Post by Souriquois on Mar 18, 2018 12:17:31 GMT -4
The secondary office of the Netherlands was that of Grand Pensionary which was elected by the Estates (Similar to the House of Commons). From 1653 this office was held by Johan de Witt. The de Witt family was a Patrician family of great influence. As a result Johan and his brother, Cornelis received a top education at the Latin school which imbued them with fantasies of recreating the Roman Republic in the Netherlands. Johan left the Latin school to go and study mathematics and law at Leiden university. He excelled at both subjects and received a doctorate from the University of Angers in 1645. After university Johan moved into a career as a lawyer and quickly rose to prominence until he was elected as Grand Pensionary in 1653. The Dutch at the time were at war with the English Commonwealth, led by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. England had recently cast off its own monarchy when Parliament had executed Charles I. De Witt sought to make peace with the new English Republic which was arranged in the Treaty of Westminster in 1653. One of the clauses of this treaty was that William (future William III of England and Stadtholder of Orange) could not be elected as Stadtholder on the death of his father (confusingly also called William). Cromwell had insisted on this clause as William (III) was a blood relative of Charles I and a threat to the English Commonwealth. This clause would ultimately be the downfall of de Witt as it created a rift between the pro-monarchy Orangists and the republican Statists.
This problem did not come to the fore until 1672 due to Johan’s skill as a political manipulator and his success at blocking William from succeeding as Stadtholder. 1672 would come to be known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar or “disaster year”. In this year the Republic was attacked simultaneously by France, England (under a restored monarchy) and the German states of Galen, Munster and Bavaria. The invading armies overwhelmed the Dutch forces and conquered a large portion of the Republic. The result of this catastrophe was that the Orangists siezed power in the remaining provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. William was installed as Stadtholder forcing Johan de Witt to resign as Grand Pensionary (William had the word “honourable” removed from the declaration of resignation). William announced that the people responsible for the disaster would be held responsible. One of the first to be held responsible would be Johan’s brother, Cornelis who had been the head of police. Cornelis was arrested and imprisoned in The Hague for treason.
On hearing that his brother was in prison Johan made the worst mistake of his life and payed him a visit. Whilst he was in the prison a crowd gathered around the building demanding the imprisonment of Johan. At this point the small contingent of soldiers guarding the prison left their posts. Without this deterrent the mob stormed into the prison. Johan and his brother Cornelis were butchered by the mob who, in their frenzy, were reported to eat the bodies of the two brothers. The instigators of the riot would never see prosecution for their ghastly crime. William offered them state protection and even rewarded principle rioter, prompting modern historians to suspect that the riot (but probably not the cannibalism) had been William’s idea all along.
This problem did not come to the fore until 1672 due to Johan’s skill as a political manipulator and his success at blocking William from succeeding as Stadtholder. 1672 would come to be known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar or “disaster year”. In this year the Republic was attacked simultaneously by France, England (under a restored monarchy) and the German states of Galen, Munster and Bavaria. The invading armies overwhelmed the Dutch forces and conquered a large portion of the Republic. The result of this catastrophe was that the Orangists siezed power in the remaining provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. William was installed as Stadtholder forcing Johan de Witt to resign as Grand Pensionary (William had the word “honourable” removed from the declaration of resignation). William announced that the people responsible for the disaster would be held responsible. One of the first to be held responsible would be Johan’s brother, Cornelis who had been the head of police. Cornelis was arrested and imprisoned in The Hague for treason.
On hearing that his brother was in prison Johan made the worst mistake of his life and payed him a visit. Whilst he was in the prison a crowd gathered around the building demanding the imprisonment of Johan. At this point the small contingent of soldiers guarding the prison left their posts. Without this deterrent the mob stormed into the prison. Johan and his brother Cornelis were butchered by the mob who, in their frenzy, were reported to eat the bodies of the two brothers. The instigators of the riot would never see prosecution for their ghastly crime. William offered them state protection and even rewarded principle rioter, prompting modern historians to suspect that the riot (but probably not the cannibalism) had been William’s idea all along.
And now it's a meme