Simon van Slingelandt,

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

of Patijnenburg (14 January 1664, in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

– 1 December 1736, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) was an influential Dutch politician and diplomat during the 18th century. He served as the Grand Pensionary of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

, the most important political position in the

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherland ...

, from 17 July 1727 until his death on 1 December 1736. Van Slingelandt is often regarded as a capable and pragmatic administrator and an effective diplomat. Simon van Slingelandt was the son of Govert van Slingelandt, lord of Dubbeldam (1623–1690), pensionary of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1656) and

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(1659). He was also the secretary of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

in 1664 Before becoming Grand Pensionary Van Slingelandt wrote several reports as preparation for the second Great Assembly (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

''Tweede Grote Vergadering'', a kind of Constitutional Convention to reform the constitution of the Dutch Republic, 28 November 1716 – 14 September 1717), in which he proposed to give the Council of State ("Raad van State") more power. He was convinced of the necessity to restrict the power of the cities and the provinces in order to strengthen the central power of the republic. The Great Assembly however ended in failure when nothing came from Van Slingelandts proposed reforms. Van Slingelandt additionally embarked on a mission to overcome the financial and administrative impasse with which the Republic was left in the wake of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. In his ‘Memory of redress of finances,’ he concluded ''"that the last war, in which the state has made greater efforts than her forces allowed for, has deranged the already very troubled finances of the Province of Holland and West Friesland to such an extent that the whole state is in danger of collapsing at the first unfortunate moment that will arise …".'' To address this issue, he initiated a comprehensive set of reform measures targeting the fragmented nature of the state apparatus, military command, and army finances. However, his fellow regents lacked both the means and the political determination to enact all of his proposed reforms. When he became Grand Pensionary of the province of Holland, which contributed sixty percent of the tax income of the Republic, he became the most powerful Dutch statesman. Despite all the challenges he faced, Slingelandt, with the help of Treasurer

Jacob Hop Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

, successfully protected the state from bankruptcy and maintained its international reputation. Van Slingelandt was a staunch republican, who wanted to keep the

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out of the centre of power. He also was a strong advocate of an alliance with Great Britain; otherwise, he thought, the United Provinces wouldn't survive. He mediated peace between Great Britain and Austria in 1732 on the eve of the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

and between France and Austria in 1736. His interpretation of the representative nature of the Dutch government were controversial and polemical at the time. However in the long run his ideas had a profound influence and are well supported in modern scholarship. Simon van Slingelandt, a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

, was married to Susanna de Wildt (1666-1722) and Johanna Margaretha van Coesvelt, his housemaid (1726-1736).Adriaan Goslinga, 2012. Slingelandt's Efforts Towards European Peace. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 3. .

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slingelandt, Simon Van 1664 births 1737 deaths Grand Pensionaries People from Dordrecht Treasurers-General

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