Gillis Valckenier (1623–1680) was a Dutch politician who was Regent and Mayor of Amsterdam from 1665 to 1679. From 1670, he was an Orangist.

Life

Valckenier was the only son of Wouter Valckenier, burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam. His grandfather Gillis Jansz was related to

Adriaen Pauw Adriaan Pauw, Order of Saint Michael, knight, ''Lord of the manor, heer van Heemstede, Bennebroek, Nieuwerkerk etc.'' (1 November 1585 – 21 February 1653) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1631 to 1636 and from 1651 to 1653. Life He was bo ...

, joined the board of the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests. The territory for which Amsterdam ...

, and was captain in the civic guard. Gillis studied law at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. In 1649 he was appointed as

schepen A schepen (Dutch, ; . ') or échevin (French, , ) or Schöffe (German, ) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands, where it has been replaced by the (a municipal executive). In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''échevin'' ...

, in 1652 as member of the

vroedschap The ''vroedschap'' () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vadere ...

and in 1657 as administrator of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

. From 1666 onwards he was involved in the education of

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also 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 167 ...

, just like

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman and mathematician who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial exp ...

and

Cornelis de Graeff Cornelis de Graeff (15 October 1599 – 4 May 1664), often named ''Polsbroek'' or ''de heer van (lord) Polsbroek'' during his lifetime, was an influential regenten, regent and burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam, statesman and diplomat of Holland an ...

before. In the year after he signed the Perpetual Edict (1667), the law was passed and promulgated. Its three chief points were abolition of the stadholderate, permanent separation of the captaincy-general from the stadholderate of all provinces, and the transfer of the political functions of the Stadholder of Holland to the provincial States. In 1670 he became an Orangist and supported the cancellation of the Perpetual Edict in July 1672. After the political struggle of the republican families De Witt and De Graeff in the rampjaar 1672,

Nicolaes Witsen Nicolaes Witsen (; 8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717) was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693, he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1689, he was extraordinary-ambas ...

and Johannes Hudde became his opponents in the

. He had insulted Dirck Tulp and Lambert Reynst; in total sixteen members of the city council lost their seats, jobs on his advice, including the republican faction De Graeff of Andries,

Jacob 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 ...

and

Pieter de Graeff Pieter de Graeff (15 August 1638 – 3 June 1707) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch Aristocracy (class), aristocrat of the Dutch Golden Age and one of the most influential pro-state, republican Amsterdam regenten, Regents during the late 1660s and the ...

and their cousin burgomaster Lambert Reynst. When Coenraad van Beuningen was sent to England as a diplomat, and Henrick Hooft died, Valckenier was more powerful than ever. William Temple wrote in '' Observations upon the United Provinces'': "The Turkish sultan was not as powerful in his country, than Valckenier in Amsterdam, (dressing and behaving like a shopkeeper)." In 1648 Valckenier married Jacoba Rans (1622–1676); the couple had at least seven children. They lived at Jodenbreestraat and were buried in the Zuiderkerk. Their son Wouter married a daughter of Louis Trip. Clara Valckenier married Joseph Coymans (1656–1720). Their grandson, Adriaan Valckenier, became in 1737 a

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

Gallery

Portret van Jacoba Ranst ( -1675) door Wallerant Vaillant.jpg, Jacoba Pietersdr Ranst (1671) by Wallerant Vaillant

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valckenier, Gillis 1623 births 1680 deaths Mayors of Amsterdam