Jacob Bicker (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

1588–July 1646) was a Dutch patrician and merchant. He was a director of the ''Oostzeevaart'', handling grain trade with

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

,De 500 Rijksten van de Republiek: Rijkdom, geloof, macht en cultuur, by Kees Zandvliet, p 29
/ref> since 1618 and a manager 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 ...

and between 1641-1646 manager of the

Wisselbank The Bank of Amsterdam or Wisselbank () was an early bank, vouched for by the city of Amsterdam, and established in 1609. It was the first public bank to offer accounts not directly convertible to coin. As such, it has been described as the firs ...

Life

Jacob Bicker was a son of

Gerrit Bicker Gerrit Pieter Bicker (1554–1604) was a Dutch merchant, patrician, and one of the founders of the Compagnie van Verre and its successor the Dutch East India Company. Family Born in Amsterdam, Gerrit Bicker was the son of Pieter Pietersz Bick ...

and Aleyd Andriesdr

Boelens Loen The Boelens (also ''Boel'') and Boelens Loen were a Dutch Republic, Dutch Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician family of Amsterdam. The family figured in the city's government lists between the years 1360 and 1680. They were considered to be ...

Johan Engelbert Elias Johan Engelbert Elias (18 August 1875 – 1 August 1959) was a Dutch historian known mostly for his important work on the history of Amsterdam's regency ("Vroedschap van Amsterdam"). He is considered the father of genealogical research in the ...

De Vroedschap van Amsterdam, 1578-1795, Deel 1, p 175
/ref> Jacob's oldest brother

Andries Bicker Andries Bicker (14 September 1586 – 24 June 1652) was a prominent burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam, politician and diplomat in the Dutch Republic. He was a member of the Bicker family, who governed the city of Amsterdam and with it the provinc ...

ruled the city administration for a long time and was mainly supported and carried by him and their other two brothers

Cornelis Cornelis is a Dutch language, Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius (name), Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees (given name), Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) an ...

and

Jan Bicker Jan Gerritsz. Bicker (August 1591–May 1653) was a general contractor, shipping magnate, mayor (burgomaster) and a member of the Bicker family, influential regenten from Amsterdam. De Bickers were part of the '' staatsgezinde partij'' (the re ...

, his uncle Jacob Dircksz de Graeff and his cousin

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 ...

. The Bicker brothers had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East, the West, the North and the Mediterranean. Jacob Bicker married his cousin Christina de Graeff (1609–1679), daughter of

Jacob Dircksz de Graeff Jacob Dircksz de Graeff, ''Free and high fief of Zuid-Polsbroek, free lord of Zuid-Polsbroek'' (Emden 1571 – Amsterdam, 6 October 1638) was an illustrious member of the Dutch Republic, Dutch Patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician De Graeff fam ...

and of Aaltje Boelens Loen. The couple seem to have lived at Fluwelenburgwal and had no children; in 1648 she married Pieter Trip. She was one of the richest people of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

Career

Jacob Bicker was estimated to have a fortune of 220,000

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

s in 1631. In 1643 Jacob Bicker inherited the castle and estate of Engelenburg near

Herwijnen Herwijnen is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Betuwe, and lies about 11 km east of Gorinchem. Herwijnen was a separate municipality until 1986, when it was merged with Vuren, ...

from his relative Pieter Dircksz Graeff.Buitenplaatsen in de Gouden Eeuw: De rijkdom van het buitenleven in de Republik. By Y. Kuiper, Ben Olde Meierink, Elyze Storms-Smeets, p 75
/ref> In the 1640s Jacob Bicker belonged to the ''Bickerse ligue'', which opposed

Stadholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange Frederick Henry (; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from his older half-brother's death on 23 April 1625 until his ...

. Among his other posts, he held that of

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'' ...

; from 1641 he joined the

. He lived in the parental house at Lange Niezel. In July 1646 he died and was buried nearby in the

Oude Kerk, Amsterdam The Oude Kerk ( English: Old Church) is a Reformed church in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being the oldest parish church of the city. The oldest structure in Amsterdam, the building was founded about 1213 and consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utre ...

. Bicker owned country houses in

Baarn Baarn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, near Hilversum in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The municipality of Baarn The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche. T ...

and Soest: 'Den Eult' and 'Pijnenburg', and :nl:Kasteel de Hooge Vuursche. Between 1643 and 1646 he was lord of :nl:Engelenburg.

Bicker Family

The

Bicker family Bicker (also: Bicker van Swieten) is a Dutch patrician family, it has been a patrician family since 1390. The family has played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They led the Dutch States Party and were at the centre of the oligarch ...

was one of the oldest patrician families of Amsterdam and belonged to the leading

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...

. The Bickers were the most powerful family in Amsterdam and decisively determined the fortunes of the city.Geschichte der Niederlande: Von der Seemacht zum Trendland, by Christoph Driessen (2022)
/ref> The Bicker-

De Graeff De Graeff (; also: '' De Graef'', ''Graef'', ''Graeff'', ''Graaff'', ''Graaf'' and ''De Graeff van Polsbroek'') is a Dutch Nobility, noble family. The family divided into different lines, in Holland, Prussia (Germany) and South Africa including ...

family-faction became the strongest competitor in the years after the Dutch uprising. They controlled Amsterdam's city government and the province of Holland for half a century. Both families were powerful and influential between the earlier 17th century and the

Rampjaar In Dutch history, the year 1672 is referred to as the (; Disaster Year). In May 1672, following the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and its peripheral conflict the Third Anglo-Dutch War, France, supported by Münster and Cologne, invaded a ...

1672 during the height of the Republic's power.Biography of Andries Bicker on DBNL
/ref> Through their work on the Amsterdam City Council and the

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

and West India Company, the Bickers gained enormous influence on politico-economic self-determination in the young

Dutch Republic 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 Netherlands ...

due to the city's position of economic power within the Republic.Familial State: Ruling Families and Merchant Capitalism in Early Modern Europe, by Julia Adams, p 99 (2005)
/ref>

References

Sources

* Zandvliet, Kees, De 250 rijksten van de Gouden Eeuw. Kapitaal, macht, familie en levensstijl (2006 Amsterdam; Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers), p. 73 *
''Engelenburg'' in de ''Ebidat – Burgendatenbank des Europäischen Burgeninstitutes''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bicker (1588-1647), Jacob 17th-century Dutch businesspeople Dutch merchants 1588 births 1647 deaths

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 ...

Dutch businesspeople