Gerrit de Graeff (III.) van Zuid-Polsbroek
Encyclopedia
Gerrit de Graeff van Zuid-Polsbroek (* February 24, 1766 in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 - † December 16, 1814) was a member of an influential regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 family of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, who have played an important role in the Dutch Golden Age
Dutch Golden Age
The Golden Age was a period in Dutch history, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first half is characterised by the Eighty Years' War till 1648...

.

Biographie

De Graeff was a son of Gerrit de Graeff II., Regent of Amsterdam, and Christina Baroness van Herzeele. In 1794 he was married to Emilia Henriette Stadlander (1766–1826). They couple had four children:
  • Christina Elisabeth de Graeff (* 1795), who married Jacob Gerrit van Garderen (1803–1856), and lives at castle Ilpenstein
    Ilpenstein
    Ilpenstein was the name of a ruined castle of the Free and high Lordship of Purmerend, Purmerland and Ilpendam, located in Ilpendam in the north of the city of Amsterdam.-History:...

  • Gerrit de Graeff (IV.) van Zuid-Polsbroek (1797–1870), who married Carolina Ursulina Stephania Engels (1795–1864)
  • Anna Margaretha de Graeff (1798–1824)
  • Cornelia Maria de Graeff (1800–1876)


The family lived at Herengracht in a mansion now the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje. Most of the time he resided at his castle Ilpenstein
Ilpenstein
Ilpenstein was the name of a ruined castle of the Free and high Lordship of Purmerend, Purmerland and Ilpendam, located in Ilpendam in the north of the city of Amsterdam.-History:...

, and he also owned the country estate Bronstee near Heemstede
Heemstede
Heemstede is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.-History :Heemstede formed around the Castle Heemstede that was built on the Spaarne River around 1286. Before 1296, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted Heemstede as a fiefdom to Reinier of Holy...

. At Ilpenstein De Graeff has owned a big art collection, incluiding paintings from Rembrandt van Rijn, Gerard Ter Borch
Gerard ter Borch
Gerard ter Borch was a Dutch genre painter, who lived in the Dutch Golden Age.-Biography:Gerard ter Borch was born in December 1617 in Zwolle in the province of Overijssel in the Dutch Republic....

 and Jacob van Ruisdael. The collection some very famous pictures like Catharina Hooft
Catharina Hooft
Catharina Pietersdr. Hooft was a woman of the Dutch Golden Age. She became famous at a very early age, when she was painted by Frans Hals. At the age of sixteen she married Cornelis de Graeff, nineteen years her senior and the most powerful regent and mayor of Amsterdam...

 with her Nurse
, painted by Frans Hals
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...

, and the Pickenoys
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy
Nicolaes Eliaszoon Pickenoy was a Dutch painter of Flemish origin. Pickenoy was possibly a pupil of Cornelis van der Voort and presumably Bartholomeus van der Helst was his own pupil.-Life:...

 representative Marriage portraits from Cornelis de Graeff
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 Catharina Hooft. Both are seen now at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
The Gemäldegalerie is an art museum in Berlin, Germany. It holds one of the world's leading collections of European art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. It is located on Kulturforum west of Potsdamer Platz. Its collection includes masterpieces from such artists as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas...

.

De Graeffs semisouverain Fief Zuid-Polsbroek

Zuid-Polsbroek was an allodium and a vrije en hoge heerlijkheid
Heerlijkheid
A heerlijkheid was the basic administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in Dutch-speaking lands before 1800. It originated in the feudal subdivision of government authority in the Middle Ages. The closest English equivalents of the word are "seigniory" and "manor"...

("free and high Lordship"), a type of local jurisdiction with many rights. Since 1610 the vrije en hooghe heerlijkheid was a possession of his family. As a "free an high Lordship", Zuid-Polsbroek was an independent (semisouverain Lordship) of the provinces Holland or 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...

.

Since 1155 the lords of Polsbroek are able to speak the high
High Justice
High Justice is a 1974 collection of science fiction short stories by Jerry Pournelle. It was republished in a omnibus edition with Exiles to Glory in 2009 as Exile -- and Glory....

 (blood court) middle and low justice over their territory. Zuid-Polsbroek was a half-independent (semi-sovereign) entity of the provinces Holland or 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...

, like the larger Barony of IJsselstein to the east. During the late middleages it became unsure if Zuid-Polsbroek belong to the States of Holland
States of Holland
The States of Holland and West Frisia were the representation of the two Estates to the court of the Count of Holland...

 or to the province (unie) of 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...

. Polsbroek paid their dutys to the States of Holland. But in 1795, when the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 introduced the municipal system in the Netherlands, the rights of the heerlijkheid were largely abolished, although the heerlijkheid itself existed until the early 20th century. Afterwards Zuid-Polsbroek became a separate municipality in the province of 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...

.

Gerrit de Graeff van Zuid-Polsbroek died only three years after his father at his citypalace at Amsterdam. His only son Gerrit became his suceeder as Lord of Zuid-Polsbroek in 1814.

Noble titles

Literature

  • Graeff, P. de (P. de Graeff Gerritsz en Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek
    Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek
    Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek was a successful Dutch diplomat in Japan. From July 1863, he held the post of Consul General and Political Agent in Japan. He played a major part in the many negotiations between various Western countries and Japan...

    ) Genealogie van de familie De Graeff van Polsbroek, Amsterdam 1882.
  • Bruijn, J. H. de Genealogie van het geslacht De Graeff van Polsbroek 1529/1827, met bijlagen. De Bilt 1962-63.
  • Moelker, H.P. De heerlijkheid Purmerland en Ilpendam (1978 Purmerend)
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