .

life and work

Younger years

The coat of arms of Joan Huydecoper
by Jan Moninckx

Joan Huydecoper was born in 1625 as the eldest son of the important mayor Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen (1599–1661); he spent his school days in Weesp . When he was studying, he lived with the theologian Gisbert Voetius in Utrecht. After Huydecoper had finished his studies at the University of Leiden in 1646, a cavalier journey took him to France , Germany and Italy . Because he led a wasteful life, he had to stay in Geneva for some time until his father sent him more money.

Huydecoper van Maarsseveen was already involved in Dutch politics at a young age, for example in 1655 when he went on a diplomatic mission to Berlin with his father and his great cousin Pieter de Graeff . The reason for this was an alliance against Sweden sought by Holland with the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg .

In 1656 Joan Huydecoper married his niece Sophia Coymans (1636-1714). She was the daughter of a wealthy banking family in which Huydecoper temporarily worked as a trade correspondent. His younger sister Eleonora (1631–1663) was married to the wealthy art collector Jan J. Hinlopen . His brother-in-law was the Dutch envoy in Paris, Jacob Boreel .

The Huydecoper couple subsequently ran a large house , with guests including Maria Henrietta Stuart and Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels , the wife of the Great Elector . Unlike most of the mayors and their families, the couple did not live on the Herengracht , but in the Jordaan district .

Huydecoper kept an interesting diary full of details. He recorded how much he smoked and drank and with whom, who was invited and what gifts he received, or with whom he quarreled. For the year 1679 it is recorded that he never again wanted to go out to eat with his mother-in-law on Sunday. He also noted how often he did it with his wife.

Career as the Governing Mayor of Amsterdam

Sub-article: Regent of Amsterdam

His great career did not take place until after the so-called Rampjaar (1672), in which the power of the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt was broken with their murder, and thus with Wilhelm III. from Orange-Nassau a new strong man could take power.

Since Huydecoper was related by marriage to Gillis Valckenier - the new strong man in Amsterdam - and other important decision-makers, he was appointed mayor for the first time in 1673. During this time, Huydecoper was also very popular at the French court. Huydecoper was able to hold onto power for many years - despite his conflicts with the English king-governor Wilhelm III. von Orange-Nassau - and a distribution of pornographic drawings, which drew him into a trial against the famous graphic artist Romeyn de Hooghe .

When he came up against the almighty Johann Wilhelm Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland , together with Mayor Jacob Jacobszn Hinlopen and Cornelis Bors van Waveren , the Amsterdam pensioner , in 1693 , his career came to an end. Bentinck was the king's trusted statesman and overthrew the powerful Amsterdam rulers who were in political differences with the king's governor .

Huydecoper van Maarsseveen's episode with Tsar Peter the Great

In 1697 Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen attended the closing party of Tsar Peter I with Nicolaas Witsen , the ruler's friend from Amsterdam. Since Huydecoper was afraid of the drunken giant - Peter the Great was well over two meters tall - he left the party. But he was brought back to the table and feared for his life when he had to spend the rest of the evening between the Russian tsar and his confidante François Le Fort .

The Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus

Joan Huydecoper planted melons and other exotic fruits in the garden of his country house Goudestein . In 1683 he and Jan Commelin founded the Hortus Medicus Botanical Garden in Amsterdam on behalf of the city council . Huydecoper had plants and germs sent to him from the Dutch colonies of Mauritius , Batavia , Ceylon , Bengal , Coromandel Peninsula and Suriname in order to settle them in the botanical garden.

He often visited the important natural scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in order to be able to look at various plants or germs under the microscope with him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kooymans, L. (1997) Vriendschap en de kunst van het overleven in de zeventiende en Achttiende eeuw, p. 113-218.
  2. ↑ Vriendjespolitiek (nl)
  3. ↑ Biographical woordenboek der Nederlanden. Deel 8. Tweede stuk; Biography of Mr. Johan Huydecoper
  4. ^ RAU 67 Fa Huydecoper, dagboek 1698.
  5. ↑ Jan Commelin en oprichting van de Hortus (left to right)

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Andries de Graeff Regent and Mayor of Amsterdam
1673–1693 together with Gillis Valckenier (1665–1679), Coenraad van Beuningen (1669–1684), Johann van Waveren Hudde (1672–1703) and Joan Corver (1681–1715) 		Johann van Waveren Hudde and Joan Corver
personal data
SURNAME Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, Joan II.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mayor of Amsterdam
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1625
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1704
Place of death Amsterdam