Reyer or Reynier Pauw, (Amsterdam, July 29, 1564 – February 19, 1636 ) was an Amsterdam regent of the Golden Age. Pauw was pensionary and eight times

mayor of Amsterdam Below is a list of Burgomaster, mayors of Amsterdam (Dutch language, Dutch: ''burgemeesters''), capital of the Netherlands. The city had four burgomasters, serving four years. Since 1389 the mayors were elected on 1 February. In the 17th and 18th ...

. He was involved in the Compagnie van Verre, the

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...

, and the trial of

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (; 14 September 1547 – 13 May 1619), Lord of the manor, Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613), was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dutch rev ...

Biography

Reynier Pauw was a member of the patrician Pauw family, originally from Gouda. His father was Adriaen Pauw, an influential merchant in grain, who had fled to

Emden Emden () is an Independent city (Germany), independent town and seaport in Lower Saxony in the north-west of Germany and lies on the River Ems (river), Ems, close to the Germany–Netherlands border, Netherlands border. It is the main town in t ...

at the arrival of the

Duke of Alva Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

. His mother was Anna Jacoba Lucasdr. van Persijn (1520-1586). The family returned to Amsterdam in 1578, and Adriaen Pauw was elected mayor after the Alteration. He died after four months. Reynier traded in salt shipped from Portugal to the Baltic and had grain and wood shipped back. He was elected alderman in 1590 and a member of the

vroedschap The ''vroedschap'' () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vadere ...

in 1591. Pauw lived on

Warmoesstraat Warmoesstraat ('Chard Street') is one of the oldest streets in Amsterdam, running parallel to Damrak from Nieuwebrugsteeg to Dam Square. Its origins are in the 13th century. In the 16th and 17th century it was the shopping street. During the Du ...

and it is likely that the Compagnie van Verre formed in Amsterdam in 1594 was founded at his home. He arranged for his relative

Cornelis de Houtman Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 11 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the ...

to become chief merchant at what later became known as the

First Dutch Expedition to East Indies The First Dutch Expedition to the East Indies () was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in opening up the Indonesian spice trade to the merchants that eventually formed the Dutch East India Company, and ...

. In 1597, he participated in equipping ships to Guyana and Brazil. In 1602 he was among the largest investors in the

Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie 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 ...

, of which he became administrator. In 1605 he became mayor, as in 1609, 1611, 1614, 1616, 1617, 1619 and 1620. At the formation of the

Twelve Year Truce The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like France began treating the Republic as a sovereign s ...

, a controversy arose between him and Van Oldenbarnevelt over the establishment of the

WIC WIC may stand for: Businesses and organizations * WIC program, the U.S. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children * Dutch West India Company, in the 17th and 18th centuries * West Island College, a system of three pr ...

. From 1611 he was involved in the Third Enlargement of Amsterdam. With Gerrit Jacobsz. Witsen, he traded with Moscow via Archangelsk. In addition, he equipped ships to Venice. In 1617, a reign of terror against the

Remonstrants The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his or ...

began. The highlight of his mayoralty were the years 1618 and 1619, when he was an elder and maintained correspondence with

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 ...

Maurits of Orange Maurice of Orange (; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upon ...

. Between 1618 and June 24, 1622, he was a deputy at the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated i ...

, in which capacity, in February 1619, he was appointed a member of the court charged with hearing the trial of the attorney, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. Pauw was one of the judges who sentenced him to death.

Rombout Hogerbeets Rombout Hogerbeets (Hoorn, 24 June 1561 — Wassenaar, 7 September 1625) was a Dutch jurist and statesman. He was tried for treason, together with Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Hugo Grotius, and Gilles van Ledenberg during the political crisis of ...

and

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

were also captured and imprisoned at

Loevestein Castle Loevestein Castle ( ) is a medieval castle in the municipality of Zaltbommel, Gelderland, the Netherlands. The castle was built by the knight Dirk Loef of Horne (hence "Loef's stein" (stone) house) between 1357 and 1397. Until World War II Loe ...

. A legislative adjournment followed in February 1618, in which seven Remonstrants lost their seats. Gradually, the government of Amsterdam broke away from the fiercest

Calvinists 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 Christian, Presbyterian, ...

. Pauw fell in disgrace after 1620 and was passed over in the mayoral election of 1622. As compensation, he was appointed ambassador to king

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and King of Norway, Norway and List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein, Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is th ...

, who resided in Bremen. There he was assisted by Foppe van Aitzema. In 1628 he tried to regain his position within Amsterdam by pitting the

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

against the liberal mayors. A Pauw would never again be appointed mayor of Amsterdam. After Pauw's political end, the management of the city government fell into the hands of the

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

clique around

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 ...

and his uncle

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 ...

. Reynier married twice: in 1584 to Cornelia Michiels de Lange and in 1618 to Elbrich Jansdr.Joh. E. Elias: ''De Vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578–1795.'' Haarlem 1903, . He was the father of

Michiel Pauw Michiel Reiniersz Pauw (29 March 1590 – 24 March 1640) was a director of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) between 1621 and 1636. He is buried at Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam. He grew up in Warmoesstraat in an influential Calvinist merchant ...

Adriaan Pauw Adriaan Pauw, knight, '' heer van Heemstede, Bennebroek, Nieuwerkerk etc.'' (1 November 1585 – 21 February 1653) was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1631 to 1636 and from 1651 to 1653. Life He was born in Amsterdam in a rich merchant fami ...

and Cornelis Pauw. In 1631, his fortune was estimated at 200,000 guilders, making him one of the wealthiest people in Amsterdam.

References

Sources

* Balbian Verster, J.F.L. de (1942) Burgemeesters van Amsterdam in de 17e en 18e eeuw. * J. Elias ''Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsche Regentenpatriciaat.'' Den Haag 1923. * Jonathan I. Israel: ''The Dutch Republic – Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall - 1477–1806''. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-820734-4, p. 345, 451–452.
''Reinier Pauws.''
In: ''

Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland The ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland 1880–2000'' (BWN) is a Dutch biographical dictionary, in which short biographies of well-known and less well-known but still notable Dutch people are listed. The BWN supplements the '' Nieuw Nederl ...

.'' {{Authority control 1564 births 1636 deaths Administrators of the Dutch East India Company 17th-century Dutch politicians Mayors of Amsterdam