Anthonie (or Antonius) Heinsius (23 November 1641, Delft – 3 August 1720,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

) was a Dutch statesman who served as 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 province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

from 1689 to his death in 1720.

Life

Heinsius was born at Delft on 23 November 1641, son of a wealthy merchant and patrician. In 1679 he became

pensionary A pensionary was a name given to the leading functionary and legal adviser of the principal town corporations in the Low Countries because they received a salary or pension. History The office originated in Flanders. Initially, the role was refe ...

for Delft in the

States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a c ...

and in 1687 he became a member of the board of the Delft chamber of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

(VOC). In 1682 he was appointed special negotiator to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

stadholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

. His mission was to see if anything could be done about the occupation of the

Principality of Orange The Principality of Orange (french: la Principauté d'Orange; oc, Principat d'Aurenja) was, from 1163 to 1713, a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city of Avignon, an ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. The mission was a failure but he made a favourable impression on William III.

Grand Pensionary

He became Grand Pensionary of the States of Holland, and thereby the most powerful man in the

Estates-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States G ...

, on 27 May 1689, when William III became king of England and had to move to London. He was the confidant and correspondent of William, who left the guidance of Dutch affairs largely in his hands. Heinsius was a tough negotiator and one of the greatest and most obstinate opponents of the expansionist policies of France. He was one of the driving forces behind the anti-France coalitions of the Nine Years' War (1688–97) and the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

(1701–14). After the death of William III in 1702, Heinsius' hold on the States General diminished, but he remained Grand Pensionary of Holland until his own death in 1720.

Sources

''The Correspondence of Anthonie Heinsius, 1702-1720''
edited by A. J. Veenendaal, Jr.
''Antonie Heinsius and the Dutch Republic
', edited by J. A. F. de Jongste and A. J. Veenendaal, Jr. * Heinsius' Correspondence in the

Nationaal Archief The Nationaal Archief (NA) is the national archives of the Netherlands, located in The Hague. It houses collections for the central government, the province of South Holland, and the former County of Holland. There is also material from private ...

, The Hague, 36.3 metres.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinsius, Anthonie 1640 births 1720 deaths Burials at the Oude Kerk, Delft Dutch States Party politicians Grand Pensionaries People from Delft 17th-century Dutch politicians