Andries Bicker
Encyclopedia
Andries Bicker was a wealthy merchant on Moscovia, a member of the vroedschap
, the leader of the Arminians, an administrator of the VOC
, representative of the States-General of the Netherlands
and colonel in the Civic guard
. He controlled the city's politics in close cooperation with his uncle Jacob Dircksz de Graeff
an his brother Cornelis Bicker.
The Bicker family
was one of the oldest patrician families of Amsterdam - consisting of Andries' father Gerrit, a grain merchant and beer brewer, and his three brothers, Jacob, Jan and Cornelis, had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East, the West, the North and the Mediterranean. (His uncle Laurens Bicker was one of the first to trade on Guinea and seized four Portuguese ships in 1604). In 1646, seven members of the Bicker family, called the Bicker's league, simultaneously held some political position or other. The Bickers provided silver and ships to Spain, and were very much interested in ending the Eighty Years War. This brought them in conflict with the stadtholder
, some provinces, like Zeeland
and Utrecht
, and the Reformed preachers.
of Amsterdam and in 1627, just over forty, mayor of Amsterdam. He came to the fore through his knowledge and moderation. In 1627, he was delegated to go to Sweden and Poland, to close negotiations between these two countries, mediate a peace (culminating in the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś
) and at the same time set up new Baltic
trade agreements. In 1631 he was the owner of a few plots in Spanderswoud in 's-Graveland
, the site where now the fine Trompenburgh
house stands. The Bicker family also had concerns in peat-digging in Drenthe
.
At the solemn entry of Maria de Medici into Amsterdam in 1638, he and Albert Burgh
welcomed her in the name of the city's government. In 1643, he went with Jacob de Witt
to Sweden to mediate between Sweden and Denmark. Andries Bicker opposed the stadtholder
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
, who intended the centralize the five admiralties, which would cause the Admiralty of Amsterdam
to lose influence.
After the Peace of Münster
was signed, Bicker was of the opinion that it was no longer necessary to maintain a standing army, bringing him into vehement conflict with prince Willem II
, who had succeeded his father Frederick Henry as stadtholder. To regain power William went on the march towards Dordrecht and Amsterdam with an army. His troops got lost in a dense fog and were discovered by the postal courier on Hamburg, who also warned Andries' son Gerard, the high bailiff
of Muiden
, to leave without delay for Amsterdam. The mayors of Amsterdam had the civic guard called out, the bridges raised, the gates closed and the artillery dragged into position.
Andries Bicker was purged from the vroedschap
, as was his brother Cornelis, as one of the conditions of the treaty that followed, led by Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen
. Henceforth, it was the equally republican-minded brothers Cornelis
and Andries de Graeff
, and their following, who dominated Amsterdam. His niece Wendela Bicker married the powerful raadspensionaris
Johan de Witt
.
Vroedschap
The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man"...
, the leader of the Arminians, an administrator of the VOC
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
, representative of the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
and colonel in the Civic guard
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...
. He controlled the city's politics in close cooperation with his uncle Jacob Dircksz de Graeff
Jacob Dircksz de Graeff
Jacob Dircksz de Graeff was one of the most illustrious members of the De Graeff family. He was a powerful member of the States Faction, regent and mayor of Amsterdam after the political collapse of Reinier Pauw in 1627.In the mid 17th century, during the Dutch Golden Age, De Graeff controlled...
an his brother Cornelis Bicker.
The Bicker family
Bicker family
Bicker is a very old Dutch patrician family . The family have played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They were at the centre of Amsterdam oligarchy from the begin of the 17th century until the early 1650s...
was one of the oldest patrician families of Amsterdam - consisting of Andries' father Gerrit, a grain merchant and beer brewer, and his three brothers, Jacob, Jan and Cornelis, had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East, the West, the North and the Mediterranean. (His uncle Laurens Bicker was one of the first to trade on Guinea and seized four Portuguese ships in 1604). In 1646, seven members of the Bicker family, called the Bicker's league, simultaneously held some political position or other. The Bickers provided silver and ships to Spain, and were very much interested in ending the Eighty Years War. This brought them in conflict with the stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
, some provinces, like Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
and Utrecht
Utrecht (province)
Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...
, and the Reformed preachers.
Life
Andries became a member of the vroedschap in 1616, in 1620 schepenSchepen
A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...
of Amsterdam and in 1627, just over forty, mayor of Amsterdam. He came to the fore through his knowledge and moderation. In 1627, he was delegated to go to Sweden and Poland, to close negotiations between these two countries, mediate a peace (culminating in the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś
Treaty of Sztumska Wies
The Treaty of Stuhmsdorf or Sztumska Wieś was a treaty signed on 12 September 1635 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden in the village of Stuhmsdorf , Royal Prussia, just south of Stuhm ....
) and at the same time set up new Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
trade agreements. In 1631 he was the owner of a few plots in Spanderswoud in 's-Graveland
's-Graveland
s-Graveland is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wijdemeren, and lies about 4 km northwest of Hilversum....
, the site where now the fine Trompenburgh
Trompenburgh
De Trompenburgh is a 17th century manor house in 's-Graveland, North Holland, Netherlands, designed by Daniel Stalpaert and built for Admiral Maarten Tromp, one of the naval heroes of the Dutch Republic. The house is almost entirely surrounded by water and was built to resemble a ship, even with...
house stands. The Bicker family also had concerns in peat-digging in Drenthe
Drenthe
Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...
.
At the solemn entry of Maria de Medici into Amsterdam in 1638, he and Albert Burgh
Albert Burgh
Albert Coenraadsz. Burgh was a Dutch physician who was mayor of Amsterdam and a councillor in the Admiralty of Amsterdam.-Biography:...
welcomed her in the name of the city's government. In 1643, he went with Jacob de Witt
Jacob de Witt
Jacob de Witt, heer van Manezee, Melissant and Comstryen was a burgomaster of Dordrecht and the son of a timber merchant. He was also a younger brother of Andries de Witt and the father of Johan and Cornelis de Witt.-Career:Jacob was a member of the French patrician family De Witt...
to Sweden to mediate between Sweden and Denmark. Andries Bicker opposed the stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...
, who intended the centralize the five admiralties, which would cause the Admiralty of Amsterdam
Admiralty of Amsterdam
The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various Admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests...
to lose influence.
After the Peace of Münster
Peace of Münster
The Peace of Münster was a treaty between the Dutch Republic and Spain signed in 1648. It was a landmark treaty for the Dutch republic and one of the key events in Dutch history; with it, the United Netherlands finally became independent from the Spanish Crown...
was signed, Bicker was of the opinion that it was no longer necessary to maintain a standing army, bringing him into vehement conflict with prince Willem II
William II, Prince of Orange
William II, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three years later.-Biography:...
, who had succeeded his father Frederick Henry as stadtholder. To regain power William went on the march towards Dordrecht and Amsterdam with an army. His troops got lost in a dense fog and were discovered by the postal courier on Hamburg, who also warned Andries' son Gerard, the high bailiff
Drost
Seneschal of the Realm, Riksdrots , Rigsdrost , or Valtakunnandrotsi is a Danish and Swedish name of a supreme state official, with at least a connotation to administration of judiciary, who in medieval Scandinavia was often a leader in the government.The word drots/drost...
of Muiden
Muiden
Muiden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It lies at the mouth of the Vecht and is in an area called the Vechtstreek.-Population centres :...
, to leave without delay for Amsterdam. The mayors of Amsterdam had the civic guard called out, the bridges raised, the gates closed and the artillery dragged into position.
Andries Bicker was purged from the vroedschap
Vroedschap
The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man"...
, as was his brother Cornelis, as one of the conditions of the treaty that followed, led by Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen
Joan Huydecoper I
Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen took over the family tannery business and the trade in pelts and armaments. The name Huydecoper means literally 'buyer of pelts'. Huydecoper had a prosperous political career: first he was elected to the vroedschap of Amsterdam...
. Henceforth, it was the equally republican-minded brothers Cornelis
Cornelis de Graeff
Cornelis de Graeff, also Cornelis de Graeff van Polsbroek was the most illustrious member of the De Graeff family. He was a mayor of Amsterdam from the Dutch Golden Age and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the sudden death of stadholder William II of Orange...
and Andries de Graeff
Andries de Graeff
Free Imperial Knight Andries de Graeff was a very powerful member of the Amsterdam branch of the De Graeff - family during the Dutch Golden Age. He became a mayor of Amsterdam and a powerful Amsterdam regent after the death of his older brother Cornelis de Graeff...
, and their following, who dominated Amsterdam. His niece Wendela Bicker married the powerful raadspensionaris
Grand Pensionary
The Grand Pensionary was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland...
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt
Johan de Witt, heer van Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp and IJsselveere was a key figure in Dutch politics in the mid 17th century, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of globalization made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age...
.
External links
- http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-C-393?lang=en&context_space=&context_id=Captain Bicker's Company by Joachim von SandrartJoachim von SandrartJoachim von Sandrart was a German Baroque art-historian and painter, active in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:Sandrart was born in Frankfurt, but the family originated from Mons...
] - Famous portrait of his son Gerard Bicker by Van der Helst
- Pictures of Dutch voyage to Guinea, Argentina and Brazil