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Jan Gerritsz. Bicker (August 1591–May 1653) was a
/ref> a sister of the burgomasters and statesmen Cornelis and Andries de Graeff. Five daughters were born from this marriage: * Elisabeth Bicker (1630–1660) married Jacobus Trip, a lawyer, arms dealer and participant in the WIC. * Geertruida Bicker (1634–1702) married in December 1654 Jean Deutz, who traded in quicksilver from
In 1625 he became director of the Levantine trade. At some time Jan Bicker became the city's inspector of the ropes. Together with his brothers, he exerted a great influence on the economic climate in Holland. The Bicker family was
Geschichte der Niederlande: Von der Seemacht zum Trendland, by Christoph Driessen (2022)
/ref> The Bicker- De Graeff family-faction became the strongest competitor in the years after the Dutch uprising. Through their work on the Amsterdam City Council, the Dutch East India and West India Company, the
/ref> The Bicker brothers had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East- and the West-Indies, the Baltic and the Mediterranean.
general contractor
A contractor (North American English) or builder (British English), is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the c ...
, shipping magnate, mayor (burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch .
In so ...
) and a member of the Bicker family, influential regenten from 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 ...
.
De Bickers were part of the '' staatsgezinde partij'' (the republican party) and opponents of the stadtholders
In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a Steward (office), 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 th ...
, who belonged to the House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of Or ...
. Jan Bickers son-in-law, the influential Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt practically controlled the Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
during the First Stadtholderless Period
The First Stadtholderless Period (1650–72; ) was the period in the history of the Dutch Republic in which the office of Stadtholder was vacant in five of the seven Dutch provinces (the provinces of Friesland and Groningen (province), Groningen, ...
in 1650–1672.
Biography
Jan (or Joan or Jean) Bicker was a son of Gerrit Bicker and Aleyd Andriesdr Boelens Loen. Jan's oldest brother Andries Bicker ruled the city administration for many years and was supported in his (foreign) policy by his brothersJacob
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 ...
, director in the VOC and Cornelis Bicker, director in the WIC. Jan Bicker was married to Agneta de Graeff van Polsbroek,Johan Engelbert Elias, De Vroedschap van Amsterdam, 1578-1795, Deel 1, p 174/ref> a sister of the burgomasters and statesmen Cornelis and Andries de Graeff. Five daughters were born from this marriage: * Elisabeth Bicker (1630–1660) married Jacobus Trip, a lawyer, arms dealer and participant in the WIC. * Geertruida Bicker (1634–1702) married in December 1654 Jean Deutz, who traded in quicksilver from
Idrija
Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; , ) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. Located in the traditional region of the Slovene Littoral and in the Gorizia Statistical Region, it is notable for it ...
. After his death, she continued to run the company, granted Emperor Leopold I loans during the Great Turkish War
The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...
against the Ottoman Empire. In 1692 and 1696, she financed the recruitment of soldiers and sailors for Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...
. She financed the emperor in 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 ...
; she died at Assumburg castle.
* Wendela Bicker (1635–1668) married in February 1655 Johan de Witt, whose dominance in Dutch politics persisted until the Year of Disaster. The wedding party, in a year with plague and restrictions, took place at Bickerseiland. She inherited several plots which were sold in 1658.
* Cornelia Bicker (1638–1665), married in May 1658 her full cousin Gerard Bicker (I) van Swieten
* Jacoba Bicker (1640–1695) married in April 1662 her full cousin 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 ...
Career
In 1625 he became director of the Levantine trade. At some time Jan Bicker became the city's inspector of the ropes. Together with his brothers, he exerted a great influence on the economic climate in Holland. The Bicker family was Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
and focused on Amsterdam's economic boom.
From 1628 Jan Bicker lived at Keizersgracht
The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...
221 and invested specifically at Bickerseiland which he bought from the city in January 1631. Within twelve years he had ship wharfs, (ware)houses and a tower built so he could watch his project. In 1634 he invested in Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...
as patroon
In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...
. Around 1638 he and Abraham Boom supplied ships of war to France, ordered by Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
. From the late 1630s they came into opposition to the stadtholders
In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a Steward (office), 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 th ...
.
In 1647 and 1651 Jan was elected 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 the city council. Jan Bicker was given the position of burgemeester in February 1653, but did not keep it for long due his death on 9 May; he was buried in Westerkerk
The Westerkerk (; ) is a Calvinism, Reformed church within Protestant Church in the Netherlands, Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel (Amsterdam), Grachtengordel nei ...
. With a fortune of 717,000 guilders
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 ...
, Bicker was one of the richest people of the Golden Age. He owned various country estates outside Amsterdam:
''Akerendam'' near Beverwijk, as well as ''De Eult'' and ''Hooge Vuursche'' in Baarn.
Bicker Family
The Bicker family was one of the oldest families of Amsterdam and belonged to the leadingregent
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 ...
. They were a major trading family involved in the VOC and WIC. The Bickers were the most powerful family in Amsterdam and decisively determined the fortunes of the city./ref> The Bicker- De Graeff family-faction became the strongest competitor in the years after the Dutch uprising. Through their work on the Amsterdam City Council, the Dutch East India and West India Company, the
schutterij
Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...
and 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 ...
, the Bickers gained enormous influence on politico-economic self-determination in the 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 ...
.Familial State: Ruling Families and Merchant Capitalism in Early Modern Europe, by Julia Adams, p 99 (2005)/ref> The Bicker brothers had a firm grip on world trade, trading on the East- and the West-Indies, the Baltic and the Mediterranean.
References