Witt, Jan de
Witt, Jan de
(yän), 1625–72, Dutch statesman. Like his father, Jacob de Witt, burgomaster of Dort, he became a leading opponent of the house of Orange and played a vital role in the three successive Dutch WarsDutch Wars,series of conflicts between the English and Dutch during the mid to late 17th cent. The wars had their roots in the Anglo-Dutch commercial rivalry, although the last of the three wars was a wider conflict in which French interests played a primary role.
..... Click the link for more information. . As leader of the republican party, he was elected (1653) grand pensionary, thus acquiring control of state affairs. He represented the mercantile interests and accordingly encouraged industry and commerce. He ended the disastrous war with England (first of the Dutch Wars) in 1654, but the Restoration in England was considered a danger to Dutch maritime and political freedom and led to the renewal of the war in 1665. The favorable (to the Dutch) terms of the Treaty of Breda (1667) were largely due to Jan de Witt. In order to end the power of the house of Orange he secured passage of the Eternal Edict, which abolished the office of stadt-holder. He helped form the Triple AllianceTriple Alliance,
in European history, any of several coalitions. 1 The Triple Alliance of 1668 was formed by the Netherlands, England, and Sweden against France after Louis XIV had invaded the Spanish Netherlands in the War of Devolution.
..... Click the link for more information. of 1668 against Louis XIV, thus ending the War of Devolution; the Treaty of Aix-la-ChapelleAix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of
. 1 Compact of May 2, 1668, that ended the French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands (see Devolution, War of). France kept most of its conquests in Flanders; Cambrai, Aire, Saint-Omer, and the province of Franche-Comté were returned to
..... Click the link for more information. (1668) was the climax of his career. In 1672, Louis XIV invaded Holland and began the third of the Dutch Wars. Jan de Witt sought to negotiate peace, but his offer was spurned by the French. Popular feeling suddenly turned violently against him and in favor of William of Orange (later William IIIWilliam III,
1650–1702, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1689–1702); son of William II, prince of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and of Mary, oldest daughter of King Charles I of England.
..... Click the link for more information. of England), who by popular acclaim was made stadtholder. De Witt resigned, but was exonerated of treason charges. However, when he visited his brother, Cornelius de Witt, in prison, a mob gathered outside, fought its way into the prison, and hacked the two brothers to pieces, hanging their scattered limbs on lamp posts. De Witt was one of the greatest of Dutch statesmen and patriots, a patron of the sciences, and a close friend of Spinoza.
Bibliography
See H. H. Rowen, Jan de Witt (1986).
Witt, Jan de
Born Sept. 24, 1625, in Dordrecht; died Aug. 20, 1672, in The Hague. Dutch statesman; in effect ruler of the Republic of the United Provinces (of the Netherlands) from 1650 to 1672. From 1653, grand pensionary of the province of Holland.
De Witt represented the interests of the Dutch merchant oligarchy and followed a policy aimed at barring the princes of the House of Orange from governing the country and of securing the hegemony of the province of Holland in the republic. In the wars against England and Portugal and later against the Anglo-French-Swedish coalition (1672), he strove to defend Dutch commercial and colonial positions. Military setbacks and the invasion of the country by French forces in 1672 (Dutch War of 1672-78) led to a popular uprising in The Hague (largely provoked and utilized by the political opponents of De Witt—the Orangists) during which De Witt was murdered.
A. N. CHISTOZVONOV