Sarel Cilliers
Encyclopedia
Charl Arnoldus Cilliers (1801 – 1871) was a Voortrekker leader and a preacher
. With Andries Pretorius
, he led the Boers to a huge victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River
in 1838. In particular, Cilliers lead the Voortrekkers in a vow
which promised that if God would protect them and deliver the enemy into their hands, they would build a church and commemorate the day of their victory as if it were an annual Sabbath day, which their descendants would also be instructed to honour.
He was a prominent member of the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church), an offshoot of the Dutch Reformed Church
. He is described as being a short, stout man, and was believed to have been very religious. He joined the Great Trek
at the age of thirty-five.
The town of Kroonstad
was, according to folklore
, named after a horse
belonging to Cilliers, which drowned in a stream (Kroonspruit) where the town is situated.
There is a Sarel Cilliers Museum as well as a statue of him (on the site of the Dutch Reformed Church) in Kroonstad. Numerous streets and roads in Kroonstad and throughout South Africa
are named after him.
to Carel Cilliers and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine Louw. In 1806 his parents sold Schoongezicht, when Cilliers was five years of age.
From an early age he was well-acquainted with working life on the family farm, as he would often help with pastoral and elementary responsibilities. In his early life, he also developed a strong sense of community and religious duty. On Sundays, the neighbors gathered together to hold services and Holy Communion. It was in his childhood that Cilliers's religious values and aptitude for spiritual leadership were first developed, as he was said to of had a personal encounter with God at age 10. He would often share his faith with other children and encourage them to worship, and strengthen their bond with God.
On 6 October 1823, Cilliers married Anna Francina Viljoen, the daughter of Christopher and Aletta Viljoen Booysen. Cilliers fathered eleven children from his marriage to Anna. During his younger years, Cilliers was of a slim build, and it was only later in his life around the time of the Greak Trek that he became stouter in appearance.
). In 1835, a drought hit the local area, and this led to Cilliers joining the Great Trek with his wife and six children in 1836, as he was convinced that it was God's will that he should go.
Cilliers was made the unofficial pastor of the Great Trek, and he would hold services on a daily basis and give Sunday Communion. During the Great Trek he became distinguished as a spiritual leader, earning him such names as The Prophet of the Great Trek and The Father of Dingaansdag (Dingane
's Day). In 1837, he was appointed to one of the two deacons of the first church council elected in the commissioned commandos.
Renowned for his ability of boosting the morale of members of the Great Trek during times of hardship, he would often inspire troops through his recital of the Lord's Prayer
during conflict. His skills of fortifying the troops were best displayed at the Battle of Blood River, where he spoke the famous vow to God on the battlefield, and held a thanksgiving service after the decisive victory over the Zulus. Cilliers' vow was celebrated as a national holiday in South Africa
(Day of the Vow
) on December 16 until 1994.
The wording of the Vow is:
Afrikaans
: Hier staan ons voor die Heilige God van hemel en aarde om ʼn gelofte aan Hom te doen, dat, as Hy ons sal beskerm en ons vyand in ons hand sal gee, ons die dag en datum elke jaar as ʼn dankdag soos ʼn Sabbat sal deurbring; en dat ons ʼn huis tot Sy eer sal oprig waar dit Hom behaag, en dat ons ook aan ons kinders sal sê dat hulle met ons daarin moet deel tot nagedagtenis ook vir die opkomende geslagte. Want die eer van Sy naam sal verheerlik word deur die roem en die eer van oorwinning aan Hom te gee.
English
: Here we stand before the holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall erect a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we also will tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory.
, and Cilliers moved to a farm in Welgevonden (now Colbourn), about sixteen miles north of Howick
in Natal
. By selling timber from the trees on his farm he was able to make a good income.
Cilliers served in the Natalia Republic
's first House of Assembly
. As a member of Council, Cilliers played a large part in the creation of the Covenant Church in Pietermaritzburg in 1839. In 1843, after the British annexation of Natal, Cilliers withdrew from political life, maintaining an important role as an elder of the church.
In 1847, Cilliers sold his farm and moved to the Orange Free State
. Here he setlled on the farm Doornkloof, in the Lindley
district, where he allegedly built his homestead single-handedly. His wife was buried here at the time of her death in 1852. On 15 May 1854, he married Aletta Elizabeth Loots - a thirty-three year old widow with whom he had one son.
During the final years of his life, Cilliers was often ill. He died on 4 October 1871, and was buried in the Cilliers family cemetery, in a grave marked by a simple tombstone and later a monument.
He is also seen as an exemplary example of a devout follower of his faith. He believed firmly in his religion with the utmost conviction, as best seen through his Vow. He is remembered as being a constantly determined, principled, and often selfless individual, shown through his ability to endure hardships in order to serve others in need. Overall he is seen as an important public and cultural figure who played an important role in Voortrekker history, the early history of Natal
and the Orange Free State
.
refugee named Josué Cellier from Orléans
, France who arrived in the Cape of Good Hope in 1700. Other variations of the name include: Celliers, Cillié and Sellier.
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
. With Andries Pretorius
Andries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the Transvaal Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa....
, he led the Boers to a huge victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River
Battle of Blood River
The Battle of Blood River, so called due to the colour of water in the Ncome River turning red with blood, was fought between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000–15,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal,...
in 1838. In particular, Cilliers lead the Voortrekkers in a vow
Vow
A vow is a promise or oath.-Marriage vows:Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ceremony. Marriage customs have developed over history and keep changing as human society develops...
which promised that if God would protect them and deliver the enemy into their hands, they would build a church and commemorate the day of their victory as if it were an annual Sabbath day, which their descendants would also be instructed to honour.
He was a prominent member of the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church), an offshoot of the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. He is described as being a short, stout man, and was believed to have been very religious. He joined the Great Trek
Great Trek
The Great Trek was an eastward and north-eastward migration away from British control in the Cape Colony during the 1830s and 1840s by Boers . The migrants were descended from settlers from western mainland Europe, most notably from the Netherlands, northwest Germany and French Huguenots...
at the age of thirty-five.
The town of Kroonstad
Kroonstad
Kroonstad is the third-largest town in the Free State province of South Africa, and lies two hours drive from Gauteng. In the 1991 census it had a population of 110,963...
was, according to folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, named after a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
belonging to Cilliers, which drowned in a stream (Kroonspruit) where the town is situated.
There is a Sarel Cilliers Museum as well as a statue of him (on the site of the Dutch Reformed Church) in Kroonstad. Numerous streets and roads in Kroonstad and throughout South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
are named after him.
Early life
Sarel Cilliers was born the fourth of seven children in Schoongezicht, Cape ColonyCape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
to Carel Cilliers and his wife, Elizabeth Catherine Louw. In 1806 his parents sold Schoongezicht, when Cilliers was five years of age.
From an early age he was well-acquainted with working life on the family farm, as he would often help with pastoral and elementary responsibilities. In his early life, he also developed a strong sense of community and religious duty. On Sundays, the neighbors gathered together to hold services and Holy Communion. It was in his childhood that Cilliers's religious values and aptitude for spiritual leadership were first developed, as he was said to of had a personal encounter with God at age 10. He would often share his faith with other children and encourage them to worship, and strengthen their bond with God.
On 6 October 1823, Cilliers married Anna Francina Viljoen, the daughter of Christopher and Aletta Viljoen Booysen. Cilliers fathered eleven children from his marriage to Anna. During his younger years, Cilliers was of a slim build, and it was only later in his life around the time of the Greak Trek that he became stouter in appearance.
The Great Trek
In 1829, the Cilliers family moved to New Hantam (today ColesbergColesberg
Colesberg is a town with 17,354 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, located on the main road from Cape Town to Johannesburg....
). In 1835, a drought hit the local area, and this led to Cilliers joining the Great Trek with his wife and six children in 1836, as he was convinced that it was God's will that he should go.
Cilliers was made the unofficial pastor of the Great Trek, and he would hold services on a daily basis and give Sunday Communion. During the Great Trek he became distinguished as a spiritual leader, earning him such names as The Prophet of the Great Trek and The Father of Dingaansdag (Dingane
Dingane
Dingane kaSenzangakhona Zulu —commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan—was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828...
's Day). In 1837, he was appointed to one of the two deacons of the first church council elected in the commissioned commandos.
Renowned for his ability of boosting the morale of members of the Great Trek during times of hardship, he would often inspire troops through his recital of the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
during conflict. His skills of fortifying the troops were best displayed at the Battle of Blood River, where he spoke the famous vow to God on the battlefield, and held a thanksgiving service after the decisive victory over the Zulus. Cilliers' vow was celebrated as a national holiday in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
(Day of the Vow
Day of the Vow
The Day of the Vow is the name of a religious public holiday in South Africa until 1994, when it was renamed the Day of Reconciliation. The holiday is December 16...
) on December 16 until 1994.
The Vow
No verbatim record of the vow exists. The version often considered to be the original vow is in fact W.E.G. Louw's ca. 1962 translation into Afrikaans of G.B.A. Gerdener's reconstruction of the vow in his 1919 biography of Sarel Cilliers.The wording of the Vow is:
Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
: Hier staan ons voor die Heilige God van hemel en aarde om ʼn gelofte aan Hom te doen, dat, as Hy ons sal beskerm en ons vyand in ons hand sal gee, ons die dag en datum elke jaar as ʼn dankdag soos ʼn Sabbat sal deurbring; en dat ons ʼn huis tot Sy eer sal oprig waar dit Hom behaag, en dat ons ook aan ons kinders sal sê dat hulle met ons daarin moet deel tot nagedagtenis ook vir die opkomende geslagte. Want die eer van Sy naam sal verheerlik word deur die roem en die eer van oorwinning aan Hom te gee.
English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Here we stand before the holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a sabbath, and that we shall erect a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we also will tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory.
Later life
After the victory at the Battle of Blood River, The Voortrekkers moved to PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
, and Cilliers moved to a farm in Welgevonden (now Colbourn), about sixteen miles north of Howick
Howick, KwaZulu-Natal
Howick is a town located in the uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The town is 1050 m above sea level, and about 88 kilometres from the port city of Durban. It enjoys warm summers and cool dry winters. A snappy chill descends upon Howick when snow falls on the nearby...
in Natal
Natal, South Africa
Natal is a region in South Africa. It stretches between the Indian Ocean in the south and east, the Drakensberg in the west, and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The main cities are Pietermaritzburg and Durban...
. By selling timber from the trees on his farm he was able to make a good income.
Cilliers served in the Natalia Republic
Natalia Republic
The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer republic, established in 1839 by local Afrikaans-speaking Voortrekkers shortly after the Battle of Blood River. The republic was located on the coast of the Indian Ocean beyond the Eastern Cape, and was previously named Natalia by Portuguese sailors. The...
's first House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
. As a member of Council, Cilliers played a large part in the creation of the Covenant Church in Pietermaritzburg in 1839. In 1843, after the British annexation of Natal, Cilliers withdrew from political life, maintaining an important role as an elder of the church.
In 1847, Cilliers sold his farm and moved to the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
. Here he setlled on the farm Doornkloof, in the Lindley
Lindley, Free State
Lindley is a small town situated on the banks of the Vals River in the eastern region of the Free State province of South Africa. It was established by an American Presbyterian missionary named Daniel Lindley, who was the first ordained minister to the Voortrekkers in Natal.The settlement of...
district, where he allegedly built his homestead single-handedly. His wife was buried here at the time of her death in 1852. On 15 May 1854, he married Aletta Elizabeth Loots - a thirty-three year old widow with whom he had one son.
During the final years of his life, Cilliers was often ill. He died on 4 October 1871, and was buried in the Cilliers family cemetery, in a grave marked by a simple tombstone and later a monument.
Legacy
As well as numerous public places such as Sarel Cilliers High School, and the Sarel Cilliers wagon-wheel bridge in Natal being attached to Cilliers' name, he is also well-remembered by South Africans as a spiritual leader who was thought to have lived in close contact with God, and lived by the principles of his unfaltering faith. Although he is most famously remembered for speaking the Vow at the Battle of the Blood River, he was, in addition, an important progenitor of the early Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa.He is also seen as an exemplary example of a devout follower of his faith. He believed firmly in his religion with the utmost conviction, as best seen through his Vow. He is remembered as being a constantly determined, principled, and often selfless individual, shown through his ability to endure hardships in order to serve others in need. Overall he is seen as an important public and cultural figure who played an important role in Voortrekker history, the early history of Natal
Natal, South Africa
Natal is a region in South Africa. It stretches between the Indian Ocean in the south and east, the Drakensberg in the west, and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The main cities are Pietermaritzburg and Durban...
and the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
.
The Cillier name
The progenitor of the Cillier name in the region was a French HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugee named Josué Cellier from Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, France who arrived in the Cape of Good Hope in 1700. Other variations of the name include: Celliers, Cillié and Sellier.
Literary accounts
G.B.A. Gerdener wrote a biography of Sarel Cilliers in 1919, which includes details of various events in his life and a reconstruction of the Vow.See also
- Battle of Blood RiverBattle of Blood RiverThe Battle of Blood River, so called due to the colour of water in the Ncome River turning red with blood, was fought between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000–15,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal,...
- BoerBoerBoer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
- Covenant MonumentCovenant MonumentThe Covenant Monument is a provincial heritage site in Belfast in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.In 1982 it was described in the Government Gazette as-References:*...
- Day of the VowDay of the VowThe Day of the Vow is the name of a religious public holiday in South Africa until 1994, when it was renamed the Day of Reconciliation. The holiday is December 16...
- Great TrekGreat TrekThe Great Trek was an eastward and north-eastward migration away from British control in the Cape Colony during the 1830s and 1840s by Boers . The migrants were descended from settlers from western mainland Europe, most notably from the Netherlands, northwest Germany and French Huguenots...
- Voortrekker MonumentVoortrekker MonumentThe Voortrekker Monument is a monument in the city of Pretoria, South Africa. The massive granite structure, built to honour the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854, was designed by the architect Gerard Moerdijk who had the idea to design a "monument that would stand a...
- Voortrekker
External links
- Blood River http://www.bloedrivier.org/popup_txt_sarel_cilliers.php