Johannes Franciscus Vonck, also known by the

Francization Francization (in American English, Canadian English, and Oxford English) or Francisation (in other British English), Frenchification, or Gallicization is the expansion of French language use—either through willful adoption or coercion—by mo ...

Jean-François Vonck or the Netherlandization Jan-Frans Vonck, (29 November 1743 – 1 December 1792) was a lawyer and one of the leaders of the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (french: Révolution brabançonne, nl, Brabantse Omwenteling), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed insurrection that occurred in the Aust ...

from 1789–1790. This Revolution led to the founding of the United States of Belgium in January 1790. Vonck was the leader of the radical Vonckists faction of revolutionaries which were named after him. They were inspired by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, pleaded for the abolition of the feudal government of the state based on privileges and were in favour of a more centralised government.

Childhood

Jan Frans Vonck was born in

Baardegem Aalst (; french: Alost, ; Brabantian: ''Oilsjt'') is a city and municipality on the Dender River, northwest from Brussels in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baa ...

, the son of a well-to-do farming couple, Jan Vonck and Elisabeth van Nuffel. He had a brother who later became priest, Benedictus Hieronymus, and three sisters: Maria Anna Josepha, Anna Margaretha and Maria Theresia. Vonck studied humanities at the Jesuit college in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. Afterwards, he attended the gymnasium in

Geel Geel () is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns: Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum. Further on around the c ...

. From 24 January 1763 onwards, he studied law in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. Th ...

at the college "De Valk", ("The Falcon"). After graduating, began his successful career as a lawyer.

Brabant Revolution

During the

, Vonck initially cooperated with

Hendrik van der Noot Henri van der Noot, in Dutch Henrik van der Noot, and popularly called Heintje van der Noot or Vader Heintje (7 January 1731 – 12 January 1827), was a jurist, lawyer and politician from Brabant. He was one of the main figures of the Brabant Revo ...

and his faction of the Statists. In the course of the Revolution, Hendrik van der Noot became Voncks’ opponent as Van der Noot strived for the restoration of old privileges such as the "

Joyous Entry A Joyous Entry ( nl, Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or ; ) is the official name used for the ceremonial royal entry, the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city, mainly in the Duchy of Braban ...

", the "Blijde Inkomst". Vonck, influenced by developments in France on the other hand, aimed for less privileges. He pleaded for more democracy, and separation between legislative, executive and judicial powers. Vonck formulated his ideas in the ''Considérations impartiales sur l'état actuel du Brabant'' ("Impartial considerations on the current state of Brabant"), which appeared in January 1790. Vonck aimed to reform the existing structures rather than an ''

Assemblée nationale The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

'' as established by the French Revolution. Vonck wanted to extend the representation of the three social classes in the States General: clergy, nobility and the bourgeoisie. The clergy had to increase in number with secular representatives and the nobility also had to increase in number. According to Vonck, the representation of the third class, the bourgeoisie, who consisted of patricians, had to be extended to the higher middle class. Van der Noot wanted to preserve the privileges of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

and the Catholic church. He considered Vonck to be a danger and started to pursue him as he did with other opponents. The Vonck's house was looted and on 17 March 1790, he had to go into hiding in Brussels. Together with some comrades, Vonck had to flee to France, where he eventually arrived in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

. Meanwhile, Vonck got a passport under the name of Van Nuffel, the name of his mother. There he translated his earlier ''Considérations'' into Dutch with the title ''Onzeydige Aenmerkingen over den tegenwoordige ghesteltenis van Brabant'' ("Impartial testament on the present situation of Brabant") and he added to it a ''Kort historisch verhael tot inleyding uytgegeven door den advocaat Vonck'' ("Short historical introductory story issued by the lawyer Vonck"). Shortly afterwards, he died in the city of

Vonck’s nightcap

Vonck was buried in the village of Baardegem near Aalst where he was born. His resting place was rediscovered in 1923, when a gravedigger discovered a lead coffin. In the coffin, he found Vonck’s skeleton, his wig and a well kept nightcap. That nightcap is nowadays preserved in the municipal archives and a monument now stands on his tomb. He bequeathed to the poor of the municipality among others and gave orders for a scholarship to be founded which still exists and which is managed by the provincial administration of

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

. His supporter and close friend Jan Baptist Chrysostomus Verlooy (1747–97), also a Brussels lawyer, wrote an essay, ''D'onacht der moederlycke tael'' ("On the neglect of the native language"), in 1788 which has been described a precursor to the

Flemish Movement The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to prom ...

Sources and external links

This page has been translated from the Dutch article on Wikipedia.
Ron Vonck

www.dbnl.nl

Website Aalst

Childhood

Brabant Revolution

Vonck’s nightcap

Sources and external links

Further reading