Paulus Buys, '' heer van Zevenhoven and'' (from 1592) ''Capelle ter Vliet'' (1531, in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

– 4 May 1594, at Manor house, IJsselstein
/small>) was Land's Advocate of Holland between 1572 and 1584.

Life

Buys was born in a wealthy family in

in the province of

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 ...

. He studied law in France and worked as lawyer at the court of Holland for a few years. In 1561, he became pensionary of

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. Later on he also became 'hoogheemraad' (the chief official) of the ' Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland' (Dutch constitutional body for the security of dikes and polders against the sea and the rivers) of

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

(the area around Leiden). Pensionaries were well paid. His task was to advise the city council on legal affairs and serve as the representative of Leiden at the estates of Holland. Paulus Buys was appointed as land's advocate of Holland in 1572 before

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 ...

s took the county. As representative of Holland, he vetoed the decision of the duke of Alva to raise taxes at the estates general of the Netherlands in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Because of this, he had to flee from the Netherlands and joined Prince William of Orange in Arnstadt. Paulus Buys was

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, but he, like many moderate Catholics, joined the rebels (Protestantism was a minority faith in Holland at that time) and secretly helped raising armies for the cause of the prince when he came back to Leiden in the same year. He refused to admit a Spanish garrison in Leiden. Leiden became a part of rebel territory still in 1572. Buys became the head of the rebel 'Raad van State' (one of the constitutional bodies of the Netherlands) in 1573, which would make him the rebel leader if William of Orange died at the siege of Haarlem. The prince did not go to Haarlem, which fell to the Spanish. Buys was the leader of the inundations (opening of dikes to let the water of the sea in) during the siege of Leiden in 1574. The water drowned the Spanish cannons, so the Spanish had to lift the siege. He was the leader of the reconstruction of Leiden and appealed to the prince of Orange to establish the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. He was

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the university. In 1575, he went to England to try to convince

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

to ally with rebel Holland and the prince of Orange. Elizabeth refused. Paulus Buys was one of the founders of the

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht () was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Habsburg Netherlands, Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against the king, Philip II of Spain. By joining forces ...

in 1579, which made an end to the Union of Brussels, which was founded by the prince of Orange. Prince William of Orange was killed in 1584. Paulus Buys lost his mainstay and left the estates of Holland, probably because he thought that they were overly supportive of France. Buys was an advocate of the English, and he became the chief adviser of the

Earl of Leicester Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837. History Earl ...

, when the latter was sent to the Netherlands to aid the rebels with an English army. Leicester first supported Buys against political rivals, but within two months fell out with him. As Elizabeth I seemed to drawback her support for the Dutch, Leicester was convinced that Buys intrigued against him behind his back. Buys was arrested in July 1586 by the town of

, to Leicester's contentment.Bruce p. 352 Many cities asked for his release, but he remained imprisoned for half a year and was released after the payment of a very large amount of money as ransom. This was the end of his political career. He lost his last profession as curator of Leiden university in 1591, because of his authoritarian behaviour. He sold his possessions in Leiden and moved to IJsselstein, where he died in 1594.

Family

His son is most likely Cornelis Buys (*1559), who inherited the manors Capelle ter Vliet and Zevenhoven in 1592 - the year Paulus Buys died. Cornelis Buys was a member of the General Chamber of Auditors of the County

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

and also a court clerk there. It is not known when Cornelis Buys died.

Notes

References

*Bruce, John (ed.): ''Correspondence of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester, during his Government of the Low Countries, in the Years 1585 and 1586'' Camden Society 184

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buys, Paulus 1531 births 1594 deaths Grand Pensionaries People from Amersfoort