Joachim Hoppers, occasionally Latinized to Hopperus (11 November 1523 – 11 December 1576), was a jurist and professor in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

. He was advisor on matters affecting the Netherlands to

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. After attending the

Latin School The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, Hoppers studied law and philosophy in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), 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. The municipalit ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Viglius Viglius (October 19, 1507, SwichumMay 5, 1577) was the name taken by Wigle Aytta van Zwichem, a Netherlands, Dutch statesman and jurist, a Frisians, Frisian by birth. Biography Viglis studied at various universities—Old University of Leuve ...

– councilor at the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ) was the highest court in the Burgundian Netherlands. It was responsible for the Dutch-, French- and German-speaking areas. In Luxembourg ...

, a member of the Privy Council and a member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. He also became Secretary of State for Dutch affairs in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1566 and thus advisor to Philip II. In that capacity he wrote an overview of the events of 1566 in the Netherlands, known as the ''Recueil de Hopperus''. He condemned the riots but, as an Erasmian, disapproved of Philip's harsh measures against the

Beeldenstorm ''Beeldenstorm'' () in Dutch and ''Bildersturm'' in German (roughly translatable from both languages as 'attack on the images or statues') are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th centu ...

. Hoppers came from

Sneek Sneek (; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdw ...

and was very loyal to

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. This is evident from parts of the ''Tabula'', a work about a flourishing period in Friesland, among others, which he wrote in Frisian. The map he made of Friesland in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

is the first in the history of

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

. He founded the

University of Douai The University of Douai (; ) was a historic university in Douai, France. With a medieval tradition of scholarly activity in the city, the university was established in 1559, and lectures began in 1562. It ceased operations from 1795 to 1808. In ...

on behalf of Philip in 1561. Here he was able to apply his educational ideas which he described in ''Ferdinandus, sive de institutione principis''. This shows that he was more professor than statesman.

Gallery

Hoppers - Antiquae Frisiae situs sub Augusto Imperatore, ut fertia.jpg, , 1579 Hoppers, Joachim – Commentatio succinta ad Institutiones iustinianeas, 1772 – BEIC 13700919.jpg, , 1772

Bibliography

* ''Seduardus sive de vera iurisprudentia'' (Antwerp, 1590), including the ''Tabula'' and ''Ferdinandus, sive de institutione principis'' * ''Paraphrasis in psalmos Davidicos'' (

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 1591) * ''Recueil et mémorial des troubles des Pays-Bas du Roy'' (1743) * ''Epistolae ad Viglium'' (

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, 1802)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoppers, Joachim 1523 births 1576 deaths Lawyers from the Habsburg Netherlands Politicians from the Habsburg Netherlands Writers from the Habsburg Netherlands 16th-century male writers People from Sneek